Roy provides poor bulletin board material

Nothing seems to fire up professional athletes more than innocuous statements put into print. The chemical reaction that occurs when ink blends with low-grade newsprint must have some kind of cosmic effect on athletes, because the most benign, inoffensive comments somehow morph into "bulletin board material." I bring this up because the Toronto Sun had a short blurb regarding a supposed slight uttered by Brandon Roy, of all people, that got the Raptors wing defenders in a minor tizzy.

Portland Trail Blazers' Brandon Roy might not be so quick to insult the Raptors next time around.

Roy, who was held to just 3-for-13 shooting by the Celtics in a loss at Boston on Friday, let some of that frustration out as he looked ahead to yesterday's game.

"Half of those moves I did tonight,'' Roy said after the game in Boston. "They are going to work against Toronto.''

Granted the Toronto defence isn't in the same ball park as Boston's at this point, but the words struck a nerve with a few Raptors.

"It was brought to my attention before the game and it certainly served as some extra motivation," said Raptors shooting guard Anthony Parker, who drew the defensive assignment on Roy for most of the afternoon.

Parker, with an assist to Joey Graham, held Roy to 15 points on 6-for-16 shooting, well shy of his seasonal average of 20.7.

"A guy like that is going to get his points he has the ball so much, but we made it tough on him," Parker said.

Really? This comment reaches the level of insult that requires it being brought to Anthony Parker's attention? Things can't be that bad in Toronto, can they?

First off, what Roy said is not a diss; it's a fact. The Boston Celtics, by any measure, are a much, much better defensive (or "defencive" as they spell in Canada) team than the Raptors. Would anyone, even in the Toronto locker room, argue that point? If so, consider that the Celtics are No. 1 in defensive efficiency. The Raptors? No. 24. The Celtics are ranked second in opponent field goal percentage (42%), the Raptors are ranked 25th (47%). Boston is ranked second in opponents points per game (91.0 per), Toronto is ranked 23rd (102.1 per). Those are facts.

So is it that outlandish, let alone offensive, for Roy to think he'd have better luck against Toronto than he did against Boston (which, incidentally, he did)? That's not an affront to the Raptors. It's simply an observation of how impressive a defensive team the Celts really are. It's not always about you Toronto.

And really, it's not as if Roy called anyone a cockroach or anything.

Secondly, "holding" Brandon Roy to 15 points in the fifth game of a road trip, that you lost, is somehow a triumph? Roy "not be so quick to insult the Raptors next time around" just because he didn't make his average? If anything, taking into consideration the fact that Portland won, shouldn't the argument be that Roy should always "insult" the Raptors if the end result is a victory? After all, I'm fairly certain B.Roy would rather go scoreless and get the win than drop 80 and leave the Air Canada Centre with a loss. I've got that on good authority.

If, as a professional athlete, you've come to a point where you have to feign outrage to get up for a game, it might be time to hang 'em up.