The Indiana Pacers haven’t won a road game in Portland since 2007-08, when Brandon Roy was on the brink of becoming a first-time All-Star, LaMarcus Aldridge was a promising young big out of Texas, and Nate McMillan was coaching a rebuilding team to 41 wins with Kevin Pritchard in charge of roster decisions.
Sounds familiar, right?
To be fair, the comparisons aren’t perfect. Roy wowed with his ability to shift gears with deceptive speed and intuitive savvy while playing at a controlled pace, whereas Oladipo is like a blur to the rim even when his defender ducks under ball screens in an effort to keep him out of the paint.