Roy wants ball in hands

TUALATIN, Ore. – His tone was neither whiny nor hostile. But it was firm. That can’t be disputed.

Discussing the future of the Portland Trail Blazers’ offense – which has looked shaky at best this preseason – Brandon Roy bluntly expressed one tweak he’d like to see incorporated as the regular season nears.

“I want to get the basketball a lot more,” he said after practice Wednesday.

Now, this was not a condemnation of the system that’s been in effect through Portland’s first four preseason games, nor was it necessarily an indictment of Andre Miller’s time of possession.

Blazers coach Nate McMillan has made no secret of his using the preseason as a platform for experimentation, and playing Roy off the ball has been a point of emphasis in the testing process.

Nevertheless, Roy did make clear he wants the Spalding in his hands as often as possible, and wasn’t afraid to look back to the days when this was the case.

“The offense we’ve been running? Nah, not my style. We’ll get toward my style,” Roy said. “I think we’re going to continue with some of (what we did) last year, but maybe get back more to a couple years ago, before Dre (Miller) came by, where I get the ball a little more.”

McMillan did not object to his star player’s desire for the rock.

In fact, he embraced it more than anything, assuring reporters that Roy “will get the ball. Trust me. He’ll have it. … It’s your best player on the team, you gotta give it to him.”

He also noted that defense has been the greatest point of focus in the preseason. However, when asked if Roy will in fact get more touches this season than last, McMillan did not offer a thumbs up.

“I think it’s pretty much the same,” McMillan said. “We’re going to run sets, and most of our sets are going to run through LaMarcus (Aldridge) and Brandon and Miller.”

Roy scored 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the Blazers’ loss to Utah on Tuesday at Memorial Coliseum.

Roy and the Blazers took part in an intrasquad scrimmage Thursday at Garfield High (Seattle), Roy’s alma mater.