To lma: Hit the friggin boards

[SpanishFly]

My goodness, guy is 6'11' quick and athletic and long and 240, simply no excuses for him to not be a "solid" rebounder at least, very disappointing - gotta work LMA, rebounding is about desire and working hard

 

[Bob Dobalina]

I'm curious. What's considered a "solid" rebounder?

 

[anonymous gambler]

Oh about 15 rebounds/game!!

 

[Nikolokolus]

Rabble, rabble, rabble.

 

[oldmangrouch]

Maybe someday people will figure out that those 10 boards a game Zach used to grab were neither irrelevant nor simple dumb luck.

 

[alex42083]

LaMarcus is what he is, a 5 to 8 rebound per game player. If you expect 10-plus boards a game, you're not going to get it since Joel or Greg will be grabbing the boards, we have guards and forwards who are good rebounders, and LaMarcus is good at sprinting up the court for fast breaks.
Offensively, he's the focal point so he's going to be shooting a lot too.

 

[Ed O]

LaMarcus is what he is, a 5 to 8 rebound per game player. If you expect 10-plus boards a game, you're not going to get it since Joel or Greg will be grabbing the boards, we have guards and forwards who are good rebounders, and LaMarcus is good at sprinting up the court for fast breaks.
Offensively, he's the focal point so he's going to be shooting a lot too.

Plus he's just not a good rebounder.

Ed O.

 

[alex42083]

Plus he's just not a good rebounder.

Ed O.

Statistically you could say that, but he still averaged close to 8 boards a game last year and will be around that by the end of this season. That's solid enough for me.

 

[SpanishFly]

Statistically you could say that, but he still averaged close to 8 boards a game last year and will be around that by the end of this season. That's solid enough for me.

My point is that he's averaging 5 RPG and lasy yr avgerageed 7.6 - so yes hit the friggin boards LMA is the message. Three games or not, 5 RPG is ridiculous and it's time to pick it up. And what I think he "should" be is a career 8-9 RPG guy, 5 RPG is a joke, I expect him to get off his ass and put the effort in.

 

[BalancedMan]

It's a matter of boxing out and reading the ball. Good and great rebounders watch the trajectory of the ball and figure out where it will come off the rim so they can be in good position. I'm not sure LMA does either of those things particularly well, and his rebounds more often come to him than the other way around.

You don't have to be that tall to rebound well. A lot of games I play in I'm the guy guarding their post player, who's always bigger than me, and I get my fair share of rebounds.

 

[Ed O]

Statistically you could say that, but he still averaged close to 8 boards a game last year and will be around that by the end of this season. That's solid enough for me.

I can say it statistically and I can say it anecdotally.

I can say it.

The dude's just not a good rebounder.

But so what? He does a lot of other things well and he still can improve as he physically matures. I'm not worried about it.

Ed O.

 

[B-Roy]

Aldridge is a pretty good offensive rebounder. He is able to sneak in and grab rebounds on the weak side. But in terms of defensive rebounds, yeah, he's not that good since he's not strong enough to box out guys like Stoudemire. It's fine though, because Joel and Oden should be able to mop up the defensive rebounds, letting Aldridge play to his strengths and run the floor for fast breaks.

I don't think he needs to rebound that much for the team to be successful, but I do have to agree that it looks better if Aldridge was able to average around 8 rpg.

 

[MrJayremmie]

Aldridge rebounds fine....

 

[bodyman5001]

I was just watching the third quarter of last nights game and saw a part where Amara dunked on LMA and then he went right back down the court and scored on Amara on the other end.

I like his jumpshot, he just needs to get in the post and score and rebound more.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

This is the same thing we used to say about a former Blazer and a player LMA of often compared too..

 

[Ed O]

This is the same thing we used to say about a former Blazer and a player LMA of often compared too..

Yep. If LA ends up as a borderline HoF player like Wallace I think few of us will complain.

Er... we're Blazers fans. I forgot.

Ed O.

 

[drexlersdad]

he plays outside a good deal, so he is gonna get less of his own rebounds ala zbo. zbo got 3-4 a game off his own misses.

with oden(hopefully) we wont need lma to grab 10 a night. orlando plays rashard at the pf because howard is such a beast on the glass.

 

[PapaG]

Yep. If LA ends up as a borderline HoF player like Wallace I think few of us will complain.

Er... we're Blazers fans. I forgot.

Ed O.

Huh? Are there lots of 15 ppg/7 reb/ 2 assist Hall of Fame PFs that I am missing?

 

[SpanishFly]

I sure see lots of excuses for LMA, its about EFFORT and desire, if he wanted to he could easily grab 8-9 RPG. Believe it or not I like him a lot, I just think he needs a kick in the pants about his rebounding effort at this time.

 

[Minstrel]

Huh? Are there lots of 15 ppg/7 reb/ 2 assist Hall of Fame PFs that I am missing?

If there were lots, he wouldn't be borderline, I imagine.

He's also played fantastic defense through his career, which is half the game. I don't know if I'd say he's a borderline Hall of Fame player, but he's at least in the Hall of the Very Good.

 

[Ed O]

Huh? Are there lots of 15 ppg/7 reb/ 2 assist Hall of Fame PFs that I am missing?

He'll be in the top 100 in NBA career scoring and rebounding when he retires. He'll probably be in the top 30 in career blocks. He's been one of the best defensive players of his era. He has been on a large number of playoff teams.

Do I think that he'll make the HoF? Not unless he plays at his current level for another 4 or 5 years (which just isn't likely). Is he borderline? Absolutely.

Ed O.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

In a previous era, we were a great rebounding team. How?

Duck boxed out,
Buck averaged about 8,
Jerome was a top rebounder for a SF
Drexler was a top rebounder for a SG

If we had an SF who could rebound like Jerome (Batum?),
Brandon made it a point of emphasis,
and Greg got into shape....

we'd be a DOMINANT rebounding team, with LMA doing just what he's doing now. It's a realistic possibly.

 

[NOBODY]

LMA is a runner. His JOB is to get out on the break. He has Greg or Joel for rebounding. Brandon also rebounds. Nate has said in interviews from the past that he likes to get Aldridge out to beat the other teams bigs down the floor.

 

[PapaG]

If there were lots, he wouldn't be borderline, I imagine.

He's also played fantastic defense through his career, which is half the game. I don't know if I'd say he's a borderline Hall of Fame player, but he's at least in the Hall of the Very Good.

Yet he's never made an All-NBA defensive first team. He's a very good role player for at team that won exactly one title, and he's a very average franchise player for a team that choked in Game 7 against the Lakers in 2000.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Yet he's never made an All-NBA defensive first team. He's a very good role player for at team that won exactly one title, and he's a very average franchise player for a team that choked in Game 7 against the Lakers in 2000.

Wait, you expect Rasheed to win a popularity contest? He hasn't, and he won't get into the Hall either.
Neither will Dennis Rodman, btw.

 

[Minstrel]

Yet he's never made an All-NBA defensive first team.

True, but voted on awards don't have a ton of credibility in my eyes. Voters have plenty of biases, both conscious and unconscious. To my eyes and the eyes of plenty of others, Wallace has played exemplary defense. As a Blazer, he was the best defender of Duncan and Garnett that existed in the league, and he was the key to turning a very good Detroit defense into one of the best ever, when he was traded there.

I certainly can't prove he's a great defender. Defensive evaluation is extremely opinion-based, as stats do a very poor job of capturing it. In my opinion, Wallace has been one of the best individual defenders in the game during his career. Not quite Kevin Garnett, defensively, but not far off.

 

[The Sebastian Express]

I believe Tim Duncan has said more than once that Rasheed defends him the best.

 

[Fawzi83]

My goodness, guy is 6'11' quick and athletic and long and 240, simply no excuses for him to not be a "solid" rebounder at least, very disappointing - gotta work LMA, rebounding is about desire and working hard

Please capitalize the L when you write LMA I keep thinking it's IMA

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Rasheed's best quality, IMO, was his post defense. He could score on anyone but always deferred to teammates.

 

[PapaG]

Wait, you expect Rasheed to win a popularity contest? He hasn't, and he won't get into the Hall either.
Neither will Dennis Rodman, btw.

Rodman is much, much more deserving of the Hall of Fame than Rasheed Wallace.