The thing is watching the games there is no explanation why they keep going away from him. In the Atlanta game he had 14 first half points and was wining the battle. Then in the second half, play after play they go away from him. You can tell the play isn't even called for him at all, because he isn't even an option. That is my problem This coaching staff couldn't ride a horse if it was saddled up and they were duck taped to the saddle. That is their problem. They fail to recognize when players are hot and ride the hot hand.
LaMarcus seems to be a forgotten man in the offense sometimes. G.O. is getting his fair share of touches in the post, Roy always needs his.. Blake is tossing up bricks at the 3-point line, and then LA just sort of drifts away. I think it's just a matter of Nate running plays for him in the post but there are just a lot of players on the floor who need the ball, although I don't want to see Blake shooting 10-plus three-point attempts again.
I'm a big fan of LMA. I think part of the issue with post scoring and rebounding is that he plays the high post. That doesn't put him in a great position to rebound. That has basically been the plan, Greg/Joel on the low block, with LMA on the high block. When he does go into the low post, where do Greg/Joel go? If they stay on the low block, it clogs things for LMA. If they move outside, their guy can double LMA, because Greg/Joel will not make them pay by hitting from outside. I do agree with hasoos (maybe some others) about riding LMA when he's hot. When LMA is hot....get him the damn ball. Actually, the coaching staff doesn't seem to 'get' this point for any of the guys. Go Blazers
LMA's hot is hotter then anyone else's hot on the team. Literally when he has it going he hit everything he puts in the air. Totally unstopable. In fact the only guy in the league who can stop a hot LaMarcus is Nate.
I like the chemistry between Roy and Aldridge. IMO, They both are humble, respect each other, know they are each part of the face of the franchise and most improtantly I get the feeling they are both in the same place as far as understanding they can improve and having the title as a their ultimate goal (above anything else) I hoep Oden remains humble. As he continues to grow, he has shown is is capable of dominating on both sides of the court and can even out run many players (on the break) who guard him. So if Oden becomes a dominant player, can he co-exist with Roy (who is the natural leader of the team) or does Oden want to be on a team where he is clearly "the man."
I really don't see that in Oden. He truly seems like a very humble player and person. I remembered reading some article that on his off days, he just plays video games and reads. I don't read about him rollin with some entourage either. KP did great finding "Quality people" in terms with personalities.
LMA was this team's only low post option last year and now increasingly that is a spot occupied by Greg, which makes LaMarcus more of a high-post or weakside shooter, that put together with a reduced number of minutes and fewer shots overall (for whatever reason) and you're seeing a dip in his offensive production. On the other hand his rebounding is much improved. Now that Travis is down I fully expect to see LMA's per game numbers rise, but I also suspect his usage rate will rise also as he'll be getting more shots that Travis otherwise would have taken. I just hope people don't jump on his nuts because he's taking more jumpers than ever -- cause that will be the role he'll be asked to take. But if you just focus on his per36 numbers and some of his other trends, (like defensive rating, rebound percentage, etc.) there's a lot to be encouraged by so far. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/aldrila01.html For the me if his minutes climb back north of 36+ and you can get 16/9 out of LMA coupled with his versatility on defense and a near 50% from the field, I think that's a pretty good value.
I would be pleasantly satisfied with 16/9 production. Even a 15/10. I would love to see a double double average from him
That's such a weird psychological thing (the double double). The difference between 9 and 10 seems so arbitrary to me.
