True, certain aspects of Love's game I like better than Lee's though. Love's outlet passing is phenomenal, I also think Love is a little bit better of a defender.
Lee is more athletic and runs the floor better, IMO. He also is better at putting the ball on the floor and attacking the basket. Love is a much better perimeter shooter and passer. Ed O.
Looking back, I really wish we would have been able to get Lee last summer. Having his inside scoring on this team would have been amazing.
I am not so sure. This team looks very good early in the season because of the defense, Lee (or Love) would certainly take away from that. I still think that if Oden comes back strong (and I believe he will) - no-one fits this team at the 4 spot as well as LMA.
Yeah, but do you think that Andre Miller is contributing to that? Lee is an old school big man. I would love to have him. After what we've seen, I would take Lee over Aldridge in a heartbeat.
Lee or Love are not good on defense, they have no ability to switch on the pick and roll, and they both score down-low. Love is better at stretching the D than Lee - which makes him a good guy to play next to Greg on offense - but just for the defense - I think LMA is a better fit. This guy is not physical - but he is much better than these guys on defense - and a perfect match to Greg on offense.
I don't know... I think Aldridge's defense is overrated. He's good at trapping but his man-to-man defense really isn't that great. It just seems like it is because we expect a guy who is that long and athletic to be better on defense.
As "unspecial" LMA's defense is (especially man defense) - he is still a big, big upgrade over Lee and Love.
I think it's a cost/benefit analysis. Is the offense and rebounding of Lee or Love more beneficial than the defense that LMA could provide? I think that defense at the four spot is generally weak anyway. Look at all the star power forwards; Dirk Nowitzki, Zach Randolph, Amare Stoudemire, Al Jefferson.... these guys SUCK at defense. Most teams sacrifice defense at the power forward spot for high offense and/or rebounding. Lee and Love are SO good at rebounding, and Lee is a very good inside scorer. We desperately need some inside scoring on this team, and we don't even know if Greg will be able to provide that when he comes back.
I personally do not think so. I think Love and Lee's rebounds would take a big hit on a team that rebounds as well as Portland, Lee I really do not like - as he has no mid-range long-range offense - so he will just clog the paint next to Greg - so it requires a completely different offensive scheme/motion offense/triangle to use him properly on this team. If this team knows Greg does not work - Lee/Love would be great to have, if Greg is the future - they are not. Anyway, I would go Love over Lee, but still maintain that LMA is better than both for this team.
At what point do we stop discounting players because they don't work with Greg? For a guy who has barely played in the last three seasons, it's kind of silly to turn away talented bigs because they can't play with our oft-injured center.
So you're anti-Oden. Got it. When the revolution comes, you may or may not be lined up against the wall to be executed.
I'm not anti-Oden. I want him to fulfill his potential just as much as anyone, but I'm tired of hearing "but he doesn't fit with Oden" when Oden has been a non-factor for this team over the past three seasons.
I was kidding, yo. I'm willing to give Oden one more year grace period of "injuries were more bad luck than indicative that he'll never be healthy long-term," during which time I wouldn't build the team with the assumption that Oden won't be in the middle. Come next off-season, if Oden has suffered another major injury, it's time to start building the team with the assumption of no Oden. That said, I think Love fits fine with Oden. He can also shoot from the high post, he can pass really well and rebounding is always valuable...while theoretically there are only so many rebounds to be pulled down, I don't think that realistically any team ever reaches a rebounding cap, where they get no further benefit from rebounding ability. And, really, Love's defense would be less of an issue with Oden there to cover some mistakes (this also assumes Oden gets past the foul problems).
I figured you were, but I felt it still needed saying. I'm not ready to give up on Oden just yet either, but I also refuse to turn away good players simply because they might not fit next to Oden. I think Love would be a great fit too.
LMA is just as bad on defense. I hate when the argument to keep LMA is based on the other players defense. Aldridge is not good at defense at all. Look at the stats.
