He was awful. No way around it. Had he even played decent the Blazers win by 15. And at times he looked like he was going through the motions with no interest whatsoever. None. It was pretty obvious to me that he did not come to play.
Here's hoping a new coach will demand he play around the hoop. He had exactly one good move in the entire game yesterday.
Every player has bad games, but really I think the real problem isn't that he doesn't care it's that he's just not that good.
I didn't see the original post and don't really give a crap what it says, but I am very relieved to know that apparently LaMarcus Aldridge could care less. That's nice to know, as I'd be really concerned to learn he couldn't care less. BNM
Here is the deal. If you expect anything more than just an above average PF from Lamarcus, you are just setting yourself up for failure. There are 30 teams in the league. He is probably somewhere from 10th to 13th in value. I don't suppose there is any chance we could pry Larry Sanders from Milwaukee. That dude is going to be a blue collar in the paint type of PF.
This season, he's played heavy, heavy minutes: over 40 minutes in 8 of the 20 games he's played, and 38+ minutes in 13 of the 20. He's been not just the starting PF but a backup C as well. He was bound to have a letdown game.
Yep. The kid has talent, but he is a "softy", both mentally and physically. He is a bad fit on a team that needs toughness up front. This is an example of where keeping Oden around is screwing the team up. They are keeping LMA because he would be such a great fit next to the mythical "once in a generation center" Oden. Otherwise, they would have traded LMA already. (I won't even bother bringing up his contract)
How is 10th to 13th highest value at PF "just above average"? Are there really only 20 PFs in the league? Not only does Lamarcus put up WAY better than "average" production, he is well above average for starters in the league.
I disagree. He commands a double team which fits our offense perfectly. I will say though we need to add some additional pieces to this squad, having Joel back is a good start.
There are 30 teams in the league, unless you are very bad at math. Then there can be 20 if you wish. 15th would be middle of the road average . As I said he is somewhere in the 10th to 13th range in my book, and frankly, it is hard to argue against it. What is your reasoning as to why he should be higher? 1. Is he better than Pau Gasol? Nope. 2. Is he better than Tim Duncan? Nope. 3. Is he better than Amare Stoudemire? Nope. 4. Is he better than Chris Bosch? Nope. 5. Is he better than Dirk Nowitzki? Nope. 6. Is he better than Blake Griffin? Nope. 7. Is he better than Carlos Boozer? Nope. 8. Is he better than KG? Nope. 9. Is he better than Kevin Love? Nope. 10. Is he better than Paul Milsap? Nope. Now you have a step down. All these guys are just about the same in value in my book: Lamarcus Aldridge, Luis Scola, Jason Thompsen. Carl Landry. Many of these guys while not as offensively gifted as Aldridge, are better rebounders, better hustle players, and better defenders. So as I said. Above average.
I don't think you understand what "commands a double team" actually means. He gets a double a team quite a bit, but in order to "command" one he would actually have to be capable of beating it.
Wrong, unless you think that each team only has five players on their roster. When you include all the players in the league, Aldridge is way above average. Perhaps you meant "an above average starter." That's a very different (and better) thing than you said.
Josh Smith, Zach Randolph, Lamar Odom, Antawn Jamison, David West, and a healthy Troy Murphy also deserve mention. We were told to watch for LA to take the next step this year and play like an all-star. So far, his numbers have been the same as the past four years except a large decrease in shooting percentage. I still hold out hope that he takes that next step, but the odds are hugely against it.
Read Minstrel's post above. Your post is very silly and illogical, but you should continue to question my math skills.
This is ridiculous. Unless you think other teams are double teaming LMA just for something to do, or just for fun.
I think you're the one getting it wrong. "Commanding" something means forcing the other team to do something. Scoring routinely out of double teams would be defeating them. It's not a trivial distinction...a player who forces double teams is still compromising the defense, even if he's not capable of consistently scoring against them. Aldridge's ability to command double teams has a lot of value, even if he's not a Duncan who can consistently score over the double team.
He hasn't shown a tremendous ability to pass out of them either. Pretty much a team will double LaMarcus because that strategy has a better then average chance of resulting in a Portland turnover. With Duncan, not so much.
But he doesn't pass well out of it, he doesn't read them particularly well ... a double team is usually a pretty high percentage play for an opponent's defense because he has so much trouble making them pay for doing it.
