Felt it deserved its own thread: LMA, now THAT's how you play basketball

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by BrianFromWA, Dec 17, 2010.

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  1. THE HCP

    THE HCP NorthEastPortland'sFinest

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    That throwdown might be the best of his career!
     
    THE HCP, Dec 17, 2010
    #21
  2. mgb

    mgb Over-Nite Sensation

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    It was #7 on sportcenters top 10 plays of the nite. I thought it should have been better than that.
     
    mgb, Dec 18, 2010
    #22
  3. Darkwebs

    Darkwebs Awakened to emptiness Staff Member Moderator

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    Sure, LaMarcus and Wes both have PERs of around 17 right now, but remember that they started out the season with poor play, so their PERs have deflated value right now. Both players have stepped it up recently, so their great play of late would probably not be indicative of a PER of around 17, but something higher. So don't judge how a Roy with PER of 17 would look like compared to how these two have been playing as of late.

    I think you are being a litttle pessimistic (and maybe I'm a little on the optimistic side), but I don't think you should discount Roy so much. He still has a high b-ball IQ and solid fundamentals- he's got great handles for a SG, he can finish and dribble with either hands, has a solid jumpshot out to the 3-point line, and pretty good strength for his size (though I don't know how the latter will be affected by his damaged knees).

    Look, we all know he's lost his quickness and explosiveness, but if Brandon could adjust his game and become more of a high post scorer and occasional spot-up shooter, and get some easy buckets on backdoor plays, I think he can still play well in this league. Because of his ability to handle the ball in traffic, I think we could still see a slash and finish to the rim once in a while to keep the defense honest. Additionally, even with his injury, he is still adept at finding his teammates for open shots, as his 22 total assists in the past 4 games show. I could imagine Roy next year with 16, 4, and 3 on good shooting percentages with a steal thrown in there for good measure.

    I think you might be letting recency affect your opinion on this too much. I don't think Roy will play next season as bad as has been this year. I'm hoping that this will be the worst version of Roy we ever see for a while. He hasn't had time to adjust his game yet. If we give him one off-season, don't you think Roy can at least start to adapt his game to his recent physical limitations and of how teams are now playing him? He isn't Darius Miiles- he won't just fold, take the money, and eat donuts all day. He'll be working on his jumpshot and maybe his high post game (maybe watch some films of late 90's Jordan).

    Moreover, I'm pretty sure there are exercises that can strengthen Roy's leg muscles so that they put less pressure on his knees. That might also help get a little bit of his explosion back.

    I kinda lost track of what my point was. Oh yeah- I think a PER of 17 is an attainable goal for Roy next season. End optimistic rant.

    Go Blazers!
     
    Darkwebs, Dec 18, 2010
    #23
  4. Fez Hammersticks

    Fez Hammersticks スーパーバッド Zero Cool

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    B-Easy on LMA's dunk:

    -Twitter
     
    Fez Hammersticks, Dec 18, 2010
    #24
  5. Fez Hammersticks

    Fez Hammersticks スーパーバッド Zero Cool

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    [​IMG]
     
    Fez Hammersticks, Dec 18, 2010
    #25
  6. BoBoBREWSKI

    BoBoBREWSKI BURP!

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    ^^ that dunk was #7 on SportsCenters top 10 plays from last night.

    LMA has been amazing the last 2 games. I hope it inspires him to continue to play this aggressive.
     
    BoBoBREWSKI, Dec 18, 2010
    #26
  7. PapaG

    PapaG Banned User BANNED

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    I actually got to be at that game last night. Rudy and LMA were suberb, Matthews was all over the court, and Patty Freaking Mills was pushing tempo at a different pace than either Roy or Miller have done in Portland.

    Anybody else notice how the Wolves had to pull Kevin Love off of LMA early in the game? LMA scored the first 12 points like he wasn't even being defended (which is basically true), and by the end of the game, they had to have Beasley try and defend LMA.

    Love is a very good garbage man, I mean elite in terms of that sort of player, but dude gets blocked so often that he can't be a dependable #1 threat. Plus, I'm not sure I've ever seen a more overmatched "elite" PF when he was trying to defend LMA, who had his way and outran the Wolves frontcourt numerous times.
     
    PapaG, Dec 18, 2010
    #27
  8. PapaG

    PapaG Banned User BANNED

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    LMA'a PER is up to 18.2 from 16.6 in two games.

    WOW!

    FWIW, I was very impressed by Beasley as well. He has a very well-rounded offensive game, and at least tried to defend LMA, unlike Love, who was just too slow.
     
    PapaG, Dec 18, 2010
    #28
  9. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    LMA-zing.

    But let's be fair: he was only being defended by Kevin Love most of the time.

    My view of LaMarcus is rocketing upward, particularly when I read this. (Sadly, my second thought was "was this an underhanded dig at Roy?" Which is ridiculous.)

    (An actually BETTER highlight, albeit not so vicious, was the alleyoop mid-air touch pass from Rudy (at about 1:10 in the NBA.com highlights). That didn't make the Sportscenter top 10. In general, I don't remember Aldridge dunking in previous seasons half as much as he has this season. That Camby-to-Aldridge halfcourt alley-oop is amazing every time they run it, which is at LEAST once a game. Aldridge is getting a real chemistry with Camby and continuing the chemistry with Rudy.)
     
    Rastapopoulos, Dec 18, 2010
    #29
  10. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    Anyone got a link for the leaders in dunk totals this year? I remember seeing that Howard was way down and it was either Griffin or Stoudemire leading. I'd be curious to see where Aldridge is.
     
    Rastapopoulos, Dec 18, 2010
    #30
  11. PapaG

    PapaG Banned User BANNED

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    LMA 3rd at 49. I'm not sure if that included last night, though.

    http://www.cbssports.com/nba/dunk-o-meter/yearly
     
    PapaG, Dec 18, 2010
    #31
  12. hasoos

    hasoos Well-Known Member

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    Lamarcus would do much better every night if they would just hit him on the break more often. I am starting to wonder if Roy going out of the lineup if it will allow the team the freedom to get up the court and make some open court plays.
     
    hasoos, Dec 18, 2010
    #32
  13. Nikolokolus

    Nikolokolus There's always next year

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    Nikolokolus, Dec 18, 2010
    #33
  14. BBert

    BBert Weasels Ripped My Flesh

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    Ah, Grampa wisdom. Bring it!

    I could not possibly agree more.

    I tried to rep you, but the rep box is covered up by the next post. :dunno:

    :cheers:
     
    BBert, Dec 18, 2010
    #34
  15. BBert

    BBert Weasels Ripped My Flesh

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    I didn't get to see the freakin game because I had to go to my wife's freakin company party and thanks to the freakin Comcast monopoly I couldn't freakin record it.

    Freakin, Freakin, Freak!

    I would have been freakin juiced watching LA and Rudy go off like that. Damn.

    :cheers:
     
    BBert, Dec 18, 2010
    #35
  16. hasoos

    hasoos Well-Known Member

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    It's the main highlight at nba.com for the game, so go there and watch it over and over again. It should be right up there for dunk of the year, probably right there with the one Eric Gordon did a few weeks back.
     
    hasoos, Dec 18, 2010
    #36
  17. BBert

    BBert Weasels Ripped My Flesh

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    I wonder if the Blazers trainers know about that?

    Naahh....:devilwink:
     
    BBert, Dec 18, 2010
    #37
  18. BBert

    BBert Weasels Ripped My Flesh

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    Thanks, I did. Over and over. :)
     
    BBert, Dec 18, 2010
    #38
  19. Nikolokolus

    Nikolokolus There's always next year

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    What you're thinking of is strengthening muscles to compensate for the lack of an anterior cruciate ligament. There's no leg strengthening exercise in the world that will cause articular cartilage to stop 'articulating' -- there's no overcoming gravity (as far as we know).
     
    Nikolokolus, Dec 18, 2010
    #39
  20. Shooter

    Shooter Unanimously Great

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    YESSSS!! I have always suspected that Aldridge could play this way if he put his mind to it--and he's put his mind to it the last couple of games. This guy has enormous talent, and if he learns to play this way on a consistent basis he'll be an All-Star for the rest of his career.
     
    Shooter, Dec 18, 2010
    #40
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