Not necessarily. It all depends on who he's playing next to. Playing center, he spends a lot more time in the paint on both offense and defense, and that means more rebounds and more blocks. He's versatile enough to play either position - it all depends on what the team needs. If you have a true low post center, like Oden, playing Aldridge at the 4 makes perfect sense. Given that all three of our "true" centers are currently injured, Aldridge is well above average as a starting center. He has the tools to play both positions. It is good to see him playing more in the low post on offense. Hopefully, that carries forward when Camby/Joel return. Neither of them are serious low post scoring threats. So, it would be nice to have Aldridge getting some high percentage shots and drawing fouls down low. BNM
He's not an All Star by the NBA fan voting that's for sure. Another reason why I hate the ballot system where fans just look at the name and not the production game numbers. Butler has PPG 14.9 RPG 4.2 APG 1.7 EFF + 12.44 vs LaMarcus PPG 19.1, RPG 8.6, APG 1.9 EFF +20.44 Now thats fucked up. LA definitely has better statistics. Stupid fans and Ballot system.
Tonight's game is a great example of why LA will have a tough time making the AS game. He is playing great, but only has 2 rebounds because Camby is going to end up with almost 20
Someone who diametrically disagrees with the facts in that sentence would say that Camby has almost 20 rebounds because Aldridge only has 2.
I still don't understand why LA is so underrated. Do people not look at his stats? Is it our lack of coverage on ESPN? I still can't believe Greg Anthony said this. He was more productive than Love. I do think the NBA coaches will push for him after the Blazers take on the Clippers and everyone else will see how well LA is doing and might get more votes next year if he keeps this same pace up for next year (if we don't have a lock out).
I'm not sure what you find objectionable about that quote. It sounds pretty fair to me. He may not be an All-Star because he's only been playing at this level for a month or a little over a month. His likely competitors for a spot, like Blake Griffin and Kevin Love, have been super productive all season. As Anthony said, if he keeps playing at this level, Aldridge should be an All-Star (perpetual All-Star, IMO) soon...like next season.
If you watch Kevin Loves game closely he really doesn't have any go to moves, and he gets a lot of his points off of garbage. He also is not a good defender IMO. I think both Griffin and Aldridge are superior players, more polished. Last night when playing against Griffin, he didn't register a rebound until almost halfway through the game.
Not that any of you care, but Bill Simmons says no. His West roster--Paul/Kobe/Melo/Durant/Gasol with reserves Westbrook/Williams/Manu/Love/Griffin/Dirk/Duncan. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/110120&sportCat=nba
I guess if you are going with "forwards" and not power forwards. I tend to vote for positions rather than just generic "forwards" because that is how the game is really played. I went with Durant and Dirk Nowitzki as starters. I see Carmello, his performance so far this season, and the amount of distraction he has created, as anything but "all star". Whereas Dirk and Durant have been walking the walk. Westbrook on the team is a laugher IMO, when you have Deron Williams, Chris Paul and Steve Nash in the conference.
we can hope team record equalizes that. it very well could, particularly if we win tonight. tall order, but if he outplays Griffin tonight and blazers win i predect he's in (likely over love). if he has an off game he's probably out (barring another big missing the game or carmelo trade). coaches are presumably looking at their ballots RIGHT NOW, so what happens tonight might count 10x a normal game (good or bad).
If 'Melo gets traded, Gasol gets in on votes, and then maybe Dirk gets named starting center, and one more bench spot opens up. Is Aldridge currently #13 for the West? Maybe--Simmons says he's up against Nash, Ellis, Odom, Z-Bo, and Eric Gordon. Do you honestly think that Nash is having a better season than Westbrook, or is that a reputation-based opinion?
You could almost make the argument that Westbrook is more invaluable to the Thunder than Durant is. Without him they've got no straw to stir the drink -- He's playing lights out.
actually i should retract my previous post because the coaches won't be picking the 12th man, STERN will (duh). if coaches vote in duncan and griffin which is very likely, stern will be the one choosing between love, LMA, zebo etc for the final spot, and he showed last year that, unlike the coaches, he gives little weight to team record. i can see him already being tied to love's bandwagon. if that's the case there isn't really much hope no matter what LMA does in the next few games.
