Do I have an excuse for not knowing who Sekou Smith is? Hold that thought. Does Sekou Smith have an excuse for not knowing who LaMarcus Aldridge is? As it turns out, Smith is a contributor on NBA.com's Hang Time Blog. In his "News of the Morning", Smith summarizes 3 top stories: the Blazers win over the Pacers, the Twolves playing the Spurs in Mexico City, and Boston's coach Bradley. He posts a paragraph saying Paul George and Damian Lillard put on a show, then rips 250 words from a 950 word wright-up by Joe Freeman on Oregonian Live that didn't mention LaMarcus Aldridge. So yeah, not a single mention of the best player on the Blazers in Smith's post. One of two things occurred to me: either leading a team to victory and in rebounds and points (and tied for the lead in assists, with zero turnover and zero personal fouls, 1 of the team's 3 steals, and 1 of the team's 4 blocks) over the team with the best record in the NBA isn't noteworthy, or this jackass doesn't know who LaMarcus Aldridge is. Seventy-seven percent of Sport's Nation gets it (as to who the best Blazer is). What's this guy's excuse? This isn't about taking anything away from Lillard, but I don't get this constant disrespect towards, arguably, the best PF in the game right now, and absolutely the best and most consistent Blazer on the team. Normally, I'd link the article, and even post a quote or two that adds to my take, but this guy doesn't deserve the clicks. Ask me tomorrow who this guy is and my answer will be "I don't know."
He used to be a beat reporter for the Hawks I think. He's now on NBAtv and writes for NBA.com. Generally pretty knowledgeable. He along with a lot of us are taking LA for granted. That's what consistency breeds.
yeah, he's from ATL. He's one of the guys who've been "upgraded" from beat writer (for AJC) to uber-blogger to "personality". Going basically from Jason Quick to a poor man's Screamin' A. Smith. Like a lot of guys, decent knowledge about who he covers, but I'm sure HCP watches more ball than he does.
That explains a lot. Apparently 44% of Georgia thinks Dame is the better player, 2nd only to Florida. LA needs to do more commercials, preferably with little to no dialog.
Aldridge gets no love, he's been consistent and getting better for years and we cheer Gerald Wallace from the stands. I've been saying all season the homers in the rose garden need to chant MVP for our man and I just get people asking me if I'm serious. Um yes, he's the best player on the best team in the west that just beat the best in the east. He deserves MVP talk especially from the home crowd.
And who the truck is Fran Blinebury? Another nba.com scrub? "It’s always risky to make too much of a fast start. Just think back to a year ago at this time when so many gullible folks were lining up to buy tickets on the Knicks’ Fantasy Express. But the Blazers, while shooting 3s almost as much as those Knicks, could be in the mix more for the long haul because Stotts has them sharing the ball with an offensive style led by LaMarcus Aldridge, Damian Lillard and Nicolas Batum that is a joy to watch at the same time that they’re paying more attention on defense." Right, so the guy, WES-MOTHAFKN-MATTHEWS, leading the Blazers in 3pt made, 3pt FG%, True Shooting percentage, and Effective FG% gets no mention... not to mention the entire NBA in some of those stats. At least he mentioned Lopez a bit later, but come on guy. Wake the truck up.
I read a lot of basketball talk, and don't know Fran. Edit: when I put it into the google machine, the first thing that came up in the auto-fill was "Fran Blinebury Fired" from his columnist job at the HOU Chronicle.
I know people don't like to hear this, but playoff success matters when it comes to national attention for small market players. LMA is almost 30 and has never been out of the first round (partly through no fault of his own). Lillard gets some ink right now because he's only a second year player and is playing very well, but if he goes another 5 years without a playoff series win people will (rightly) stop talking about him too. You can agree or disagree that this is right, but it is the way it is and it's never going to change until/unless he can get his team deep into the playoffs and play well doing it.
Yup, making noise in the playoffs would change a lot of opinions real quick. And I swear Sekou Smith was a reporter in Indianapolis before he was in ATL. edit - he was. He was a beat writer for the Pacers before the AJC snagged him.
I was talking blazers with co workers here in south Carolina and none of them knew who nic batum was, when I said Damian lillard was rookie of the year they asked who and what college he went. Outside of Portland the team is as well known as we would know bobcats.
Perfectly understandable. But that's a straw man. I'm talking about a (now 2) sports writers for NBA.com. The bar should be set a little higher than "a co-worker" don't you think? The bar is so GD low for these guys, it's embarrassing.
Unfortunately, individual accolades are very important in the NBA. They affect how the refs treat you and that's extremely important during the playoffs and when the game is on the line.
Don't get me wrong, I completely agree with you. I'm just saying, theyve been media blacked out for so long no one knows anything. Even when Aldridge makes all star game he plays 2 minutes so no one sees him. Guys like batum and Matthews are even less known.Media pays no attention unless you are LeBron James or jump over a kia for a big fat advertisement plug
I don't think the Blazers have proven anything, just so my frame of reference is clear. Does that make it OK for nba.com writers to dismiss, leave out, ignore, or not even know what they're talking about? I'm of the opinion that if you're going to write about something, know wtf you're writing about. I'd rather they not write about Portland at all to be honest. Clicking on one of their stories is like when a 3-5 year old child tells you "I HAVE to tell you something" (which inevitably is when you're right in the middle of a conversation or something more important), and you cave and lean over while they whisper in your ear "that cat is really fuzzy." "Thanks for wasting my mothafkn time - again!!!" I mean... "That's really interesting Hun."
I think that Kerr is partly correct. It's harder to (now) take LaMarcus out of the game. Griffin is a stud, but he's still at a point where he relies on his jumping and speed instead of skills. Love is really good, but he's not leading his team to wins. Impressive stats, yes. But wins? No. I wager a bet it's easier to take Love and Griffin out of their games than it is LaMarcus. I think the two of them will get there though. Just RIGHT NOW, they aren't.
I've only been saying this for as long, if not longer, than Kerr. I wish it was as easy as saying I'm just bias, but it's so blatantly apparent that it's simply a case of being aware of reality. Why can't we hold all media/sports personalities who report on the NBA to this standard? It's sad.
