I remember how much promise Joe Smith had when he came into the league. Then he just dropped off the face of the earth. It's amazing how he has played in the league 13 years and has really accomplished nothing.
check out the Warriors teams he was getting those stats on... not so eeeeeerily similar. A little context helps. I've lived in the Bay Area for most of the last 15 years and those were some bad W's teams. The GSW were devoid of an inside player post Weber when former Blazer great Dave Twardzic (their GM) selected Joe over KG and Sheed supposedly because he was a high character guy and more ready to contribute day 1. Unfortunately for them he was also undersized at his position and not that great of an athlete. The owner had publically called out for Adelman and Twardzic to make the playoffs in their 2nd year at the helm prior to the draft probably causing this massive mistake. Theres a lesson there. LA is bigger and more athletic then Joe ever was... he's also seems to be a good enough guy. I hope the refs aren't going to make horseshit calls throughout his career like they did last night honoring obvious flops, because if they do he's in trouble. I'm hopeful Blazer fan will be ignored this time by management and allow us to see Greg and LA develop... like more then a few here I'm pretty sure it's going to be a great combo STOMP
I'd be shocked if Lamarcus was avoiding contact. Not how I see it all. By design, the Blazers have him outside to both open up the driving lanes and to make it harder to double team the post. Hard to get rebounds or mix it up inside regularly when you're out of good rebounding positioning. In fact, Lamarcus's defense has visibly improved. Don't confuse trying to adjust to a different role and teammates with being a pansy. LA is not soft.
Right, but it's not by choice. He's not purposely staying away from the inside because he chooses it's not his style. He has made several comments to the media that he'd like to go inside. He's doing what he's doing because it's in the teams best interest. Take Oden off this team and you'd see a completely different Aldridge.
I think it comes down to my definition of soft. I interpret it as a negative comment. So we obviously are looking at this with different intentions. Also I don't feel you can sum up people (or in this case an athlete) into a simple category like that. I feel there are direct reasons why Lamarcus isn't the "beast" many of you hope for night in and night out.
See you look at last year and see soft, and I realize I'm in the minority, but I see a few other things that can't be ignored. First, Aldridge was younger and less experienced. He was 22 and learning the league. There's a difference. Secondly, the team did have success with LA floating away from the paint on offense. I'm not trying to just create excuses. It's just how I see it. When he did go inside, he had stretches last year where he was anything but "soft". He had 20 games last year where he rebounded in double figures and another 7 where he grabbed 9 boards. He also had multiple blocks in a game 26 times. I think a lot of people last year confused being "soft" with a lack of consistency and the team's overall game plan to spread the floor. Well they might if they feel the team is better for doing so. Is the end goal to win basketball games or to turn Lamarcus into an All-Star. Lamarcus has totally changed IMO. His shot may be off, but his commitment to defense and team play has been something that's been unnoticed by a lot of fans. Again if Portland hadn't drafted Greg, Portland would be making Lamarcus the focal point in the post. Portland did though draft Greg. In preparation of this one of the focuses of the coaching staff was to prepare Lamarcus for the role that he'd be playing for the team for the entirety of his career. Unfortunately you see him as being soft. I see him as being the ultimate teammate.
First of all: I agree with others (and probably most) that he's soft. I almost can't believe anyone would disagree with that. Secondly: being soft and being the "ultimate teammate" aren't at all mutually exclusive. Thirdly: Oden missed a half-dozen games. Why was Aldridge not being effective on the post during those games? Maybe he trained differently in anticipation of Oden, but Aldridge has had pretty much the same game since high school, and I doubt at the NBA level he'd make big systematic changes in his style. As previously stated, Aldridge is a weak rebounder. He doesn't get to the line much. He's not a physical defender. All of those things contribute to sort of the prototypical soft player in my opinion. Ed O.
as i've said all along, aldridge is a perfect complimentary pf. his offensive game creates space for other people to operate. when he's aggressive he can take over games with his scoring(though he doesn't do it consistently). he's a solid defender and is just going to keep getting better and better as a team defender because he has all the tools. and he's completely unselfish. he might never make an allstar game and he definitely won't lead the league in scoring(i remember a thread a little while back where a lot of people said he was the most likely blazer to do so), but he's still a very good player who wouldn't be easily replaced.
Nowitzki and Stoudemire represent two different levels, since Nowitzki has declined. Bosh is on the level of the current Nowitzki, he's not at the level of Stoudemire. Aldridge is hard to compare statistically. Age-wise, he and Bosh are about the same age, but Bosh has had a lot more NBA experience since he entered the league early. Aldridge's first two NBA seasons were better than Bosh's first two NBA seasons, but that's not fair to Bosh, since he was younger in those seasons. Bosh is better now, at the same age, but that's not fair to Aldridge since Bosh has had more time to learn the league and develop his NBA game. I definitely don't think Aldridge is as good as Bosh, but I also don't think his talent is a tier down. In their primes, I think Bosh will be around a 24-25 PER player and Aldridge will be a 20-22 PER player. That's a significant difference, but not enormous.
dirk's decline is overstated. the mavs are definitely worse, but that doesn't mean dirk is. to me the top tier of pfs is duncan/garnett. second tier is amare/bosh/dirk. third tier is aldridge/west/gasol/brand/etc.
His PER has dropped and what I've seen of him over the past season or two fits that drop. I'm not going by the Mavericks' record. I think Stoudemire is the best power forward in the league now. I'd say the top tier is Stoudemire/Duncan/Garnett, the second tier is Bosh/Nowitzki and I generally agree with your third tier. I was saying that I don't think Aldridge is a tier below Bosh in talent. Right now, he's a tier below him in production. In their primes, I think Bosh will be better, but not a level above.
Dammit. I knew you'd pipe in. Believe it. I understand that. I wasn't saying that one can't be both. Bingo to the former point you made. This team is best served having LA away from the basket. As for his past performances lending credence to this "soft" tag, I don't get it. As a sophomore at Texas he averaged 9 boards and 2 blocks a game. In the tournament he upped his rebounding to over 10 a game and over 2 blocks a game. I watched those games and never got the feeling that he was getting out muscled. And he was also young, inexperienced, learning to play Center, and now learning to play with a number teammates (including a giant named Greg Oden). His rebounding numbers will continue to improve, at least that's what I predict. I'm already noticing him being more assertive on the defensive end. I think people just need to give these young players more time.
The player I eventually see Aldridge a lot like is Pau Gasol. Aldridge has a prettier outside shot. I think Aldridge can develop into about the same type of rebounder and defender. If given the time, his post play could achieve the same success if he becomes a better passer and dribbler. Do you all think Pau Gasol is soft?
