His numbers are slightly down from last year. Is this about what we'll get from him for his career? Or is he going to develop into a 20/9 guy? Thoughts?
Is there really anyway to say for sure? Injuries whether it be to him or his teammates, a different coach a different team or different teammates could have a big factor on his stats. Best case 24 ppg 10rpg and he's the man on a bad team. If Roy, Oden and LMA all stay healthy and together 18 ppg and 8 rpg.
Numbers don't mean anything. The real question is whether he'll improve? A player can improve and not have it reflect statistically. But given his age, I highly doubt it.
Numbers do mean SOMETHING. If LMA grabs 7 rebounds a game and DHo grabs 14 rebounds a game, DHo is a better rebounder. If we score 120 tonight and the Bucks only score 112, we win. Numbers matter.
Furthermore, Roy averages about 3 more points a game this year and I would definitely say he is better this year than last year. Numbers don't ALWAYS matter, of course. LeBron averages less points this year than last year but that's because his team is blowing out their opponents and he doesn't always have to play in the 4th quarter. Plus they added another offensive weapon so he doesn't have to do much. I guess the numbers still do matter in context of other numbers.
If he could keep improving on defense and develop good chemistry with Oden then I'm fine with the numbers he's putting up.
Numbers do not always accurately reflect player improvement, which was how you framed your question. If Bayless, Oden, and Rudy (for example) all improve their PPG, RPG, APG several years down the line, how can we expect Lamarcus to show the same gains in his respective categories? We can't. 17/7 is already is a pretty solid contribution. 20/10? Maybe one day. Perhaps not even on our team.
I think Aldridge can average 20+ and maybe 7-8 boards. I don't he'll realistically ever average 10 rebounds per game though.
I agree, and he would have better numbers if he hadn't struggled so badly at the very beginning of the season.
Aldridge is better this year than he was last year. He's more dangerous in the post and much more physical on both offense and defense.
