I've been arguing with a couple of Bulls fans that I know pretty well. Well they've been claiming they'd take Thomas because he's a better defender. Now disregarding the homerism in taking Tyrus, was wondering if Thomas actually is a better defender than Aldridge. From what I've seen Thomas is nothing to write home about on defense. Anyway what's your take.
I don't know about Thomas' defense, but I sure as hell haven't seen LMA get blocked like this... [video=youtube;whh9ZCFoYLQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whh9ZCFoYLQ[/video]
I would say that Aldridge is a superior on-ball defender, but Thomas has the edge when it comes to help defense from the weak side, particularly help-side blocks. Overall, I would give Aldridge the edge though. His body is built to defend against the bulky post players on the NBA better than Tyrus's.
Don't waste your time talking to those people. Anyone that says they would rather have Tyrus Thomas than LaMarcus Aldridge, regardless of the reasoning, is a complete idiot.
Based on ~3-year +/- linear regression. Code: Player Rating ORating DRating StdErr Poss Minutes Aldridge, L +10.8 +6.2 -4.6 1.9 23,941 6,477 Thomas, Ty +3.7 +0.0 -3.7 1.8 15,729 3,965 Negative defense numbers are good. e.g. -4.6 means Aldridge supposedly takes away 4.6 points of opponent offense per 100 possessions as compared to a baseline group of low-minute players (scrubs). Defense leaning Aldridge but really too close to call given the std error.
Not sure who is better, but if Nate is ok with putting LA on Kevin Durant, then LA must be pretty good defensively. When your PF is versitile enough to start at PF and then can slide over and guard a SF who doesn't bang I think you have a special player.
only Chicago fans (who proclaimed Thomas as a bust and a lost cause early this season) would take him over Aldridge (has more to do w/ pride probably. I doubt Thomas will ever reach the stats LMA is putting up right now (in his 3rd year). And LMA is a huge part of why this team is going to win more than 50 games.
Thomas is a helluva weakside shot blocker, but his overall understanding of team defense, his post defense and his ability to guard 1-4 (which Aldridge does more frequently than you might think) are not as developed as LaMarcus' abilities in this area. LMA does an outstandin job of forcing guys to shoot over him, does a pretty good job of not conceding deep post position and denies dribble penetration without the ball swatting tendencies that look better in a boxscore. Does this mean Thomas is chopped liver? No, he's actually pretty good defensively and considering his less than ideal height for a 4 does a great.
Nicely said Nik. TT is a very good help defender. It is still clear, however, that the LMA for Thomas + VK was a steal for Portland.
Which player is better defensively is certainly debatable. You could make a case for either player. Which player is better overall is not debatable. It's Aldridge, and it's not even close. BNM
Based on every facet of the game, I take LMA. Then there is the whole other issue of off the court and overall mental attitude. I still take LMA hands down. Tyrus Thomas is the second coming of Stromile Swift.
I'd rather have a superior on the ball post defender than a superior weak-side help defender. By and large, on the ball defenders make a much bigger impact. Thus Aldridge, while not being the weak-side shot-blocker that Thomas is, would be my pick on defense. Factoring in everything, Aldridge blows Thomas away.
A fair summary. I must say, it isn't often that Blazer fans get out homered! In an odd sort of way, I am almost impressed.
If LMA's offense was not so important to the success of the blazers, and all he had to do was focus on defense and rebounds........then he would excell in that area as well. Thomas on the other hand could never be the offensive player LMA is.
I don't think it's really debateable who is better defensively, it is clearly Thomas. BPG: Thomas 1.9 > Aldridge 0.9 SPG: Thomas 1.1 > Aldridge 0.9 DWS: Thomas 3.2 > Aldridge 2.6 D-Rtg: Thomas 104 > Aldridge 109 What Thomas isn't, is a defensive anchor, like Mutumbo, Wallace, Duncan, Shaq, Dream, etc. But he is still a very good defender. If Thomas has a good defensive center next to him, like he would with Oden/Pryzbrilla if he was in Portland, he would shine even more. In the one year where Thomas played with that defensive anchor, he put up a great 93 D-Rtg. With Aldridge being playing with those better defensive center, it makes his worse defensive stats look even worse. Aldridge is clearly better offensively.
There isn't a GM in the league who would take Thomas over Aldridge. Tyrus is a garbage man, which isn't a bad thing, but he isn't a guy you rely on.
He's not a garbage man. He's a starting caliber NBA power forward on the upswing. He's averaging 10.6/6.4/1.9 in 27 minutes. That's good production. He was billed a project coming into the league, and was supposed to take awhile to develop. Not be great off the bat, and now we see him developing. He plays good defense, has a developing jumpshot, and can take most players off the dribble (unfortunately he isn't that great at finishing off the dribble drive right now). He's not a world beater, he's not a garbage man. He's in between. He's a developing 22 year old, who will look great some nights, average on others, and bad on others. It's too early to tell whether Thomas will pan out, but by no means is he a garbage man.
