That was a horrible draft.....getting LMA with the second pick almost seems like a steal compared to the rest of the first round.
Saying things like that only opens up Aldridge to "hate" of the variety that he could be the best ever, he just doesn't want it enough. Exact same thing happened with Rasheed Wallace...there was this silly idea that Wallace "could be" as good as Duncan and Garnett, if he just cared more. He couldn't have been...he wasn't as talented as Duncan or Garnett, who are two of the most talented players in NBA history. Length and athleticism, while intriguing, don't mean a player can be as great as any other player. Aldridge is simply not as talented as Garnett, nor even as talented as Nowitzki. He's a very nice complementary player, he's not a superstar talent. Claiming he is just starts all the (bogus, IMO) talk about how Aldridge just isn't trying enough, isn't tough enough, doesn't care enough. What he doesn't have enough of is talent, if you're looking for superstar play.
Just because LA is better than Tyrus Thomas does not make him comparable to two potential HOF'ers. He is a good player, not great.
Anything less than superstardom is complete failure! It seems some people can't be happy unless every player on the Blazers is the best player in the league. That would be a neat trick. Go Blazers. I guess.
LMA has a long future ahead of him and only time will tell. What I see in his future is an un-guard-able post up fade, ala KG, and a star ability to get to the line or sink a hook with his quick first step. Once he hones these post moves he'll be great IMHO.
I am not a huge LMA fan but I don't think it's an absurd stretch to call him the 42nd best player in the NBA. It's not like they said he was the 2nd or 3rd best power forward in the league. However, comparing him to either KG or Dirk is a joke. He is not, nor will he ever be, as good as those two guys were. Much less guys like Duncan. Frankly, he will be lucky to even achieve the same level of play as Rasheed did. I would guess that would be his ceiling. That's not really even a knock on the kid. Those two guys are special basketball players. LMA is merely very, very good. The two things I would love to see are over 1 block a game (getting .6 a game with his length and speed is crazy bad) and for him to take just one step backwards on his outside jumper. Even if his percentage drops by 5% his true shooting percentage would become much higher and his scoring average would be in the 20 to 22 points per game instead of 18 or so.
Haikus are overrated. They don't deserve to be the 42nd-best literary form. Let's see some 2nd- or 3rd-team All-Poetry before we get crazy about this. Don't even think about comparing them to sonnets or limericks.
In LA's defense, we had very little offense if he got in foul trouble. I think this had alot to do with this number being so low.
