Felt it deserved its own thread: LMA, now THAT's how you play basketball

I don't think so. He is still an 18/8 player, and his numbers are worse than that when Brandon plays. We also have to remember that teams haven't had a chance to scout the "new" Blazers.

 

19.1 / 8.5 now, btw.

 

I think i did this a few years ago with the team as well. I seem to remember that teams that had a lot of FTA's were the better teams. It's why our offense has been bad this whole time because it's been built around getting guys jump shots and not attacking the rim. It's why I was and am upset that they traded Bayless

 

LMA's play has been the culmination of a few things. First, he clearly did a lot of lifting this offseason. He's noticably stronger. That allows him to bang more than previous years. Second, with Brandon gone we're doing a lot more pick and rolling vs. pick and popping. Third, because we're playing at a faster tempo these past few games, Aldridge is able to exploit his quickness more and is outrunning every other big man down the court. Fourth, playing inside has led to better offensive rebound positioning. Finally, teams are fronting him because they're trying to deny him the ball and we have players that are excellent at passing over those fronting techniques. It's lead to a lot of easy baskets for him.

 

Or when there aren't 3 other 7 footers getting all the boards.

 

The question is how much of that was by design, considering McMillan and the Blazers knew they had other strong rebounders who couldn't do what Aldridge is able to do....shoot jumpers and score out of the high post.

 

Perfect summary of what's going on. Repped.

 

Nate's offense only suites one player: Brandon Roy.

Wesley can finish at the rim on a full sprint. LaMarcus is a totally different player when he's attacking rather than running a slow-it-up ISO for him.

This roster was built for an uptempo system but that memo missed Nate apparently.

 

If anyone is interested, Jason Quick will be on the John Lund show @ 2pm to talk about LMA's emergence and how Roy should adapt to him.

 

I love how Quick is stating what a lot of fans have been saying all year

 

Interested and Quick in the same sentence......... No thanks.

 

You would have given him a lot of props and credibility today because he was very pro Blazers.

 

I don't want "PRO-BLAZERS", I want the truth. I have been around Quick enough at home and more on the road actually, to know how full of shit he is!

 

So........
LA isn't playing the best basketball of his career?

Nate doesn't want the offense to go through LA?

Brandon isn't trying to figure out how to fit in, but instead he is jealous?

Rudy isn't playing the best basketball of his career?



That is what Quick said, so none of that is true because he is so full of shit. Wow, things are worse than I thought.....they are Mixum bad

 

Source?

 

I'm a little brain-addled today; what did Quick say?

 

John Lund asked Quick in his interview what he thought Brandon was thinking on the bench last night when the team was having so much fun without him. Quick said Brandon was thinking how to fit in with these guys. Lund asked if he thought it was truly that or if Brandon was a little jealous, and Quick said no, he is thinking how he can fit in.

HCP said Quick is full of shit, so Brandon really must be super jealous and hate that the team is doing well without him

 

I see.

 

Said Nate wants the ball to go through LA more. Thinks LA and Rudy are playing the best basketball of their careers. Thinks the team needs to tell brandon to come off the bench, and not ask him. Said Cho, Jensen and Dr Roberts were huddled in the hallway last night, presumably talking about Brandon who had been examined by Dr Roberts earlier. Said the team was having fun because of Patty Mills. his playing time has only helped that. Rudy has been telling anyone that will listen that he can be more than a spot up shooter, and is now getting that chance.

Might have been a bit more, but that was the jist of it. None of it true however according to those in the know

 

Has anyone thought of perhaps selling high on Aldridge? If he sustains this for the next couple months teams could coming calling wanting to trade for him. I know he's playing great but realistically I don't expect him to keep it up. He's done it against 3 terrible teams with terrible frontlines and I just don't buy it will continue when he plays against the tougher teams in the league.

So...maybe sell high on Aldridge? It would depend on what you'd get in return, but it's an interesting idea to think about if in the end you believe he'll always be that 18/8 guy that's a little soft.