He was on pace for a game like the he played against the Warriors. He's pleasantly surprising me lately.
Even though he only had 7 rebounds, this was one of his best games ever. He was a bonafide All Star go to guy in the second half. No pick and pops. We threw the ball into him on almost every play and he was able to handle it, passing out of it when needed and scoring when needed and he did it in Utah where we have now only won 15 times EVER in regular season play. This was the third best game I've ever been to. Great fucking win. And we needed it cuz Houston won today.
if you are obsessed enough to be comparing records for playoff implications this early in the season i wouldn't bother following the rockets. 12-5 in the last 5 weeks and 8-2 in their last 10 games. with multiple teams ahead of them struggling big time they are pretty much a lock at this point. it's more likely they get home court in the first round than miss the playoffs.
Umm no. They won't be top 4. Sure, they're playing better (by the way, we're 8-4 in the last 12 games) but they are led by Kevin Martin who doesn't know a thing about leading a winning basketball team to the playoffs. They will cool off. The games we play against them are of gigantic importance. I believe the first one is this weekend.
If you're not going to enjoy this stretch by LMA, it's pretty obvious what your lasting opinion on him is always going to be. Maybe if he started giving up 25 ppg consistently like Kevin Love, but be a stat beast on an 8 win team, you'd wub him?
Here is the thing I have noticed. I saw 2 interviews last night with Aldridge, one after the game with the Blazer crew, one with NBATV. It appears to me that Aldridge mindset appears to finally be changing, and Roy going out again, may have been what set it off. He mentioned in both interviews his focus on post play, getting rebounds. A year ago he would have been defensive, and said he was doing his job if he didn't get rebounds. Now he appears to be embracing the role, and I think that one reason he is embracing it, is he is recognizing that he is also getting a lot more recognition when he plays in the paint. Yep it hurts a lot more to play in the paint. But it is worth it. In that respect alone, perhaps the Roy injury is a blessing, because I am not sure if it would have ever came to fruition without it. It is a small sample size for games. But I like what I have been seeing out of Aldridge, this is more of what I expected when we got him in the first place.
And it's not just what he's saying... He sounds like a different person of late. As for his play, I can't believe how fluid and controlled he's become in the post. He always had the tools, but never seemed comfortable down low. I always felt Aldridge was the more important player than Roy long-term, but until this recent stretch I was starting to question if I had given him too much credit.
I found out the reason for his great play recently............. he just got some dope new headphones! There woodgrain and gold......EarCandy!
After winning their last two games, the Wolves are now on pace to win 20 - 21 games. They are young and should improve over the course of the season. They don't have the talent to contend for the play-offs (not even close), but they should win about 10 more games this season than last - and the improved play of Kevin Love is the biggest reason. And before you scoff at a measely 10 game improvment (assuming my prediction is true), remember they only won 15 games last year, so an additional 10 wins is a significant improvement. BNM
Skullcandy? Ugh, what a waste of good plastic. Tell him to get a real man's headphone: http://www.gradolabs.com/product_pages/gs1000.htm - fucking mahogany headphones! http://www.sennheiser.com/sennheise..._headphones_hifi_audiophile-headphones_504633 these are pretty slick too.
The only frustration I had with LMA in the past is when he was attacking the basket and he seemed to just "flick" the ball towards the basket. I am sure it was more "controlled" than it looked, but it seldom went in. It seemed to always roll off the rim. Now his little runners seem to be easier for him. Like he is actually guiding it into the basket. I always thought this was his big weakness. If he continue to master that shot he will be very tough to stop since he already has mastered the tougher shots. (The turn abound j, and the outside J.) He just needed that little "runner" to keep the D honest. Also he used to tire in the 4th because he played so many minutes. He is in really good shape right now.
The old truism is defense and rebounding wins games/championships. Coaches also know the value of rebounding. Rebounds mean possessions and more possessions means more wins. Kevin Love is currently on pace to have the highest TRB% of anyone not named Dennis Rodman since they started keeping that stat exactly 40 seasons ago. Yes, Love's opponents score almost as much as he does (he scores 1.3 more PTS/48 than his power forward counterparts), but he out rebounds them by greater than 2:1 (21.3 RB/48 vs. 10.0 RB/48). Blaming Love's poor defense for the Wolves losing is a bit like blaming the chef for the Titanic sinking. Go to 82games.com and look at some of the advanced stats. The first thing you will notice is that Love is the only Minnesota starter that out produces his opponent and he does so by a huge margin (+10.4). He is also the only Minnesota starter with a positive Simple Rating (+7.6). Every other Minnesota starter gets out produced and out scored by their opponent. Minnesota Starters (at their primary positions): Center - Milicic PER = 12.7 Opponent's PER = 18.2 Net PER = -5.5 PF - Love PER = 22.3 Opponent's PER = 15.2 Net PER = +7.1 SF - Beasley PER = 12.5 Opponent's PER = 22.8 Net PER = -10.3 SG - Johnson PER = 10.0 Opponent's PER = 15.0 Net PER = -5.0 PG - Ridnour PER = 15.8 Opponent's PER = 17.2 Net PER = -1.4 Notice anything? Love has a huge + Net PER, while all of his fellow Minnesota starters have Net - PERs, in some cases very large negative PERs. Love's teammates flat out suck. Yeah, they only may win 20 something games this season, but that roster without Love would be lucky to win half that many. And yes, I know PER is largely an offensive stat, but by including Opponent's PER, that also would highlight a player's inability to defend his position (like Beasley's horrific inability to guard NBA starting small forwards). Love's opponents have a PER of 15.2, about average for an NBA starter, and way below Love's own PER. Bash him all you want, but he's by far the best player on that crappy team, and he out works and out produces his opponents by a large margin on a nightly basis. Will he make the all-star team? Who knows. He's got a shot, but there are a lot of great power forwards in the west having great seasons, many of them on very good teams. It will come down to who is healthy at the all-star break and of Duncan is considered a center or power forward. BNM
It could also be a symptom of Rambis sticking Beasley on any player who blows past Love more than twice. LMA was making Love look like a YMCA reject in the first quarter.
love, millsap, scola, green all deserve all star before la. hell okcs 3rd best player is better then our first. thats how bad things are.
no sorry. The common old truism is defense wins championships. Check the google link below and you won't find anything inserting rebounding into the mix http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&...1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=83f87efc6f926f13 rebounding is commonly considered to be a part of defense. This is reflected in the way stats are divided with boards almost always thrown in with steals & blocks. Of course everyone places some value on rebounding the basketball for all the obvious reasons, but it's not so important that it overshadows the value of everything else. If a player is reduced to boxing out his man when they're posting up he may get a lot of boards but that doesn't mean his defense is good. I see Love and Zach do this a lot the results of which we see in their stats and team records. As BlazerCaravan alluded, the Wolves often try to hide Love on D on the lessor frontline scorers like the Blazers used to do with Zach. Beasley and Darko aren't shutdown defenders by any means, but KL is even worse. to have a good shot at making the AS game LA will not only need to stay on a personal upswing, but he'll also have to lead his team to a higher winning % then they've seen thus far... without injuries to others getting him there by default 500 probably isn't going to cut it. I'd guess (like Love) he doesn't go. STOMP
My sentiments exactly. It reminded me of old Sabonis when his legs were just about done, looking like he was on stilts trying to go across the middle of the key. Tough to put up a controlled shot when you don't have your legs under you. For whatever reason, Aldridge suddenly looks like he has figured that out.
