When Brandon and LA were drafted, there were a number of posters on this board that believed that Brandon would be the most help right away, but that LA could turn out to be the better player. (I wasn't one of them, because I don't follow college ball.) Now that Roy is having knee problems and out of the way as the go to guy, LA is showing that he is a hell of a player. Where would the team be today without him? Go Blazers
I know it's a rhetorical question but... About 8 games under .500 -- we have 10 wins when LMA scores 20 or more; I think we can safely pencil those as L's without him.
If he does it for a season, I'll consider it to be the new normal. People tend to put much too much stock in what's happened lately... it's why I was flogged on this board for not agreeing Roy is a top-10 player. If Aldridge turns this into the new normal: awesome. I hope he does. If he does not: I won't see it as a failure on his part. Ed O.
Keep in mind, Aldridge always starts the season slow and hits his stride about this time. There's a very good chance that what we're seeing now is the Aldridge we'll enjoy for the remainder of the season. And barring any evidence to the contrary, I think Buck Williams deserves a huge amount of the credit in Aldridge's new and improved game. Other than Roy being down, Buck's presence is the most significant change from a year ago.
Yes that is nice and all. But look at the history. Lamarcus was no better than his rookie year from all the way to his rookie year until this year, when this streak started. That is like a 3 year plateu. For the first 3 years, it was the same Lamarcus that came in his rookie year, but with just more minutes. I have a feeling that a lot of this has to do the fact that he came in with Roy, and immediately was 2nd fiddle. The team just flat out defered to Roy too much, and it hurt some guys games. That is the way I see it. By the way, there have been plenty of power forwards who have rolled into the league and enjoyed success from year 1. It doesn't take years in the NBA to become good if you put in the work before you got there.
I don't really buy the idea that Aldridge took all those jumpers until this year just because Roy needed the center of the court clear for driving lanes. Shaq won three championships with Kobe with both of them playing out of their minds, dropping 25+/night. I think he's just grown as a person. It happens. Things that seemed really hard a few years ago become easier. The game slows down. You develop a bag of tricks that you know works 90% of the time, and when it doesn't you don't give up on them because they've proven themselves. You see somebody else be the cornerstone of the franchise and everything it takes, and over time a light switch goes off in your head that says, "Yeah, I could do that too." Maybe you need a special teammate or two who helps you see the light, as Steve Nash did for Amare and Camby/Miller have done here. Roy (and Oden) going down seemed to have pushed him along. But I just don't think he had the skills or intelligence or instincts or comfort level a year or two ago to do what he's doing now. Carlos Boozer hit his stride at 25. Karl Malone did at 24. Jermaine O'neal did at 23 (after being in the league for 6 years). Aldridge is 25. Not every big man gets to be a guy like Garnett or Duncan or Stoudamire or Bosh where you can see your upper limits within a year or two of hitting the league. I'm glad to see him finally getting into high gear, because he's definitely at the tail end of when you see big men begin to reach All Star quality. But he's there, and I'm happy.
Basically. I'm happy for Aldridge. I feel like he's finally realizing his potential. Someone must have sat him down sometime during the Roy's knees debacle and said, "look, this is your team now". Because he's certainly acting like it.
Or, they just came back down to earth after getting off to a really hot start. I knew they wouldn't keep it up. You look up and down that roster and its just not that great outside CP3 and West. Kind of like how Houston started out horribly, I knew it wouldn't last. They have talent and Adelman coached teams are always competitive.
That's been my position for years. The team led the NBA in rebound % with "soft" LMA, yet the bashers were bashing him. Now, he's needed closer to the basket, and he is producing. I love reading the "well, he deserved it back then" posts. They make me laugh.
His FG%, TS%, and his eFG% are below his career averages, yet his PER is at 19.7. He's simply a much better player this season, and if/when his shooting improves to even his career norm, there is no reason to think he can't be a 20+ PER player this year.
Aldridge's career rebound rate is 13.1. He is at 13.3 this season. His FG% is lower, and his advanced shooting stats are lower as well. It's not like he suddenly started playing at a much higher level this season, at least in hard statistics. He is just more efficient, which makes him more productive.
Its the last 10 games that have bumped up that PER. He was teetering around a PER in the high 15 and low 16's until about 10 games ago. Lets not act like he's been playing like this the whole season. Its the same with Matthews. His PER is weighted down by the beginning of the season before he was a starter and he was playing below average basketball.
As MZ said, the last ten or so games he actually is playing at a much higher level ... and it is all of a sudden. I still want to see if he can sustain this, but the fact that he's hardly picking and popping and is making most of his moves from the post and has finally started to show signs that he can deal effectively with a double team ... well ... it all adds up to a remarkably different LaMarcus.
I'm only saying that his diminished advanced FG statistics and FG% belie his 19.7 PER at this point. I understand that he is playing "better" recently, but his aggregate PER is higher than it has ever been, even though more traditional markers are lower/slightly above average.
How do they belie it? If things like scoring efficiency were a matter of luck, then I could see your point...when the luck evens out, his PER will rise. But scoring efficiency is not luck, so those being down don't belie or artificially lower his PER. His overall season hasn't been remarkable or way above career norms. It's the last 10 games that have been so impressive. Hopefully, he keeps it up.
He is less impressive statistically offensively this year, and below his career norm, yet his PER is higher. Go to basketball reference and try to dig deep, if you want. Again, I'm merely posting statistics, and commenting on those facts.
But wouldn't you say that his game just LOOKS better? He's more aggressive. He's playing closer to the basket. The guy just looks more confident. That's what encourages me the most.
You are talking apples while everyone is talking about oranges. Nobody is discounting the stats aqcuired over the course of this season, but merely praising him for his previous play in the last 10 games or so. What is your overall opinion of his latest stretch of play?
