Houston's PBP announcer said he should be starting in the All Star Game. Glide (their color guy) didn't disagree.
For the record, we're seeing the player many thought LMA could be. I just can't help but imagine if Roy and Oden were healthy and Aldridge played with this kind of agressiveness.
If Roy and Aldridge were healthy I'd feel a lot better about the team as Oden would be rebounding like Camby, probably blocking more shots and scoring like 15ppg on top of it. Roy, well, we already know how good he is. fml
Well ... he wouldn't. His role would have probably always stayed as a pick and pop player next to those two guys and the ONLY way we would have seen this emergence is if he were traded or those two went down.
Roy had the opportunity to play with a healthy Aldridge. Aldridge hasn't had a good second fiddle so far.
Basically as good as Camby is for this team a healthy Greg is even that much better. Last time I think about it. I swear.
You don't know that. Roy and Oden playing with Aldridge and LMA being agressive aren't mutually exclusive. Plenty of players have found a new niche playing next to superstars. In fact, the better the team and the deeper they go in the playoffs, the more likely those players are to find their inner beast.
A lot of it has to do with he's just getting better as he reaches his prime. He's still only 25. He's still a year or two away from reaching said prime.
Greg still hasn't played a game in the NBA in true basketball shape. He's been recovering from injury and trying to work himself into shape; as such he's been a step slow. As he learns the game and plays, and the refs learn his game, that rate will go down dramatically.
Exactly. It's not like he's 32. He's worked on his low post game and noticably bulked up in the offseason.
Hey, I know all of this. Instead of picking at Oden scabs, and guessing how the scar will look in a year, let's just appreciate LMA right now.
Fair enough. I am just sensitive to the idea that the Oden we've seen is the Oden we could have expected. The guy has all the tools to be a dominant pivot, except for health. I truly hope one day he finds a stretch where he's healthy, so he can show people the player he can be and shut up guys like Simmons.
That clutch shot he made to put us 3 with under a minute to go was the "new LMA". He just flicked in of the back board with ease. Those were the type of shots in the past that he would barely miss, and now they go in easily. The hook shot is also looking so much easier for him. Funny the difference in the announcers from one game to the next. In Dallas the idiots were commenting that he should stick with the outside shot where he is more comfortable, and in Houston (where they saw him last week) were saying just the opposite.
Oden would have already been seen as a great NBA player, if healthy. I have no doubt in my mind about it. That said, the reality is that he simply has not stayed healthy, and guessing about what could have been with him is not a productive exercise. I hope that the Blazers re-sign Greg whenever the lockout ends. I want him to succeed in Portland, but I'm far past the point of counting on him for anything in the future. He is the biggest enigma in Blazer history, and with that, the biggest wildcard. If he comes back and stays healthy, well...
Exactly. We would have probably been down by 20 instead of 13 if it wasn't for Miller. When the team had problems scoring he came through with some baskest to keep us in it. Someone has to have a real agenda against Miller to critize him for that. If we only give the ball to LA every team is just going to pack it in on him that's basic basketball.
I think they're betraying a bias towards their own star big guys. The Mavs announcers have been conditioned to years of Dirk playing like he's a shooting guard, whereas the Houston announcers have been watching Yao beasting (when healthy) for the past seven years or so.
I think an elite PG should be able to get some easy baskets for his team during that stretch, especially with LMA playing at an All-Star level and basically being unstoppable in the first half. If that is an agenda, so be it. I was happy when Nate benched Miller, and clearly that worked to get the Blazers back into the game in the 4th quarter.
