LMA... What would you rather have?

I guess we can agree to disagree. I think Aldridge is fully capable of getting 10 boards a game.

 

Yep. I want the running Aldridge, because he can beat a lot of 4's down the court. You don't try to change your best player. You try to put players around him. I loved that pass from Felton to Aldridge last night as the trailer. Great play.

 

No, we agree he can. If he plays a ton of minutes.

 

It's quibbling I know (because Horford has been close) but even he's never crested 10 rebounds per game for a season. And when did the bar get lowered to 10? You said 20/12 in your initial post.

 

I think he can get 12 boards, but it sacrafices points. My opinion doesn't change. But I brought it down, because many of you thought that was impossible. Hell you guys think 10 boards is impossible; which I showed it was very much POSSIBLE. He had 22 games with 11+ boards and 15 of games with 12+ boards.

 

I've got a couple of questions for you then. Why doesn't he get 10+ rebounds per game and what is so magical about him pulling down two more boards per game?

 

I think the reason why he doesn't get 10 rebounds a game is because he isn't working hard to establish position. It could be the actual system "Maybe wanting him to leak out on the break" or it could be "He's not as interested in getting those boards".

I think it's very magical if he can get a double double. There is a level of intimidation a player of that caliber has on you. And if he and Camby average 10+ boards a game, then our rebounding is that much better. I want our team to be one of the best rebounding teams in the league. I take great pride in rebounding and defense. I love watching it and studying the effect of good D leading to better O.

 

I'd like 26/8 from LMA.

He's one of the better defensive big in the game and if we can get this kind of scoring out of him we'd be a contender.

 

I'd go so far as to say I'd prefer 26/6 to 22/8 and I'd prefer 22/8 to 20/12. The more effectively LMA gets the ball on offense the better we do. Last season, there was a very strong correlation to the number of FTA's LMA had to our win percentage -- he doesn't get as many FTAs from rebounding as from posting up and focusing on his offensive game.

 

Ah of course, the "he's not working hard enough" routine.

You think there's actually a single player in the league that prepares for LMA any differently if he's averaging 22/10 vs. 22/8? the mostly negligible difference between 8 and 10 is something for fantasy basketball dorks to argue over, not teams and players that actually have to play somebody. If you want this team to be great at rebounding and "take great pride in it" (whatever that means?) then you should hope they draft or acquire a guy to pair with him that hoovers boards up and let's LMA focus on being a multi-faceted offensive threat and a guy who can guard 4 (and occasionally 5) positions.

 

Well it seems that you came at me first saying "He wasn't capable of getting 10+ boards" and wanted me to provide proof he's capable. Then I did. Then you say he can't put up 12 boards, then I gave you that. Now you ask why isn't he doing it now and so what?!?!

Sorry Nik, but I think you got this all wrong. Ask the other PF/Cs that get +10 boards a game how meanlingless it is and they will laugh at your face. There is a reason why there are very few players ever able to get 20/10+. I guess we can just "meh" them for their efforts. It is meaningless.

 

I said it's improbable given his age, experience and track record and I'm not talking about getting 10+ in a game or even a string of games, I'm talking about averaging that for the whole year. He's just not that guy. And frankly it irritates me when I hear the "he's not working hard enough" complaint. Nobody worked harder on this team last year.

 

Hey maybe you guys are all right. Maybe it is better that he concentrate mainly on scoring. Maybe just the fan of rebounding in me is getting the better of me. You maybe right as well. I will concede this thread.

 

There were SIX players in the entire NBA that averaged double digit rebounds last year. That is a difficult feat and is a stupid goal to expect out of our best offensive player. I want Aldridge to be shooting the ball, not leaving the post to get in position for a putback off a Crawford miss. Right now we are one of the elite rebounding teams in the NBA, it wouldn’t do any good having extra rebounds from our PF. If our team is grabing most of the opponents misses why does it matter which of our player gets the stat?

Wallace and Camby are two of the best rebounding players at their positions, if we have a third player get even more rebounds it would be a bad thing; because that means we are missing a lot more shots and scoring far less points. Having a ton of offensive rebounds isn't necessarly good, it means your team misses a ton of shots. You win NBA games by scoring more then the opposition, not fantazing about your 3rd best rebounding big man hitting some arbitrary metric.

 

Well at least you're smarter then Dave Smith!

 

I think this league defines superstars by scoring rather than rebounding. So if you want Aldridge to get superstar calls - he needs to score more rather than rebound more.

 

I will say however, there are brief stretches it could be important for Aldridge to rebound, say we play him at center alongside Batum at the 4. Well then it would be critical Aldridge crash the glass. But during normal lineups where Gerald and Camby play extensive minutes, LaMarcus doesn't need to pay any special attention towards rebounding.

 

*record scratch*

 

This coming summer, Aldridge needs to get with his trainer in Texas to add 15 pounds of solid muscle to his fanny. Freeland could join him.