LaMarcus Aldridge vs. Rasheed Wallace

In light of LaMarcus Aldridge making the all-star game in his 6th season at age 26, you can start to draw some comparisons with Rasheed who also made his first all-star game in his 6th season at the age of 26.

Comparing the numbers shows that LMA is better than Sheed in almost every important statistic except blocks.

http://www.basketball-reference.com...m=0&p1=aldrila01&y1=2012&p2=wallara01&y2=2001

Rk Player Season Age G GS MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS

1 LaMarcus Aldridge 2011-12 26 26 26 36.8 9.4 18.5 .509 0.0 0.2 .200 4.4 5.6 .788 3.0 5.5 8.5 2.8 1.1 0.8 2.2 3.0 23.3
2 Rasheed Wallace 2000-01 26 77 75 38.2 7.7 15.3 .501 0.7 2.1 .321 3.2 4.2 .766 1.9 5.9 7.8 2.8 1.2 1.8 2.1 2.7 19.2

If you look at the previous season, you see an even bigger divide

http://www.basketball-reference.com...m=0&p1=aldrila01&y1=2011&p2=wallara01&y2=2000

Rk Player Season Age G GS MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
1 LaMarcus Aldridge 2010-11 25 81 81 39.6 8.7 17.5 .500 0.0 0.3 .174 4.3 5.5 .791 3.4 5.3 8.8 2.1 1.0 1.2 1.9 2.7 21.8
2 Rasheed Wallace 1999-00 25 81 77 35.1 6.7 12.9 .519 0.1 0.6 .160 2.9 4.1 .704 1.6 5.4 7.0 1.8 1.1 1.3 1.9 2.7 16.4

So what do you think?

I think Rasheed had more talent, but LMA has shown he is the better basketball player and will go down as probably the second/third best Blazer ever.

 

Over and over during the game, Sheed would guard a guard. He would come out 20 feet, bend over to get down to his level, and guard him closely. Aldridge cannot do this. He lacks the mobility to keep up, and the elastic body to bend down and stay close.

Sheed and Walton were the two greatest big man defenders I ever saw. Payton, only in his 3 peak years, was another one who stayed glued to his man like a spider or helicopter hovering over the poor guy. Olajuwon had a small forward's coordination in a center's body. Batum has a live body but is shy. Aldridge the defender works at it but has the usual stiff center's body. He's workmanlike, I'll say that for him. He shows up.

 

I disagree. Sheed may have looked more effortless on defense than Aldridge, but Aldridge still gets comparable results. That was the problem with Sheed. Everything came so easy for him that he never put in the effort to reach his potential. He never worked on his game during the off season, came into camp out of shape and then loafed his way through most games. When he was focused, which was rare (on the game, not the refs), we saw glimpses of how great he could have been, but that was all we ever saw, glimpses.

Aldridge has worked extremely hard during the off season to bulk up, get stronger and improve his low post game. As a result, he's much better on both offense (we saw that start to emerge last year) and on defense (we're seeing that this year). Sheed had the better tools, but never worked hard at getting better.

BNM

 

Whether or not he worked during the summer, it's still true that Sheed effectively guarded point guards and Aldridge can't. Sheed would always bother the dribbling guard, distracting him from setting up a play, and sometimes even steal the ball.

Then he'd be needed inside, so he'd run to guard a big man, straighten up into full height, and instantly convert to a mode of blocking shots, rebounding, bodying up someone weighing 260. He could change instantly between guarding big and little men. Aldridge can't.

 

LaMarcus wants to be great. Rasheed only cared that his paycheck was great.

 

What evidence do you have of any great ambition from Aldridge? I perceive the opposite. For example, I just read some article a couple of hours ago on how he doesn't read about basketball and loves his privacy from the world of basketball. If he wanted to be great, we'd see a ferocious driving force. It's just the opposite. The Oregonian loves him because he's a quiet teddy bear.

 

He works his ass off in the off-season.

 

So Aldridge has a Garnett/Sheed-like ferocity because he works out in the summer.

Similarly, Boob said that summer workouts are the reason to justify the statement that Aldridge is a better player than Sheed.

Do you guys have any reason to offer which uses how he actually plays on the court during the season?

My son goes to the gym every day, including the summer, and anything he does (including girls, school, and seeing me) takes second priority to his daily schedule for mixing nutrient powders in the mixer at certain times all day. Does this make him a better basketball player than Sheed or Aldridge?

I certainly think that Aldridge has special talent, but not special energy or ambition. In fact, that's his whole problem, in addition to McMillan being his coach.

 

They are very comparable in their physical attributes, but they do have a couple of notable differences. Wallace has relatively small hands for a guy that size and was unable to palm/control the ball like LA can... KG is another similar body type with smallish hands. This directly relates to effectiveness on the low block. Based on my recollections of a prime time Sheed, I'd say he could jump higher and was a little more athletic overall. I agree with jlperk that Aldridge is a little stiff comparatively. Because Aldridge is someone you can run an offense through, I'd give him the edge on Offense, but Wallace was the superior player on the other end of the court.

I'm glad both of these PFs were/are Trailblazers. Both were/are smart and durable players that overall bring a pretty comparable level of talent to the court. Aldridge probably gets the edge from me as he doesn't have the detracting temper issue.

STOMP

 

Wait wait wait.... Lamarcus made the all star team?

 

You seem to be equating ambition with ferocity. They are not the same. Working out during the summer is all about improvment. You want to get better, you put in the work.

And if Sheed was so fucking ferocious, while did he flat out refuse to be "the man". Even though he was clearly the most talented player on his teams, he absolutely would not accept the role of leading his team on the court. He refused to be the number one option on offense, and often let his temper and anger at the officials take him out of the game (both mentally and due to ejections and suspensions). Again, you seem to be confusing ferocity with an uncontrollable temper that often hurt his team. Personally, I'm glad Aldridge doesn't own the NBA record for technicals, get ejected from games and get suspended. How can a player help his team is he's not even allowed on the court?

No, that's not what I said. I said Aldridge's game has improved due to his off season work ethic. Sheed's didn't. He never reached his full potential because he never put in the work necessary to do so.

Statistically, Aldridge is already better than Sheed was at his best, and thanks to his off season work ethic, he has shown substantial improvement the last two seasons and will likely continue to improve.

Sheed never averaged 20ppg in his entire NBA career (career best 19.3ppg). Aldridge averaged 21.8ppg last season and is averaging 23.3ppg this season - in spite of his teams playing at a much slower pace.

Sheed's career best is 8.5rpg. While Aldridge isn't a great rebounder, he averaged 8.8rpg last season and is averaging 8.5rpg this season.

Sheed's career best PER was 20.9. Aldridge's PER last season was 21.5 and is currently 23.9.

Sheed's career best WS/48 = .180. Aldridge is currently at 0.218.

Sheed's Career best AST% = 12.9. Aldridge is currently at 14.7

And, Aldridge is impoving. Those are all career bests I listed for Sheed over a 15-year career. Aldridge is only in his 6th season and he's already topped Sheed's career bests, often multiple times. Aldridge is only in his 6th season and still improving. If the last two seasons are any indication, he has several more PER > 20 seasons ahead of him. He already has twice as many as Sheed had in 15 seasons. Aldridge is already better than Sheed was at his best, and his off season work ethic will help him continue to improve. Sheed could have been better. Aldridge is.

BNM

 

Its official now, LMA is an all-star !

 

Rasheed was often sitting in the locker room when games were on the line because he couldn't keep his mouth shut. The fact that LA is always out there makes him more valuable.

 

LaMarcus is the potential many wrongly saw in Sheed made real. For this reason alone, I can't call the this season and last complete wastes.

 

Just because you say it's true doesn't make it true. Sheed was a very good post defender, but was average as a help defender, and rarely (if ever) defended opposing PGs for any sustained period, outside of a few switches on pick and rolls.

 

It's pretty simple.

LaMarcus is what we thought Rasheed could be.

One worked hard to get there. The other one was content with not wanting to be the man.

 

Why are we comparing a max-contract player who wasn't a franchise player versus and less-than-max player who is a franchise player?

Wouldn't it make more sense to compare LMA with Walton, Roy, or Drexler? Rasheed was a neat little story in Portland, but his mouth and lack of leadership (remember nailing Boom-boom in the head with a ball and laughing? How about throwing a towel in Sabas' face during a game?) make him too polarizing to be put in the same conversation as LMA.

Rasheed was a sideshow, ended up with a career PER of 17.0.

He was Otis Thorpe with range, but also a bad attitude.

 

LA is the better player AND isn't an asshole....ftw.

Go Blazers

 

Sheed isn't an asshole either. He's a hothead, but he's not an asshole. He's probably less of an asshole than 90% of the NBA. He just never gave a shit what anybody but those close to him thought of him.

 

No, he was an asshole, as exhibited by his on-court behavior towards his teammates if nothing else.