Jumpin' Jesus on a pogo stick! Do any of you really think this conversation will bear any meaningful fruit? It might as well be a debate amongst teenaged campaign volunteers before a primary election...
To be fair LMA has never been put in this position until now, and having an elite PG makes all the difference. IMO a minor improvement with Aldridge, ie some more post moves, pnr chemistry with Lillard, and continued work on his jumper would making the starting unit (along with a legit center) capable of beating any in the league. Give it time. Don't you have some Wookee hair to trim!?
So there was this excuse on batum and his shooting wrist. Find out Aldridge has had a nagging ankle injury since a week after te all-star break. And low and behold; that's when his performance took a dip. But hey it's Aldridge and we need to ask for more and give batum a break! Holy jebus!!!
Does anyone really think that Aldridge will improve much more at 27? I think this is the player that we can expect to see from here on out.
He's always been a slow developer, so yes. Not to mention he's the type of player to last 7 more years in the NBA. Right now his post moves leave lots to be desired, with much room to improve, so why not?
If he's still with the team I certainly hope he can recapture some of what he was doing last season and the year before. But suddenly adding to any of the areas he's deficient in is probably wishful thinking.
Ummm ... no. It would be nice to see him get back to the way he was playing last year and the year before however. I'm not sure what the deal is this year, but his shooting percentages are flat out appalling for a 7 footer. If he's going to be this perimeter oriented, then he needs to find a way to add another 3 feet to his range and start bombing three pointers.
That's how I see it. The only thing that seems to change on a day to day basis is his effort level. He brings his "A" game when he plays teams from Texas, or when he gets pissed off. Otherwise he kinda floats and gets 18-20 points and 5-8 boards. That's how he is. I think I also showed earlier in the thread that his numbers have dropped a bit since the All-Star game. I think Aldridge pushes hard to get the AS nod and then coasts a bit. I think LMA could be one of the best players in the league, I'm talking top five, if he had the killer instinct that Durant or Kobe has, but he really doesn't. I don't think he's even like Sheed, because Wallace was one of the fiercest competitors on our team. He wanted to win, and he was so in the game that he would get pissed off and thrown out. I WISH Aldridge was more like Sheed.
Funny you bring Sheed up. I thought Sheed's big issue was he never lived up to his potential and was not willing to play and bang down low. I actually thought what people are saying about Aldrdige had a familiar tone to it in this is what used to be posted about Sheed.
Sheed's biggest problem was that he never wanted to be "the man". He wanted to be the ultimate team player, but he never wanted any pressure on his shoulders. Aldridge wants to be the man, wants the pressure, but doesn't quite seem to have everything it takes to truly fill that role.
Where did you show that? I'll try: Since only season-long PER is available, let's simulate it for smaller time increments with Hoopsstats efficiency points (which use the same old NBA.com formula). Aldridge (entire Blazers team) was 22.3 (106.3) pre-All Star break and 17.9 (120.6) post-All Star break. So he has dropped from .209784 to .148425 of team statistics, a 29% drop. His minutes were 38.0 (243.3) pre-All Star break and 35.8 (240.0) post-All Star break. Thus he has dropped from .156286 to .149167 of team minutes, a 5% drop. So his per-minute decrease in his proportion of team stats is 26%. His per-game decrease is 29%. Team eff http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/portland-trail-blazers/team/stats/13/25/1 Aldridge eff http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketbal...ers/players/lamarcus-aldridge/stats/13/25/352
In LaMarcus' defense I think if the playoffs were a more realistic goal I think he'd be playing harder right now. As it is, I'm pretty sure he's a smart guy and understands the team's situation. Now that brings up a whole other question about what makes him tick and his motor, but that's probably best left alone for right now.
Dirk improved late in his career. He was a great player before but he took it to a new level in 2011. Aldridge is capable of that if he wants to.
The playoffs ARE realistic if he plays well. If he played hard and beat the Hornets, we'd be 30-32, ONE loss behind Utah and LA. As it is, we are two losses behind them. All the team ahead of in the standings in the playoff race have to come to the Rose Garden. Utah comes twice. We're 2-1 vs Houston. It's right there for the taking. If he cared and played well, we could absolutely make it. 8 of our last 12 are at home.
