Well the bottom line is he is pretty good and it will be hard to do better at this time. So I am not sure why we debate about him over and over and over......
You really haven't realized what this forum has become? Long ago? Most of the posters have 10K+ posts and are total blowhards looking for trolls like me.
I think it's Aldridge's rebounding that has improved more than anything this season . . . What I would like to know is what made him start rebounding for the first time in his career?
The addition of Hickson and the subtraction of McMillan. McMillan's system hid Aldridge's faults by having him act like a statue. Now that Hickson has shamed him into more activity, his deficiencies are more visible, like awful ball-handling.
Not really seeing how McMillan's system hid his faults, but I have no desire to discuss Nate any longer. But as for LMA ball handling skills......yes they are poor. Most post men are. Unless you are Dirk, almost every big man's handles suck. None of them should dribble in traffic. This is why they are useless in crunch time. I wish i could remember who said it, but yesterday I heard an interesting stat. it was either about Blake Griffin or Dwight Howard (I think Howard) but in their 5 losses in March, that player has only attempted 5 total shots in the 4th quarter. There could be different reasons for this, but for the second best player on their team.....to only attempt 5 shots in 5 quarters? I think teams in general go away from their bigs in crunch time because of the potential for turnovers. When they put the ball on the floor, small guys slap it away.
You are right. "Useless" was a poor choice of words. But the reality is big guys are easier to defend in crunch time because of their lack of ball handling skills. The PG's and wings tend to take over. The fact that LMA is not a great ball handler is not a big deal to me. Because most post players aren't. Doesn't mean they can't catch and shoot and be effective, but once defenses start packing it in, and the refs stop calling fouls on the "reach in'....bigs should stop dribbling because that ball is getting poked away.
I disagree about Lee/Love/Griffin. Whatever. I agree it's a pretty week era for PF's though. 10 years ago you had Brand, Dirk, Duncan, KG, Jermaine, Pau, Webber, Marion, Randolph, Sheed....
Yeah, shitty timing. In the current NBA the 2000 version of Damon Stoudamire might have been worth a damned. He still wouldn't have been able to finish at the rim, but he would have had a lot of open 18 footers, which he was pretty good at. Those Shaqobe Lakers teams might not have been quite so dominant either if they played now. They got eaten alive even back then by quick PG's.
Bottom Line: If LA is the #1 PF in the league, and he can't even get his team into the playoffs... what does that say?
That the dumbest position to make your leading scorer is PF. The PF and C exist to rebound and defend, the wings to score, and the PG to facilitate. A PF who thinks of nothing but scoring sinks the ship.
