I dont even know what to say at this point. Its just dreadful watching aldridge play. Saying Aldridge is playing "bad" is like saying the Thunder need "work" on defense. When Ric Bucher was asked by harlow about the Blazers playoff chances, he seemed very very iffy at best. Maybe tahts cause he watches oden and aldridge seeing how he lives on the west coast. Aldridge cant even finish around the rim if thats possible. Just playing miserable ball. Oden needs to go back to the bench. Joel is by far the better center at the moment. I hope this changes by 2010. Then again, i guess we are just happy odens not hurt. In closing, all we heard was how we have the BIG 3. Well right now, Roy is the only one close to living up to that. Aldridge is getting outplayed by frye at times which basically means hes playing Dleague type basketball. Amazingly, i see Aldridge always laughing on the bench about something....maybe its the shot he just missed that ended up in the stands. ya think?
Pffff... Aldridge has a plethora of offensive moves and has been pretty aggressive on the boards as of late. He's just in a slump. And if you didn't notice, he is DT'd EVERY TIME he catches the ball down low...kicks it out and we usually have a wide open shot. More of a matter of opponents picking their poison.
We could have a big-2 down the road. Missing an entire year, Oden has a TON of rust to shake off. LaMarcus just isn't that good to be apart of a big-3. When it comes to crunch time/dependable player in tight situation, LaMarcus folds faster than a lawn chair. I'm definitely not an Aldridge fan.
exactly fez, if im the blazers i make a run at bosh or someone else in 2010. Im beginning to think we never go anywhere with aldridge including playoffs. And when you really think about it....hes a big reason we seem to be stuck in the upper lotto. He never dominates consistantly. he might have a few nice games but never double doubles or close to them night in or night out. i know im gonna get kiled for this but its the truth. He has regressed. We can do much better.
I'm glad I'm not alone on not being a fan of him...You take Brandon and LA. It's like the star quarterback and the kid that sits down and picks flowers during the game.
LaMarcus is tissue soft and doesn't have a quick first step like most elite PFs have. He never fights for deep post position these days either. That being said, Frye makes LMA look like Tim Duncan in terms of toughness.
we be lucky to he milsap at this point. least he has guts and plays to win. aldridge is busy thinking about harlow.
LMA' s shot was horrible again tonight. No doubt. His slump may reach another week or another month. But then he will break out of it. We know what he can do. But hopefully it will end soon. Rudy is also in a mini slump. Frye is not playing well either, and we need Webster back in the starting line up soon. Having both Batum and Greg in the starting line up is not what we need right now. Eventually yes, but right now there is not enough O.
i realized tonight why we dont win more games. I look at our roster and always think to myself, how is this not a top 6 team in the west? The answer.... its because I see aldridge like other blazer fans do....as a top PF. It took a while but i now know thats our problem. We cannot count on his play every night like other teams can out of their PF. He is billed as our 2nd best player which is now a MAJOR problem. That is teh difference betwen us and contending teams, we need a PF who can bang. Aldridge simply cant. When hes not hitting jumper, hes worthless. Frye and him are teh same player in a sense. Only difference is aldridge makes it look a little nicer.
It really wouldn't matter if Oden didn't look so shitty right now. Aldridge is not an inside guy. He's an outside guy and his outside shot isn't falling. It's that simple. We were counting on Oden to be a monster inside and Aldridge to hit his mid-range j's consistently. Neither is happening. I can't decide if it's McMillain's fault that Oden has been so ineffective, or if it's Oden. I really feel like Greg needs to assert himself more. He's so much bigger and stronger than everyone else, I don't see why he can't get position and then go hard to the hole. At the same time, I don't like how the Blazers are playing with Oden. It's like they're not sure what to do exactly. I know it's only been a few games, and I'm hoping it's just a short term chemistry issue, but I have not been impressed. If it wasn't for Joel we'd really be up the creek right now.
