It's nice that this piece came out. I sure hope Quick turns a new leaf. Positive press will do us good.
http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/i...ldridge_is_gone_and_now_the_trail_blazer.html LaMarcus Aldridge is gone, and now the Trail Blazers can exhale their relief I posted this elsewhere but it's time to move on and start anew. Debuting the Damian Lillard Era. If it wasn't already, it certainly is now. This roster, while not as accomplished, seems to have players that will work harder, be more tough-minded and easily not so sensitive. To the Future!
I really like Lillard's personality and I agree that he's better suited to being a "leader" than Aldridge, but none of it will mean shit if he can't substantially improve his defense. But hope remains I guess?
He always was the leader. Thought that was pretty clear when he was the one in the huddles, not flying seperately, actively engaging his teammates. For a 9 year vet and 29 year old, LMA sure was a sour puss about Dame.
LA's sensitivity always rubbed me the wrong way and kept him from being the on the Blazer Mt Rushmore for me personally. (Walton, Lucas, Petrie, Drexler, Porter) He was certainly talented but much like his Draft postition, always seemed like a #2 and not a leader at all. It's disappointing that him leaving likely cost us some of the other players I really admired like Rolo and Wes. In the end, this is probably best as even as good as that team was, I didn't see them getting passed the 2nd round. Rebuilds suck but this one seems to have a head start with Dame and some lottery talent already in the fold. Go Blazers!!
I agree. It seemed, based on his attitude, that he only wanted to win if he was THE guy. He didn't want to be 2 or 3, but number 1. Or else he didn't care much for it. I will say, his performance vs Houston was unbelievable and we are worse off without him, but as noted by someone else 'it's a shame that one achilles pop destroyed a playoff team'... I'd say, this team a) wasn't as close as we were led to believe if one injury does that to a team and b) we were much further from vontention than we would like to believe. The Cavs were completely fucked by missing two all stars and the grizzlies played pretty well despite being less than healthy vs the Wsrriors.
I think Lillard could be a top 5 MVP candidate next year if we play better then .500. I could see him getting 25 and 8 whole leading a bunch of guys like him; who play and work hard, and who are humble guys. I honestly think if we had another borderline allstar we'd be just as good as last year. Too bad there's nothing left
But that is where a LEADER comes in. When the "leader" (LMA) begins to mail it in, so does the rest of the team.
Lillard works his tail off (even if it hasn't translated to defense) and if he sets that tone, it will trickle down to the rest of the team. This could be a scrappy, hard nosed, Oakland attitude group young players. I like that.
exactly. If we add a couple other guys we'll have good depth and athleticism. I think we might beat some good teams by being taken for granted and going out and playing harder faster, and scrappier then everyone else.
Just read the article. I didn't think I could hate Aldridge more. I was wrong. But Dame is an awesome guy! So happy to have him as the franchise player.
If this team takes on Dame's work ethic and attitude versus what LA brought to the table and Nic seemed to embrace, then I'm all for it. Sorry to lose Wes but glad he got paid. Sad that Rolo ended up with the Knicks. Time to embrace the new. Meyers and CJ are emerging potential and Vonleh has a ton of skills with very little experience. Mason is young but can already contribute, Gerald is a high-flyer with grit and Aminu is an all-over-the-court irritant on defense. If nothing else, Stotts HAS to play the young guys now.
http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/i...ldridge_is_gone_and_now_the_trail_blazer.html Feel like this needs its own thread
The only other thread I saw was bout BlazerEdge's report on Neil Olshey and PR spin This is separate from that
I guess Mags made one Not the right title for the thread imo. Article was more about Aldridge than Lillard imo. Feel like Quick had been saving that piece to publish for years. Totally eviscerated him.
Dame revealed his character in a single play during the Memphis series. CJ is hot, killing the Griz. He dribbles the ball up court and passes it to Dame. It's Dame's team, Dame should get the ball. Instead of taking his man off the dribble or looking to pass it elsewhere, he passes the ball right back to CJ without any hesitation. Perhaps it was only in my mind, but to me he was saying, "It's not about my ego, I don't have anything to prove. You're hot, kill him!" CJ went around his man and scored. Lillard is the bomb, and yes CJ is pretty awesome, too. its.about.winning.