Is Aldridge now the face of the franchise?

He doesn't get a lot of love from the refs in the paint even though he gets banged a lot. At least last night he kept with it. See that's the thing. If you play inside, you are inside to get rebounds. If you drift outside, not so much. He kept playing inside last night even though all the shots weren't going down. Look at his rebound numbers from that.

 

By default.

 

He's been the best player on the team this season and we're a .667 team.

 

Now those of us that knew the difference between Aldrich and Aldridge look silly in this thread instead of 1/2 asleep Shooter.

 

The thing is, as much as I love Roy it makes so much more sense for this team for Aldridge to be the go to guy and Roy to be the side kick. Not only because of the way their games are built but also because it would make the rest of the team so much better. The offense would flow better.

Now with that said do I think either of them (or Nate for that matter) can handle it being like that .... Im not so sure.

 

It will be interesting to see if Aldridge's relatively lesser production (compared to the talent people perceive in him) was at least in part due to lesser opportunity. If the team makes a concerted effort to feed him, and Aldridge adjusts to being the go-to guy, we'll get a chance to see, perhaps, what his ceiling is.

 

If he can keep going to the rack, and if he can finally start converting some of those hooks in the lane, he's got a chance to really start upping his scoring numbers and if that happens then the refs will start to give him some respect.

Some people don't blossom until circumstances thrust them into the role of alpha dog, maybe LMA will be one of those players (maybe Nic too?) we'll see I guess.

 

He's already stepping up his game this season. It will be interesting to see what happens now that Roy might be injured.

 

The history of the league is, when players go down, often times players step up to reap their rewards and finally show what they can do. That is why when facing a team down a player, I often feel those games are more dangerous because a team will let down, and then get slapped back into reality when the lesser known players step up. Most of the players are in the league because they are damn good basketball players.

 

Honestly, I think this squad might actually become a running team, if so Aldridge and Batum are going to flourish (and Rudy, Armon, Miller, Camby ...). The real question is what happens when they face competition that can impose a slower half-court game and forces Aldridge into dealing with double teams ... I'm less optimistic about their success rate in that area without a productive Roy.

 

New 'face' of Blazer franchise.

 

I mix of that and this ...

 

Sweet. I love the optimism! Seriously though, that was pretty funny.

 

So, what are we (Blazers) now? A team with a has-been (Roy), a never-was (Oden), and a never-will-be (Aldridge). Man, that just sucks balls.

 

And for some of us here at S2:

 

hah! I like it!

 

Blaze is the face of the franchise.

 

Still a team of unfulfilled potential!

 

If Roy is aware of his limitations and develops a decent shot, he will not be a has-been.

Oden... OK, you got us there.

As for L.A., I was one of his biggest detractors, but I've watched all but 2 of the games this year, and he looks different. I don't know if it was Buck Williams or Camby's influence, but he definitely has the potential to be an All-Star, whereas before this year I figured he would always settle for being a PF that sat just inside the 3-point line. I'm encouraged.