I realize he certainly could've played if we were in the playoff chase. We were definitely tanking at that point, but the truth is he did go in for hip surgery a month after shutting it down. You don't go in for hip surgery if you are playing 100%. Truth is he averaged 24pts/51%fg/7.5rebs per game when playing with Hickson pre-surgery. Portland won't be a very good defensive team with Hickson and Aldridge up front, but I think they can coexist enough for us to have a winning record. (Certainly better than past awkward big man tandems like Randolph/Rahim.)
With the bad coach we're about to hire, Aldridge's defense will be wasted, so Aldridge will figure, what's the point, why try. We will play only offense. So Hickson, who drives to the basket all the time, will look better than Aldridge.
