I disagree. Aldridge is a much better defender and scorer. Already proven that. The two things Zach has over Aldridge is rebounding and better post scoring.
Hickson has the best PER on the Blazers. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/POR/2013.html Hickson is having an historic season. http://bkref.com/tiny/2M5gH Aldridge-lovers on this board want to trade Hickson, our most consistent player, at the midseason deadline because they stupidly say he's inconsistent. Or they want to start Leonard, who will never have Hickson's PER of 20. Or they want to dump Hickson so we can sign some free agent this summer half as good as him. Did I mention that Aldridge doesn't lead the team in PER?
Don't want to trade either, would like Leonard to become an All Star center, and Hickson would be amazing off the bench.
Hickson is quietly becoming indispensably to us imo. A lot of what he doesn't doesn't specifically show up in the box score either.
He's not quiet to me. From the moment he got here, he has made fireworks on the floor. He plays the energy way that a good PF plays, correcting teammates' errors and causing opponents' errors. His teammates depend upon him to make their plays work, while snail slouch Aldridge depends upon those same teammates to make his own plays work. Hickson's nickname could be "Bail 'em out" because he bails out teammates' errors a couple dozen times per game while Aldridge hangs back. "Hang back." A good nickname for Aldridge or Batum, who imitates Aldridge's example.
That's not what you've been saying. Rasta proposes keeping the Big 4 and you go out of your way to propose dumping Hickson, too. http://sportstwo.com/threads/225241-Official-D-League-Thread?p=2908376&viewfull=1#post2908376
This talk is as if you assume Hickson is actually a good defender. From what I've seen; he is hardly one. The thing he is truly good at is rebounding. Other than that; he is a below average scorer in the post and a very below average defender. He is terrible at the pick and roll; and unlike Aldridge he can't pick and pop worth a shit.
They obviously don't occupy the same roles, but you can't ignore the stats. http://bkref.com/tiny/CnOwW
Per 36 Minutes LA PER 19.4, 0.515 TS%, 0.464 eFG%, 26.9 USG%, 7.7 TRB, 0.110 WS/48 Hickson PER 19.9, 0.573 TS%, 0.555 eFG%, 18.6 USG%, 13.1 TRB, 0.149 WS/48
Hickson's 4 years younger as well. I think we should shop one of them. Aldridge obviously has more market value.
If we trade LMA, I'm not digging our offensive imbalance with Hickson and Leonard up front. Only three positions are legit scoring threats. Babbitt and Hickson perhaps? ...And also, damn you for making me think about starting Babbitt! Basically, we'd need a scoring center back. LMA for Marc Gasol?
Too bad nobody in Memphis would... and other than also offering Leonard or Hickson (can we do a S&T with Hickson?), what can you do?
Yes maybe this year; but lets not forget that Hickson was dumped because his lackluster motivation. Also, Aldridge's advanced numbers the previous two season were way more impressive. And since Aldridge is known to always have slower first half of seasons; we should expect a bigger statistical number midway through the season.
Not a problem.... http://www.basketball-reference.com...m=0&p1=hicksjj01&y1=2012&p2=aldrila01&y2=2012 http://www.basketball-reference.com...m=0&p1=hicksjj01&y1=2011&p2=aldrila01&y2=2011 And let's wait until after the season end to see just how exactly they pair
The defensive advanced metric stats for last year for Hickson are surprisingly better than I thought they would be. I did not look at the year before last year's yet...
A new way to diagnose psychological motivation. If only Sigmund Freud had had Basketball-Reference.com. If you go back one more year, Hickson outshot Aldridge almost exactly the same percentages as this year, and also outrebounded him per minute just like this year. And the age difference was and is big. Anyway, when you speculate at why Hickson failed in a brief half-season with the incompetent Kings talent evaluators, you shouldn't state your wild guess as firm fact.
Hickson played great last night. I get the feeling LMA will be out a while so we will get a good sense of how he responds with a bigger role. I doubt they will run the offense though him, but we will see.
