Seen somewhere on Bleacher Report (Shown to me by Flipboard, I do not actually go there) - but LMA is at a rare statistical position - having USG% > 27 and TOV% < 5 - making him pretty much an anomaly. If you search Basketball Reference for it, there were only 50 players in the NBA's history that achieved this and only 5 or so with 10+ games. One suspects that it will come down as the season moves on, but so far, he is basically a can't lose option on offense. If he touches the ball, something good (or at least, no mistake) is going to happen.
Wow pretty impressive. There are many that will try and downplay it, but when Aldridge is in the game, our team does well
High usage, low turnovers. He unloads the ball fast unless conditions are perfect, since he lacks the wherewithal to try to do much. He has limited moves. "If he touches the ball, something good (or at least, no mistake) is going to happen." Should be, "If he touches the ball, no mistake is going to happen (not necessarily something good)." http://bkref.com/tiny/9m3jV It's never lasted more than 21 games through a whole season, so this won't last.
Aldridge, at 12 games, and Amare at 3 games are the only starters on that list. Most of the rest are garbage time end of the bench type guys. Yeah, Jack Haley did it for 20 games, but he averaged less than 4 MPG in those 20 games. Aldridge has always been a single digit TOV% player. Of our top 12 players, Aldridge is the only one with a TOV% less than 11. Last year, his USG% was 29.8 with a TOV% of 7.2. That's damn impressive for a guy who starts and plays big minutes and was our No. 1 option on offense. Since he's learned to pass out of the double team, he has a AST/TOV ratio (currently 2.33) that would make some PGs jealous. Aldridge doesn't commit a lot of offensive fouls, he doesn't travel and he doesn't throw the ball away. He recognizes when the double team is coming, where it's coming from and does a good job finding the open man. BNM
In bad situations most big men who wind up with the ball are forced to create something, usually off the dribble or by passing it out. There are 4 seconds and a guy taller than you is standing between you and the basket---DO SOMETHING. This, unsurprisingly, often leads to turnovers. When you are the marquis player this situation happens a lot. Aldridge knows he can always, no matter virtually any situation, just turn, rise, and take a shot that goes in at least 40% of the time. And even if it doesn't it'll bounce on the rim and maybe something else will come. Rather than do something that results in a bad pass, fumbled handle or a shot clock violation, he gets the ball on the rim. It's fair to criticize him as overly reliant on the jump shot, but you have to acknowledge at the same time that every jump shot he takes is a potential turnover that doesn't happen. When you have a team that leads the league in rebounding, it's not a bad option at times to just get it on the rim and see what happens.
He's very Dirk-like in that way. Dirk is now in his 15th straight season of high USG% and low TOV%. He hasn't had a double digit TOV% since his second season and is at 8.7 for his career. With the shot clock winding down, he can always get the one-legged fade away off over anyone. Guys like Love and Griffin are double digit TOV% guys and even Tim Duncan turns the ball over a lot. It's a rare skill set that allows a guy to have such a high USG% combined with such a low TOV%. BNM
