I think Andre was a big part of Lamarcus' emergence last year. Andre forced the ball to him and "made" him be the man. Then there's the 100+ times Andre hooked up Lamarcus on alley-oops. Anyone else concerned that LA may actually take a step back now that Andre isn't here?
I don't like the alley oops as much because they come too easy. I would really like to see Aldridge work really hard to get inside position. If he does that, then he will create huge mismatch problems, plus get the other team's bigs in foul trouble. As dazzling as the alley oops are to watch, I want to win games. The sooner Aldridge is dominating the post, the sooner we become contenders.
Miller had the second most shots per game at 11.2 last year. I'd like to see LMA get three more shot attempts, and Felton 3 less, than watching Miller pound the ball and then fire up some brick. Miller was very solid, but had way too many shots late in the clock last year for my liking. Hopefully the more uptempo emphasis will mean less flaming bag passes and shots.
If we do end up running more then last year, then that imo will effect LMA's stats more. But that is a good thing because the stats for Wallace , Batum, Wes and Wallace should go up .
Andre was certainly a factor in getting LA plenty of easy buckets, but Aldridge's emergence came mostly because he finally admitted he had some deficiencies in his game, then worked on them in the off-season.
Felton played better (more assists) playing with Amare than Miller did with Aldridge. I think Aldridge will do just fine with Felton.
I don't think anybody is saying Aldridge should do nothing but put on an alley-oop parade. But he's going to have to work hard enough as it is with this motley crew around him. I'd like to see him (and the team) get as many "easy" buckets as possible.
You're right. I guess I just want it a little hard for Aldridge, so he gains that inside experience. I was a little dissapointed against Utah cause he kept getting pushed out. In hoping it was just rust. He needs to work hard and get their bigs in foul trouble.
Portland will score more then last year and we will run more then last year which means that LA will get easier hoops since he is very fast for his position. Also teams can't double down on him since Felton is more of a threat from the outside then Andre was.
I don't think you are getting my point. Remember the argument that our players stood and watched Roy for most the game because he was so money? Many argued that it effected the development of players like Aldridge or Batum because they waited until they got the pop from Roy. It was an easy shot for Aldridge because most the time he was wide open. But if Aldridge worked inside and started becoming money down there, it was a harder score, but it would be better for the team in the long run. Getting other players in foul trouble is more important than dunking off an alley oop. So you can sigh all you want. I don't want Aldridge to feel that he needs those alley oops or would rather have an alley oop instead if working hard in the post.
The best thing about all those alley oops is it forces the defense to play "honest" and not front Aldridge and deny the entry pass when he's trying to post up. Front him and Miller would lob it over the top for the easy two. Play behind him and he'll seal you off to receive the entry pass with deep post position. LaMarcus' huge improvement was two fold last season. It was a combination of playing with a smart PG who knew when where and how to get him the ball, and all the work Aldridge did during the off season so he could score at will, with a variety of moves, once he got the ball in the low post. Felton's not bad, but I don't think he's as good at creating easy low post baskets for his big men as Miller was/is. I wouldn't put too much stock in Felton's numbers in NY. D'Antoni's system tends to inflate offensive stats by as much as 30% compared to Nate's last in the league offensive pace. If we pick up the pace this year, Aldridge will score more - everybody will. That's the point of picking up the pace. BNM
I don't understand your logic. Every team needs easy points. The lobs that Aldridge gets made it harder for defenses because they had to watch for the lob and not overplay him. Plus, they win more games.
Learning how to score when that doesn't come easy. I don't understand why this is confusing. It's like the saying of a rich kid that hasn't worked a day in his life all the sudden loses his money and has to get a job. It's much harder than the person that works all his life. The more you learn to do things hard, the easier the hard things are to overcome. This is why I'm not a huge fan of run and gun teams. When post season rolls around and that style is much harder to come by, those teams fail.
They didn't just rely on the alley-oop, and that's what you seem to be implying. They took the easy two when they could. Otherwise, Aldridge created his own shot. You're saying they're better off ditching the easy baskets and making everything hard. I understand what you're saying....but it just makes no sense basketball wise.
I'm just taking it like the approach with sheed Wallace. The dude was capable of dominating the post but fell in love with the easy outside shot. I don't want it easy for Aldridge because he needs to be tough. We need that for the post season. Those alley oops will be very hard to come by in post season. I want him used to pounding the post.
I do agree that we wont see as many lobs with LA this year. Let's be honest, Dre' was ridiculously good at that. And it was a big part of their offense. At one point last season, LA was 2nd in the league in Dunks (I don't know where he ended up). However, one thing that we will see MORE of is Felton and LA in the pick-and-roll/pick-and-pop. It was tough to run a whole lot of that with Dre' because he couldn't knock down jumpers. In the end, I think LA's production will be down a little this year, but not because he's not being fed lobs. The Blazers simply have more offensive weapons, and aren't going to ask LA to play 40 minutes/game. Probably somewhere around 19/20 PPG and 8 rebounds.
