Whats wrong with LaMarcus?

[Norm2953]

Don't forget Rudy, Rudy, Rudy![/quote]

I'm not that concerned about Rudi for he will play behind
Roy assuming he comes over.

In November 2008 we will have Greg Oden as our starting center.
What more will we need?

[mojomarc]

I'm not that concerned about Rudi for he will play behind
Roy assuming he comes over.

I think it pretty likely (say, 60%) that our starting lineup next season will have Roy at PG and Rudy at SG.

[Goldbum]

^^^ wow I would say closer to 20% at the Allstar break and less than 5% to start the season. Rudy will be a good player but Manu was older than Rudy when he came in the L and he didn't start year one.

[mojomarc]

^^^ wow I would say closer to 20% at the Allstar break and less than 5% to start the season. Rudy will be a good player but Manu was older than Rudy when he came in the L and he didn't start year one.

That's because he was injured most of the time and playing behind Steve Smith. Rudy's competition at the moment is Steve Blake.

[PDXKnight]

Put oden next to Aldridge and all of his troubles will go away. Oden will crated more open shots for Aldridge and hopefully he can take advantage of that.

[UGotThrilled]

maybe he becomes amazing, maybe he doesnt. Truth is, we will need to wait and see. Fortunately, he seems to have an amazing work ethic, so he will continue to get better. I am excited for his future. Call me an optimist, but I think he is going to be one heck of a player, as well as the third best player on this team

[kumquat]

come on ppls, he's still learning. Remember he's only started this season really , as last season was injury interrupted. Give LMA a chance, we know he's the hardest working blazer, he's still young and i'm sure if nate asks him, he will play physical. Just remember, next year, he will be playing next to Oden and his game will complements Oden's game perfectly

[BlackMamba]

well, of course this season has been exciting because a lot of different things, but this team is waaaaaaaaaay to young, and unless you're a really really really good player like roy you will have some tough nights (like martell and aldridge have had).

so, i just hope this guys are working their hearts out and trying to outcome their weaknesses.

it's time to show some attitude, some winning attitude!

[tsherkin]

Oh and for the record:
LaMarcus 2nd season stats Vs. Bosh 2nd season.

LMA 18.1PPG 7.5RPG 1.2BPG 50.7%FG 34.2MPG
BOSH 16.8PPG 8.9RPG 1.4BPG 47.1%FG 37.2MPG

The Raptors record 33-49
The Blazers thus far 22-14

I know I started this thread by calling Aldridge out but saying he's horrible is just plain silly.

Ah, but let's not be disingenuous here, shall we?

In Bosh's second season, he was posting a rebound rate of 13.5, which is better than LMA's present RbR of 12.9. Not MASSIVELY better, but still superior.

More significantly, Bosh was posting .539 FTA/FGA and a DrawF of 19.9%.

LMA's presently posting .304 FTA/FGA on a tepid and uninspiring DrawF of 12.3%.

There was a rather dramatic difference in the level of aggression evidenced by these two players. LMA sucks at getting to the line and that has never been true of Bosh, invalidating that comparison.

LMA's made some progress and has promise as a player but comparing him to Bosh is a bad move, even second year to second year.

[BigOrangeBalls]

At the beginning of the season Aldridge was the All-Star and Roy was the bust.

Now Roy is the All-Star and Aldridge is the bust.

What to do?



It's just a slump. It happens to everyone. Aldride will be fine.

[SinceClyde]

Honestly, anyone claiming Aldridge is horrible is either joking (which I hope is the case) or proving to the rest of us that they're not one of the smartest kids on the block.

Oh ya, and comparing Aldridge to Bosh is actually a really good comparison, not even on the same level as some other fans. I mean Toronto fans, who I mostly respect the lot of them, thought Bargnani was the next Dirk. Bosh and LMA play similar games, and it was their own HS coach that said Aldridge would be the better player than Bosh.

[Charlie78]

Tsherkin, dont forget to take into account the quality of competition in the east. Who were the best pfs in boshs second year. Jermaine, and Im not sure but was rasheed there yet, occasionally maybe he goes up against wallace or chandler when he played for chi.? So eight games out of his 60 or so he played aginst the east he had to play a decent defensive big man. Aldridge on the other hand has to do it way more, especially considering he plays center alot of the game so he is constantly going up aginst someone who is tougher and more physical. I am not sure Bosh would have faired as well had he had to play aginst duncan, jefferson, martin, boozer, and yao on a night in night out basis, and thats only naming a few I am sure there are alot more examples. The level of competition needs to be taken into account. Not to say bosh isnt clearly better with his post game. He is, and this is something aldridge needs to make a conscious effort to do. I am the first one to criticize him when his first shot is a 15 foot jumper. He needs to live on the block and if he takes some lumps and we lose some games I am okay with that. But the west is so much tougher than the east is and its not even close.

[candy for lunch]

Please trade him. He has shown me nothing that proves he is a future starting PF on a championship team. Terrible D, terrible rebounding, the guy is just bad.

I agree completely. Just imagine how good our team would be right now with Bargnani or Thomas

[mojomarc]

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I agree completely. Just imagine how good our team would be right now with Bargnani or Thomas

Nah--if you make that trade, it is only because Randy Foye will be the best player out of that draft

[BlzrsExplosion]

LMA is a streaky shooter. He was last year. He is this year. When he's on he's ON though. In any given game I figure he has the best chance to score 30 points. There's also a chance he'll shoot 1 for 10 from the field though. This is why I felt people had inflated predictions for LMA's scoring average on the season. Wasn't there wild speculation that LMA would be a 20 and 10 guy THIS year? That seemed a little outrageous to me. He's due to drop 30 on somebody soon though...maybe tonight on the Nets....

[trentsdad]

He is young and he is going to be inconsistent, it can be frustrating but
he will improve.....by the way Bosh has been tearing up everyone he sees lately

[DaVoiceMaster]

The guy is doing just fine.

[mojomarc]

The guy is doing just fine.

It's amazing how much better he looks when he's not on the same court with Bosh.

[Goldbum]

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Ah, but let's not be disingenuous here, shall we?

In Bosh's second season, he was posting a rebound rate of 13.5, which is better than LMA's present RbR of 12.9. Not MASSIVELY better, but still superior.

More significantly, Bosh was posting .539 FTA/FGA and a DrawF of 19.9%.

LMA's presently posting .304 FTA/FGA on a tepid and uninspiring DrawF of 12.3%.

There was a rather dramatic difference in the level of aggression evidenced by these two players. LMA sucks at getting to the line and that has never been true of Bosh, invalidating that comparison.

LMA's made some progress and has promise as a player but comparing him to Bosh is a bad move, even second year to second year.

You know I really respect you as a poster but I don't think that the statistics you use here say a whole lot. These sort of obscure statistics only tell a small part of the story. For example Bosh is only slightly better as a rebounder in this example, but does so on an inferior team against inferior competition. You also state that Bosh had a much better FTA/FGA and a drastically better DrawF%, however LMA still scored more points. So what if Bosh was better at getting to the line, Aldridge is better at scoring from the field. He averages more points thats what that means. LaMarcus plays for a better team, shoots a higher percentage from the field, and shoots less FT's. To me what that says is he forces the issue less and does a better job of playing within our very efficient offense. Maybe if Bosh played with a player like B.Roy he would have forced less shots hopeing to draw the foul, and maybe if he played for a team with as effective a zone D as ours he would have missed out on a couple of those rebounds.
The bottom line is LaMarcus has been playing soft, however his skill level, motor, size, and athletic ability are on par with Bosh's at the same stage in their careers.

[Tim Lehrbach]

Those stats by Tyler show what kind of players those two are, but you're right that they don't say what Tyler meant them too--that Bosh is a definitely more effective player than Aldridge at the same stage in each one's acarrerr. Aldridge is on the rise, not as a player who can do what Bosh can, but as a player who can do what we will need him to do once we've got Oden to do the things that he can't.