Aldridge in Simmons' new column

by jc burg on Apr 16, 2008 2:49 PM PDT

The Sports Guy included this tidbit in his column today on the NBA MVP.

39. LaMarcus Aldridge Note to Portland fans: You were right, I was wrong. He's a keeper. Even if he reminds me so much of Charles Smith that I wouldn't be surprised if they lost a key playoff game some day because LeBron blocked his layup three straight times at the buzzer.

I thought that was appropriate, especially after he said that we should have tried to trade him at the deadline. But I was a little surprised and disappointed that Roy wasn't in his top 25. Maybe it's the Blazers colored glasses, but isn't Roy one of the 25 most valuable players in the league? It's a great column, though, and even though I still believe Paul is the MVP, he makes a great case for KG.

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Roy probably was in the top 25,

He just wasn’t mentioned.

If all I'm remembered for is being a good basketball player, then I've done a bad job with the rest of my life. - Isiah Thomas

by JTDuck22 on Apr 16, 2008 2:52 PM PDT reply reply 0 recs

Nope

Simmons listed his entire top 25.

Personally, I think Brandon is just outside the 25 BEST players in the NBA but just inside the 25 MOST VALUABLE players. I wonder where Simmons has him ranked- probobly just outside the top 25, which I agree is too low, but I’m not furious about it or anything.

Boomshakalaka

by jksnake99 on Apr 16, 2008 2:54 PM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

Roy didn't make the list? Or am I missing something?

At least, I don’t see a write-up about him.

LOL @ Zach Randolph coming in at number 449

It's a WAR, and we're bringin' the BOOM!

by prezofdeath on Apr 16, 2008 2:53 PM PDT reply reply 0 recs

Yep

I had to shoot him a friendly email and ask where he was on the list….....

by iDea on Apr 16, 2008 3:01 PM PDT reply reply 0 recs

me too

I sent him one just to ask where he would have had Roy. Again, I’m sure it was among the group today, somewhere between Aldridge’s 39 and the top 25 he lists, but since I put him in the top 25, I had to wonder.

by jc burg on Apr 16, 2008 5:15 PM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

Roy should be about 15-16

David West is more valuable than Roy? WELCOME TO DREAMLAND.

by leeroyjenkins on Apr 16, 2008 3:02 PM PDT reply reply 0 recs

well

he is averaging 20 and 9 for the #2 team in the conference. Is it possible to be an allstar and still be the most underrated player in the league? In the case of David West, I think the answer is yes.

Boomshakalaka

by jksnake99 on Apr 16, 2008 3:07 PM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

West is a solid player

I wasn’t trying to diminish his season. I’m a huge David West fan. But c’mon…

You have to draft someone tomorrow. Your choices are B Roy and David West – who do you take?

by leeroyjenkins on Apr 16, 2008 3:09 PM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

good point.

existing roster excluded, you couldn’t possibly take West over Roy.

The poster formerly known as Obrich Kenobi

by you'vegottomakeyourfreethrows on Apr 16, 2008 3:13 PM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

Also if CP3 were on our team

LMA suddenly becomes a better version of David West and we’re the 4th seed in the West.

by leeroyjenkins on Apr 16, 2008 3:22 PM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

pretty good point Leeroy.

Can’t say I disagree.

Boomshakalaka

by jksnake99 on Apr 16, 2008 4:22 PM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

I knew you would come around Bill

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they lost a key playoff game some day because LeBron blocked his layup three straight times at the buzzer.”

The Blazers vs Cavs in the playoffs would be the finals. So what Bill is saying is that the Blazers are the best team in the western conference.

by Sabonis4Ever on Apr 16, 2008 3:20 PM PDT reply reply 0 recs

those were my

thoughts exactly

TheOdenator

by TheOdenator on Apr 16, 2008 3:20 PM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

bill simmons

he made that sounds sarcastic

Oden...Aldridge...Roy.....THE REAL BIG THREE

by CroRupt on Apr 16, 2008 3:25 PM PDT reply reply 0 recs

He actually gives the Blazers more props...

under #13 Amare Stoudamire, he goes onto say that our waiving of Miles is the second of two successful microfracture surgeries

The poster formerly known as Obrich Kenobi

by you'vegottomakeyourfreethrows on Apr 16, 2008 3:25 PM PDT reply reply 0 recs

You coulden't get

Obrich Kenobi….that sucks.

by Sabonis4Ever on Apr 16, 2008 3:27 PM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

The Full Darius Miles Quote, Because It's Amusing

(B) We finally have a microfracture success story! In fact, we have two if you include Portland getting the gift of wiping Darius Miles off its cap because of a microfracture surgery that either went horribly wrong or failed because Nate McMillan kept hitting Miles’ knee with a two-by-four.
(Important note: The Celtics were forced to carry Reggie Lewis on their cap for three years after he passed away, as well as Vin Baker for three years after everyone agreed he was showing up drunk for practices. Somehow, Portland is allowed to wipe Miles off its cap because of a career-ending knee injury? Whaaaaaaaaaat? I’m starting the conspiracy theory that David Stern needed the Blazers to be good because he wanted Seattle to have a good team close by after Clay Bennett hijacked the Sonics, so he rigged the 2007 lottery and made this insane Miles decision. Now the Blazers are going to have the best young team in the league and they’ll be a gazillion dollars under the cap after the 2009-09 season. Really, this is his finest work since he forced MJ to play baseball for 18 months as a pseudo-suspension. The man is a genius.)

by jcaris on Apr 16, 2008 7:24 PM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

Pretty funny

Except that I thought he didn’t give KP the recognition he deserves for everything he’s done. Plus that’s been in the CBA for a while I think. Then again, hopefully we really do have a second microfracture success story in Greg Oden.

by jc burg on Apr 16, 2008 8:31 PM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

ha ha ha

That’s right Sports Guy. We were right. We are smart, you… not so much.

Aldridge is only going to get better, plus he’ll have Oden to help out. Oh, and Roy and Rudy. We have a very promising future.

I’m glad LMA is getting some props from writers, he really deserves it.

We will never see another player quite like John Stockton. Never.

by doublezeroduck on Apr 16, 2008 3:40 PM PDT reply reply 0 recs

Does http://www.82games.com/0708/07PHI6D.HTM show that Iguodola is… average? Certainly not top 15 material.

by rmcdougall on Apr 16, 2008 5:08 PM PDT reply reply 0 recs

Iggy is top 15 in my opinion.

Iguodola is the East’s version of Roy, but more athletic and a better defender right now. He also led the East’s version of the Blazers to the playoffs.

If all I'm remembered for is being a good basketball player, then I've done a bad job with the rest of my life. - Isiah Thomas

by JTDuck22 on Apr 17, 2008 11:29 AM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

I didn't want to add a new fanpost right away

So I’ll put this link here. Kelly Dwyer in his Games to pay attention to post on Ball Don’t Lie said this today. Brilliant stuff, really.

Portland at Phoenix
One last chance to call Portland a “lottery team” before they win 11 championships in 13 years.

by jc burg on Apr 16, 2008 5:41 PM PDT reply reply 0 recs

I heart

Ball Don’t Lie

by iDea on Apr 17, 2008 6:59 AM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

KG is Lame

I just finished the article. What a homer. He’s giving the MVP to KG because of the work of three or four guys put together. Besides, if people are going to say Doc Rivers is coach of the year, then he gets the credit and no credit for KG. I sure hope KG and Cowpie Bryant don’t win the award.

Ask not what Blazers Edge can do for you; ask what you can do for Blazers Edge.

by tominhawaii on Apr 16, 2008 11:33 PM PDT reply reply 0 recs

I have listened to a lot of MVP debates and COY debates as well. I found it interesting

how much love Byron Scott was getting from everyone the other night on NBA Fastbreak . They were talking about what he did with the Nets and now the Hornets. What they failed to bring up is that he didn’t do anything with the Nets until Kidd came aboard. And the reason he is doing so well this year in NO is because Chris Paul is playing out of his mind. CP was injured for a good chunk of last year and as a result NO suffered. I am not saying he is a BAD coach, although the players in Jersey said that he was not a good coach and that the true brains behind the operation was Eddie Jordan and that after he left Scott was often lazy and ill-prepared. That may or may not be true.

I just found it funny that these experts did not mention any of this.

A great point guard makes a decent coach look great. It is hard to know how much praise to dole out to the coach versus the players for a team’s success.

I think Nate needs to be mentioned for COY for having our record in the WC with the youngest team in the league.

Phil Jackson did a great job this year with a young team and losing key players to injury.

Mo Cheeks while never a great X and O coach has to be commended.

What do ya think?

My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.

Jim Valvano

by oderiferous emanations 74 on Apr 16, 2008 11:49 PM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

COY near impossible to judge

And the vague criteria for who the voters pick changes every year… all ‘dat said, Nate HAS to at least get a ‘mention’ for the award.

Taking the 3rd youngest team ever to a .500 record, 13 game win streak, winning nearly 3 times as much as the 1st and 2nd youngest teams ever, making young guys all vying for their big first non-rookie contracts to accept being role players, winning so many close games, and turning a once shameful franchise around by being a no nonsense coach. He deserves some mention at the berry leest.

Nate gets my vote. Byron Scott has gained steam as the voters pick because no one is sure who to vote for, and the Hornets did better than most of the pundits expected—I think most fans expected them to be at least good, so I can’t say it’s a huge surprise that they are in the playoffs. Challenging for #1 in the West is a surprise, but 50-something wins isn’t.

I agree that good players can make any coach look like a genius. Philly is a great example, unless Cheeks somehow became a coach. The way I see it, they got good young players who surprised people and played hard. In the East, that equals a .500 record. In the West, that equals less than the Sacramento Kings.

A .500 record in the West is a heaping spoonful better than a .500 record in the East, and should be treated as such. If our 13 game win streak was later in the year, Nate would be in the voter’s mind more. It’s just like when a good movie comes out in the spring instead of the fall Oscar season; it can be forgotten when the new stories get pimped and while it isn’t fair it’s just how people are. They forget things.

Even in our 21 win season, Nate had us win more games than we should of. Man that was an awful team.

Mortimer

by Mortimer on Apr 17, 2008 4:01 AM PDT up reply reply 0 recs

MVP

I thought the point is most valuable? Look at the Blazers record without Roy this season. I don’t think we got a single win. We’re a sub-25 win team without Brandon Roy for this whole season, I think.

by robrun2 on Apr 17, 2008 12:15 PM PDT reply reply 0 recs