Lamarcus Aldridge is a top PF
by chea on Feb 18, 2010 2:05 AM PST
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LA is an ALL STAR
So I posed a question in an earlier post "Do you think Lamarcus Aldridge is a top 5 PF in the league" I read thru all the responses and was impressed with some of the work and opinions that people had to offer.
Love him or hate him, LA is a top PF in this league. The people that he was compared to are #1 options for the most part on their respective teams. LA is our #2 behind Roy. If LA were to be our #1 option then he would undoubtedly be a top 5 in the league and an ALL STAR.
We Blazer fans should be really very lucky that he is on our team. I sure would hate to watch a game and see LA tear the Blazer's apart.
Here is my picks in order of the best PF's
3. Chris Bosh
5. Lamarcus Aldridge
Recs to - Al Horford, Josh Smith, David Lee, Pau Gasol
I will be interested to see how much more developed LA will become on D with Marcus Camby on the team now.
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what about
Garnett and Duncan?
I also don’t think you’ll find anyone outside of Portland who will put Gasol behind LA at this point in time.
I'm going on a Dave boycott until AK1984 is brought back.
"Did they really expect me to bow down to Jesus?!?" ~Sophia
"At first glance, I saw a fairly unremarkable penis." ~Sophia on Greg Oden
Right
And as painful as it is to admit, right now Zach is ahead of Aldridge as well. He has really put it together.
Give Blake the MLE in 2010!
Farewell to #2 and #25, good luck to you!
#7 #10 #52 -- #5 & #88 are back!
A lot of this is simply about cutoffs
While I disagree with the OP’s rankings and think that the clear top 3 right now are Dirk, Bosh, and Gasol (probably in that order), how far down the list should we have to go before we stop calling a guy a “top PF”. Really if you made a list of players at any position besides PG right now, it would get pretty dicey a lot sooner than you’d think. For example, if you listed the top 6 or 7 SGs, you have Kobe, Wade, Roy, Joe Johnson, and Iguodala as a top 5, but who after that? Kevin Martin? OJ Mayo? Vince Carter? They may not be far down the list, but I would in no way call any of them “top SGs” (maybe Martin, and probably not Iggy, but whatever) just because they happen to be the 6th or 7th best guy in the league given that there’s such a huge dropoff between them and the top 4.
Same with LA. Him arguably being in the top 7 or 8 PFs is great and all, but there’s still a huge gap between him and the true elites, so describing him as a “top PF” based on that reasoning doesn’t make sense to me.
#52
Duncan is a center, in most eyes at least. Which I think is fair.
I might take Pau Gasol over any other PF in the league, though. He’s certainly way better than LMA. Sorry.
You can measure skill and talent with your eyes, but productivity is shown through statistics.
I can't believe that anyone would say that Zach is better than
LMA! Randolph has had a stable season at Memphis while LMA has not. LMA has had to deal with being a 3rd option at the start of the season and then having to deal with losing a frontcourt starter in Oden. Then we had a switch in PGs and LMA was returned to being the 2nd option on Offense. Since mid-January LMA has had to be the 1st option and he has thrived. Aldridge is still the more complete player but Zach is the better rebounder and thats that.
Top 5 PFs
1) Dirk Nowitski
2) Pau Gasol
3) Tim Duncan
4) Chris Bosh
5) none really as it could be anyone from Josh Smith, Kevin Garnett, LMA, Boozer, Amare Stoudamire, Zach Randolph and Al Jefferson.
If Gasol isn't the best PF in the league
he’s the second best. Him not being in the top 5 is craziness. His effect on that Lakers team has been every bit of what K*be’s is.
Take away Kobe, the Lakers are still an elite team.
Take away Gasol and the Lakers are back to being a .500 team.
I think part of this has to do with the Lakers’ weaknesses in the frontcourt, not a measure of Gasol being so much better than Kobe.
LMA looks good because he plays Gasol very well.
In Bayless I trust.
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You could make a case
for just about any ordering of Duncan, Bosh, Nowitzki, and Gasol as the top four. After that, there is a second tier, led by Amare (if he played defense, he’d be first tier).
I think it is overstating a little to say Pau’s importance is as great as Kobe’s, but it’s not far off. When Pau was out, they still had an excellent record. Missing either, they would still be top 3 in the West, with both they are truly elite.
Give Blake the MLE in 2010!
Farewell to #2 and #25, good luck to you!
#7 #10 #52 -- #5 & #88 are back!
agreed
Pau Gasol is one helluva PF. If Aldridge had a better handle, grabbed 2 more rebounds, and shot 8 or more fts a game, then we could have this conversation
Come on you gotta listen unto me,
lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be. ~Johnny Cash
by HurraKane212 on Feb 18, 2010 7:48 AM PST up reply actions
this
The people that he was compared to are #1 options for the most part on their respective teams. LA is our #2 behind Roy.
If LA is the number 2 option on this team, we are in trouble. Oden scores more efficiently, passes just as well and commands more attention than LA. LA is a good third option on a top team, but when Greg comes back, he jumps right up the food chain.
Also, the hallmark of a #2 is that they step into the #1 role when “the man” goes down. When Roy has been hurt, it’s been Andre that’s done the work. LA has a lot of work to do if he wants to be the second option on this team. He is 3rd behind Brandon and Andre right now, and when Greg comes back he will drop to 4th.
look at the last few weeks without Roy
LMA was the #1 option on this team, what did he do?
20.5ppg
9.4rpg
2.25apg
49.4%FG
71%FT
5FTA per game
17.2FGA per game
These are not bad stats, he shows he has the ability at least to maintain his FG% while upping his shot attempts. The main increase we have seen with LMA without Roy is more foul shots, he is avg 5 FT attempts per game without Roy, he was around 3 per game for the season. Here’s the thing though, this type of production should be possible while playing with Roy, he is only taking 17 shots per game right now, Roy only takes about that many, so there is plenty of shots to go around. LMA just is not aggressive enough to take them when the team has a healthy Roy.
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i agree there have been pretty promising signs
the LMA I saw against Phoenix was great, and it looks like he may be regaining some of the assertiveness that made him such a force down the stretch last year. Like you say, though, he needs to do this consistently when Roy is in the game.
part of this is miller looking for lamarcus off penetration/kickout
that said, aldridge has small forward game when compared to elite power forwards. the last game was one of the few where he seemed willing to take it to the hoop.
i am hoping, that when plays in lineup with camby at the high post, aldridge will do more screen/rolls with miller.
That's really it, though. He has to be #1 option with people missing to put up those #'s.
NBA players, in general, will experience a stat bump in absence of other star players around them. While it is nice that his production went up, he is doing it with much of the offensive options missing around him and has grandpa Howard next to him as a rebounder. In essence, more touches and more rebounds to be had. Also, I am not sure he should get more touches when Roy and Oden are much more efficient players. Better approach would be to become more efficient than increase in # of shots…shoot 3’s instead of 20 footers, draw more fouls, etc.
I am much more impressed with what guys like Gasol and Horford puts up, with elite scorers and rebounders for their position throughout the team. Put Gasol or Horford in LA’s situation, and I guarantee they produce at higher (and more efficeint) clip than Aldridge. Gasol would likely be 24-12 range and Horford likely 20-14.
"I think he’s been doing some good things. I think he’s been doing some good things. He’s had to play a lot of minutes lately with Blake being out. I think he’s been doing some good things." -Nate McMillan
My honest opinion
I think if you watched Gasol and Horford for 82 games a year, like I am sure you do in LA’s case, you would find the holes in their games more readily. I’m not saying LA doesn’t have holes but the guy has been producing pretty efficiently for a guy with no center and no all-star in the line-up. He faces defenses designed to stop him and keeps putting up solid numbers and setting the pace for the Blazers. I think everyone would love to see that carry over into the fourth quarter but the guy has been solid all year in a turbulent season.
Witness the OKC game. He took a lot of heat for that game and the whole team didn’t really show up for that one but the guy put up 15 and 15 with 4 assists (thereabouts) against basically a triangle and 2 defense designed to keep him from getting the ball where he likes it and forcing other guys to be the scorers.
PTB Liberation Day - 2/10/04
by tssbro on Feb 18, 2010 9:27 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
I agree that With a healthy Roy and Oden
LMA should be the 3rd option, however I believe he could easily avg 18-20 ppg with only 15 shots a game. He already shoots around 50% from the field, which on 15 shots a game, would net him 15 ppg, and in his current 5 FTA per game and he would be at 18-20ppg easy, the problem is he is not aggressive enough to do it for a whole season.
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Those asst numbers are solid.
LMA is damn good.
Just needs to work on killer instinct and get his shot blocking back up to 1.5 ish a game.
OSU '06
Trade for Gerald Wallace!!
I find it difficult to believe that someone has the impression that LA hasn't stood up ....
… or hasn’t been the number 1 option for Portland since Brandon went out.
Clarence, It's better to have a gun and not need it, then need a gun and not have it.
in some ways it would have been interesting if blazers had signed millsap
without the jazz matching. he is much more of true power forward than aldridge though shorter. his midrange jumper is really coming around, and he has incredible number of low post moves.
actually like him better than boozer, as he is much better defender and takes care of ball better. sloan is finally finding him more minutes and its starting to show up in boxscore last few games.
though i know folx here won’t think so, he has more upside than aldridge for a championship looking team. just thought he would have been an incredible pickup for the blazers last season.
Aldridge is by no means #5 in the NBA
Dirk, Stoudamire, Boozer, and Bosh of course are in front of him. You also omitted Pau Gasol and Tim Duncan, and as much as most Blazer fans hate to admit it Zach Randolph is a better player than Aldridge now too.
However, Aldridge IS better than Garnett (more from KG regressing tham LMA improving but still). Also ALdridge has picked up his game lately, but I need to see more than half a season of that to really boost him in my rankings.
Often, it appears that's all you can say.
You are either a man of few words …
… or one of limited vocabulary.
You can disagree with the OP’s position. I don’t agree with it (but then I think ranking players is a useless exercise). Is it necessary to take the extra step of being dismissive of it?
Clarence, It's better to have a gun and not need it, then need a gun and not have it.
well where's the OP?
He kind of needs to defend his (interesting) views.
Personally, here are my thoughts on the subject.
Dirk is and has been the best PF since 2007, with Gasol sneaking in for some ‘shine time’. Gasol’s on the list because he’s getting these numbers (17 & 11) as the 2nd option on the best team in the league. Garnett shouldn’t even be considered, because of his production (14 & 7.5, down from 19 & 9), but mostly his lack of intensity and importance to this team. I argue that Rondo, Pierce and Allen are all more important to their team’s success than Garnett. Bosh has been better than solid, albeit on a not-so-good team, but they’re in the playoffs at the top of 5 teams competing for the last 4 spots in the East. Boozer’s doing good work and the Jazz have been a surprise as of late, so he’s there.
1. Dirk Nowitzki
2. Chris Bosh
3. Pau Gasol
4. Carlos Boozer
5. Amare Stoudemire
6. Zach Randolph
7. LaMarcus Aldridge
8. Josh Smith
Tim Duncan’s a center now, and I challenge anybody to argue that he hasn’t been since David Robinson retired.
As I said above, I'm not really into trying to rank guys.
I would opine that the first three guys on your list are the only ones of those you listed that I would even consider trading LA for.
Clarence, It's better to have a gun and not need it, then need a gun and not have it.
hello aaron
Heartbroken..... Our goats have escaped.
by Starvin' Marvin on Feb 18, 2010 1:15 PM PST reply actions
lol
I'm going on a Dave boycott until AK1984 is brought back.
"Did they really expect me to bow down to Jesus?!?" ~Sophia
"At first glance, I saw a fairly unremarkable penis." ~Sophia on Greg Oden
by Philthyanimal on Feb 18, 2010 8:58 PM PST up reply actions
sorry man, maybe the tenth best
dirk, bosh, boozer, gasol, randolph, amare, duncan, josh smith, are all better, david lee has inflated stats and is even worse on defense than lamarcus. KG if chris webber circa 2005. i give LS the 9th best power forward, although bill simmons would put him at 23rd.
If LA can add more rebounding and mix in some more cuts to the basket with andre miller’s passing, then he’s top 5. give him some time, but also, expect a more from lamarcus, we gave him a lot of money
id rather have al horford too
he plays out of postition at center, if he played with a good center hed be a top 5 or top 6 power forward
cash rules everything around me CREAM get tha money dolla dolla bill yaaaaallll
by staceyaugmon4HOF on Feb 18, 2010 2:24 PM PST up reply actions
I didn't read the other post ...
but you’re ranking LMA too high …
Dirk
Bosh
Boozer
Stoudemire
Gasol
David West
Tim Duncan
I’d put LMA on about the same level as Josh Smith, Rashard Lewis, and David Lee. I think he’s passed KG simply because his body is giving out.
LMA has all-world skills, but it’s the killer instinct that he lacks.
"These are dreams that we have." --Rudolfo Fernandez
David West
stands out like a sore thumb on that list, he is not as good as the rest, and LMA is clearly better than him.
Ben II Blazersedge.com || New to Blazers' Edge?
false
David West is a much better player than LMA
by Theghostofsomeonefamous on Feb 22, 2010 7:15 AM PST up reply actions
David West w/o Paul is very pedestrian
His career numbers without Paul playing along side him, and feeding him point blank shots is much more telling of his true ability.
Stats w/o Paul
17ppg
7.3rpg
46% FG%
Those numbers are just since Paul has come into the league, since before that West was pretty much a rookie or second year player and didn’t come into his own yet. Meanwhile LMA is producing just as much or more while taking fewer shots and hitting more.
LMA stats this year
17.2ppg
8.2rpg
50%FG%
LMA stats last year
18.1ppg
7.5rpg
48%
Then look at his stats w/o Roy over the same time
20.6ppg
8.6rebs
48% FG%
That is why LMA is better than West. West can’t carry his team when Paul goes down, while LMA can step up his production without hurting his fg%.
Ben II Blazersedge.com || New to Blazers' Edge?
no david west
if he’s there, Zach Randolph is there waaaay ahead of him. David West 2 years ago… yeah. But his team is terrible, worse than the Grizzlies
Value to the team
Offensively I would put LMA in the top 10 with his outside shot and occasional flashes of offense inside. Defensively I would put LMA towards the middle of the pack. He has the physical makeup to be a top defender in the league, but seems to lack the intelligence, intensity, and the desire to excel in that area.
Another way to evaluate a player is to ask “what value does he bring to the team?” In other words, if you were to remove LMA from an otherwise healthy blazer roster, how would that impact wins/losses?
Honestly, I don’t think his removal would impact wins/losses much at all. Other players would absorb the scoring responsibility (like when Randolph left) and the Blazers could fill his spot with a more defensive minded player like Ju Howard and probably not miss a beat.
I don’t think you could say the same if you removed Dirk, Bosh, Stoudamire, Gasol, David West, Duncan, and David Lee and whoever else I’m missing.
Since LMA seems to favor outside, he really needs to...
Hone his abilities into the Nowitzki/Rasheed mold.
Work on that 3 pointer, drive/dish skills and he will be deadly.
OSU '06
Trade for Gerald Wallace!!
Aldridge will also go no where but up
His fundamental skills and natural athleticism could put him near a Duncan level, with his best years coming in about 6-10. If he is stuck as #2 or 3 option he might never get enough touches to reach all-star scoring, and playing a PF behind Pryz/Oden might not get amazing rebound numbers either, but if a team was to build around him? easily a all-star caliber player (again in a few years development).
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