FanShot

LaMarcus Aldridge: Top 8 Player of 2015

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L-Train came in at number 8, one spot ahead of Kevin Love. with Dwill, CP3, D. Rose, Blake Griff-monster, Dwight Howard, Lebron, and Durantula (at #1) rounding out the top 9: -------------------------------------------------------------- "The difference between Aldridge and Love is that Aldridge plays both ends. He's not as productive with the counting stats as Love, nor is he quite as good as a rebounder. But as a coach, you can do so much more with Aldridge's skill set than with Love's. On offense, you can give him the ball in the low post and trust that he'll make the right reads. That's something you can't do with Love. Aldridge is also a phenomenal pick and pop player, especially in Portland's system. As a coach, you can't build an offense around Love yet. You can around Aldridge. Defensively, Aldridge is worlds better. He can guard power forwards and centers equally. He's phenomenal as a pick and roll defender. He has the length needed to contest shots. He's quick enough to hedge on guards trying to turn the corner. He's strong enough to stop guys in the post. Aldridge helps force misses. I get that Aldridge isn't as efficient as Love, but remember that efficiency doesn't exist in a vacuum. A team run through Aldridge on both ends of the floor last year finished with 48 wins. He had help, of course, but he was the cornerstone to everything they did on both ends of the floor." --PRADA