But I think the idea of “Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis” holds as true for player development as it does for social development. LMA put a lot of energy into his post game last year, and having his shot wobble a bit is natural. How many times did he spin for the pick and pop and wonder if he was not being aggressive enough in the post?

This year, it’s pretty clear he’s reached a level of comfort where he is not having to think as much about whether he should be spinning to or from the hoop. He makes the call and goes for it, and his ability to finish has gone up both ways.

so it’s legit to talk about the defense Kurt deals with vs the defense Aldridge deals with.

But to totally move away from the question of who is the better shooter in a vacuum and go to real game time… if our guards could make an open jumper, LA might never get doubled. I’m still not sure why people leave Kurt so open all the time. So long as you’re reliably converting over 50%, that’s pretty much a lock that you have to guard the guy. I’d leave any number of guards open at the perimeter open even before I’d leave Kurt open for that 16 footer and the trey ball is supposed to be a better shot than a long two usually.

So yeah, sure. He’s getting freebies. But there are a lot of players in the NBA who don’t make those “freebies” as reliably and I’m not sure LaMarcus does much better even when wide open. Kurt’s a role player on the team and he’s found a skill that he’s especially good at to be useful when he’s on the court. If some of our other role players were as tuned into their strengths and weaknesses, they might play with a little more purpose….