Aldridge among the best post workers in the NBA?

[B-Roy]

We've all witnessed Aldridge's transition this year. At least from my eyes, he seems to be one of the best post players in the league. Now there's some stats that may back it up too. I took all the close shot stats from many of the premier post players in the NBA. These stats include the eFG%, attempt %, and assisted %.

Aldridge
39% attempted, .597 eFG, 40% assisted

Al Jefferson
38% attempted, .587 eFG, 53% assisted

Duncan
36% attempted, .649 eFG, 56% assisted

Howard
69% attempted, .622 eFG, 44% assisted

Gasol
45% attempted, .614 eFG, 52% assisted

Randolph
49% attempted, .625 eFG, 49% assisted

Scola
45% attempted, .580 eFG, 48% assisted

Boozer
45% attempted, .695 eFG, 66% assisted

What jumps out the most is the % of shots that are assisted for Aldridge. That means he's creating the largest % of his inside shots, compared to the other players. Despite that, hes putting up about the same eFG as the other players except for Boozer, who's shooting an amazing .695 eFG on close shots, although being heavily assisted on them. One thing that works against his argument is that less of his shots come from inside. (Although not significantly less)

Regardless, I just wanted to show people some quantifiable evidence that Aldridge's game has completely evolved him into one of the premier forwards in the league.

 

[Hey]

Does that mean LMA only takes 39% of his shots in the paint?

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Could you show where you got these? on 82games.com it shoes that Aldridge is only assisted on 30% of his close shots.

 

[B-Roy]

Could you show where you got these? on 82games.com it shoes that Aldridge is only assisted on 30% of his close shots.

I did use 82 games, and I used the total percentage of his inside shots.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Does that mean LMA only takes 39% of his shots in the paint?

Remember, this is for the entire season. For the first 7 weeks of the season, he was still the old LaMarcus. He's only been the new, improved version for the past 5 weeks.

Still, his inside shot attempts are up compared to last season (36%), and likely to keep increasing as long as he keeps playing like the new LaMarcus.

Also, as the OP mentioned, the majority of his inside shot attempts are unassisted - meaning he's creating his own shots in the post. This is a big change from last season (59% assisted on inside field goals) to this (40% assisted on inside field goals).

And, his FTA per game have increased from 3.9 to 5.6 - another indication that he's playing in the low post more.

BNM

 

[jlprk]

It has been long noted that McMillan doesn't produce assists as much as other coaches. I don't know whether stats confirm that, but it's true for his system.

 

[B-Roy]

It has been long noted that McMillan doesn't produce assists as much as other coaches. I don't know whether stats confirm that, but it's true for his system.

Well, you're wrong. Portland is tied for 10th in the league in assist %, which is the percentage of a team's possessions that ends in an assist.

http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/teamstats/_/sort/assistRatio

They might produce less raw assists because the players don't shoot as well, and they are a slow paced team, so they don't get as many possessions and shots.

 

[illmatic99]

http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/teamstats/_/sort/assistRatio

Interesting. We're 15th in offensive efficiency, and 15th in defensive efficiency. We've become the definition of mediocre.

 

[HailBlazers]

Not bad at all considering this depleted roster. Sure makes every game exciting!

 

[jlprk]

Just as I predicted, stats don't confirm the truth. Do not listen to their evil.

 

[mook]

Interesting. We're 15th in offensive efficiency, and 15th in defensive efficiency. We've become the definition of mediocre.

Which explains why we are a few games over .500.

But we really need to think of all these cumulative stats in terms of WR (with Roy) and AR (after Roy). This was a much, much less efficient team when we were trying to maintain a crippled Roy as the focus of the offense.

Almost every Blazer stat this year, both team-based and individual-based, has to be looked at as the averaging out of two very, very different teams.

 

[STOMP]

Typically when they dump it down to him in the post he then waits for everyone to clear out so he can go at his man one on one, so there is no assist. Similarly Brandon's top of the key Iso's weren't assisted buckets either. They usually get their assists when they're moving the ball, but it's great to have a go to guy who can get theirs vs most anyone with a little spacing.

STOMP

 

[illmatic99]

Sheed was effective as hell in the post, but he never consistently showed the fire and intensity that LA is these days (except when Wallace was called for Ts; he'd get in the post and torch his defender immediately afterward). If we can get Roy to be somewhat effective for us going forward as a primary perimeter player, LA will only improve with lesser defensive attention.

 

[B-Roy]

Just as I predicted, stats don't confirm the truth. Do not listen to their evil.

You mean yours? Ok.

 

[mook]

Aldridge is the most complete low post offensive player in the game right now.

Zbo is arguably a better scorer, but a much worse passer. Howard is a better dunker, but the rest of his arsenal is pretty limited. Amare is awesome at pick-and-roll and is a similar caliber of shooter, but doesn't really have a great back-to-basket game. Griffin is a more crazy-good athlete, but his bag of tricks and back-to-basket game is easier to contain by longer defenders.

Aldridge does the traditional post up, finish on the lob, tip ins.... you put a big on him and he can go outside on the pick-and-pop, you put a small on him and he'll abuse you in the post. You double him and he'll pass it out quickly. He mostly goes right in the post, but if you overplay he's got a decent scoop shot. And he always has the turnaround fade if nothing else is open. If the offense is running correctly around him, he can get a decent shot or force a doubleteam virtually every play. If he's got a weakness, it's the inability to put the ball on the floor for more than a couple of dribbles.

The guy has practically every offensive tool you could want in a post player. Plus the ability to outrun 95% of the PF/C's in the game to establish early position.

If he continues to play at this level for a few more years, he's a candidate for the greatest Blazer ever.

 

[RoyToy]

Aldridge is the most complete low post offensive player in the game right now.

I'd probably go with Gasol

 

[mook]

I'd probably go with Gasol

Dang. Forgot about him. You may be right there.

But you have to admit it's close.

 

[RoyToy]

Very close