Aldridge an uncommonly good passer

[Minstrel]

The stats of LaMarcus Aldridge this season are nearly identical to his 2007-08 campaign. Some of the similarities are sort of startling: his field goal makes and attempts are the same to the tenth decimal place.

But we are interested in more than Aldridge's curious replication tendencies. Despite a rabidly interested fan base he remains relatively misunderstood in Rip City. Often labeled as soft because he has a jumpshot, or derided as a mediocre rebounder even though he is among the League's elite in offensive boards, we at DeceptivelyQuick feel a call of duty to promote the truth.

In December of 2007 I was all excited and linked to this video collection of highlights featuring LaMarcus throwing all kinds of sweet passes. I was convinced that he possessed passing skills that were uncommon in a power forward. For whatever reason we didn't seem to get to see these particular talents displayed too often. He has never even averaged two assists per game, which doesn't exactly help my case.

Enter new basketball statistics. The people I steal from constantly, 82games.com, have created a different way to quantify passing skills. It starts with the classic assist to turnover ratio, which is commonly accepted as an indicator of how effectively a player can pass. Except that turnovers include all sorts of things besides passing. For example, if a player is whistled for travelling or gets the ball stolen while driving to the hoop a turnover would result. So the 82games.com geniuses started tracking something called assist: bad pass turnover. Yep, only turnovers resulting from passes are used, creating a stat that we can safely say is more related to how effectively a player passes the basketball.

Where does LaMarcus Aldridge rank in this category? Are you ready to have your mind blown? Then click here. I'll let you take that in for a second.

The Blazers power forward has the highest assist to bad pass turnover rate (7.1) in the entire NBA. This is freakish, and you need to appreciate that. There are no other power forwards or centers in the top 10. There are only three amongst the top 20. The four players immediately following Aldridge are Chris Paul, Tony Parker, Tayshaun Prince, and Jose Calderon.

LaMarcus Aldridge: Respect the game.

http://deceptivelyquick.blogspot.com/2009/03/weakened-pondering-helping-to-increase.html

 

[tlongII]

Cool.

 

[BlazerFanForLife]

Interesting, his low asts average might help him though. Basically hes such a good passer that he only makes the pass if hes sure it a good one, which isnt often. Either way it means LA helps the team so im all for it. Hopefully he can get up to 3-4 Asts a game in the future.

 

[ehizzy3]

his passing ability is gonna be nice with greg

 

[Nikolokolus]

LaMarcus has been my favorite Blazer for awhile and it's especially cool to read good things being written about him.

I also love Quick's write up on him in today's Oregonlive.com article. http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/03/behind_the_locker_room_door_in.html

The Finisher

If Roy is The Franchise, then Aldridge could be considered The Finisher for the way he has consistently finished seasons.

In each of his three seasons, Aldridge has increased his scoring and rebounding after the All-Star Break. One of the questions I had lined up for Aldridge before Roy ended the interview was to ask him to explain his strong finishes.

LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE AS THE FINISHER

[B]2006-2007[/B]
	              [B]Games	Pts.	Reb.	FG%[/B]
Before the break	44	6.8	4.0	.477
After the break  	19	14.0	7.3	.534
Total	                63      9.0	5.0	.503

[B]2007-2008[/B]
	              [B]Games	Pts.	Reb.	FG%[/B]
Before the break	47	17.0	7.4	.480
After the break 	29	19.1	7.9	.488
Total                 	76	17.8	7.6	.484

[B]2008-2009[/B]
	              [B]Games	Pts.	Reb.	FG%[/B]
Before the break	52	17.6	6.8	.488
After the break	        15	19.7	8.6	.481
Total	                67	18.1	7.2	.487

Bottom line is that Aldridge has answered the call down the stretch for this team. In big-time games and in pressure-packed situations like this playoff race and division title run, you find out a lot about players. Bayless and Sergio? Not quite ready for crunch time. Aldridge, Roy, Outlaw and Przybilla? Where's the first playoff game? These guys are ready.

It's great to see LaMarcus really start to put everything together ... even better is that it's happening down the stretch, which hopefully bodes well for the post-season.

 

[HailBlazers]

Team First Player = Good Passer

LMA rarely takes a bad shot, he's mature beyond his years just like B-Roy

 

[Fender]

Thats awesome!

 

[Pinwheel1]

"Often labeled as soft because he has a jumpshot, or derided as a mediocre rebounder even though he is among the League's elite in offensive boards "

So true and so annoying. I cringe whenever I hear people say that about a "big" who is skilled enough that he can score from more than 10 feet from the basket.

 

[blazerboy30]

Great to see LMA closing in on being that 20/10 guy that some of us have been hoping for.

Things are going well when you have a 20/10 guy (that also passes and plays defense) that could eventually end up being your team's THIRD best player.

 

[hasoos]

And if Bayless ends up better than Chris Paul he will be the 4th best player...and if Batum turns out better than Scottie Pippen he will be the 5th best player....

Personally, I go forward with the Roy is awesome, Aldridge is 2nd most awesome, and if we get production out of anybody else, I will be amazed, and happy. Fantasizing over how good players could turn out to be, will do nothing but set you up for a let down.

 

[blazerboy30]

And if Bayless ends up better than Chris Paul he will be the 4th best player...and if Batum turns out better than Scottie Pippen he will be the 5th best player....

Personally, I go forward with the Roy is awesome, Aldridge is 2nd most awesome, and if we get production out of anybody else, I will be amazed, and happy. Fantasizing over how good players could turn out to be, will do nothing but set you up for a let down.

Right, because the probability of Oden becoming better than Aldridge is in the same ball-park as Bayless being better than Paul or Batum being better than Pippen.

 

[handiman]

In each of his three seasons, Aldridge has increased his scoring and rebounding after the All-Star Break.

I wonder how much truth there really is to that... Looking at the numbers, season 1 basically has to be thrown out due to limited playing time the first half of the season. Season 3's modest difference is probably only due to the bad slump the first month or so. That leaves only season 2, and the Reb/FG% numbers are so similar, I'm not sure the bump in scoring is significant enough to constitute much of a trend.

 

[alex42083]

Sometimes I forget LaMarcus is only 23 years old. What he's doing now is pretty amazing considering the usual time it takes to develop big guys in this league. LaMarcus is already a beast at 23, I can't wait to see what he's like when he's 26-27 and entering his real prime years.

 

[Entity]

(edit): nevermind, that list is incomplete.