I'll get the ball rolling. WHY did we sign Aldridge?

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'Cuz KPee hates power forwards. If he loved him, he'd set him free.
 
I really hate his game.

It's either a step-back jump shot or a little baby hook.

He doesn't attack the hoop at all. He's also averaging 0.5 BPG.

He's Keith Van Horn minus the three point shot.
 
Fez "The Situation" Bush said:
I really hate his game.

It's either a step-back jump shot or a little baby hook.

He doesn't attack the hoop at all. He's also averaging 0.5 BPG.

He's Keith Van Horn minus the three point shot.
Click to expand...

Better defense than van Horn, the final stretch of this game excepted.
 
Career Defensive rating: 104

Career Defensive rating: 108

Guess who's who.
 
Aldridge has one of those easily-offended, standoffish personalities that makes him hard to coach.

All summer long, posters said, "Come on Pritchard. Hurry up and sign Aldridge. Give him whatever he wants. Don't take a chance on losing him." And I said on another board, "He's not worth anything near the maximum, that he's trying to get. Play hardball with him. If he goes FA after the season, you can trade him before that."
 
The guy is almost 7'0" with a 7'5" wingspan. His 0.5 BPG is flat out embarrassing.
 
The guy can score. He's a decent second or third option on offense. He spreads the floor. Teams can't ignore him. He is capable of rebounding and defending. He's still young. I'm not unhappy with LMA. Could he be better? Yes. Could he be an All-Star? Yes. Is he ever gonna be the man? Probably not, but we don't need another Brandon Roy. We need a guy who can score, go about his business, and not bitch about touches or shots.
 
get iggy or trade for bosh or amare. thats the answer
 
Much like Sheed, he'll always be measured against what he "should" be achieving in some mythical world where he averages 25/10. He's just not going to do that. Particularly in a slow-down offense like ours. He's really a very, very bad fit for a Nate McMillan team. And, much like Sheed, he's saddled himself with expectations that come with an overpriced contract.

Portland hasn't had a starting point guard worth a damn for 14 or so years (until Andre). At the same time, though, we've had a ridiculous wealth of quality power forwards. Grant, Sheed, O'neal, Randolph, Aldridge....I think one consequence is that we take 18/8 (or whatever) from our starting PF as pretty much a given, and that "good" ones are at least 20/10. Probably like Utah fans assume 7-8 assists/game as just getting by, when we'd kill to have that kind of consistent production over the last decade.

Truth is that Aldridge is (like Sheed was) an above average starting PF who brings some defensive intangibles that aren't measured in blocks or defensive rebounds. And, again like Sheed, his finesse offensive game makes him a nice second or third banana, but somewhat infuriating when he's the main focus.

You can pretty much dig out old Sheed posts from 2002 (minus all the talk about techs and other insanity) and you pretty much have current Aldridge posts.
 
I'm gonna say it's a combination of fear and inexperience. KP is great at draft day, but this is his first set of contract negotiations. So it makes a certain amount of sense that they'd go a little rough. Aldridge has a seasoned agent on his side and as far as I know the Blazers don't have anyone with significant experience in such matters on their side.

I also think that Paul Allen and the Vulcans (good name for a band?) are likely to have interfered a lot. Left to his own devices KP might have done the smart thing and waited another year to sign LA. But his bosses just aren't patient enough. Same thing happened with Darius Miles. John Nash wanted to haggle but the powers that be don't have the patience to let the GM do their job.
 
Personally, I'd like to see Aldridge add about 20 lbs. of muscle. He also needs to work on his lower-body strength....then actually USE it!
 
mook said:
Much like Sheed, he'll always be measured against what he "should" be achieving in some mythical world where he averages 25/10. He's just not going to do that. Particularly in a slow-down offense like ours. He's really a very, very bad fit for a Nate McMillan team. And, much like Sheed, he's saddled himself with expectations that come with an overpriced contract.

Portland hasn't had a starting point guard worth a damn for 14 or so years (until Andre). At the same time, though, we've had a ridiculous wealth of quality power forwards. Grant, Sheed, O'neal, Randolph, Aldridge....I think one consequence is that we take 18/8 (or whatever) from our starting PF as pretty much a given, and that "good" ones are at least 20/10. Probably like Utah fans assume 7-8 assists/game as just getting by, when we'd kill to have that kind of consistent production over the last decade.

Truth is that Aldridge is (like Sheed was) an above average starting PF who brings some defensive intangibles that aren't measured in blocks or defensive rebounds. And, again like Sheed, his finesse offensive game makes him a nice second or third banana, but somewhat infuriating when he's the main focus.

You can pretty much dig out old Sheed posts from 2002 (minus all the talk about techs and other insanity) and you pretty much have current Aldridge posts.
Click to expand...

Pretty much ... except we're not all wondering when Aldridge is going to pick up his 20th T of the year.
 
Didn't we sign him so 4 years later we could trade him for Chris Bosh? I think Aldridge has been slated as the second option for Portland and he really doesn't fit that bill. As said before he is really more of a 3rd option, but just getting paid 2nd option money. I'd personally like to see him play with more fire in his belly, but that doesn't appear to be his thing. You'll fall asleep watching him put together a 25/10 game, but that is just Aldridge, not very flashy. I doubt we trade him, but if something could be done to get Bosh with him agreeing to stay with Portland, then you do it to get your 2nd option scorer.
 
You guys are all missing the bigger picture. Aldridge may be less than hoped for at the moment, but that is in large part due to the crazy circumstances that have hit the Blazers this year. LMA is kinda soft. That does not mean he is not a good player. And next year, when he can once again be paired with the anti-soft Oden, be backed up by the anti-soft Pendergraph, his finesse game will shine and add a dimension on offense that will make this team near unstoppable. And on defense, he is not a shot blocker, but he does rotate very well and helps cover gaps nicely. Once Oden is back as the intimidater, Aldridge's quick rotations and coverings will allow Oden to take those gambles on defense.
 
Aldridge has gotten into a horrible bad habit of swiping at the ball. He's always done this from time to time, but now it's nearly every time his man exposes the ball.

His guy spins......swipe, drop steps....swipe, pump fakes....swipe, faces up and takes him off the bounce.....swipe. Pisses me off.


I'm fine when he does it when his guy is operating in the mid-range area, but when your 6' 11"+ w/ very long arms, you should be putting a hand up a and contesting hard around the rim almost every time.

Aldridge per 40min block #'s since a freshman in college (came out after his sophomore year) : 2.7, 2.3, 2.1,1.4, 1.0, 0.6....:smiley-placko:
 
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The one objective reason for keeping Aldridge over Zach, was LMA's potential to be a far superior defensive player. Instead, LMA seems to have lost interest in playing defense. If he was a go-to player on offense, that might be acceptable. For a guy who is merely a nice 3rd option, it isn't.

I admit I am biased. I thought LMA was going to be an all-star - a game-changer at both ends. He is not even close to that, and I am very disappointed. :sigh:
 
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