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This is via oregon live. Sorry I didn't link
Trail Blazers practice: LaMarcus Aldridge praises Joel Freeland's defense, team slowly healing
He had just scored 20 points, snared eight rebounds and blocked two shots in a ridiculously efficient outing that lasted just 18 minutes. But the only thing All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge wanted to talk about after the Trail Blazers defeated the Utah Jazz Friday night was the play of Joel Freeland.
Wait, the same Joel Freeland who scored just two points and shot 1 for 5 from the field? What?
“I’m not even worried about my game,” Aldridge said, when asked about his play. “I’m excited about what Joel Freeland did tonight. All of those blocks and all of those contested (shots) at the rim — that’s big time for me. I feel like if he can continue to do that all year, he’s going to make our team better. I keep telling him about it. It’s really, really good for us. I think he had at least four or five of those, where he went up and either blocked it or made the guy miss, and that’s big, because last year we were really bad at that.”
Although Freeland’s final statistical line against the Jazz hardly wowed, it’s the little things he did during the game that drew big reviews from Aldridge. The two blocked shots. The five rebounds. The defensive rotations. The multiple shots he altered simply by executing textbook straight up-and-down leaps while defending jumpers and attempts around the rim.
Since the final game of his rookie season, Freeland has dedicated himself to becoming a better defender and worked to reinvent himself into the mold of Oklahoma City forward Nick Collison. And — outside of a potentially significant injury to his right finger during Sunday’s practice — early results have been positive.
After that win over the Jazz, coach Terry Stotts addressed his team in the postgame locker room, singling out a handful of players to praise. After he finished, Aldridge added to the glowing review.
“He said, ‘I’ve got something else to add: What Joel did tonight was huge; protecting the rim, challenging shots at the rim, great job,’ ” Freeland said, recalling Aldridge’s message in the locker room.
“I’ve been (saying) from pretty much last season, defense was my focal point of the summer. And it’s good to have someone like that who recognizes the work that you’ve been doing, trying to get better, not only for myself, but to help the team as well. And I’m happy that he made a point of that after the game, in front of everyone. It’s really nice of him to say something and call it out like that.”
Freeland’s transformation started in June, when he worked out with teammates in preparation for Las Vegas Summer League. Practically everything he worked on centered on defense, and perhaps his biggest focus was conditioning his mind and body to leap straight up and down while contesting shots, rather than leaping toward a shooter. Day after day, Freeland and fellow second-year big man Meyers Leonard went through drill after drill to change their approach to rim protection.
Trail Blazers practice: LaMarcus Aldridge praises Joel Freeland's defense, team slowly healing
He had just scored 20 points, snared eight rebounds and blocked two shots in a ridiculously efficient outing that lasted just 18 minutes. But the only thing All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge wanted to talk about after the Trail Blazers defeated the Utah Jazz Friday night was the play of Joel Freeland.
Wait, the same Joel Freeland who scored just two points and shot 1 for 5 from the field? What?
“I’m not even worried about my game,” Aldridge said, when asked about his play. “I’m excited about what Joel Freeland did tonight. All of those blocks and all of those contested (shots) at the rim — that’s big time for me. I feel like if he can continue to do that all year, he’s going to make our team better. I keep telling him about it. It’s really, really good for us. I think he had at least four or five of those, where he went up and either blocked it or made the guy miss, and that’s big, because last year we were really bad at that.”
Although Freeland’s final statistical line against the Jazz hardly wowed, it’s the little things he did during the game that drew big reviews from Aldridge. The two blocked shots. The five rebounds. The defensive rotations. The multiple shots he altered simply by executing textbook straight up-and-down leaps while defending jumpers and attempts around the rim.
Since the final game of his rookie season, Freeland has dedicated himself to becoming a better defender and worked to reinvent himself into the mold of Oklahoma City forward Nick Collison. And — outside of a potentially significant injury to his right finger during Sunday’s practice — early results have been positive.
After that win over the Jazz, coach Terry Stotts addressed his team in the postgame locker room, singling out a handful of players to praise. After he finished, Aldridge added to the glowing review.
“He said, ‘I’ve got something else to add: What Joel did tonight was huge; protecting the rim, challenging shots at the rim, great job,’ ” Freeland said, recalling Aldridge’s message in the locker room.
“I’ve been (saying) from pretty much last season, defense was my focal point of the summer. And it’s good to have someone like that who recognizes the work that you’ve been doing, trying to get better, not only for myself, but to help the team as well. And I’m happy that he made a point of that after the game, in front of everyone. It’s really nice of him to say something and call it out like that.”
Freeland’s transformation started in June, when he worked out with teammates in preparation for Las Vegas Summer League. Practically everything he worked on centered on defense, and perhaps his biggest focus was conditioning his mind and body to leap straight up and down while contesting shots, rather than leaping toward a shooter. Day after day, Freeland and fellow second-year big man Meyers Leonard went through drill after drill to change their approach to rim protection.
