LaMarcus improved?

[Fez Hammersticks]

It's early but LaMarcus looks exactly the same as he did last year. Only this year, he's jacking up three's he has no business taking. His defense is mediocre and so is his rebounding.

Like last year, he's hot and cold. One game he'll beast and the next game he'll give you 14 and 6. He should be getting around 20 a game, IMO. I'm a little disappointed in his development. Or lack thereof..

Last season, here is what LMA did in his first 9 games...

19.6 PPG
7.8 RPG
51 FG%

LMA this season:

18.3 PPG
7.1 RPG
45 FG%

 

[KingSpeed]

I think we have to trust his three pointer. It's not going away. He's shooting 2 of 5 which is fine. He will take the shot from time to time and I think he'll hit a decent percentage. Get used to it. Frye is doing it too.

 

[Ed O]

I think he looked very very good tonight. He was finally hitting the jumper with regularity and he got several big rebounds.

He missed a big shot, for sure, but (a) he can hit that, and (b) it was only a single shot. When he's shooting like he was tonight, I have very little problem with him shooting an open three pointer. We just didn't execute defensively after that miss.

Ed O.

 

[BengalDuck]

Since when does "jacking up threes" equal to less than one per game?

 

[andalusian]

The biggest thing that happened to LMA this year is that he is taking the ball hard to the post more often than last year. He is not using the face-up jumper for 90% of his shots - it is down to 60% - and I think it is good.

The numbers do not tell the whole story - the team has many more scorers this year - you can not expect everyone to have the same amount of points when we have 4 and a half big time scorers (Roy, LMA, Rudy, Travis and Greg) compared to last year (Roy, LMA, Travis) and as a team we rebound more this year - instead of having Joel and LMA being the big time rebounders - they now have to share the boards with Greg and an improving Travis (as a rebounder). The big drop, however, in Aldridge's scoring comes, imho, from the fact that people concentrate more on containing him. Last year's mantra to the opposing teams was "Stop Roy". This year it is "Stop Roy and Aldridge". With Greg coming in and demanding more attention from the opposing teams - I think we will see Aldridge's FG% go up - but I am not sure that his points will go up as well. I also suspect that his rebounding will go down - again, the Oden factor.

Using the same logic - you can see that Roy's assists are down despite the fact that the team scores more - but that's because Sergio gets more minutes and has the rock more and Rudy is setting people more.

I think that using individual statistics is very important to evaluate players - but you have to do it in the context of the game. I do not like people that tell me to ignore statistics because they see that someone is better than someone else - this makes no sense to me - but using the numbers as your only criteria to evaluate a player is wrong as well.

 

[hasoos]

Well I guess your idea of mediocre defense and mine are 2 different things then, because he has been playing great on defense, and you can't bitch about the amount of boards he has been pulling down. I seem to recall that Beasley got pretty much owned every time Aldridge was on him. I also didn't see David West going off on us like he has in the past last night, actually held a 18 pts. When was the last time you can remember David West getting that few points? The last few years that dude has been going off for 25+ every night on us.

As for offense, I believe if you look around the team, you will notice a few more scorers on the team this year. Because of that, he is taking less shots. Rudy is getting a load of the scoring now. Frye is even taking shots. When the game is getting down to crunch time, we are going to the "Brandon Oriented" offense. As for the outside shots, he will have to be able to knock those down when Oden is here, and he is doing a good job. You always shoot worse from outside than inside.

 

[bodyman5001]

You always shoot worse from outside than inside.

That is the point.

 

[andalusian]

As for offense, I believe if you look around the team, you will notice a few more scorers on the team this year. Because of that, he is taking less shots.

This is actually not true. LMA is taking more shots per game this year - but I think that defense is doing a much better job of playing him tough. He got a lot more open shots last year than this year - and it shows.

Still - it's a good thing for us - because if the other team is concentrating on 2 players (Roy and LMA) - it means open shots for Rudy, Travis, Blake and Greg. If they decide to double Greg (and they will, they have no other option, realistically) - LMA's shots are going to be easier.

You will see his FGAs go down slightly with Greg in the game - but the FG% will go up.

I love how this team is built.

 

[hasoos]

That is the point.

No crap. That is why I mentioned up above, that because of Oden, he is going to have to make them. Have you bothered to pay attention to the size of Oden? There is not room on the inside for 2 guys banging at once. Lamarcus will have to take, and make the outside shots. He should not stop taking them, because he will be asked to do that even more, soon.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

The annoying thing I've noticed is that he's catching the ball 8 feet from the block
instead of establishing position on the block and catching there. So, his shots
in the "post" are all farther than they need to be.

 

[bodyman5001]

No crap. That is why I mentioned up above, that because of Oden, he is going to have to make them. Have you bothered to pay attention to the size of Oden? There is not room on the inside for 2 guys banging at once. Lamarcus will have to take, and make the outside shots. He should not stop taking them, because he will be asked to do that even more, soon.

I hadn't noticed that Oden was 15 feet tall and 20 feet wide. Making it sound like Aldridge has to shoot threes now because Oden is too big is ridiculous.

Aldridge needs to take and make 15 footers, maybe a little deeper. Not 22 footers.

It seems like he and Frye have a competition to see who can take worse shots.

 

[The Sebastian Express]

The three pointer last night was fine. He was wide open, in the corner, and has the range. It was a good shot that just didn't fall - that happens.

 

[wastro]

One, I don't think you can look at LMA's production through the stats you mentioned. His assists, steals and blocks per game are all at least slightly up over last year. And I think his defense has improved.

Plus, teams are starting to zero in on him. They know more about him this season and are working on ways to stop him. There are obviously adjustments to make because of that.

 

[MIXUM]

aldridge is another david west...nice player but never a guy you can count on as a number 1 option

 

[hasoos]

I hadn't noticed that Oden was 15 feet tall and 20 feet wide. Making it sound like Aldridge has to shoot threes now because Oden is too big is ridiculous.

Aldridge needs to take and make 15 footers, maybe a little deeper. Not 22 footers.

It seems like he and Frye have a competition to see who can take worse shots.

No what is ridiculous is that you are ripping on the guy, when he had excellent games over the last several games, which, were all wins. That is what is ridiculous. When I think back to having to deal with shitheads like Zbo and Darius Miles, and think how much further ahead the team is now, and how folks like you just can't enjoy it. That is what is ridiculous.

 

[bodyman5001]

No what is ridiculous is that you are ripping on the guy, when he had excellent games over the last several games, which, were all wins. That is what is ridiculous. When I think back to having to deal with shitheads like Zbo and Darius Miles, and think how much further ahead the team is now, and how folks like you just can't enjoy it. That is what is ridiculous.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha hah ahahahahahahahhahah.

I love his game.

Maybe he should practice shooting from half court.

Read my post in the game thread where I said I was happy with the game even though they lost.

Maybe what is ridiculous is people like you who want to encourage him to be Bargnani, you know the guy who was drafted number one. That guy is TEARING UP THE LEAGUE.

 

[Minstrel]

Having more skills is better than having fewer skills. And better shooting range will be particularly helpful to Aldridge as Oden develops into the team's low post player. Aldridge simply has to figure out what mix of post play, mid-range shooting and outside shooting maximizes his scoring efficiency.

 

[LameR]

It's early but LaMarcus looks exactly the same as he did last year. Only this year, he's jacking up three's he has no business taking. His defense is mediocre and so is his rebounding.

Like last year, he's hot and cold. One game he'll beast and the next game he'll give you 14 and 6. He should be getting around 20 a game, IMO. I'm a little disappointed in his development. Or lack thereof..

Last season, here is what LMA did in his first 9 games...

19.6 PPG
7.8 RPG
51 FG%

LMA this season:

18.3 PPG
7.1 RPG
45 FG%

Isn't 18.3 "around 20 per game"?

 

[Minstrel]

Put Aldridge on a team where he's the only offensive threat and he'd be scoring between 20 and 25 PPG. You really can't ignore the fact that the team has so many scorers, which reduces the individual scoring numbers of everyone.

Aldridge looks like a serious talent. I think he'd be a very nice player to have as a team's best big man...that he will be the team's second-best big man is really exciting.

 

[BrianFromWA]

at least LMA is actually taking threes, and not 23-foot 2's like Frye's doing. Channing has taken the "please, for the love of all that is holy, take a half step back so that crap is worth three points if it actually goes in" mantle from Travis.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Lamarcus looks improved in all most every facet of his game. Turnovers are down, he spends more time in the low post, he's getting lots of steals, he's blocking more shots, he's fighting harder for boards (a couple of no-shows not withstanding) his FG % and points just aren't bearing the kind of fruit you'd hope for. LMA is fine, the numbers will catch up if his hustle and commitment keep up.

 

[illmatic99]

at least LMA is actually taking threes, and not 23-foot 2's like Frye's doing. Channing has taken the "please, for the love of all that is holy, take a half step back so that crap is worth three points if it actually goes in" mantle from Travis.

Great point about Charmin' and those long 2's. Look what taking that advice did to Outlaw's production this year.

About LA, I love that he's expanding his offensive repertoire. As long as he doesn't force contested 3's in crucial moments of games, I'm more than happy with him shooting a couple every game.

 

[bodyman5001]

at least LMA is actually taking threes, and not 23-foot 2's like Frye's doing. Channing has taken the "please, for the love of all that is holy, take a half step back so that crap is worth three points if it actually goes in" mantle from Travis.

Good fucking point. Worst shot in basketball IMO.