Can't you just say, "Time to eat crow Sinobas!"
Yep, the hateful one has been suspiciously quiet lately. Understandable, getting constantly proven wrong must get tiring after a while.
The quote in the the first post in this thread is another perfect example of how LaMarcus Aldridge, and the midrange game Sinobas loves to harp on, helps make his teammates better and helps this team win games. I made that same argument in response to Sinobas' hating on Aldridge three weeks ago. I won't post the
whole thing here, but here's a small excerpt:
"And again, that's why Aldridge is the PERFECT fit for this team. He can score on the low block, when called to, and draws constant double teams when he gets the ball in the low post. But, that's not all he does. Because teams do (and MUST) respect his midrange game, it pulls his defender away from the basket and opens things up for his teammates. Wes Matthews has developed a GREAT post up game - and thanks to Aldridge, he gets to use it. Aldridge draws his man away from the basket and allows Wes to post up opposing guards without worrying about help defense from Aldridge's man. Same goes for Lillard. The BIG improvement in Lillard's game this season has come in his ability to finish at the rim. Again, Aldridge pulling his man out of the paint, creates lanes and opportunities for Lillard to drive the lane and finish at the rim."
His typical ill-informed response, that clearly shows a complete lack of understanding of team basketball:
"How does LaMarcus make anyone better? Does he magically make Lillard and Matthews shoot better with his teleknetic powers?"
Well, last night was just another example of how LaMarcus Aldridge makes his teammates better and helps his team win games. Aldridge was absolutely abusing Nene - a pretty good defender.
Within a span of 9.0 seconds, Aldridge drew three quick fouls on Nene. There was less than 5 minutes left in the game and the Blazers trailed by 4 points at the time. Those 9 seconds completely swung the momentum in the Blazers favor. It put Nene in foul trouble, the Wizards in the penalty and the Blazers in the bonus. All three fouls started with Aldridge catching the ball 17 - 19 feet from the basket - that dreaded midrange area Sinobas loves to bash Aldridge about. The 3rd foul was Nene's 5th personal at the Wizard's 5th team foul that resulted in Aldridge hitting 2-2 FTs and the Blazers cutting the lead to 2 points.
The impact of that sequence was even more significant a minute and a half later, with the play Mag's quoted in his first post. With Nene in foul trouble and unable to stop Aldridge one-on-one, Wall left Lillard to double team Aldridge 19 feet from the basket (there's that dreaded Aldridge midrange game again). Aldridge instantly recognized the double team, spotted the wide open Lillard, calmly delivered the pass to his wide open teammate who took his time and drilled the wide open "practice shot" 3-pointer that put the Blazers up by 7, their biggest lead of the game and one they would never relinquish.
That minute-and-a-half sequence, that turned a 4-point deficit into a 7-point lead is EXACTLY how LaMarcus Aldridge, and his midrange game, makes his teammates better and helps his team win games.
The proof is in the results and has been there all along for anyone with a modicum of common sense and a basic understanding of team basketball.
Constantly bashing Aldridge because his FG% is lower from midrange than from in the post is myopic and shows either an unjustified blatant hatred for our best player, or a complete lack of understanding of team basketball, or both. Teams know they MUST challenge all of Aldridge's mid range shots. They throw there best big defender at him - all the way out to 19-feet from the basket, and when even that doesn't work, they double team him. This draws the other teams' best shot blocker out of the paint, allowing Wes Matthews to post up and Damian Lillard to drive and finish at the rim, and when doubled, creates wide open 3-pointers for Matthews, Lillard and others.
Houston learned that the hard way in Games One and Two last May. Put a weak defender on Aldridge and fail to double and he'll kill you. Put your best defender on Aldridge and throw double teams at him and it creates easy scoring opportunities for everyone else. It's no coincidence that Lillard, Matthew, Batum and even Mo Williams all had big games agaonst Houston - AFTER Houston gm planned to stop Aldridge.
Damian Lillard is awesome and Wesley Matthews is a warrior, but LamMarcus Aldridge is still the engine that makes this team run.
BNM
