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The Blazers have got a fun team to watch. In 2013, my son and I went down to the Rose Garden ... er, Moda Center ... the night that Kobe Bryant played 48 minutes and scored 47 points against the Blazers, trying to single-handedly shove the Lakers into the postseason. Thing is, Damian Lillard went for 38 himself and pushed Kobe into blowing his Achilles.
"He was out there cooking with gasoline" said Kobe, glorifying Lillard, and thereby glorifying himself, since he'd beaten Lillard. "Lillard came out and just started torching us. I figured I would try to keep up the pace. it was like a marathon runner, when a guy just takes off, and the guy behind him doesn't really want to chase after him but he just has to keep pace."
::: swooon ::: how wonderful Kobe is.
At any rate, Dr. D does indeed go for Lillard's game (20.7 ppg and 6.5 apg this year), so in theory (with Aldridge down low) the Blazers would now have the 2-man inside outside game that makes them legit.
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As the 3 and 4 players in the starting lineup, Wes Matthews and Nicolas Batum work for me. Matthews has a motor, he has a 39% three point percentage and he has happy feet on defense; Batum is long, gives the "chase-down block" and gives the Blazers the passing lanes on D. The parts seem to be jelling.
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But it's Aldridge who seems to be jellin' like Magellan. I heard some weird comment about --- > this is the first year he has felt "accepted" by his teammates. GRRROOOOOOAAAaaaaaaaaaan ....
He had a rep as soft, but according to one scout "There are some guys, you hit them once, and they're done. That's not the case with Aldridge." Here in the 2013-14 playoffs, Aldridge has found his taste for the elbows in the middle of the paint.
In a way, Aldridge's shake-and-bake game in the paint reminds of Dirk Nowitzki -- he wheels left, spins back around right, elevates, and sometimes he makes it look like a guaranteed two. But the 15-foot jumper is what has been surreal coming down the stretch.
He's got bread-and-butter moves, and those moves work in the fourth quarter. The more I look, the more I like.
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With a nearly 7-foot, 240-lb. man coming into the post in Portland, maybe it was the prejudices that worked against him when he turned out not to be Carlos Boozer or Amare Stoudamire? You tell me. I don't know what was expected of Aldridge coming out of college; I know it's precious few players who look like Aldridge, who are "accepted" when they play secondary roles in the defensive paint...
But what if people accepted LaMarcus Aldridge as more along the lines of the Dirk Nowitzki or the Kevin McHale that he might actually be?
Hey, the guy can fill it up. Nothing wrong with that.
My $0.02,
Dr D
Dirk proved that an offense-first, shooting-oriented big man can be the best player on a championship team in the modern NBA. Aldridge is certainly not on Dirk's level offensively yet, but he's taken a big step forward this year. These Blazers are a fun team to watch and root for.
So as we know, they're players of different types. It's in the 12-to-20 foot range that he reminds a little of Dirk ... I didn't mean to stretch the comp too far there...
It's kind of hard to come up with a player who is 99% comparable to Aldridge. No HOF'ers, I don't think. Really wish I could think of a player who was similar, who played "above" the other players but who wasn't a physical presence. Terry Cummings maybe a little bit. David Robinson was really high and not super tough, but obviously tougher than Aldridge.
Maybe Dan Issel :- )
Yes, the unblockable 7-foot fadeaway from the post is the most Dirk-esque. (Kobe was working on that shot too a bit before the aforementioned injury :) I don't see any reason Aldridge can't keep stretching his range to the 3-point line over time. He's a good FT shooter, makes very hard midrange shots look easy...it's probably just a matter of comfort level and reps to get him further from the hoop. Of course the Mavs also had Chandler, Coach Kidd, the Jet, Matrix, and Carlisle alongside Dirk that year...Portland is not there in terms of overall talent yet.
I didn't pay real attention to the Blazers' regular season, but Lillard's shot last night is right up there in great NW sports moments. I agree with bsr, the team doesn't seem to have enough players to keep this going for too long, but they could certainly beat Dallas.