King d wrote:You sir have no clue what you are talking about. You can write the bible here if you want, but that doesnt change the fact that LMA IS one of the better scorers in the league since years, like I said top 10 + 20ppg + 50%fg for the last 3 years isn't an easy task. That makes him an elite scorer just by using a little bit of common sense.
No it doesn't. Are you familiar with the definition of "elite?"
Yeah, Aldridge is a pretty good mid-post player and as such, he commands attention because if you screw around defensively with such a player, you're in a lot of trouble. The lion's share of his shooting volume comes above the foul line, though, on inefficient long two-pointers that aren't great shots and he doesn't get to the rim all that well, nor does he draw fouls effectively. The pay out for running the ball into him is not as high as it is for the top tier of scorers in the league, which is about as blunt as it can be put as far as denying his status as an elite scorer in the league.
The best or most skilled members of a group doesn't at ALL describe Aldridge's scoring ability relative to his peers. There are several players who sit in a tier well above his reach, and that immediately dispels the idea that he is elite. There are perennially a number of players who are put into positions where they see some doubles and even triples because they are the primary offensive weapons on a team, even if their skills don't match what you'd like to see from a player featured in that role.
Don't "sir" me because you don't know what you're talking about...
Aldridge is OK, and Portland's offense is not their problem really, it's their defense. But they could be a lot better than an average defense (which they are) if he was a better scorer, if he were ACTUALLY a scorer of the appropriate caliber to be termed "elite."
He has more in common with Joe Johnson than with James Harden, Lebron James, Kevin Durant, etc. He's a low-efficiency scorer. Commanding defensive attention is more a function of volume and location relative to the basket than it is always necessary an indicator of your actual value as a scoring threat. In LMA's case, he's tall and when he stands near to the hoop, it pays to cover him because those are higher-percentage shots that are more likely to draw fouls, ergo they are more efficient. His shot selection isn't fantastic and his per-possession pay out is weak compared to the truly elite scorers in the league. Hell, I haven't even mentioned Kobe or Melo, and while both of them are coming down from unsustainable shooting earlier in the season, they're STILL both considerably better at shouldering the offensive load than is Aldridge.
I can't fathom how you came to the conclusion that he's an elite scorer, it honestly baffles my mind. If he were in a situation where his team's offense was clicking along really well and he was just underrepresented because of low volume, I'd understand, but this is a guy who's best attribute is that he doesn't screw up a lot, not that his scoring possessions tend to end in actual points for his team at an elite rate. He's got way too many holes in and problems with his scoring game to be considered elite at the levels of efficiency that he typically produces, especially with that shot distribution.
