RealGM

Who you got higher all time?

LaMarcus Aldridge:
7x All Star
5x All NBA (2 second, 3 third)
45th all time in points
7th in MVP votes (15')
Playoffs:
2x West Semi Finalist (Portland 14', Spurs 16'), 1x West Finalist (Spurs 17')

Jermaine O'Neal:
6x All Star
3x All NBA (1 second, 2 third)
3rd in MVP votes (04')
02' Most Improved Player
23rd all time in blocks
Playoffs:
1x East Semi Finalist (Indy 05'), 1x East Finalist (Indy 04')

Both have 72 playoff appearances

imma take LMA and not feel that good about it given I'm not really a Jermaine scholar. Feels like Lamarcus was always super underrated on D and O'Neal overrated on O but he was a defensive monster at his best.

All time ranking is LMA easily due to longevity. Peak is close and depends on how you feel on LMA defense as he performs well in DRAPM, as he is definitely better on offense than O'Neal.

O'Neal to me is like a modern Elvin Hayes with bad longevity and health instead of being amazing in those areas.

Aldridge, but Jermaine probably peaked higher. I’m a little surprised to see Jermaine with 6 all star appearances and 3 all nba teams. That seems to overstate how good his star longevity was imo. I think 2 or 3 of those all stars were undeserved, and another 2 were basically half seasons.

No-more-rings wrote:Aldridge, but Jermaine probably peaked higher. I’m a little surprised to see Jermaine with 6 all star appearances and 3 all nba teams. That seems to overstate how good his star longevity was imo. I think 2 or 3 of those all stars were undeserved, and another 2 were basically half seasons.

The East was pretty weak on bigs during that period so he "deserved" them in that sense.

What's always been wild to me is the fact that he never made a single All-Defensive team.

LMA easily takes this comparison on longevity.

JO was once cracked the top 10, to me; but Aldridge was probably in there along with 3 years, with his 3 times in a row all-nba selections(11th average in the 3 votings) and two times top 10 in the mvp voting 14/16(30+ Minutes games in those year):

23 PPG, 10 RPG, 2 APG, %0,5 rTS, +4 rORTG, 1,2 BPG, -3 rDRTG

. Also, I have his 2014 as a top 5 year with his Rockets Series where he simply cracked that level.

Jermaine O'Neal was a legitimately ELITE rim protector. I think you have a higher ceiling with him as your best player

Offense vs. Defense.

Jermaine was a rock-solid drop big who jumped off 2 feet surprisingly well for a player that seemed a bit bulky and lumbering. He was shifty and mobile but a bit heavy footed. On offense Jermaine had shot selection problems and didn't have incredible touch. I swear he led the league in shots that rimmed in. He was below average around the rim, below average from mid range, below average on long 2s... but he took a ton of shots from everywhere. He basically took at least 13% of his offense from every distance (except he didn't shoot 3s). He was given a massive green light in Indiana and he took full advantage. He was turnover prone, a bad passer, only okay at getting to the line... Honestly Jermaine was a weird player. He should have been a shot blocking specialist, but he was allowed to parade around as an offensive hub. I think it had something to do with playing at the same time as Duncan/Dirk/KG/Gasol/Randolph etc. coaches were fine with running their offense through an oversized power forward. Jermaine was reduced by injuries early, missing a ton of games in his age 26-27 aged seasons and never bouncing back.

Lamarcus was okay at defense. Not good enough to help a defense at center, but mobile enough to survive at power forward so he often offered extra size at least. On offense he was what Jermaine thought he should be, an elite turn-around jump shooting big. He had weird reluctance shooting the 3, but was pretty good at it whenever his coach forced him to up his volume. Most of his best years from deep were also his highest volume years (2015, 2020, 2021). He was a meh passer but had much better feel than Jermaine. He outlast Jermaine, putting up 10 high quality years to Jermaine's 4 or 5.