LaMarcus Aldridge vs Al Horford

[DowJones]

You are a Portland fan so your opinion on this means nothing to me because it will surely be clouded by your bias towards the Portland player. That is fine, and I would probably be the same way if we were talking about a Cleveland player.

The issue I was talking about was where you assume that I have a certain motivation for starting this topic because I (gasp) claimed Horford was better at Defense and Rebounding while being worse at Offense. I didn't think that statement was so outlandish. I just think it is you trying to be combative.

[zong]

Aldridge has more room for improvement imo, which means he'll likely become the better player.

[SoHo]

You are a Portland fan so your opinion on this means nothing to me because it will surely be clouded by your bias towards the Portland player. That is fine, and I would probably be the same way if we were talking about a Cleveland player.

Being a fan of a certain team does not automatically disqualify you from trying to join a legitimate discussion of which player is better. If you banned all the Hawks and Blazers posters from this thread it would be silly as fewer posters could comment about the real strengths and weaknesses of each player.

Many people are capable of being fans and not unreasonable homers. I'm tired of everyone using that as an excuse to duck out of a reasonable argument someone is making (not saying you're doing that, your generalization was just lame).

Anyway, I think I've seen this comparison a fair number of times and as others have said they play different styles so a lot would depend on the team. I think Aldridge has more upside than Horford, but Horford will likely surprise some people over the next few years as he improves his game. He's about the only player from that Florida squad that I like and don't think was overrated. And as others mentioned these are two of the most likeable young bigs in the league.

[AnSweR07]

Aldridge is the better player and prospect.

[Yangsing]

Only things Horford has got on Aldridge is rebounding and strength.

Almost any other category, Aldridge has the advantage or it's too close to call.

[a-rod]

Horford is a proven winner that has played in a very successful Collage program, He

[Jack wore plaid]

Horford is a proven winner that has played in a very successful Collage program, He

[Winter Wonder]

I am commenting as a MN fan and admittedly have not seen a large number of games with both players....

That being said, I would select Horford of the two. I may be wrong in my analysis of the two players' games, and have already admitted to not having seen either of them play a lot, but it seems to me Horford plays more of a low post, back to the basket brand of game where as Aldridge uses his 10-15 ft shot more often as his staple.

Finding a good back to the basket player is a bit more rare these days and is a skill set that will be deemed more valuable down the stretch and in the playoffs and that is why I picked Horford. I think they are both very versatile, Aldridge even more so, but whoever is better downlow or would potentially better there would be the one to get my vote. At this time, my guess is Horford will be that player.

As for the stats of the players, I think much of that comes from systems and teammates. Though Atlanta made the play-offs, I think Portland is the better team with more talent and thus puts Aldridge in a better position. Yes, he has to defer some numbers to those teammates, but he also gets to defer a bit of the defensive focus on Roy and company as well.

Regardless, you are both in great situations having the talent and PF's you have.... of course I think Al Jefferson is better than both!

[High 5]

Aldridge gets to play the majority of his minutes at PF which helps a lot. People who say Horford isn't a versatile defender haven't seen him play. He is quick and athletic just like Aldridge. If I had a great defensive/rebounding center already I'd probably take Aldridge, otherwise I'd want Horford. Aldridge will likely always be a better scorer, I just don't see him having much of an advantage in anything else.

[Milkdud]

LA has the midrange jumper down pretty well but Portland's staff though out the season would not allow him to relay on that. Early in the season in fact he was subbed out when they felt he was shooting to many jumpers. As the season progressed that and the force feeding him in the post to start most game really improved his inside back to the basket game. He has a pretty solid hook both fading away from the hoop and taking at the defender. He also has shown pretty good ability to finish those shots under contact. Also he is one of the better NBA bigs at running the court. He has been clocked as portland fastest player in end to end sprints. He had quite a few highlights this season getting ally oops and other dunks because he beat the other teams bigs down the court. I think posters that label LA as a primary jump shooter really must not have watch many of his games because there was a pretty obvious progression from that type of play this season.

[T-Spot]

I'd take Aldrige.

That being said, its hard to compare a second year player to a rook.

[Twith]

Put them in an endline to endline race and Aldridge wins by 30 feet. He's the fastest guy on the Blazers somehow.

[Yangsing]

Because he runs like a douche

[Pats19andO]

Aldridge is better at everything but rebounding, and that was mostly because of Joel Przybilla next to him. When Przybilla went out late in the season Aldridge averaged a double double.

Al did that in his rookie year next to Josh Smith, a much better rebounder.

[cucad8]

Al did that in his rookie year next to Josh Smith, a much better rebounder.

A better rebounder than who?

[TradeMachine]

-= original quote snipped =-



Al did that in his rookie year next to Josh Smith, a much better rebounder.

Joel P. was second in the league in rebound rate only to Dwight. I doubt Smith is a better rebounder than Pryz, if that's what you're intimating.

[High 5]

Horford and Smith are both better rebounders than Aldridge.

[Wizenheimer]

Horford and Smith are both better rebounders than Aldridge.

horford is

and smith is but by an insignificant margin.

Reb/36min: Smith 8.1....Aldridge 7.9
OffReb/36: Smith 2.3....Aldridge 3.2
TotReb%: Smith 13.3%....Aldridge 13.2%
OffReb%: Smith7.4%....Aldridge 10.2%

The combination of Aldridge's offensive rebounding ability and the fact that portland may have played more zone defense then anybody point to his overall rebounding numbers continuing to climb in the next few seasons.