Explain the rapid decline of Lamarcus Aldridge

[monopoman]

Amidst all this ripping on LMA, the Spurs have had their best ever backtrack win totals with him as the #2.

LMA is clearly not as good on offense as he was in 2014 (when he was an absolute beast) and 2015 (when he was still elite). However, his defense has improved significantly. He clearly puts in a lot more effort on D, and his rim protection is vastly underrated.

If/when Pop finally decides to play Kawhi at the 4 and LMA at the 5 as the sole post option, I imagine we will see better offensive production. Not only will the lane open up, but LMA won't be chasing Ryan Anderson and Trevor Ariza around the perimeter. It would also help if SA's guards force-fed the post when Ryan Anderson is on LMA's back.

Even as a Blazer people underrated his defense around the rim, he was quite good at challenging people going inside and was the master at slapping the ball out of bounds without committing a foul.

I noticed how much worse the Blazers in the paint defense got just after LMA left.

[spacemonkey]

Had this discussion with a friend yesterday. Is LMA the only player in history to go play for Pop and get significantly worse?

lol but RJ

[76ciology]

Faster pace, more space to cover and a lot of effort on those unassisted FGs.

[tacos]

[Manute Lol]

I feel like some are missing the point I was trying to make.
This has nothing to do with the Portland Aldridge, or the style of the game changing.
Just LAST season as a member of the spurs he was an absolute stud in the second half of the season and playoffs, and in less than a calendar year has dropped off significantly
The question is why the sudden drop off from 2016 to 2017 while still being on the same team, with the same coach and system

In terms of his offensive production, a big part of what we are seeing is probably simple regression to the mean. He probably has lost half a step from his peak, as well, and probably also suffers somewhat from the more Kawhi-centric offensive sets we've seen this season. Maybe the heart has something to do with it, too? As it is with most things in life, the answer is almost certainly not simple.

[Alex DeLarge]

Amidst all this ripping on LMA, the Spurs have had their best ever backtrack win totals with him as the #2.

LMA is clearly not as good on offense as he was in 2014 (when he was an absolute beast) and 2015 (when he was still elite). However, his defense has improved significantly. He clearly puts in a lot more effort on D, and his rim protection is vastly underrated.

If/when Pop finally decides to play Kawhi at the 4 and LMA at the 5 as the sole post option, I imagine we will see better offensive production. Not only will the lane open up, but LMA won't be chasing Ryan Anderson and Trevor Ariza around the perimeter. It would also help if SA's guards force-fed the post when Ryan Anderson is on LMA's back.

Even as a Blazer people underrated his defense around the rim, he was quite good at challenging people going inside and was the master at slapping the ball out of bounds without committing a foul.

I noticed how much worse the Blazers in the paint defense got just after LMA left.

I also felt he was underrated defensively when with Portland, and I think SA's defensive record over the last two seasons (whilst giving guys like Parker and Pau and Manu significant minutes) basically proves that he has has been unfairly maligned on that end. He gets exposed in the pick and roll when he is forced to defend in space, but he is long and thick and does a good job affecting shots at the rim.

I would really like to see him finish his career as a five, because I don't think he can defend 4s for much longer.

[Alex DeLarge]

Great game for a scrub.

[Cactus Jack]

Looks good

[Coxy]

Props to Lamarcus for today's game. Who would have thought that Aldridge would come to life with Parker's injury. The Spurs are scary once more.

[76ciology]

Playing monkey in the middle PnR defense while being defended by bigger C gives him trouble.