First Take: Aldridge Wants Out of SA; Blames Spurs for his Regression

[dbreiden83080]

I was fine keeping him, but if he is this much a pussy about not being the number 1 guy.. him!! But get as much as you can. We need to contend next year..

[SpurPadre]

A few thoughts on this:

1. He's not totally wrong. The offense here is way different than POR. That doesn't absolve LMA of all things but it's not untrue.

2. This says a lot about LMA though and won't look good on him. Already hearing GMs question him

3. This is a decent blow to SA the free agent destination. Grab a legit FA star and it sours so quickly. Ramifications down the road?

4. Let's hope another team sees it like LMA does and is willing to trade for him on his improved defense and that his offense will come around.

This is the point I brought up earlier. Players form bonds with other players outside of their current team and I fear there might be star players close to LMA or at least have a lot of respect for him, whom may no longer see playing for the Spurs as a viable option for them.

[LkrFan]

Stephen A. Smith just said on ESPN First Take that his sources are telling him that LMA wants out of San Antonio and that he feels the Spurs system has hurt his game....

IF this is true, ship this loser out on the first bus today. Seriously. What a joke.

Deng for LMA works

[DAF86]

Folks still defending this overrated soft piece of .

[baseline bum]

Deng for LMA works

So does Pick #2 plus Ingram for LMA

[tmtcsc]

With LMA and all the other guys people hate



With LMA and all the other guys people hate.

(I'm not going to do that to the other three.)



And the players know what they're doing too. It's the staff's jobs to put players in positions to succeed. By and large they failed to maximize their talent.



Seems like an odd thing to say, given that most of the same rotation returned and the new guys had better years than the old.

I'd be willing to buy this excuse if the Spurs started off running a different offense than they finished up with. But they came out of the games, from Summer League to pre-season to regular-season to post-season doing this for two years in a row. This is what Pop wants. Sure, he wants LMA to be unconscious in iso situations like Kawhi often is, and he wanted the shooters to convert their new looks as easily as they converted their old ones. But they didn't, and Pop was like, "Maybe on the 1001st time, it's gonna work. Gotta pound that rock."

LMA could have and should have been more consistent. But he wasn't, and Pop doesn't get to keep the same plays knowing the same results and then act like there was nothing he could do.

They accomplished what they accomplished despite Aldridge underperforming. When they needed him most, he didn't perform. He also has a reputation for having a terrible work-ethic. His numbers weren't awful but he seemed moody and disengaged. When things got tough, he cowarded.

The last time we had the beautiful game offense was 2014 imo.

Tim Duncan
Corey Joseph
Marco Belineli
Boris Diaw
Tiago Splitter
Aaron Baynes


Who else?

[DPG21920]

Folks still defending this overrated soft piece of .

You can be disappointed in LMA (for many reasons) and still acknowledge he was a key part of a WCF team and that SA offense did limit him in ways.

[DPG21920]

They accomplished what they accomplished despite Aldridge underperforming. When they needed him most, he didn't perform. He also has a reputation for having a terrible work-ethic. His numbers weren't awful but he seemed moody and disengaged. When things got tough, he cowarded.

The last time we had the beautiful game offense was 2014 imo.

Tim Duncan
Corey Joseph
Marco Belineli
Boris Diaw
Tiago Splitter
Aaron Baynes


Who else?

Without Kawhi against a very good HOU team he f*cking destroyed them to get SA to a WCF. Once Kawhi went down did people really think LMA was supposed to do anything vs GS when a mega stacked fully healthy defending champion team won 1 game??

[FuzzyLumpkins]

You can be disappointed in LMA (for many reasons) and still acknowledge he was a key part of a WCF team and that SA offense did limit him in ways.

What ways?

You keep parroting this narrative but it amounts to your typical facile analysis.

Did Portland run some super special weakside action that we didn't to get him good looks in the post? Or is this just how you feel?

[DAF86]

You can be disappointed in LMA (for many reasons) and still acknowledge he was a key part of a WCF team and that SA offense did limit him in ways.

Except that he wasn't. Spurs were a WCF team despite of him, not because of him.

[dbreiden83080]

The Spurs kept giving him to work with. Like what's he supposed to do with a post-up that starts 16 feet from the basket? Asking him to dribble against a double is just irresponsible. In Game Six against Houston, they kept giving him the ball in the right places, and he dominated.

Yes, his personality had a fair bit to do with why he was forced out to 16 feet, and he often attacked in the wrong direction, shooting a fadeway instead of making an inside move. That's on him. It's also on Pop that they didn't get that worked out. Not all post-up players are created equal, and passive LMA gave a bad name or aggressive LMA.

Not being a post player, and taking bad shots is largely his game. I am sure you saw him play in Portland, it was the same there. LA does not like to get it down deep, and bang down low because frankly he is just soft. So with Leonard being our best player, he shoots his usual mid range jumpers, with less touches and tries to play decent D. His rebounding is also a huge issue. Not nearly good enough for a 6'11 big who is supposed to be an all star level player..

[r0drig0lac]

It must be really hard to hit wide open jumpers. Damn the Spurs system.

[dbreiden83080]

I don't agree with blaming Pop. LMA is a grown ass man who needs to play within the team system instead of crying about getting touches where he's "comfortable." Dude is highly skilled and generally the largest player on the floor most times and he can't even post up 6'5" guards. It's not Pop's fault he gives piss poor effort. It's not Pop's fault he plays small. It's not Pop's fault he has a fragile ego and pussy mentality. The only thing that is Pop's fault is thinking this wuss could ever hold Tim Duncan's jock strap

Blaming Pop has always been a popular thing to do around here. Even in the heyday with Tim when the Spurs won, it was about the players, and when they lost it was on Pop. I have always appreciated Pop for the great coach he is. LA I thought fit in fine, with Leonard being the man, but I think the issue is, he thought he was coming to the Spurs to be the man. Leonard exploded offensively kind of out of nowhere, and with Leonard's well rounded game, suddenly he was the star. Obviously it never sat right with LA. Shows you all he cares about are his stats, and trying to win a ring is not his concern.

[kaji157]

Yes Aldridge is an all star by all means. His ty play here is because the spurs have one of the worst management and coaches. You gotta offer a good player and a top ten pick for him because he is ready to deliver.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Blaming Pop has always been a popular thing to do around here. Even in the heyday with Tim when the Spurs won, it was about the players, and when they lost it was on Pop. I have always appreciated Pop for the great coach he is. LA I thought fit in fine, with Leonard being the man, but I think the issue is, he thought he was coming to the Spurs to be the man. Leonard exploded offensively kind of out of nowhere, and with Leonard's well rounded game, suddenly he was the star. Obviously it never sat right with LA. Shows you all he cares about are his stats, and trying to win a ring is not his concern.

It's the way in all sports. When people scapegoat the coach absent specific significant cause I know whose analysis to ignore.

Blaming the coach/manager is simple so it makes them an easy target. Most of what a coach does we have no way of knowing. Combine the two and you have a recipe for some rank stupidity.

[Chinook]

They accomplished what they accomplished despite Aldridge underperforming. When they needed him most, he didn't perform. He also has a reputation for having a terrible work-ethic. His numbers weren't awful but he seemed moody and disengaged. When things got tough, he cowarded.

The last time we had the beautiful game offense was 2014 imo.

Tim Duncan
Corey Joseph
Marco Belineli
Boris Diaw
Tiago Splitter
Aaron Baynes


Who else?

They also had a Parker good enough to build an offense around. Going from the Zipper Series to Kawhiso was the biggest reason for the offense stalling. That's not because Kawhi isn't a bad player or whatever. It's because Pop still hasn't figured out a way to leverage Kawhi's talent to make a system where everyone gets more shots. LMA didn't disrupt the offense -- Pop wanted him precisely because he fit the new offense he created. LMA the bed as an iso guy, and indeed, he wanted and wants to be one. Rather than bringing him in for that, though, Pop should have built a system where guys got touches in better players off more dynamic sets. LMA may have still been a wet noodle, but he would have been a better noodle.

[BatManu20]

Here's a write up about the situation by Amick.

[Capt Bringdown]

LMA can cry to his free agent bros as much as he wants.
He was universally called out, dissed, etc in the media for his horrendous playoff performance.

Any free agent bro of LMA who wants to come to his defense, or is sympathetic his whining is not fit to wear a Spurs uniform.
Players have a lot of pride. I can't imagine very many circling the wagons in defense of LMA's soft, broke-ass, cowardly play.

[DAF86]

I guess getting him wide ass open mid range shots and giving him the ball on the block time and time again, despite him not doing , is "limiting" him.

[DPG21920]

Except that he wasn't. Spurs were a WCF team despite of him, not because of him.

Game 6 vs HOU says otherwise.

[cjw]

This is the point I brought up earlier. Players form bonds with other players outside of their current team and I fear there might be star players close to LMA or at least have a lot of respect for him, whom may no longer see playing for the Spurs as a viable option for them.

LMA is a bit of an introvert and not sure this will play that way across the league. It's not like a banana boat member came here and had their game destroyed. Spurs system is not made for players who care about counting stats and that seems to be his issue (maybe upset he's unlikely to qualify for super max?).

I do take issue with Pop not prioritizing a wing last offseason as Chinook mentions but they did have to replace Duncan and two other bigs. Gasol isn't perfect but there were far worse options last year. Just look at all the awful deals signed. Who would you guys have preferred?

[TimDunkem]

Game 6 vs HOU says otherwise.

Light shines on a dog's ass every now and then.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

He shot his best shooting percentages since 2012 in his two years here. Yeah, rebounding and blocks were down, and shot attempts slightly, but what the does he want?

[DAF86]

Game 6 vs HOU says otherwise.

Spurs won that game because Harden had the worst playoff game for a superstar that I can remember in my lifetime. And when Harden sucks the Rockets suck even harder. Aldridge 30 something points weren't the game changers, it was the Rockets scoring only 70 something pts.

Stop trying to concede credit were isn't due, tbh. Spurs won't miss a bit without this possession wasting POS.

[tholdren]

A lot of his regression is Pop's fault. Dude just doesn't want to build a legit offense for his pieces.

So whose fault is it lamarcus is fat and terribly out of shape