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You need to stop this stupid obsession you have.
If Pop wanted him at the 3 pt line, he would. He was already taking those shots when wide open in Portland. We can criticize a lot, but where he spots up is on Pop. They want him to rebound and are playing him very close to the basket. For whatever reason, that is on Pop.
POP occasionally calls up the Portland post up for him since that is his shot, but they have also posted him up closer to the basket at times and that was not the bulk of his game. It's an adjustment. He might even be struggling with his post up game having to adjust to what Pop wants and using moves that were not his best. (I don't remember him being posted up so close to the basket in Portland, so it an adjustment.)
I think he's struggled these games along with Tony. Certainly you don't expect poor production from a max player, you expect consistency, but if you alter a good 50% of his game and have him outside his comfort zone, he will struggle.
I was actually disappointed with how Pop was using him early. I am not alarmed bc we are winning, but yea, he will need to increase his level of play.
You need to stop this stupid obsession you have.
I know; you can count me among those who can't imagine our trading him this quickly. It is just not our MO. Just recall Jefferson... But he is rapidly showing that he is not the major star we expected.
I do appreciate your decisive flippancy!
He was never a highly efficient scorer. His last 3 seasons with Portland his FG%s were 46.6%, 45.8%, and 48.4%... He's a moderately efficient scorer who helps the team O by drawing big defenders away from the basket with his mid-range shot. As far as "hustle" goes, yeah, I agree he looks a little too casual, but again he is part of an elite defense and his block numbers are slightly up even though his mpg are down... so, he's buying into the defense-first philosophy, which is something Portland was never known for...
This just in: http://www.movienewsguide.com/nba-tr...-pacers/134690
Joakim Noah rumored to go to Celtics or Pacers.
"Joakim Noah’s declining game performance is due to his age and, consequently, his lack of energy. Such traits are a no-no with the Bulls’ strong offensive tactic. "
Does sound like LMA to me. Note: Noah is the same age as LMA
Can't help it, I was traumatized with the Richard Jefferson situation. Those were really dark years.
Looking for any glimpse of hope that LMA is not RJ 2.0.
Fingers crossed. I didn't follow those years so I am not traumatized like you, maybe that makes me more tolerant.
Extremely frustrating time for Spurs fans. RJ went from Kidd's all-star level running buddy on the Nets to a near zero with us at a time when we thought we were a SF away from a dynasty.
If you can't tell the difference, you need to stop posting forever.
If you take a look at RJ's numbers, there's a drop off in the PPG when he started playing for the Spurs. A 7 point drop off where he ended up to be just a marginal player averaging 12 PPG. On his second year, he was able to drastically improve his 3 point shooting but his PPG remained around the same. His playing time dropped by 5 minutes to 30 minutes per game. RJ Played 7 seasons before coming to SAS. RJ was 29.
Contrast Aldridge. An 8 point drop off now averaging 15 points a game. Playing time also dropped off by 5 minutes to 30 minute per game. LMA played 8 seasons before coming to SAS. LMA is 30.
It looks like history is repeating itself!
movienewsguide.com for all the hot, latest NBA news... Ok...
RJ wasn't actually a complete zero. He averaged 30 minutes a game with 12 PPG. What kills you is that it isn't that bad, but it isn't stellar either.
It is just like LMA. He is averaging 30 minutes a game with 15 PPG. Fans are saying it's okay, but really it isn't. It's all fools gold, I'm telling ya! It's fools gold!!
Yeah, I didn't look up his stats before I made the knee-jerk "near zero" comment. I do remember his 3-point shooting improving a lot in his second year. Actually, your pointing out the similarity in stats causes me to concentrate even more on my "eye test" analysis. RJ continues to generate such opprobrium on ST because of the same lack of hustle plays, "smart" plays and BBIQ that I do perceive in LMA's game. Ouch! I'm not quite yet converted, though.
Tbh, I expected LMA to spurn us in free agency. My expectation/hope was that we would then sign his teammate, Robin Lopez. How do you think that would have worked out?
Yes, the lack of hustle, smarts and BBIQ is the same. History tends to repeat itself. If Pop couldn't teach RJ to play, he definitely isn't going to do better with LMA. The clock is ticking... we shall see come time to play against GSW.
Actually, now that you point this out, it is really tough to predict how established stars would do in our system before you bring them in) Except for Lamarcus, our best players are home grown. You really need BBIQ, defense, hustle, and good instincts. We gave some different quality passers (from legend to adequate, the whole gamut), but unless you are innately known as a passer/high IQ guy like Bobo (also previously known as a too laid back, prone to laziness dude, but his have talent and BBIQ was not in question), it's difficult to assess.
Lamarcus has made many hustle plays. It's what has kept us in games when he's struggled. He has really committed to defense. Sure at times he's made a defensive mistake. He had never played in Pop's system.
Wasn't there an issue with Jefferson not even trying on D?
Maybe it is splitting a hair that nobody else can see, but I do think there is a difference between hustle plays and defensive effort - or offensive effort for that matter. Of all other posters you probably know better than anybody how I have been impressed with his very solid defense. (Although last night - and at other times - without Tim, LMA really fell on his face as the defensive stopper stand-in.) But I still have not been impressed by any "hustle" plays - the kind of effort that energizes the crowd (not to mention teammates), pulling cheers out of them and bringing them to their feet. Not to say he hasn't made some very good plays on defense. But I would characterize his play as "uninspired" and not really capable of inspiring others. He is definitely not LMAlpha.
Last edited by sasaint; 12-29-2015 at 04:29 PM.
To be fair with Jefferson, he played adequate defense but he had trouble slashing to the rim in offense. He wasn't the same RJ that gave Spurs fits in the championship series against the Nets. Honestly, he was an adequate player, but not good enough to take the Spurs to the next level.
Same situation with LMA, Spurs signed him to take the aging Spurs to the next level. The only fortunate event is that Leonard has taken his game to the next level. Without that change, Spurs would be struggling like last year.
I think you are being charitable. IIRC, RJ didn't have any trouble slashing; he rarely ever tried after he joined us.
Do or do not, there is no try. - YodaI think you are being charitable. IIRC, RJ didn't have any trouble slashing; he rarely ever tried after he joined us.
LMA honestly has the size and talent to take the Spurs to the promised land.
The question is 'will he bring the nasty'? Do we need him to develop a basketball IQ?
This is undeniable, Kawhi has risen to the occasion, and if not for him, there are quite a lot of games we would have lost. He's deservedly an MVP candidate.
Lamarcus certainty has not yet looked consistently right. He's had some good games, let's not pretend he hasn't come through some games. There was a Portland and Boston game he played really well, and he was fine in the CHicago game, carrying us for stretches, but OTOH he's had some very underwhelming games as well.
The way ppl criticize young guys like Kyle, who are still very much developing and rightfully will make their mistakes and be inconsistent, you would have to think there is just a lot of subjectivity around. Kyle has the strictest standard by Pop. Did you see the level of perfection Pop expects from him? (and I have seen him be really hard on himself for messing up), and this guy doesn't? Hmmmm... It does make me think about his fiber and compe iveness.
When our schedule gets tougher I guess we'll see.
Ah, you are beginning to see it now. Why Pop is boiling mad from within. Had to spill over sometime, and it did. He got himself tossed!
This is a problem if Pop doesn't have the liberty of berating LMA for his bonehead plays.
BTW, looks like Bulls fans want to unload Pau Gasol: https://dawindycity.com/2015/12/28/c...-taj-gibson/5/ unfortunately, for similar reasons why I want to unload LMA.
It's not the same. I was one of only a few posters here that was very angry with RJ during his first month here. I wanted him gone after his first month. I didn't think he was good enough to be on the team. I thought he was very soft mentally. Some posters here said I was crazy and needed to give him more time. Looks like I was right about that one well before most other people. It took the Spurs 2+ years to get rid of him and I wanted him gone after his first month.
Aldridge has already been better than RJ ever was here.
Don't be fooled by "old stats" like ppg. Rj's first year here, his ORtg was 110 and his DRtg was 106. LMA's ORtg is 106 and his DRtg is 95. He's having MUCH more effect than RJ ever did with the Spurs. RJ's overall rating was +4 twice and +7 once. His downfall was that he went from 4 to 7 and then back to 4, which is the point where we dumped him.
LMAs issues are twofold. His minutes were cut by 1/6th, and his spots on the floor are frequently used by both Tim and Kawhi. If you just projected him into last year's minutes, he'd be scoring about 18. I fully expect an upward scoring bounce when Tim retires.
Don't go to the ridiculous ceperez dark side, dude.
This is one reason we should be pairing LMA with Boris and Tim with DWest the majority of the time. But with Boban's continued development, I expect he will work his way into the lineup in combinations whose effectiveness is unknown at this juncture. I do like ceperez's "preferred" lineup of Boban, Boris, Manu, Patty and Kawhi/Simmons in the brief glimpses we have had of it.
The advanced metrics you cite confirm my observations that LMA has delivered on the defensive end far beyond expectations (at least mine). I haven't gone over to the Dark Side yet!
I am not looking into the post-Tim future for his "numbers" to increase. I am somewhat concerned about games like his last outing when Tim wasn't playing. Doesn't LMA seem to you like he is coasting or even pretty much a non-presence at times?
Let's look at the numbers, ESPN's plus-minus:This is one reason we should be pairing LMA with Boris and Tim with DWest the majority of the time. But with Boban's continued development, I expect he will work his way into the lineup in combinations whose effectiveness is unknown at this juncture. I do like ceperez's "preferred" lineup of Boban, Boris, Manu, Patty and Kawhi/Simmons in the brief glimpses we have had of it.
The advanced metrics you cite confirm my observations that LMA has delivered on the defensive end far beyond expectations (at least mine). I haven't gone over to the Dark Side yet!
I am not looking into the post-Tim future for his "numbers" to increase. I am somewhat concerned about games like his last outing when Tim wasn't playing. Doesn't LMA seem to you like he is coasting or even pretty much a non-presence at times?
Defensive Plus Minus:
http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/sort/DRPM
Duncan leads the league at 6.13
Leonard at #4 at 4.76
West at #17 at 3.04
Anderson at #39 at 2.27
...
Aldridge #74 at 1.58
oh.... BTW offensive plus minus .... Aldridge rank is #208!
Yes.... absolutely coasting.
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