Know who I’m not sure about? Lamarcus Aldridge.

[Kblaze8855]

I feel like the general consensus is, he wasn’t all that great, and I don’t think that’s fair even though I myself don’t think he was all that great. I don’t know how to explain rationally. I feel like you severely underrate him even though you and I probably think the same thing. It’s stupid but I’m coming right out and admitting what I’m saying doesn’t make any sense so I don’t need you to come tell me.

I just feel like he and his career are pretty underrated even if I don’t…personally…think he’s that great. I’m going to think of a better way to word that and return later hopefully able to explain myself.

[Wardell Curry]

He was a very good player who was an All-Star level at his peak but he's not all time great in the sense that we think about it(top 20, top 50, top 100), he never had any remarkable supporting casts really and he played in boring cities nobody cares about. His play was also not flashy and he wasn't good enough for people to care about his level of play disregarding that fact.

What else is there to say?

[Kblaze8855]

Also in this category….Demar Derozan. Underrated as hell considering how much of a joke he’s often considered. But that doesn’t mean I think he’s great. I can admit I’m probably not being fair in my assessment of him due to peer pressure/conditioning to see him as a joke. I think I can both acknowledge my own unfairness, and that my unfairness might be rooted in valid criticism, but I’m not sure what the word for it is.


Both those guys are probably underrated…even if I’m not looking to have them on a team I wanted to do big things. I don’t necessarily have to want you on my team to acknowledge your greatness. I can just want you to be great over there. You don’t need to be great on my team. Be great up the street.

[Clifton]

Elton Brand vibes there, KB?

There's something about a guy who a) you know he's going to go to work every night and give you 20/9, and b), you know how he's gonna do it, the other team knows how he's gonna do it, and he's gonna do it anyway.

That's important to have in 4th quarters and playoff games. Even if his peak wasn't what some other guys peaks were, or the talent wasn't first rate, he didn't have to improvise all the time. You knew what you had.

Compare to a guy like Sheed Wallace, who was way more talented, and who did really impressive and intelligent things on the court even if he only gave you 16 that night, but you never knew quite how he was going to get that 16, you never knew if he was going to take himself out of the game mentally, etc. LMA was reliable.

(Now someone's going to come in and show me all his numbers dropped in the postseason, and I'll just shrug, because I share OP's sentiment overall)

[Kblaze8855]

He was a very good player who was an All-Star level at his peak but he's not all time great in the sense that we think about it(top 20, top 50, top 100), he never had any remarkable supporting casts really and he played in boring cities nobody cares about. His play was also not flashy and he wasn't good enough for people to care about his level of play disregarding that fact.

What else is there to say?


The weird thing is I really like that kind of player. I like mid range masters who make incredibly tough shots look routine. It isn’t the most efficient way to play but I respect the skill needed to get away with it. I really can’t put my finger on why I’m not that into LaMarcus Aldridge considering that. I’m also not one of those “But what he won tho?” types. I don’t care if a guy lost when his teams should have lost. I love a good tough pull-up or a fadeaway. I don’t care if you take 19 shots for 23 points. Stylistically I’m pretty pro Aldridge. But in reality?

He can just be great over there. Don’t bring that shit over here.

[Kblaze8855]

Elton Brand vibes there, KB?

There's something about a guy who a) you know he's going to go to work every night and give you 20/9, and b), you know how he's gonna do it, the other team knows how he's gonna do it, and he's gonna do it anyway.

That's important to have in 4th quarters and playoff games. Even if his peak wasn't what some other guys peaks were, or the talent wasn't first rate, he didn't have to improvise all the time. You knew what you had.

Compare to a guy like Sheed Wallace, who was way more talented, and who did really impressive and intelligent things on the court even if he only gave you 16 that night, but you never knew quite how he was going to get that 16, you never knew if he was going to take himself out of the game mentally, etc. LMA was reliable.

(Now someone's going to come in and show me all his numbers dropped in the postseason, and I'll just shrug, because I share OP's sentiment overall)



Oh Elton Brand can deeeeefinitely be good over there.

I don’t care what anyone’s numbers say. Keep him off my property. I will release the hounds if you force me.

[John8204]

I think he's a Hall of Fame short lister but he's not going to get in. He was a fine player, somewhat underserved by playing on small market teams in rebuilds. He's a seven time All-Star and five time All-NBA so I wouldn't say he was a bum or anything. This generation of centers (Griffin, Drummond, and Aldridge) will be interesting to see how they are historically contextualized in the post Jokic/Wemby/Zion/Embiid world.

[iamgine]

He's a really good 2nd option. Legit could've won a few with San Antonio but had a tough luck vs Thunder and then Kawhi got injured. That Kawhi - Aldridge pairing was whooping Durant - Curry Warriors before Kawhi got injured.

[Charlie Sheen]

Felt like he was just in between where he would get his proper due of power forwards who were lethal in the pnr. Better than David West but not as good as Karl Malone. He didnt have the sizzle of a young amare or get on any e40 records like sheed :lol

You either gotta be great or have charisma to get your due as a player. Very good aint cutting it... you will be forgotten. Charisma aint a fixed thing either. It means very different things to different people.

[tpols]

Trailblazer LMA had a mean post game especially out of the left block where he would lower his left shoulder and move guys and then hit them with a feathery jumper. Or pump and pivot and do something else. He had an extremely high skill level and was strong, but had almost no athleticism in terms of jumping or running.

[tpols]

Oh Elton Brand can deeeeefinitely be good over there.

I don’t care what anyone’s numbers say. Keep him off my property. I will release the hounds if you force me.

If Tim Thomas didn't hit that miracle shot in 2006 and Lakers get past the Mavs (clips would've been a given) we could've seen a Kobe Wade ultimate showdown.

[Charlie Sheen]

If Tim Thomas didn't hit that miracle shot in 2006 and Lakers get past the Mavs (clips would've been a given) we could've seen a Kobe Wade ultimate showdown.

The Tim Thomas shot was not the miracle to me on that sequence. Steve Nash uncharacteristically played that possession as poor as he could have nearly turning the ball over and then missing his own 3 that led to the Thomas shot.

[tpols]

The Tim Thomas shot was not the miracle to me on that sequence. Steve Nash uncharacteristically played that possession as poor as he could have nearly turning the ball over and then missing his own 3 that led to the Thomas shot.

Yea it was a 2013 ray Allen sequence that happened. Star misses, offensive rebound, role player hits season saving shot.

[Kblaze8855]

He was a fine player, somewhat underserved by playing on small market teams in rebuilds. He's a seven time All-Star and five time All-NBA so I wouldn't say he was a bum or anything.


I think this is my issue. Isn’t a 7 time all star and 5 time all nba guy too accomplished to call a “fine player” and “not a bum or anything”?

I think it’s just an issue with how we describe players in general. We only have terminology for elites. If you aren’t top…whatever…all time? We don’t even have appropriate descriptions.

A 7 time all star isn’t a good player. Raja Bell was a good player. A guy in HOF short list, 20k points, 5 time all nba range? He’s gotta be great…a legend even. But calling him that makes you want different words for the Duncan and Shaq types.

Not sure what to do about that. It’s like there’s a whole range of guys from like 700th to 100th all time we don’t even have a way to describe.

Like…what’s Caron Butler if Bobby Jackson was good? Really good?

Then what’s Shawn Marion? Really really good?

How many “really” goods = a great?

Feels like everyone who isn’t like…pantheon great….is just “He was pretty good but nothing special”.

We all need to work on that I think but I don’t know the solution.

[ShawkFactory]

If Tim Thomas didn't hit that miracle shot in 2006 and Lakers get past the Mavs (clips would've been a given) we could've seen a Kobe Wade ultimate showdown.

Lol irrelevancy aside, those are some pretty huge if’s

[FilmyCogTurner]

I was always waiting for something to happen from LMA but I guess he was always overshadowed by Roy then Dame. You would think he would have some playoff moments of some kind but they don't seem to exist.

That's my problem lately - old enough to watch full on careers now and their time on the court seems so empty. Why couldn't Aldridge have a run that's somewhere in the vicinity of a Ewing? No chip but battle tested. So much of everything that happens in the league is water under the bridge and long forgotten.

[Kblaze8855]

I was always waiting for something to happen from LMA but I guess he was always overshadowed by Roy then Dame. You would think he would have some playoff moments of some kind but they don't seem to exist.

That's my problem lately - old enough to watch full on careers now and their time on the court seems so empty. Why couldn't Aldridge have a run that's somewhere in the vicinity of a Ewing? No chip but battle tested. So much of everything that happens in the league is water under the bridge and long forgotten.

He had moments but they got overshadowed as you said. He lit Houston up back to back games in the playoffs the year they had Harden and Dwight was showing the last spark of his prime.


https://youtu.be/dtsf8S154Cw



https://youtu.be/fpcn-LhkJe0

46/18 and 43/8 back to back.

Both wins.



But the only thing anyone remembers?




https://youtu.be/mejFtEY5faU

[tpols]

Lol irrelevancy aside, those are some pretty huge if’s

Not really. Lakers were one crazy bailout shot away from winning the series. People don't remember it because it was the 1st round.

Clippers would've been a joke compared to the Suns, and the Mavs were basically a 1 man band with Dirk just like the Lakers were with Kobe and the Heat were with Wade.

[Kblaze8855]

The Mavs really should have won the title that year. I don’t see the Lakers role players stepping up enough around Kobe to get past them. Kobe might do what Wade did but the Heat had some good playoff tested vets and leadership. You can’t be out there needing Kwame to step up 4 rounds in a row.

[tpols]

Kwame is underrated. I thought he was a Kendrick Perkins style country bumpkin but hes actually very intelligent. And Odom was as good as anybody on the Mavs or Heat outside Dirk and Wade.

[Kblaze8855]

Kwame absolutely is country. Country doesn’t necessarily mean he can’t articulate an argument. That said he was still Kwame:



“I got to say, it was tough doing it that year (2008). I was playing with guys, God bless them — God bless them — but Kwame Brown. Smush Parker. We had one game right before…by the way, what I say here, I say directly to them, see what I’m saying, I don’t talk behind people’s back. Things that I say to you, I’m comfortable saying this to them and I’ve said this to them…But like, the game before we traded for Pau, were playing Detroit and I had like 40 points towards the end of the game. This is back when Detroit had Rasheed [Wallace], Chauncey [Billups] and those guys, so we had no business being in the game. So down the stretch of the game, they put in a box and one.

So I’m surrounded by these players, Detroit players, and Kwame is under the basket, all by himself. Literally, like all by himself. So I pass him the ball, he bobbled it and it goes out of bounds. So we go back to the timeout and I’m [upset], right? He goes, ‘I was wide open.’ ‘Yeah, I know.’ This is how I’m talking to him, like, during the game. I said, ‘You’re going to be open again, Kwame, because Rasheed is just totally ignoring you.’ He said, ‘Well, if I’m open don’t throw it to me.’ I was like, ‘Huh?’ He said, ‘Don’t throw it to me.’ I said, ‘Why not?’ He said, well, ‘I’m nervous. If I catch it and they foul me, I won’t make the free throws.’ I said, ‘Hell no!’ I go to Phil [Jackson], I say, ‘Hey Phil, take him out of the game.’ He’s like, ‘Nah, let him figure it out.’ So, we lose the game, I go the locker room, I’m steaming. Steaming. I’m furious. Then, finally I get a call, they said, ‘You know what, we got something that’s happening with Pau.’ I was like, ‘Alright. Cool.’…That’s what I had to deal with the whole year.’”



Kobe would have put him in a box by the finals.


And Shaqs finals ppg being played the way he was doesn’t mean he wasn’t still effective.


Guarded straight up he could still power you through games:



https://youtu.be/FDAoiywvqlM



Which he did to get them to that years finals. 28/16 with Wade having an off night.

and even as a decoy shaq would do more inside than any of the Lakers bigs. That just wasn’t a team built to win. A lot of Kobe fans have been calling it one of the worst playoff teams of all time in the last 15 years. It isn’t true, but it gets said.

[ShawkFactory]

Not really. Lakers were one crazy bailout shot away from winning the series. People don't remember it because it was the 1st round.

Clippers would've been a joke compared to the Suns, and the Mavs were basically a 1 man band with Dirk just like the Lakers were with Kobe and the Heat were with Wade.

Lol that's not how that works at all. The Lakers were fortunate to be up 3-1 in that series and the Suns ultimately showed that they were the better team, a la the Pistons against Orlando in 03.

The Clippers ultimately played the Suns closer. LAL would be the underdog against both them and the Mavericks, likely a heavy one against the Mavs. Acting like them winning 3 straight as the underdog isn't a huge 'if' is weird.

[tpols]

Lol that's not how that works at all. The Lakers were fortunate to be up 3-1 in that series and the Suns ultimately showed that they were the better team, a la the Pistons against Orlando in 03.

The Clippers ultimately played the Suns closer. LAL would be the underdog against both them and the Mavericks, likely a heavy one against the Mavs. Acting like them winning 3 straight as the underdog isn't a huge 'if' is weird.

Being up 3-1 and a single hail mary shot away from victory is as close as you can play anybody that ultimately ended up beating you.

Clippers got blown out by the sun's in Game 7 too so you really have no argument here.

[ShawkFactory]

Being up 3-1 and a single hail mary shot away from victory is as close as you can play anybody that ultimately ended up beating you.

Clippers got blown out by the sun's in Game 7 too so you really have no argument here.

Sure I do. I already mentioned that they were indeed lucky to be up 3-1.

The Clippers actually outscored the suns in the series. Higher ORTG too.

The suns falling asleep for a couple days and finding themselves down 3-1 to an inferior team doesn’t mean much when projecting the lakers later on. Shit happens. The Clips were more evenly matched, and would be favored against the Lakers.

[FultzNationRISE]

Problem is a lot of PFs in his era were doing the same thing. Bosh, Boozer, Randolph, Gasol, Brand, Amare. And thats before even getting to Duncan, Dirk, KG.

Every team had a PF in that era. He might not have even been Top 10 at his position when he played. Makes it hard to remember him as special.

[FultzNationRISE]

David West as well. Horford. Luis Scola even.

Every team had a PF.

LMA had some game, he just wasnt hard to replace.

[ShawkFactory]

David West as well. Horford. Luis Scola even.

Every team had a PF.

LMA had some game, he just wasnt hard to replace.

I absolutely would not have traded Horford for LMA straight up.

[90sgoat]

He's one of the players who really annoys me.

No doubt he is a talented scorer and decent passer, but with his almost 7 feet and bulk, he should have been way more physical, but 90% of his shots were fadeaways.

He was also a poor rim protector despite his size and an underwhelming rebounder.

He is underrated in the sense, that he could absolutely be the second best player on a championship team, that has a strong defensive center and wing scoring.

He wanted to be top dog though, which is why he clashed with both Dame and Kawhi. I bet Kawhi left Spurs, not least because of Lamarcus.

[tontoz]

He was a good player but the league moved away from him during his career. He wasn't that athletic and didn't get to the basket much so he relied heavily on midrange jumpers. He was good at them but they are inefficient shots unless you are an elite shooter, which he wasn't.

If he was a rookie today he would surely focus a lot more on 3s, which he didn't shoot regularly until late in his career.

[90sgoat]

He was a good player but the league moved away from him during his career. He wasn't that athletic and didn't get to the basket much so he relied heavily on midrange jumpers. He was good at them but they are inefficient shots unless you are an elite shooter, which he wasn't.

If he was a rookie today he would surely focus a lot more on 3s, which he didn't shoot regularly until late in his career.

His issue was mostly that he was slow as molasses guarding the PnR, so he couldn't be the starting small ball center, which he otherwise could definitely have transitioned into. He was decent guarding bigs on the block.

[tpols]

He's one of the players who really annoys me.

No doubt he is a talented scorer and decent passer, but with his almost 7 feet and bulk, he should have been way more physical, but 90% of his shots were fadeaways.

He was also a poor rim protector despite his size and an underwhelming rebounder.

He is underrated in the sense, that he could absolutely be the second best player on a championship team, that has a strong defensive center and wing scoring.

He wanted to be top dog though, which is why he clashed with both Dame and Kawhi. I bet Kawhi left Spurs, not least because of Lamarcus.

He was plenty physical. His whole game was to bang you out the way and J you. He didn't have the hops or athleticism to be an in your face dunker.