Comments on: Could LaMarcus Aldridge win MVP? Well, no, but let’s talk about it anyway

By: mytthor

mytthor — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 01:27:40 +0000

“There isn’t one person who knows basketball who will say with a straight face the Blake or Kevin Love (???) are better than LA. Not one.”

If you’re saying that you never said that LA was better than Kevin Love, then your contention is that what you were actually saying is that everyone who knows basketball thinks that Kevin Love is EXACTLY as good as Aldridge, and not a single person who knows basketball disagrees. Not better means either worse or the same. It’s logically unlikely that every single person thinks the exact same thing.

By: jamesinva

jamesinva — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 00:33:26 +0000

Im a HUGEEEE trail blazers fan and i have to say….no..aldridge is no league MVP

By: borderline1988

borderline1988 — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:19:06 +0000

They’re all pretty good if you ask me.
Blake is the least skilled, but he’s by far the most explosive and has the most potential. In terms of playing with Chris Paul, he’s the best option.
Love is a beast, who would win this competition hands down b/c of his rebounding and shooting, but his defense is abhorrent.
Aldridge is the most skilled offensive player, but he’s not getting much better in my opinion. He’s also more of a guy you dump the ball to, rather than running set plays. Love and Griffin are better in the pick and roll. LA likes to pop in that situation, but he’s not an elite jump shooter.

Also, Love has the smarts and coordination to develop a post game similar to LA’s. I have a feeling in a couple of years he will be just as good offensively in the post.

But at the end of the day, you can’t discount defense. I’d probably say that Love is the best, followed by LA and then Griffin.

By: nbascreed

nbascreed — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 11:30:57 +0000

Again, for the 3rd time you’ve misstated my contention. It was pretty clear (off tops I might add) that I was arguing LA = Love/Blake.

By: mytthor

mytthor — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 03:27:40 +0000

If your contention is that not one intelligent basketball fan would say that Love is better than Aldridge, then by extension, LA is enough better than Love that there’s no room for discussion. Yes, head and shoulders was my choice of words, but I think it was a decent paraphrase of what you said.

By: nbascreed

nbascreed — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 03:12:36 +0000

1. The argument is not moot. The very fact that the NBA and/or associated personnel (writers, GM, etcs) may wrestle with the MVP decision involving LA, Blake and/or Love among others makes it the exact opposite of moot.

2. I never said I was expecting LA to breakout and before you rush to conflate my original statement with your lazy interpretation tell me the difference in these two sentences.

A. Grandma, if you keep eating fatty foods I wouldn’t be surprised if you had a heart attack.

B. Grandma I know that you’re going to have a heart attack soon.

See how different those feel. One is a conditional (me) the other is presented as a matter of fact (you interpreting me).

3. To be clear I made two arguments which were:

A. LA = Love and Blake

This was in response to Matt’s implication that somehow LA was not on the same plane with Love and Blake. I disagreed, and stated that anyone who knew basketball would disagree. Love is a great story and Griff is a fun watch but LA has a demonstrated skill level that again, is unmatched (save Pau) in the whole entire league (Timmy and KG’s career brilliance notwithstanding).

Whatever you think of Griff or Love, LA has a valuable asset which is the ability to get buckets in a 1:1 or 1:2 situations. Love and Griff do not yet possess that on any meaningful scale. Love shoots over 5 threes per game, which is way too many for a guy shooting just 36%.

B. LA Post Game > Love/Blake Post Game

I think this ones been settled to the boards satisfaction.

By: moseskkim

moseskkim — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 01:21:23 +0000

to be fair he said his post game is light years ahead which does not mean that he’s light years better overall.. just one part of his game.

overall LA is the most talented of the bunch. He has real good touch. Love is grittiest. He puts up great #’s but he’s not as efficient. Griffin has the greatest athleticism. Grififn shoots a great % (don’t tell me its all dunks because he only dunks around 3 a game).
MVP has a lot to do with flash. If minny becomes a top 5 team in the west, I think you can give the MVP to Love. Griffin has a long ways to go for MVP consideration. Even if LA plays well and portland makes it to the playoffs, no way he gets MVP. Only if portland is like top 2 in the West. Hes not flashy enough.

By: mnsportsfan

mnsportsfan — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 01:20:48 +0000

The argument is kind of moot because Love is such a different player than LA. Have both players switch teams and tell them to do exactly what the other does (LA rebounding and shooting 3′s and Kevin Love playing good defense putting his back to the basket) and they would both be terrible. So yes he might be “LIGHT YEARS” ahead of Love and Griffin in some aspects but that is only in what you are choosing to compare them in.

And to speak to the “break out” you are expecting from Aldridge. It is more conceivable based on age and career statistics for either Love or Griffin to have more improvement next year as opposed to Aldridge who, based on trends, might already be nearer to the best player he is going to be.

By: cosanostra71

cosanostra71 — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 00:15:15 +0000

well to be fair you said he was light years ahead. its a matter of semantics

By: nbascreed

nbascreed — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 00:12:16 +0000

Did you read my post? This is yet another example of PBT commenters strawmanning arguments. I never said he was “head and shoulders” above Blake or Love. But now, as a matter of fact (your admission), there is no debating that his post game is indeed superior which was my contention.

See, we’re saying the same thing LA is a much better post player….

By: mytthor

mytthor — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 23:45:18 +0000

You have to be a ridiculous homer to think that LA is head and shoulders above Kevin Love. Love is a 3 point shooter, solid post threat, and one of the top 2 rebounders in the league. LA is a better post player, a worse shooter, a better defender, and a worse rebounder.

By: nbascreed

nbascreed — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 22:38:26 +0000

There isn’t one person who knows basketball who will say with a straight face the Blake or Kevin Love (???) are better than LA. Not one. If at the end of the year Aldridge had broken out and put together an MVP worthy campaign, I would NOT be in the least bit surprised. I saw this guy up close and personal courtside, twice. His post game is second to only Pau (slightly) and LIGHT YEARS ahead of either Blake or Kevin Love.

By: fanz928

fanz928 — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 22:24:10 +0000

Not in Portland