I remember that game lol. I had front row seats behind the Rockets bench. MarShon was KILLING Parsons while hitting some unbelievable fadeaway jumpers. At one point during a timeout Parsons was yelling at McHale asking what he's doing wrong lol.
I thought we should have put Parsons on LMA. He's actually taller than Patterson and he's more agile so I bet he'd do a better job getting a hand in Aldridge's face. LMA doesn't really have a muscular game so I don't think Parsons' lack of strength would matter that much.
Although he can always shoot over Chuck, he did not make it at a high percentage (from what I recall) . I believe Chucks ability to slap the ball out of the players hands had an effect on his shooting rhythm. In addition, I can live with him shooting all those fadeaway jumpers all night as long as he doesn't have easy layups and not work the paint.
Please link the injury. Also, I'm sure you watched the games, but in the clutch, if Aldridge shoots a baseline fade away in the short corner and makes it, all you can do is tip your hat because that is the shot to give up since it has the highest degree of difficulty, and all defences rely on not giving up the middle. the Lillard /Aldridge PnR reminds me of Boozer/Williams. In the second game the Rockets lost, the third man did not help off to cover Aldridge's jumper until Ppat could rotate in, and he made at least 8 of them in the second half. Context is key. Also, if one post move score against Patterson does not mean he is overrated. Patterson was guarding him because Asik could not (no way am I saying Patterson is better at defence than Asik).
I thought all of the players we put on him guarded him well. Forced(?) him into shooting a ton of 40% jump shots and 18 foot fadeaways. Couldn't make him miss them, though. I didn't see us doing much rooting him out of a comfortable position. You know, the leg on leg fouling that you can usually get away with against a big man. Still, he took an awful lot of the shots we would like him to be taking. Except for that annoying habit of making them all, he would have been a nonfactor.
LMA was just on last night. No two ways about it. He made what, eight 16 foot jump shots with a hand right in front of his face. Unless the Rockets doubled him he was going to score a ton. But last night the Rockets chose not to double him and won handily. Coaching staff kudos anyone?
They can't double him when he has Batum and Lillard as teammates. Not like the Utah Jazz, who had incompetent guards.
I don't claim to be a Aldridge expert, but from the games i have watched he is an absolute terror on the offensive end. I don't understand why some of you hate on the guy.
The way he releases the ball, with the shot way over his head, is nearly impossible to stop. You're not going to block it. The best way to stop LaMarcus is to push him away from the basket and hope that he misses because he's a little out of his range. The best I've seen anyone guard him is...wait for it...Zach Randolph. He pushed him away, didn't fall for the up-fake.... He's not overrated by any means.
Hopefully, because if it wasn't for Harden last night we would have had no chance. Portland will beat most teams playing the way they did yesterday.
Don't worry, LA doesn't have the will to be a superstar. The 21/9 he's put up the last few years is his limit. He takes too many jumpers vs. posting up. Last night, his jumper was money so he took 5-6 more shots than normal. If he was willing to bang in the post more often, take some more hits (leading to more FTs) and was passionate about rebounding, he'd be a 26/13 guy and would get all-NBA mention. But too often LA isn't willing to work hard to impose his will on games when his jumper isn't going in. The best way to hinder LA in a game like last night is to be REALLY physical, which can throw him off. A couple of hard fouls, sprinkle in some trash talk, etc. But that isn't the Rockets style. For that matter, defense isn't the Rockets style.
Although Parsons is taller, Patterson still has the higher standing reach. Giving him a better shot at challenging LMA's shot. Thinking about it, maybe D-Mo should have been given a shot. I think among our PF's he has the highest standing reach around (9'0-9'2). And given that LMA was strictly shooting jumpers, D-Mo's size and reach could had forced him to put it on the floor.
Take my word for it: Blazers fans hate on him more than anyone. In Brandon Roy's heyday, I followed them very closely. A guy that works for me has been a dedicated Blazers fan forever and watches every single one of their games. The bottom line is LA is a frustrating player to watch because he could be a superstar if he had a superstar motor. The games he slacks off and becomes passive drive Blazermaniacs crazy.
