There have been a few games where Aldrich has gotten the backup C minutes over smith. Why is that? Its pretty obvious to me smith is much better. Something im missing?
You've missed how terrible Smith has been on defense as of lately. He also didn't play in the first game against the Bobcats (birth of his son) so maybe McHale liked how Aldrich played against Haywood then.
Just more of McTroll. No but I think he's sending a message to Greg or he really does just want to see more of what Cole can give, defensively anyway. Because while Greg is a GOD at catching passes and dunking them, he's been struggling defensively the last few games. He really looked like a lost big kid who wandered on court at the Nuggets game
Some of the posters on here are hivemind with the McHale bashing in every single post. No that it doesn't warrant any merit, but it's not like anything new or productive is being added to the conversation. And consistently bashing someone tends to distort an otherwise balanced perspective.
The centers in the NBA today are just plain soft. I miss the centers like the Dream, Robert Parish, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaq etc. Those guys played with a mean streak all the time.
if you remember the game in Charlotte, Aldrich was atrocious just horrendous so McHale was giving him a chance to make up for that game figuring he'd want to I assume. that is not a bad strategy.
Basically this. Smith has been pretty bad defensively lately. I loved him when he went beast mode against the Lakers but he's been out of sync on the rolls lately, and he's a liability defensively, especially with all the fouling. Aldrich isn't much better though, it's clear we need a legitimate back up C because whenever Asik sits, we die.
As others have noticed, Smith has looked rather lost defensively of late amd the team has struggled whenever Asik sits. Coach is likely just trying to find a way to play better without Asik and wants to see what Aldrich can do. Also tonight may be a good night to do it since CHA plays the similarly tall and slowish Brandan Haywood as backup C. Aldrich was OK on offense tonight, but still not all that good on D. Noticeable drop off whenever Asik sits once again.
I suspect its a combination of all 3 things that people mentioned including 1. G smith has been sucking on defense and has been a fouling machine 2. Showcasing / cole has earned it in practice 3. Family matters So chill out
Aldrich has a little bit of a post game. He can't finish like Smith, but he's better at defending bigger and slower centers.
