I don't think Kevin Love is a star at this point in his career. But he is 24 and has improved every year of his career. While Aldridge's shooting has worsened last year, and even worse this year. One is going up, the other is either peaked or going downhill already.
Really?? Alright, well it sounds like we just have completely different definitions for what it means to be a star player. I didn't know there were people who still thought Kevin Love wasn't a star. Okay. Aldrige is just 3 years older at 27 and has improved every year of his career, too. No. He shot 50% from the field in 2010-2011, and shot 51% from the field the year after in 2011-2012, when he was an all star. As I mentioned earlier, Aldridge has been playing hurt. He's a warrior. His awful team needs him so that they can be less awful. Your conclusion is based on things you've stated that are false, like your saying that Aldridge's shooting went down for two consecutive years when it actually went up, and on your willfully ignoring that he's been hurt to start this season. So it sounds like your read of this situation is wrong.
If Aldridge wasn't a star last year and Love isn't a star, then this whole argument is semantic. Harden wasn't/isn't a star either, i guess. Which is fair enough -- everyone can define "star" as they like.
You're right. Aldridge's shooting went up slightly last year from before. I must've read the numbers the other way. But they are similarly enough to feel he's peaked though. I guess where you and I disagree is that you think there's no difference in upside between a 24yr old player(or 23yr old in Patterson's case) and a 27 year old guy. Which is fine. Also, keep talking about injury isn't really helping his case. Especially given the Rockets luck on it.
It's fine, you're reading stuff wrong this morning. We all make mistakes, doesn't mean you're a bad person or something. I think where you and I disagree is that I think LMA has half a decade of really productive, elite basketball left in him. Meanwhile, the impression I get is that you think he's already at this point in his career where you're seeing warning signs, and so dumping him for an improving player like Patterson seems too risky? If you want to talk about franchise histories with injuries, nobody's had it worse this past decade than Portland. The place is cursed or something. LMA needs to get his butt traded someplace else before he becomes another casualty.
*dumping an improving player like Patterson and signing him seems too risky. Eh, you know what I meant.
I honestly don't think of Aldridge as an elite player. I used to, back when he was young and already putting up big stats, winning 45+ games each year with Roy. Because I expected a growth pattern into an elite player. But then he remained a soft, mostly jumpshooting player with average rebounding skills. While Portland has been languishing in that mediocrity zone as a 1st round whipping boy. And I've soured on him. Elite players take otherwise bad teams to great heights. CP3, Howard, Lebron at the top of this list. Aldridge looks more in the Kevin Martin, Monte Ellis range. Players that put up great stats, but their teams record doesn't reflect it.
Portland last year: 26-28 with healthy Aldridge 2-9 without Aldridge + another loss with Aldridge playing 2 minutes, so basically 2-10 I'm not sure what you can ask from a guy. Not everyone's LeBron and takes his team to the playoffs by himself. You seem to want 2-3 top 5 or so superstars on your team, or young guys who can reach that level, and anyone else = don't want. Well, that's probably not going to happen.
Yeah there is a lot of room on the scale between a good player like Patterson and LeBron James / Kevin Durant.
So I've been wondering this- -If Jones had scored 20+ points in the last 3 games what would be the consensus of most posters here in the GARM?
From what I see is that Pit a Pat is becoming a solid contributor to our Rockets Team. and Jones will develop as his back up. Hope we don't trade either of them for players who are way too old for our developing team. Y
And when he does, who will be the rookie on the bench that everyone will be clammering about wanting to see play over Jones??? Its the shiny new toy that you can't play with just yet. Its childish intrigue. You have seen alot of Patterson so you are ready for the new player. Once you see him play alot, you will be ready for something else new. I can guarantee you that much for certain. How long do you think its going to take for someone to create a "Trade James Harden" thread??? Its not here yet, but its coming from fans like you sooner rather than later. This is Patterson's chance to really prove what kind of player he can be in the league, and the Rockets have invested more than 48 months or work into this kid while he was playing behind Scola. People need to stop raining on his parade and give the guy at least half of a season to show what he can do in a featured role. So give it a break. Jones, D-Mo, Machado, and possibly even Royce White will all get their shot at regular rotation minutes in just a few months with trade and injury. The Rockets needs to see what they have in Patterson/Morris before they just get tossed out like scraps.
