Portland Trail Blazers: 5 Trends To Keep An Eye On After The All-Star Break
By Aaron Mah
- Will LaMarcus Aldridge’s Injury Eventually Affect His On-Court Production?
When the Blazers announced, during the end of January, that their star big man, LaMarcus Aldridge, was set to miss the next six to eight weeks as a result of thumb surgery, the entire NBA universe were ready to write the Blazers off for this season.
Courageously, Aldridge opted to put off his impending surgery and play out the remainder of the season, and postseason, with a busted thumb. Luckily, the radial collateral ligament tear is on his left thumb, and not on his prized shooting hand.
Since returning to the Blazers’ lineup, despite the psychological strain of playing with an injury, Aldridge has actually increased his overall production and efficiency. In fact, he has averaged 25.2 points and 11.2 rebounds on 54.9 percent TS% over the last nine games; up from his season averages of 23.6 points and 10.3 rebounds per game on 52.9 percent TS%.
Aldridge is specifically shooting better from the mid-range during this stretch, converting on 50.0 percent and 43.9 percent of his attempts from the 8-16 and 16-24 feet areas of the floor. In comparison, over the course of the season, the L-Train has only made 37.7 percent and 41.8 percent of his field goal attempts from said areas, per NBA.com.
It also helps having a healthy Lopez back, as his presence, not only on the defensive end, but on the offensive end as well, frees Aldridge to operate in his sweet spots. Take for example, the following instance:
To begin the play, the Blazers rub Batum off a quick pin, courtesy of a Wesley Matthews screen. Meanwhile, Lopez serves a decoy in the high post as Aldridge hides along the baseline.
As Batum receives the ball off of the curl, Lillard flares to the opposite wing, courtesy of a Lopez screen; and likewise, Matthews fills the opposite corner.
Consequently, as Batum turns the corner off of a Lopez short roll, the Mavericks’ defense is subjugated to one side of the floor. While this is happening, Aldridge drifts to the weakside; thereby, luring Dallas’ resident rim protector, Tyson Chandler, out to the perimeter.
As the play develops, Chandler has to provide help in the interior to alleviate the Lopez dive; driven in large part by the Blazers’ judiciously devised spacing, as both Monta Ellis and J.J. Barea must respect the outside shooting of Matthews and Lillard.
As a result, Aldridge curls back to the elbow extended area, and drills an unimpeded catch-and-shoot mid-range J. In fact, the L-Train converts on over 52.9 percent of his jumpers off of the catch this season, according to NBA.com’s SportVU Data.
Additionally, Aldridge has been making a ton of contested shots since his return; completing 51.4 percent of his field goal attempts when an opposing defender is draped all over him, giving no air space, within two feet of the All-Star forward. Comparatively, LaMarcus is only shooting 45.8 percent on such attempts for the season.
Overall, Aldridge has been playing a similar brand of ball, without hesitance, since his mid-season scare. But, if the thumb experiences significant pain, will Aldridge subconsciously start to avoid contact? In such an instance, Aldridge’s production would take a major hit if his shooting prowess cools off.
For now, let’s hope Aldridge can keep his thumb out of harm’s way, so we, as fans of the NBA, can experience the Blazers at full strength during the 2015 playoffs.
Next: NBA: 50 Greatest Players Of All Time
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