HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

Each week, HOOPSWORLD NBA analyst and coach Anthony Macri opens his notebook and offers an assortment of observations on games, players, and teams from throughout the league. Coach Macri serves as a player development consultant for the Pro Training Center and Coach David Thorpe, working with a variety of NBA players on their skills and game understanding. The Coach’s Notebook appears on HOOPSWORLD every Thursday.
 
Aldridge The Next Duncan?

As LaMarcus Aldridge entered the league, scouts and coaches wondered aloud if he could be the next ‘great one’—a rare combination of size and athleticism who can mix it up in the post and face up, with the technical skills and consistency to be one of the top power forwards in the league.  For the first few years of his career, the answer was decidedly "maybe."  It seemed LaMarcus was unable to put it all together, occasionally bursting through with a monster game but for the most part flying just below the levels of the league’s top performers.
 
All that has changed this year.  In fact, Aldridge might be performing the best of any power forward in the league on the offensive end.  Fundamentally sound and now playing with a heart matching his formidable talent, Aldridge should have made the All-Star game ahead of the Big Fundamental himself – Tim Duncan.
 
One of the primary things to consider when studying a post player’s game is how he plans in the post.  Aldridge’s plan is very simple and single-minded: attack the middle of the floor.  Most possessions he sets up on the left block area and on the catch (butt to baseline) he is surveying over his left shoulder.  He starts his backdown with strides toward the middle of the floor, attempting to get in position for his right hand hook over the left shoulder.  This is his go-to move.  To this he has added a variety of counters; as teams start to play his shoulder too high, he is able to turn back opposite for the short jumper or horse dribble (where he drops his hips and hammers the ball down to explode up) for a drop step rim finish.   Aldridge does a great job varying his cadence as well, never using the same timing on his post moves – sometimes it is one or two dribbles, sometimes three.  Occasionally, he attacks almost immediately after receiving the ball, but mostly it is a change of speed and gears that keeps the defender off-balance.  Aldridge does not have a plethora of moves, which for some players would lead to paralysis by analysis.  Instead, he does a few things very, very well, and that makes a huge difference.  He makes defenses respect his right-handed hook, and he has an effective counter when teams try to stop it. That is the definition of smart, efficient offensive basketball.
 
While his attack patterns and offensive game plan are strong, they are made nearly unstoppable by his excellent vision and anticipation of double-teams and help.  Aldridge sees the second line of defense very well and his go-to moves and counters are not only built to beat his own post defender, but he is able to react to the rest of the defense as well.  Because he is often turning into the middle on offense, he can easily find teammates spotting up on the opposite side of the court and see angles for passing to cutters.  His assault on the middle of the court forces defenses to react to him, which makes entire teams change their defensive schemes to account for him.  This is, in itself, a weapon.
 
Aldridge augments his efficient play by running the floor well to seek out positive scoring areas.  He seals his defender in the post early but does not engage in hand-to-hand combat for position, instead allowing his teammates to pass the ball until he can seal in the right area.  This is working smart, not just hard.  When a shot goes up, Aldridge works himself toward the rim using his frame to carve out position and his length allows him to tip balls to himself and snag rebounds out of area.  On those rebound chances, he keeps the ball high, often finishing with a trampoline jump immediately after landing so he can finish high and disrupt any challenger’s timing.  This is another example of solid, fundamental basketball.
 
{AUTHOR_BOX}From the start of his time in the league Aldridge has possessed a smooth, high release point on his jumper.  In many ways, his shot reminds one of another post with "next great one" potential, Rasheed Wallace.  Aldridge may not have the range Wallace had, but his mechanics are similar.  This allows him to shoot without fear of being contested, which gives him a large advantage over most defenders.  As he moves out beyond a natural 18-20 foot range, however, his mechanics do break down a little, and he begins to fling the ball instead of loading his hips and keeping his release point high.  This is not a huge defect, however, and one offseason of commitment can make three-point range a reality.
 
While Tim Duncan is still an effective player in the NBA, Aldridge is having the better season, and it looks like he is ready to take over Duncan’s nickname as "The Big Fundamental," at least offensively.  Young players would do well to pattern their game after Aldridge – it is simple, but effective, and he really does have a shot at becoming the next ‘great one.’
 
Clear! Resuscitating the Los Angeles Lakers

There are times when even great teams go through the ‘dog days’ of a season.  They get complacent, they look disinterested, and sometimes they just plain stink.  However, lurking somewhere within them, there still beats a "heart of a champion" (as Rudy T. would say)—and it will be up to Phil Jackson and company to find a way to bring it out.
 
Sometimes the easiest way to refocus a team and get them back on a winning track is to ignore the "winning" part altogether.  Instead, it would seem the Lakers (and any truly competitive team going through a lull), would do best to start trying to do better in their ‘intensity stats’ categories.  This could allow them to focus on playing the game the right way – and winning will naturally follow.
 
There are two intensity stats that I try to chart for my teams.  Instead of simply tracking charges taken as a measure of hustle, we look at charges taken as a percentage of opportunities to take charges. In other words, reviewing film, how many chances do we have to step in and take a charge?  How many times did we get in position?  How many times did we fail?  By the same token, we look at the times we literally got on the floor for a loose ball against how many chances we had to do so. This method of analysis yields a better indicator of a team’s desire to make the tough play when the opportunity arises. By constantly striving to take advantage of just these two ‘intensity stats,’ the Lakers could make an immediate improvement on the court, and these stats also contribute to team morale.
 
When you start to build ownership in non-traditional statistical categories, players start to buy-in in a different way.  Such an emphasis takes pressure off of winning per se, while providing a new and exciting goal.  Sometimes that is all a good team needs to jump start its season and in the case of the Lakers, their quest for a three-peat.

Have questions for Coach Macri? Be sure and drop by HOOPSWORLD on Mondays at 2PM Eastern for the Coach’s weekly basketball chat!  You can also follow Coach Macri on Twitter @CoachMacri.