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Trailblazers Climbing to a Bright Future

By dflack, Section NBA
Posted on Mon Dec 03 2007 at 10:28 AM EST
More on: NBA, Portland Trailblazers (all tags)

The Portland Trailblazers are a team loaded with young talent that is on the rise like basketball fans in China, but the most impressive young talent on the team might be LaMarcus Aldridge.

At 6'11"and 240 pounds Aldridge is big enough to fight on the block with all the best big men in the league. He can play both the center and power forward positions, which will greatly benefit the Trailblazers one year from now when they can start him alongside the 7'1" center Oden. Together these two will be built like immovable twin towers and could someday soon become the best frontcourt in the NBA. For now though, Aldridge is trying to own the paint by himself.

Aldridge is currently leading the Blazers in scoring, 18.6 PPG, and rebounding, 7.6 a night. He is also shooting very well from the field at a rate of 52.7%, as well as swatting away 1 shot per night.

Playing on a poor team is providing Aldridge the opportunity to play over 30 minutes a game, which is giving him invaluable experience. He has had the chance to hone his post skills by playing against All Stars like Tim Duncan, Dwight Howard, and Yao Ming. Playing well against these great players is giving Aldridge enormous amounts of confidence as he learns first hand how to be great in the post.

His overall game has taken a gigantic leap forward as his numbers have vastly improved. In an extra 11 minutes per game this season his points have doubled from 9.0 to 18.6 and his rebounds have climbed to 5.0 to 7.6. He has improved in every category except blocks, where he is only 0.2 less per game. He has had some huge games this year, like last week against the Sacramento Kings when he posted 28 points, 12 boards, and 3 blocks in a win.

Aldridge has taken advantage of the opportunity to be one of the best players on this team. His team has suffered, only winning 5 of their 14 games so far, but teamed with Brandon Roy, last season's rookie of the year, he can help turn this team around.  He has been playing like a beast so far this season and could be a candidate for the most improved player if he keeps up the great work.

Together Aldridge and Roy are quickly becoming a prolific duo on their team. Roy is dropping 18.4 PPG, just a shade less than Aldrigde's 18.6. Together they provide 40% of the scoring for the Blazers.

The Blazers won't even come close to making the playoffs this year, but they are setting themselves for up a very promising future. Aldridge and Roy have both gotten better since their rookie seasons and Oden has allegedly gained 30 pounds of muscle and is on the right track to getting healthy for next year. Throw in the young, straight from High School sharpshooter Martell Webster and a lottery pick in the 2008 NBA draft, this team can quickly become a force to be reckoned with in the NBA's Western Conference.