LaMarcus Aldridge has had a slightly tepid start to his life as a San Antonio Spurs player. Only 11 and 10 points in his first two games, very different from the 20+ points that he got on the regular when in Portland. But what did you expect? This is what the Spurs system is about, forcing you to become about the team and not to care about the statistics.
Aldridge admits that he is still trying to fit in. It’s clearly hard to do.
“It’s not the same. I’m not the same person here that I was in Portland,” Aldridge said. “I don’t feel like they need me to be that person all the time. It’s learning how to be myself in the offense. I haven’t figured that out yet. I feel like the whole [team philosophy of] ‘good to great passes’ [is] in my head all the time. Hopefully as the season goes on I’ll figure it out. But right now, I’m just trying to fit in.”
“I’ve always been the main guy. I’ve always gotten the ball a lot,” Aldridge said. “I’m trying to learn how to play in the offense, trying to learn how to get my shots out of the offense. [I’m] just trying to learn how to move the ball [the way the Spurs do it] and get shots. Pop keeps telling me to shoot it, but it’s a process for me. I’m definitely not playing like myself right now. I can’t be selfish here. I’m just here to win. Tonight, we won. I played good defense down low. I felt like I got some good blocks on defense, and I crashed the boards. So if we can win every game like that, I’m fine. I don’t [look to shoot]. We’ll figure it out, though.“
Seems like LaMarcus Aldridge is suffering from ‘Chris Bosh syndrome’. Kevin Love had it last year and we all know how much whining he made about it. Let’s hope that Aldridge can suppress his depression with wins.
