But the fact of the matter is that the Spurs are going to need a great deal more
out of Aldridge if they’re going to avoid simply being run off the court by the
jackrabbit Rockets.
Actually, a great deal more than he’s delivered in his first two times around
the block in San Antonio, where his scoring average dropped a year ago and again
this season to just 17.3 points, lowest since his rookie NBA year in 2006-07.
“It’s no excuse, but the last series (Memphis) was a little bit different,”
Aldridge said. “It’s just the first game. Now, we understand it’s going to be a
track meet, which we already knew.
“We’ve just got to play better, at our pace, don’t play their pace. If they want
to go up and down and take quick shots, that’s not who we are.
“I’ve just got to take my time. I’ve got to ask for the ball more, for sure. And
when I got it, just take my time. I thought I was trying to rush because there
were so many mismatches on me. I was trying to rush. Normally, I take my time
and take advantage of it, but I was in a rush. So next game I will definitely go
slower.”
Houston, of all teams, knows that Aldridge can be capable and deadly. Back in
the 2014 playoffs when he was still in Portland, the Rockets were on the wrong
end of a pair of 46- and 43-point bombs he dropped on them in the first two
games of a series that the Trail Blazers won in six. He was forceful, dominant,
willful dropping in turnaround jumpers from the wing and finishing strong around
the basket.
However, it’s one thing to put up big numbers for a team that won only a single
playoff series in the nine seasons he played in Portland than to be a lead horse
pulling the wagon for a perennial contender. That’s why the Spurs pursued him so
vigorously in free agency.
But since arriving in San Antonio, Aldridge has had both the good and bad
fortune of living in the giant shadow that’s been cast by Kawhi Leonard’s
ascendance to MVP candidate. At the same time he does not have to shoulder the
nightly burden of being the face of the franchise, Aldridge frequently does not
strive to fill a leading man’s role on the marquee. He seems to settle to be
part of the chorus.
The Spurs are coming off a first-round series where Aldridge did “yeoman’s work”
— Popovich’s term — in averaging 14.8 points and 7.3 rebounds against the
grinding Grizzlies. Now to keep pace with the let-‘er-rip Rockets will require
more.
“He’s another offensive threat for us,” says Leonard. “He causes double teams
down there on the low block, and once he kicks it out, we usually have wide-open
shots.”
He can’t always kick it out. He’s got to be decisive and determined in taking
his mid-range jumper or getting to the basket. In the first half alone in Game
1, Aldridge fumbled the ball away while cautiously eying the basket and twice
missed put-back buckets when he was literally at the rim.
“I definitely have to help out Kawhi,” Aldridge said. “He competed, we all
competed, but I have to take my time down there and make them pay. Once we
started missing easy shots, and I missed two layups, I think after that we all
just started trying to play too fast. We’ve got to figure it out, just take our
time.”
And stop fiddling around.
Fran Blinebury has covered the NBA since 1977. You can e-mail him here, find his
archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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