Carl Landry has ‘forgotten’ nothing of the sort
Friday, August 19th, 2011As it has been said in this space on previous occasions …
It is most interesting to see just how easy it is for the words and/or actions of some to be misinterpreted by others who work everyday in the on-line basketball community.
To wit:
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Exhibit A
Carl Landry has forgotten that someone named ‘LaMarcus Aldridge’ actually exists
What’s strange is that Landry, in a recent interview with SLAM’s Chris Haynes, doesn’t appear to have any knowledge of something called a “LaMarcus Aldridge.”
Here’s some evidence:
“I think I can fit in with Portland, “Landry told SLAMonline. “They’re in need of a big post presence down low. I’m not taking anything away from (Greg) Oden and (Marcus) Camby. I just know what I can provide. The Blazers are a good team and I know I can help.”
He’s not wrong. He could help. Landry could help just about any team in a pinch with his touch in the paint. The issue here is the presence of LMA, who came through with an All-Star season last year (even if he didn’t make the team), finishing with averages of nearly 22 points and nine rebounds on the league’s slowest-paced team (slowed pace limits your chances to pile up big stats). Aldridge is only 25, and while he isn’t a low-post demon, he is an obvious starting power forward lock that shouldn’t be dismissed.
Much less forgotten. By someone who has had to guard him dozens of times in his NBA career.
Carl?
“I really like Portland,” said Landry. “I’m good friends with Greg Oden, and Wes Matthews is from Wisconsin like me. There are a lot of ties there and I have no doubt that I would blend in fine.”
Again, he’s not wrong. It’s A-OK to really like Portland, especially if you ride a bike and want to know where your dinner was raised. And Landry would blend in fine, as he would with most teams, as a top-notch sixth man, ready to drop 12 points in a second quarter.
But unless SLAM left some musings about Aldridge out, this seems like a curious oversight. And with the lockout leaving most of us filled with alternating bouts of ennui and anger, could this be the NBA’s newest passive/aggressive feud? Because, with nothing else going on, we’re ready for it.
LMA? Your turn.
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It’s your turn, LMA?
Hmmm …
KD … Evidence?
Really?
This is what you meant to say, in this instance?
How incredulous is it that several other observers – btw, who are not paid a full-time salary by Yahoo! to cover the goings-on in the NBA on a regular basis – in the comments section actually have the ability [insight?] to see CLEARLY what Carl Landry is actually talking about … i.e. the possibility of Landry joining the Trail Blazers, either:
#1. As a back-up PF, in arrears of current starter LaMarcus Aldridge/PF [i.e. with a combination of: A) Marcus Camby and Greg Oden patrolling the C position, plus B) Nicolas Batum and Gerald Wallace at the SF position]; or
#2. As a Starting PF, beside current starter LaMarcus Aldridge/C [i.e. with Camby at the back-up PF spot, Oden as the back-up C, plus Batum and Wallace at the SF position];
when the League’s free agency signing period occurs next …
and, seemingly, Kelly Dwyer does not?
Sometimes it is vitally important that certain people in this world just give their own head a darn good shake … perhaps, to dislodge the cobwebs.
This is one of THOSE times for the usually terrific editor of Ball Don’t Lie.
It may be YOUR turn, Mr. Dwyer … and, the person owed an abject apology is none other than Mr. Carl Landry, who happens to be a prototypical role player for a high-end team in the NBA.
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PS. If the Blazers organization is in fact smart enough to execute this specific signing, whenever the lockout happens to end, then, Portland would create one of the deepest and most talented rosters in the entire league:
STARTERS
PG – Raymond Felton
OG – Wes Matthews
SF – Nicolas Batum
PF – Carl Landry
C – LaMarcus Aldridge
KEY SUBS
PG – Patrick Mills [or Armon Johnson, Elliot Williams, and Nolan Smith]
OG – Brandon Roy
SF – Gerald Wallace
PF – Marcus Camby
C – Greg Oden
RESERVES/EXTRAS/OUTS
PG – Noland Smith [i.e. Selection No. 21, 2011 NBA Draft]
PG – Armon Johnson [i.e. Selection No. 34, 2010 NBA Draft]
PG/OG – Elliot Williams [i.e. Selection No. 22, 2010 NBA Draft]]
OG – John Diebler [i.e. Selection No. 51, 2011 NBA Draft]
F – Luke Babbitt [i.e. Selection No. 16, 2010 NBA Draft]
F – Tanguy Ngombo [i.e. Selection No. 57, 2011 NBA Draft]
C – Earl Barron


