Saturday, 25 February 2012

With first appearance in NBA All-Star Game, LaMarcus Aldridge takes another big step

ORLANDO ? About two hours into his first experience as a
player in the NBA All-Star Game, LaMarcus Aldridge was a little taken aback by
the flurry of activities he had to take part in ? and eager to do it annually.

"I think after you get here, you set that goal for yourself every year," Aldridge said Friday. "Not coming wouldn't be good for me now."

Aldridge was more than ready to accept the running around and seemingly endless duties that come with being selected onto the Western Conference team as a reserve by conference coaches. It was another signal that he has risen to a place the Trail Blazers had envisioned when they selected him with the No. 2 pick of the NBA draft. He is one of the NBA's best power forwards.

"I don't get caught up too much in rankings, but he is one of the best out there," said Miami's Chris Bosh, another top power forward. "He's really started to turn the corner as a player."

The All-Star Game selection is a big step for Aldridge, as was being voted to the all-NBA third team at the end of last season. Aldridge has also made a move to try to take another ? making the U.S. Olympic team.

USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo, at a news conference Friday, revealed that Aldridge had called him to try to get in the London Games candidate pool, which is mostly made up of players who played in the last Olympics or 2010 World Championships.

"That said a lot to me ? that he was committed to wanting to be a part of this," Colangelo said later. "He said, 'I'll do whatever I need to do.'"

Aldridge, who last month was named one of 19 finalists from which the final 12 will be selected, said he made the call because he had previously turned down two other invitations to compete for Team USA and wanted to make sure that was not held against him.

"I think they got the impression that I didn't want to do anything with USA Basketball," Aldridge said. "So I contacted him to let him know it's not that way, that I had personal things going on those years, but I do want to play."

That quest adds extra motivation for Aldridge to play well the rest of the season. Colangelo said because USA Basketball has to submit its 12-player roster by June 18, he and coach Mike Krzyzewski will rely on NBA play to determine who makes the final roster and will have the team decided well before starting training camp July 6 in Las Vegas.

Before all that, Aldridge will try to enjoy his first All-Star experience, which started with a flurry. After his flight from Dallas touched down here at 10:30 a.m., he got into a waiting car, which took a wrong turn and had to circle around to reach his hotel.

Then he checked in, changed and was quickly whisked to photo shoots, TV interviews and a players' meeting. Then he went to the day's large media session. Although Aldridge didn't attract the enormous media mob that engulfed Orlando's Dwight Howard, he drew more than enough reporters to keep him talking for a full hour.

Reporters asked about his height ("I was always tall -- I was like 5-11 in the sixth grade"), favorite basketball movie (tie between "Above the Rim" and "He Got Game") and plenty about his game ("I have to get better in the fourth quarter").

Aldridge had just spent two quiet days with family Dallas, and he described his road routine as, "I'm always in my room, asleep." This was a change.

There were also nice moments early in the day, including when he received a nice greeting from Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki, who had been selected for his 11th All-Star Game. Nowitzki, who battled Aldridge for six games during last season's playoffs, had earlier mentioned that he thought Aldridge deserved to make the All-Star Game.

"Dirk came up to me and said, 'Happy to see you here,'" Aldridge said. "I think he had spoken out about that I should be here. That was big for me (for Nowitzki) to come up to me and say that."

Aldridge also received some welcome news: The Blazers are about to add center Joel Przybilla, with whom Aldridge had played his entire NBA career before Przybilla was traded to Charlotte at last season's trade deadline. Aldridge said he'd only heard a rumor about the signing. When a reporter informed Aldridge that if Przybilla passes a physical Sunday, he would re-join the Blazers, Aldridge perked up.

"That's big," Aldridge said. "He's a great defender and a great teammate. That's big getting him back."

In some ways, it's a reversal of fortune for Aldridge, who has watched teammate after teammate be sidelined for long stretches with injuries. Asked about teammate Greg Oden undergoing a third microfracture surgery, Aldridge said felt bad for his teammate, revealed a whistle-past-the-graveyard joke ? that he won't let the team list him as a center, even in games when he is clearly playing the position, because of all the injuries Blazers centers have endured.

In 2008, Aldridge and Brandon Roy played in the Rookie Challenge before the All-Star Game in New Orleans. It seemed then that the Blazers could perpetually send multiple players to future All-Star Game. Maybe Roy, Aldridge and Oden could be multiple-time All-Stars on a team that contends for a championship every season.

It never happened as Roy, who made three All-Star Games, was forced to retire before this season because of faulty knees, and Oden has never been healthy for long. Asked if he could imagine having Roy and Oden with him this week, Aldridge said it simply wasn't a useful exercise.

"I would love for them to still be here, but things happen," Aldridge said.

So Aldridge is left to carry the banners ? both the Blazers' and his own rising career's as he steps into the next chapter of his NBA career.

"I think the next step for him is just pushing his teammates to be better, and taking his team to the next level," said Bosh, who will face Aldridge and the Blazers at the Rose Garden on Thursday. "That's going to be one of the hardest things he's ever done. But I've known LaMarcus ? we've known each other since like we were like 14, 15 years old -- and just to see where he's come from, it's a spectacular, great thing."

-- Mike Tokito

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2012/02/nba_all-star_game_lamarcus_aldridge.html

dr conrad murray verdict take care childish gambino camp drake take care tracklist drake take care tracklist dr murray trial take care drake

No comments:

Post a Comment