Tonight at 10:30 p.m. ET the Trailblazers (4-4) welcome the Spurs (5-2) and former Portland star LaMarcus Aldridge, back to Oregon in a Western Conference tilt fans can live stream free by clicking this link. Blazers fans can listen to the game on Fox Sports 620, while Spurs fans may do likewise on 1200 WOAI.
Aldridge joined the Spurs this offseason, and hasn’t had any problems assimilating to Gregg Popovich’s ball-sharing offense. He is averaging 15.1 points, down from 23.4 last season, but he is also taking six fewer shots per game, meaning he’s remained efficient. Aldridge has also lost five points off his usage percentage, but complaints are scarce at this point because the Spurs are winning.
"It's a family. You feel the family type of atmosphere here right away. I've done more team dinners in this first part of the season than I've done in most of my seasons in the NBA put together. We've done team dinners, and I've hung out with guys more than I've ever done in my career,” Aldridge said of his new club.
Popovich indicated it would take time for Aldridge’s numbers to climb, because they are still figuring out the best way to coach him. According to Popovich, he’s treating Aldridge like he did Tim Duncan coming out of college.
“I'm just watching him play right now. He's fairly uncomfortable trying to figure out where to be on the court in relation to the other players and where I want him to be in the system. That's enough for him to handle without me trying to coach him. So as time goes on we'll look at what we think we can add to his game, but right now we're just observers."
The Blazers have just the 20th-best defense in terms of opponent points per game, so even an uncomfortable Aldridge could have a big night vs. his ex-mates.
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