3 Things Aldridge Has to Do to Help Spurs

3) Bang in the Paint:

• Aldridge’s scoring habits are way too far from the basket, he is obviously in a shooting slump but continues to attempt long jumpers. It is time for him to get physical in the middle and this is a must against the front line of Gasol/Randolph. Aldridge bails them out on defense every time he takes a fall-away jumper. He should work hard to be productive closer to the basket and he may even draw fouls on defenders when doing so--getting to the free throw line could help his scoring rhythm.

2) Early Scoring:

• He needs to be aggressive from the start of the game and play hard for 48 minutes. Aldridge is not a lazy player but he tends to defer to teammates when he doesn’t have to. In Game 3 and 4 Aldridge started showing fire on offense in the second half of both games--that is way too late--he must start his push in the first quarter and set a tone for the game. His aggressiveness will help tire out the Grizzly frontline and zap some of their energy on the offensive end.

1) Rebounding:

• Aldridge only had TWO rebounds for the Spurs in Game 4. That is inexcusable and way below his pay-grade. Shooting slumps are one thing but rebounds revolve around effort and intensity. The Spurs need him to step up to the challenge that the frontline of Memphis is giving him. Aldridge should not get outrebounded at this rate and its revealing a lot about the star. The Spurs lost Game 4 because they were outrebounded 51-37 and that falls on the Spurs’ star big man.