Wayne Thompson TrailBlaze

Talk all you want about your seven-footers, your playmaking point guards, your slash-to-the-basket, athletic scorers, and your top-tier defenders, but if there is one thing in short supply in the history of the Portland Trail Blazers and the NBA in general, it's your pure shooters.

First of all, the definition of a pure shooter needs explanation.

In this writer's view, a pure shooter -- as opposed to a streak shooter or a prolific scorer who might be an average shooter -- is a player who doesn't endure long shooting slumps.

More precisely, it is a player who can hit the unguarded, open shot about 80 percent of the time from three-point range.

It is a player whose shooting mechanics and touch are based on replication -- that is, delivering the same stroke time after time, like pistons pounding steel in a well-tuned engine. It is a player with uncommon confidence in his shot -- one who is always surprised when he misses.

So who are the top 10 pure outside shooters in Trail Blazer history? This list, compiled by the author based on his 56 years of watching the 60-year-old National Basketball Association, will start a lot of arguments in taverns, barber shops, online forums and chat rooms.

Nevertheless, here goes, with explanations:
1. DRAZEN PETROVIC
The Yugoslavian sharpshooter drafted by the Blazers in the third round of the 1986 NBA draft, was the greatest shooter I've ever seen. He played here only two seasons (1989-91).

At practice one day in the spring of 1990, Petrovic made 57 straight free throws; when challenged by Terry Porter to shoot one without looking at the basket, Petro turned away from the hoop and fired up a blindside hook shot with the left hand. Result: SWISH! Enough said.
2. STEVE KERR
The former Arizona star is simply the best long-range marksman the league has ever known, evidenced by his all-time high 3-point field goal percentage of 45.4 percent (726 of 1,599).

Though he played only one season with Portland (2001-2002), he did nothing to tarnish his reputation, hitting 39.4 percent of his threes and a blistering 97.5 percent of his free throw attempts in 65 games.
3. GEOFF PETRIE
The very first Trail Blazer player (1970) arguably could be known as the franchise's greatest pure shooter.  He shot 45.5 percent from the floor even though more than a third of his shot attempts were from behind the arc.  If the 3-point shot rule had been in effect in the six seasons he played (1970-76) in Portland, his scoring average would have been 23.2 instead of 21.8.

For the rest of the argument for Petrie, I refer the reader to page 156 of Pulitzer Prize winning author David Halberstam's 1981 book on the Blazers, "The Breaks of the Game."

"He (Geoff Petrie) had come to Portland in 1970, the first year of the franchise's existence, after graduating from Princeton and he had, for a harried Stu Inman, the chief scout given only two months to select players, turned out to be a superb first-round draft choice.

"He was a guard, a rare pure shooter, his touch some thought was as good as that of the legendary Jerry West. Once during a practice Petrie had bet Wayne
Thompson, a writer for the Portland Oregonian, that he could not only hit eight jump shots in a row, but hit them in such a way that each time the ball would come right back to him.

"He had proceeded to do exactly that, with his first seven shots, although on the eighth the ball went through the hoop but did not come back. Still it was a feat of skill which stunned Thompson for it meant not just making a basket, but making it at so precise an angle that the ball would touch the back of the rim and bounce right back. That, Thompson thought, was a real shooter."
4. TERRY PORTER
Most Trail Blazer fans, especially those 30 or older, likely would argue strongly that this 1985 first round draft pick out of Wisconsin Stevens Point was the best pure shooter in Trail Blazer history.  They could make a good case with little disagreement here.

In 10 remarkable seasons (1985-95) with Portland, Porter established most of Portland's 3-point shooting records -- 3-pointers made and attempted, and third in 3-point FG percentage (38.5 percent). He also is second all-time in Trail Blazer points scored, field goals and free throws made and third in free-throw percentage at 84.5 percent.

His record of making 7 of 7 treys at Golden State Nov. 14, 1992 still stands.
5. KIKI VANDEWEGHE
The ex-UCLA All-American, whose father had been a star with the New York Knicks in the 1940s-'50s and whose mother was a former Miss America, got to be a pure shooter the hard way: He earned it during countless hours as a gym rat, taking about 500 to 1,000 jump shots a day, year-round, since puberty.

Playing with the Trail Blazers (1984-89), Vandeweghe averaged 23.8 points per game, shot 53.6 percent from the floor, and an all-time, team-leading 88.1 percent from the free throw line.

To show his range, he connected on an astounding 40.8 percent of his 3-point attempts. It is not surprising, then, that Kiki led the entire NBA in 3-point shooting in 1986-87 with 48.1 percent accuracy.
6. WESLEY PERSON
Younger brother of The Rifleman, Chuck Person, one of the NBA's pioneer 3-point specialists, Wesley came to the Trail Blazers late in career at age 32, but he stayed long enough to buy a house, settle in and lead the 2003-2004 Blazers in three-point shooting at a 47.4 percent clip.

Like Dell Curry and Craig Hodges who came before him, Person was lights out from 18 to 28 feet, anywhere on the half court.  He ranks eighth all-time in NBA three-point shooting at 41.8 percent.
7.  TRACY MURRAY
Not many Trail Blazer fans will recall this ex-UCLA 6-foot-7 forward with great fondness, but give him his dues: He had one of the most gorgeous outside shooting strokes of any Portland player ever -- especially from really long distances (30 to 35 feet, for example).

In his otherwise uneventful four seasons in Portland (1991-95 and 2003-2004), Murray proved one dimensional, but that dimension was indeed pure -- 38.8 percent 3-point shooting. He led the entire league in 1993-94, connecting on 50 of 109 treys for 45.9 percent.
8. STEVE SMITH
Another late-comer to the Trail Blazers at age 30, Smitty was already an NBA All-Star and U.S. Olympian, but he played a big part in Portland's 1999-2000 run to the Western Conference Finals.

In two seasons in Portland, Smith, primarily a perimeter shooter, made 36.9 percent of his 3-point attempts, shot 87 percent from the free throw line (second best among Blazers, all-time) and was the team's second leading scorer.
9. DANNY AINGE
A native Oregonian from Eugene who earned most of his credits as a Boston Celtics sixth-man, Ainge played two seasons in Portland (1990-92), joining Porter and Clyde Drexler on one of the league's most feared offensive juggernauts.

In those two memorable seasons in which the Blazers won 120 out of 164 regular season games, Ainge was a deadeye marksman off the bench.
In his first season when the Blazers won their all-time high of 63 wins, Ainge was sixth in the league in 3-point accuracy (40.6 percent).
10. BARRY CLEMENS
Here's a player that only a few living and die-hard Trail Blazer fans over 50 will recall. Clemens played just two seasons in Portland (1974-76) and averaged only 4.4 points in 126 games, yet he was the purest of pure shooters of his era.

Only problem is, Barry couldn't do much else. Having played in New York, Chicago, Seattle, and Cleveland before coming to Portland, Clemens' chief claim to pure-shooting fame was making it to the finals of the NBA's One-on-One contest in 1972-73.

Deadly accurate from 12 feet and beyond, Clemens had few other offensive weapons.  A lay-up from him was someone's oversight and his after-thought.  But against some of the best shooters, big and small, in the league in that era, Clemens toppled four of them on his way to face Petrie.  Geoff had conquered Gail Goodrich, Bob Dandridge, Mike Riordan and Bob McAdoo rather easily, but Clemens' outside pops took Petrie to the brink before Geoff's drive to the basket won the title.

It marked the one and only staging of the made-for-television one-on-one event, but it gave Barry Clemens closure as one of the era's best pure shooters.

Fans who follow the Trail Blazers will no doubt challenge these opinions, but they should also know the names of the following Trail Blazers who were given serious consideration for  top 10 honors:
11. WALT WILLIAMS, 1997-99
12. MARIO ELIE, 1992-93
13. BILLY RAY BATES, 1979-82
14. ARVYDAS SABONIS, 1995-2003
15. BOBBY GROSS, 1975-8
16. ISAIAH RIDER, 1996-99
17. JERRY SICHTING, 1987-89
18. MARTELL WEBSTER, 2005-
19. DAVE TWARDZIK, 1976-80
20. JIM PAXSON, 1979-88
21. LARRY STEELE, 1971-80
22. RON BREWER, 1978-81
23. RASHEED WALLACE, 196-2004
24. CLYDE DREXLER, 1983-95*
25. VASHON LENARD, 2005-2006
* Clyde Drexler, the greatest scorer in Trail Blazer history was not a pure shooter, but rather a player who over his career turned himself into a dependable shooter through hard work and practice. At one point early in Clyde's career, team management considered offering him a salary bonus if he could improve upon his below-average jump-shooting percentage.

Clyde wouldn't take the money, but he said he would try to improve.  And he did.

You'll notice only one current Trail Blazers player -- Martell Webster -- made the list, but that's because it's too early to tell how these young players will turn out. Webster, of course, has the stroke to break into the Trail Blazer top 10 if he develops more consistency in his delivery.

"I started to refine my shooting mechanics as early as the eighth grade," said Webster. As a Seattle native, Martell had plenty of pure shot-makers to study -- Dale Ellis, Ray Allen and Hersey Hawkins all played for the Seattle Sonics and all possess great 3-point strokes.

"They all reminded me that to be an accurate distance shooter, you have to have the elbow (of your shooting arm) tucked in close to your side and your feet squared up, and you have to repeat the same mechanics each time," he says.

"And it helps to simply have the touch and feel of the shot and the distance it must travel," Martell added

"But most of all, you have to have confidence. You can't shoot the ball with any kind of consistency unless you have confidence that it will go in. A pure shooter," Webster summarized, "is someone who is surprised when he misses."

Webster says one of his goals is to become the best shooter that he can be, which requires constant practice taking hundreds of shots each day.  More than that, though, Webster says he doesn't just want to be known as a shooter, but rather as an all-around solid player.

Brandon Roy, Dan Dickau and Ime Udoka show perimeter-shooting promise, Raef LaFrentz has a long-distance shooting rep, and Juan Dixon's practice sessions (I saw him convert 24 of 27 shots one day from corner to corner in a waltz around the three-point circle), makes him a potential candidate if he could avoid those two- and three-game shooting slumps.

As for Portland scoring leader, Zach Randolph, he's hard to classify as a pure shooter.  No question that he's a very gifted shooter, with decent range for a post player.  He has a remarkably soft touch and gets some good rolls around the basket. But to many casual observers, it just looks like Zach flips the ball in the basket's direction with the hope that somehow it will find its way to the hole. On the other hand, Zach's free-throw shooting accuracy suggests great shooting mechanics.

Yet, to mine's eyes, he falls into the category of being a scorer, rather than a pure shooter.  It's the same way I see some of the other great NBA point producers such as Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Allan Iverson, and Vince Carter.

Aside from the Blazer shooters, the league, over these past 60 years, has come a long way in developing deadeye distant marksmen.

In the early years, when 1940s stars such as Joe Fulks, Max Zaslofsky and Bob Cousy were shooting field goals in the low 30 percent range, only two names jump out.

One was Bill Sharman, the former Brooklyn Dodger outfielder and Southern Cal three-sport star, who broke in with the Boston Celtics in 1950 and had a career 88.3 percent free-throw shooting percentage -- still the 10th best in NBA history.

The other great pure shooter was Paul Arizin of the Philadelphia Warriors.  Recently deceased at age 78, Arizin was a jump-shooting marvel; twice leading the league in scoring despite the fact that he was so near-sighted the rim from his eyes was just a hazy blur.

Who is the best pure shooter I ever saw?  I'd have to list 10, in no certain order of preference:

Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, Reggie Miller, Craig Hodges, Ray Allen, Glen Rice, Steve Kerr, Drazen Petrovic, Peja Stojakovic and Steve Nash.

Who did I leave out? Well on my research list I have 90 more names, which over the 60 years of NBA play and the more than 4,500 players who performed in the league, is not many.

To give readers a sense of that, some of the best of the rest on my list include Rick Barry, Dale Ellis, Mark Price, Dell Curry, my all-time favorite three-point bomber, Tim Hardaway, Lou Hudson, Jerry West, Fred Holberg, Dirk Nowitzki and Bob McAdoo.

The next tier would include Michael Redd, Jeff Hornacek, Oscar Robertson, John Stockton, Magic Johnson, Rolando Blackman, Wally Szczerbiak, Raja Bell, Dana Barros, Geoff Petrie, Gilbert Arenas, LeBron James (getting better from long distance by the hour), Chris Mullin and Terry Porter.

And close behind them would be Alex English, Michael Jordan (Like Clyde Drexler, Jordan had to do a makeover from a mediocre perimeter shooter in his early years to a great one toward the latter part of his career); Allen Houston, Pete Maravich, Calvin Murphy, Wesley Person, Mitch Richmond, Kiki Vandeweghe, Louis Dampier and Joe Johnson.

And for argument's sake, here's another five to total 50 of the 100 names on my list:  George Gervin (not a really long-distance guy, but an accurate shooter within 8-10 feet, Kyle Korver, Phil Cherier, Kevin Garnett and Jon Sunvold.

The other 50 pure shooters and countless more that no doubt were overlooked will remain undisclosed, with the notation that all of the players mentioned in this story I've seen play in person at one time or another.

From the time I was 14 years old in Bangor, Maine, in the fall of 1950, when I saw my first NBA game between the Boston Celtics and the Rochester Royals (now the Sacramento Kings, by way of Kansas City), to the more than 1,500 games I've seen involving the Trail Blazers and their opponents, there's one constant for me:

I love this game.
Wayne Thompson was The Oregonian's Blazers beat writer from 1970-73 and sports editor from 1977-1979. You can email Wayne at mlou4jazz@aol.com.

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SWISH!  Portlands top 25 shooters of all time

He stands an inch shy of seven feet, with a wingspan of 89 inches --  the second longest player in Trail Blazer history.

He's a polished post player, a good shooter, a solid defender, with a high basketball IQ, and a passion for improving himself through hard work and practice.  And he's just 21 years old.

So with credentials like that, you would expect LaMarcus Nurae Aldridge to have been a child prodigy on the basketball court.

Aldridge first picked up a basketball in the fourth grade, but the game didn't come easily to him. When he was an eighth grader at Dallas' Seagoville Middle School, he was often overlooked by the older kids in pickup games at Dallas-area parks. He was just told to stand around and if he caught the ball, give it back.

He was your typical 6-foot-7 clumsy kid who couldn't play.

"I was horrible. I sucked," Aldridge recalls, "I couldn't shoot. I couldn't do a hook shot. I was just tall and only scored points because everyone else was shorter than me."

Things soon changed for LaMarcus, thanks to his older brother, LaVontae, who was "always pushing me and motivating me to go to the parks and to hit the gym and work on my game everyday."

LaVontae Aldridge, now 25, had been a solid prep player. At 6-foot-10, he knew that size alone wouldnt make you a good player.  It takes practice and hard work, he'd say.

After LaVontae moved on to play at Howard Junior College in Big Spring, Texas, LaMarcus began to develop his game at Seagoville High School.  "My coach, Robert Allen, helped me a lot," Aldridge said. "He had more influence on my growth as a player than anyone else."

Now the head coach at Dallas Carter High School, Allen pushed LaMarcus to the limits of his endurance during his four years at Seagoville.

"Some guys who are stars go to high school and dont get pushed, but Coach Allen worked me and helped me become the player that I am today," Aldridge said.

While Coach Allen was taking care of LaMarcus' maturation as a basketball player, Aldridge's mother, Georgia, was taking care of the rest.

"When I was younger, I used to spend a lot of time either by myself or with my mom," Aldridge said. "But when I hit high school, she really became one of my close friends."

As Aldridge entered high school and folks around the country became aware of his basketball potential, Georgia looked out for her son's best interests, on and off the court.

LaMarcus, like Zach Randolph, Shaquille O'Neal and many other NBA players raised by a single mom, is a mama's boy and not ashamed to admit it.

A four-year starter at Seagoville High, Aldridge improved rapidly as a player, becoming a McDonald's All-America as a senior, averaging 30 points and 14 rebounds a game.

A finalist for the 2004 Naismith Prep Player of the Year award, player of the year in Texas and rated as the fourth best high school player in the nation by USA Today, LaMarcus had made his mark that senior season at Seagoville.

He had some monster games along the way: His 39 points, nine rebounds and six blocked shots on 16 of 18 shooting in the state Class 4A tournament semifinals is still being discussed in Texas prep circles.  However, Aldridge doesn't mention it in interviews because his team lost by one point to rival Dallas Lincoln.  Not only was Lincoln a natural rival of Seagoville, but it also was the school once led by Aldridge's good friend, Chris Bosh, now a budding star for the Toronto Raptors.

LaMarcus and Bosh, who was a year ahead of Aldridge in school, had some great battles against each other.  Indeed, Aldridge says his most memorable game in high school was a match-up against the older Bosh in which he scored 24 points and hauled in 12 rebounds to Bosh's 18 points and 10 rebounds.

"I was pleased with my performance against a great player like Chris, but we lost the game, so that individual stuff doesn't matter much," said the modest Aldridge, who counts success in terms of team victories.

In two games against the Bosh during his sophomore season, Aldridge averaged 23 points and 13 rebounds.

"Ive known Chris since high school," Aldridge pointed out, "and I did pretty well against him. There was a lot of hype going on leading up to those games, and I was able to get myself psyched up and ready to play. I have a great relationship with him and its real cool.

"When Ive been in Dallas this summer, weve worked out every day. Its been helpful for me to get used to going against someone who is long, quick, and All-Star caliber. Hopefully, that will help my game go to the next level."

Another rival in Dallas-area prep ball was Ike Diago, ex-Arizona University star now playing for the Golden State Warriors.

LaMarcus was becoming the dominant player in all of Texas during his junior season, having been named first team all-state, first team all district, and first team all metro.

As a sophomore, he made second team all-state and second team all-district. So the transition from an awkward middle-schooler who couldn't play the game to an all-everything Texas prep star was well underway.

Everywhere Aldridge has gone since high school, his coaches tell the same tale.  Texas Coach Rick Barnes talks about Aldridge as if he were his son. "I've never had a player work harder to get better," Barnes said.

In the six years since the kids on the Dallas playgrounds snubbed LaMarcus, he made himself into a good major college player, worthy of a shot at the NBA. But things didn't always go his way, as his freshman season at Texas was cut short by a season-ending hip injury against Nebraska, causing him to miss the final 15 games.

As a sophomore at Texas, Aldridge averaged 15.9 points and 9.2 rebounds per game and helped the 30-7 Longhorns to an Elite Eight appearance.  His total of 59 points, 41 rebounds and nine blocks in the NCAA Tournament didnt hurt his emerging star status either.

As a result, he was named a third team All-America by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. He also was selected the Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

Off the court, he was a public relations department's dream come true.  An honor roll student all four years at Dallas Seagoville High, LaMarcus in two years at Texas made one C -- the rest Bs and As.

In the second semester of his sophomore year at Texas, Aldridge took up the piano, taking lessons as an elective.  He wants to continue piano lessons in Portland, concentrating on his favorite music -- R&amp;B and Hip Hop.  Asked if he would ever tackle the most challenging of all piano works -- Rachmaninoff's piano concerto No. 3 -- LaMarcus rolled his eyes. He doesn't know if he would ever have the skill for such a challenge, but he knows he has the giant hands necessary to play it.

All of these accolades at Texas propelled Aldridge to the head of the draft class of 2006 as various scouting services rated him a cinch lottery pick and likely to go 1 or 2 in the NBA college draft.

One of the many scouts who tracked LaMarcus's play in college last winter had this to say after seeing his 26-point, 13-rebound game against West Virginia in the Sweet 16:

"Wow. Skills galore. And hes every drip drop of that 6-11, if not a bit taller. Hes ready from a skill standpoint -- nice shooting touch, ready to mix it up underneath the basket and gifted enough to extend his game out to 16 or 17 feet. When he first ran on to the floor, I thought he looked thin. But when they came back out for the start of the game and he lost the warm up jacket, I realized he was cut up a little more than it looked.

"He has to be the best pure center in college, ahead of Patrick OBryant at Bradley and whatever other 7-foot projects are roaming the college landscape. The most impressive thing about him was his touch for such a big guy. He can stroke it from 12-16 feet, which is always impressive from guys that tall. If he comes out, I dont see how someone passes on him at No. 1."

For a while it looked like no one would.  Toronto thought about taking Aldridge over Italian star Andrea Bargnani, the idea no doubt coaxed along by LaMarcus's friend Chris Bosh. But Raptor officials changed their mind at the last minute and took Bargnani.

Then the Chicago Bulls, with the second pick in the draft, made it clear they were going to take a power forward -- either Aldridge or LSU forward Tyrus Thomas.

That's when the Trail Blazers moved in and offered the Bulls Portland's fourth round pick (which would be Thomas) and forward Viktor Khryapa for the rights to Aldridge.

The deal was done and the Blazers got the player they had coveted all along.

Since then, it has been love at first, second and third sight between LaMarcus and the Trail Blazers organization.

Trail Blazer assistant coach Bill Bayno, who tutored Aldridge in the Las Vegas Summer League, summed up his feelings this way, "If they were all like him, you'd coach for free.

"I really love his focus," Bayno added, "He really wants to get better. He has confidence, but is realistic about his shortcomings at this level. He doesn't want to settle for just being good, he wants to be great.  And he seems willing to work harder than many players I've coached to get there."

"I think the sky's the limit for him," Bayno added. "He's already evolving into a good post player, but he still has a ways to go.   He seems to have a sweet stroke on turn-around jumpers.

"Defensively, he's almost there -- shows us a presence in defending his man one-on-one," Bayno says. "I think he showed that in the first half the other night against Tim Duncan. He already knows how to give help to teammates when they lose their man.  He's a presence with his height and tremendous reach (7-foot-5 wingspan), so he can help us defend opposing teams."

What are Aldridge's biggest assets?, Bayno was asked.

"A very high basketball IQ (he knows the game and has good instincts for doing the right thing), his work ethic (he shows up for practice early and stays late and wants as much extra individual workouts as he can get).  And his eagerness to learn."

Trail Blazers strength and conditioning coach Bobby Medina is similarly impressed with Aldridge's commitment and dedication.

"LaMarcus is the team leader in the weight room in terms of the number of times he comes in here and lifts," Medina said.  "He has a tremendous work ethic and desire for building a better body."

"As far as his current strength is concerned, Id put him in the top 10 of the players of his size that I have worked with," Medina added.

Before the start of the regular season, Aldridge had shoulder surgery to repair a torn ligament.

"We need to put more weight on him and strengthen his upper body," Medina said. "After the surgery, we worked primarily to strengthen his lower body. Lower body strength is the key for basketball players because strong legs, thighs, calves and feet are the most critical part of the body for running with speed and quickness and jumping."

"I don't doubt that we can meet our goals with LaMarcus because he is such a coachable learner," Medina adds. "He knows he has to get stronger to compete effectively against all the bigs in the NBA; he knows he has to gain more endurance for the long NBA season grind.  So he just wants to get on with it and improve his size as quickly as he can."

Like many impressionable youngsters, Aldridge was a Michael Jordan fan when he first started noticing basketball at the pro level. Soon after, though, his favorite players growing up were Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan, partly due to the fact that their body types most resembled his, but mostly due to the kind of players they are on and off the court.

In Portland's 107-98 loss to San Antonio on Nov. 20, Aldridge was assigned to guard Tim Duncan, one of his childhood heroes. "He's such an all-around player," Aldridge said, "He came out tonight and took care of business.  He's one of those players you just try to contain.  He's very skilled. I don't think I guarded him very well, but I have to look at the video."  The video review, though, showed a slightly different story.  LaMarcus did a good job of slowing Duncan down in the first half as Portland took a 56-48 lead. Duncan had to resort to jump hooks or fall-away jumpers, because Aldridge's long arms made it difficult for Duncan to merely shoot jump shots over him.

"My long arms help me as I try to become more versatile," he says, "Id like to be able to guard three positions -- both forwards and the center.  I think my wingspan helps me out on defense, because I can cover a little more ground and block a few more shots. It helps on offense too, because when I put up a shot with a little higher release, (like Rasheed Wallace does), its a little tougher for guys to challenge or block it."

After the game, Duncan complimented the young Blazer. "He's a great young talent. It was the first time seeing him for me but he surprised me a little bit.  They've got a good young talent over there."

Aldridge was moved that Duncan would say such nice things about him -- a mere rookie -- but then Duncan is the kind of person LaMarcus sees as his NBA role model.

"Hes a great player and hes got a great personality on and off the court. Hes just a great overall guy," LaMarcus says. "With him being in San Antonio, I had the chance to watch him play quite a bit so Id take pointers from him when I could and used them when I could."

Aldridge says he has learned a great deal since coming to the Blazers from the coaches and his teammates alike.  Yet he says the biggest challenge he faces is knowing how to play the NBA game, which is so much different than college ball.

Yet in his very first NBA game against Dallas Nov. 12, Aldridge surprised his coach, Nate McMillan, and the rest of the Blazer staff with his stunning fourth quarter play.

All he did was limit Dallas all-star forward Dirk Nowitzki to one shot attempt and one point in the fourth quarter, while scoring 10 points himself on 5 of 7 shooting. He also grabbed seven rebounds, six of them on the offensive glass, converting four of them into two lay-ups and two short jumpers.

"He did some good things," McMillan said afterwards. "He certainly will be playing as part of our rotation.  Whether we start him or not ...We'll look at it," McMillian said. "But I like what I've seen of him."

As it turned out, Aldridge did start at center for several games in the absence of center Joel Przybilla, who was sidelined with a lower abdominal injury. And he hasn't been embarrassed against the Nowitzkis, Garnetts and Duncans of the NBA.

That's not bad for a player who at age 13 was often overlooked and snubbed by the older kids in pickup games at Dallas-area parks.

"I wasn't one of those kids who was born with the golden spoon," LaMarcus told writer Andy Katz of ESPN.com last June. "That's why it makes you appreciate it more when you finally get there."

So unlike Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan, both of whom showed hints of stardom at an early age, LaMarcus Aldridge has had to do a makeover.

He's the portrait of the self-made young man who reaches for the stars the hard way --  by sweating it out, hour after hour.
Wayne Thompson was The Oregonian's Blazers beat writer from 1970-73 and sports editor from 1977-1979. You can email Wayne at mlou4jazz@aol.com.

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LaMarcus Aldridge: Ridin with the L-Train

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