Fansided

Hardwood Paroxysm Presents: We’re not mad, we’re just disappointed and sad

By HP Basketball Network

Apr 13, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Rajon Rondo (9) leaves the court after losing to the Utah Jazz 109-92 at EnergySolutions Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 13, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Rajon Rondo (9) leaves the court after losing to the Utah Jazz 109-92 at EnergySolutions Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 7
Next

The NBA Playoffs aren’t all moonlight and roses. Seeing Derrick Rose return to form and the Memphis Grizzlies give the Golden State Warriors a run for their money is thrilling, sure, but those peaks also come with valleys. It’s just the nature of the game.

For every banked in buzzer beater that sends fans into a frenzy, there’s Rajon Rondo quitting on his team and yet another Cavalier succumbing an injury — moments we can’t help but shake our heads furiously over.

With that in mind, the Hardwood Paroxysm crew wipes away their tears to look back on the most disappointing moments in the 2015 playoffs.

Apr 27, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) before game four against the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the NBA Playoffs at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 27, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) before game four against the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the NBA Playoffs at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports /

LaMarcus Aldridge, You Broke My Heart

by Ian Levy (@HickoryHigh) — Hardwood Paroxysm

I know…Wesley Matthews. And I know…Arron Afflalo. But the Portland Trail Blazers season was not supposed to end this way.

The Memphis Grizzlies finished them off in five games. Memphis is good and there is no shame in losing a playoff series to them. It was the way in which Portland lost and, in particular, the flaccidness of LaMarcus Aldridge that was disappointing. The focal point of the Trail Blazers offense shot 33.0 percent in the series and, aesthetically, bore a striking resemblance to a slowly deflating balloon.

Aldridge is usually described as a finesse or skilled big-man. Each adjective can be pejorative or celebratory (often interchangeably with Aldridge), but they don’t do his abilities justice. He is capable of playing tough defense, he hits the glass hard and he has a legitimately threatening post game. He is strong and he can play strong. And yet he withered against the Grizzlies front line. Not because of a lack of effort or because he gave up, he was just rendered utterly ineffective at this moment in time.

The championship hopes of the Trail Blazers were irreparably damaged when Matthews was injured. But that alone didn’t doom them to such a soft exit. In Aldridge and Damian Lillard, the Trail Blazers still had a duo as good as any in the league. They might not have been winning a title, but they had plenty of talent to go down swinging, to end their season in a blaze of glory, taking a few playoff wins with them. They got a game and no satisfaction. Aldridge was hiking with wet socks. He was a burrito, still frozen in the center. Trying to watch a TV show while someone carries on a phone conversation in the same room. He was the last episode of Lost and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

LaMarcus Aldridge, you broke my heart.

Next: Quitting will follow you forever, Rajon Rondo

Home/Chicago Bulls