ONE FAST FORWARD

• Outside the Roy spotlight, Blazers' LaMarcus Aldridge sticks to business

By kerry eggers

The Portland Tribune, Feb 22, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (2 Reader comments)

GARRETT ELLWOOD / GETTY IMAGES

LaMarcus Aldridge (left) keeps San Antonio’s Fabricio Oberto at bay in a recent game. The second-year power forward’s still learning, but has a goal of making an All-Star team within the next two seasons.

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The final 28 games on the Trail Blazer schedule — beginning with tonight’s visit to Seattle — will be a litmus test of sorts for LaMarcus Aldridge.

Portland’s management team and coaching staff already know the second-year power forward is a keeper. What they don’t know is whether the 6-11 Aldridge can bring it nearly every night, like the top players at his position.

Coach Nate McMillan is challenging Aldridge.

“What LaMarcus does the rest of the season will let us know what we need to do in the summer to improve his game,” McMillan says. “He did some good things the first half of the season, but the stakes are a little higher for everyone down the stretch.

“I want to see how he finishes. Can his body hold up? How will he respond to being (the opponents’) defensive focus? Can he consistently give us that 17 points and seven boards? And can he be a go-to guy in the clutch?”

Aldridge — averaging 16.9 points and 7.4 rebounds before Thursday’s game with Seattle — gives himself a C-plus for his pre-All-Star break work.

“I’ve done better than I did last year, but I need to be more consistent,” he says. “That’s tough to do my first time being in this position, but I have to be harder on myself than anybody else.”

With Zach Randolph gone, Aldridge has been Portland’s primary interior offensive threat. It means he now faces the opponent’s best inside defender and more than occasional double-team coverage every game.

“Teams are keying in on me,” he says. “They aren’t going to just let me play anymore. I have to use my strengths — quickness and running the floor. I’ll face up guys and drive to the basket.”

Aldridge says he’s reinvigorated after spending a couple of days at his Dallas home during All-Star weekend. He took the short flight from New Orleans after last Friday’s Rookie Challenge and was able to enjoy some R & R with his mother, Georgia, and brother, LaVonta, 27, the manager of a freight company.

Mom’s pasta restores

Aldridge could have stayed in New Orleans for the entire weekend, but “I wanted to go home and get some rest,” Aldridge says. “I was kind of tired. Just being home, it was good. My mom cooked. Everybody thinks his mom can cook, but mine really can. She made pasta, and I just chilled at the house.

“Those two days were big for me, just getting off my feet, being with my family. It was a good way to relax. It helps me come back refreshed for the second half of the season.”

Last Friday in New Orleans, Aldridge and his Rookie Challenge teammates spent two hours building mailboxes for Katrina-damaged houses near the downtown area. That night, he played a sophomore team-high 34 minutes, totaling 17 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks. He was 9 of 17 from the field, with five dunks.

On Sunday, Aldridge sat in front of his mother’s TV set and watched Brandon Roy collect 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the West in the real All-Star game. Did that motivate Aldridge to want to be an All-Star in the near future?

“I had already told myself I wanted to be in that game, either next year or the year after that,” says Aldridge, 22. “Watching Brandon play so well — he fit in perfectly — didn’t make me become more motivated. I was pretty motivated as it is.”