SAN ANTONIO -- One 3-pointer careened off the side of the rim. Another missed its destination totally, crashing to the wood at the San Antonio Spurs' practice facility with the tenacity of a medicine ball.
Spurs power forward LaMarcus Aldridge understands the team wants him to incorporate more 3-point shooting into the arsenal for 2016-17, but these latest hiccups at practice seem like utopia compared to his early experience last season as the most coveted free-agent acquisition of 2015 joining a squad already chockful of established stars in Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
"Sixty-seven games," Aldridge said, letting out a laugh.
That's how long it took for Aldridge last season to find even the slightest hint of a comfort zone.
"I don't know that he struggled," Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said. "I would guess there are very few mid-career changes where you walk in and it's an instantaneous transition; especially in a group that had played together for a long time. I don't know that any of us felt like he struggled to begin with. It took time for us to understand how he fits best, and for him to learn how to best impact our club. I think he was very respectful of the group that was here. He had no intention of coming in and impacting our group in a way the team wasn't comfortable with."
Deference no longer stands in Aldridge's way, as he and Leonard now take the mantle of ushering the Spurs into their latest evolution sans-Duncan. Leonard still views San Antonio as a championship-caliber team, and "it starts with me and LA [Aldridge], first," he said. "If we win a championship, it's going to be up to us to lead the group."
That last statement represents a major shift in where Aldridge stood at this point last season.
Think about it: Oct. 20, 2015, seems like a lifetime ago. But on that night, coming off a 104-84 loss to the Phoenix Suns in Game 5 of the preseason, Aldridge hit the court 20 minutes after the buzzer sounded at 9:44 p.m. For more than an hour, Aldridge took pass after pass from Spurs assistant Ime Udoka, firing countless jump shots from multiple angles, followed by a succession of free throws on one basket with him repeating the entire process again on the opposite end of the court.
In that game, Aldridge shot 4-of-10 for nine points in 28 minutes, and up to that point, in two outings at the AT&T Center, he had connected on 8 of 24 shots.
That's why a tired and sweaty Aldridge walked back out on the court in practice gear to get in more work, as workers scrambled to pull up the floor off and get the ice ready for an upcoming San Antonio Rampage hockey game. Aldridge didn't leave the court until 11:14 p.m. that night.
"I don't really know these rims like that," Aldridge said at the time. "Everything is still new to me."
Not anymore.
"I'm a lot more confident, for sure," Aldridge said. "Comfortable, confident and looking forward to it, whereas last year was kind of a mystery, my first year leaving a team I had been with for so long. This year was a lot easier, for sure. I know what's going on most of the time, where I was lost all the time [last season]. I think I'm doing more teaching this training camp as far as the younger guys, and trying to instill the principles, whereas last year, I was just learning everything for the first time."
Aldridge started 74 games during the regular season in 2015-16, and averaged 18 points, a team-high 8.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.09 blocks in an average of 30.6 minutes on the floor. Aldridge said he didn't start to find a comfort zone until after the All-Star break. But even that feeling proved fleeting when on April 8, Aldridge dislocated his right pinkie finger attempting a reverse layup against Golden State, which was blocked by Andrew Bogut.
Still, Aldridge found a way to crank up the production even more in the postseason, averaging 21.9 points to go with 8.3 rebounds, 1.4 blocks and an assist in 33.7 minutes, while nailing .521 from the field. In fact, Aldridge became the first Spur to score 20 points or more in the first five games of a playoff series (against Oklahoma City in the Western Conference semifinals) since Tim Duncan accomplished the feat in 2007 against the Phoenix Suns.
"I would say I felt my best in the playoffs," Aldridge said. "That's when I really felt like I could be myself and do the things I do."
Added Buford: "The continued production you saw [from Aldridge] was us all learning to play together."
Still, Aldridge admitted to feeling frustration leading up to that point.
"Of course there's going to be frustration because I felt I wasn't helping the team as much as I could," he said. "I wasn't bringing the value I felt like I could. But I stayed patient with it. The coaching staff was great, talking to me every day and keeping me positive."
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich led the charge in that arena. During most early afternoon shootarounds in advance of night games, Popovich could often be seen alone with Aldridge leaning against the scorer's table away from the rest of the team counseling the power forward.
On multiple occasions, Popovich admitted last season that Aldridge was deferring to his new teammates, "just trying to fit in."
Now, Popovich "absolutely" envisions Aldridge taking on more of a leadership role with the Spurs in the absence of Duncan.
"LaMarcus and Kawhi are the main scorers on the team so to speak," Popovich said. "So it'll be interesting to see how [their] leadership develops."
"I'm a lot more confident, for sure. Comfortable, confident, and looking forward to it, whereas last year was kind of a mystery, my first year leaving a team I had been with for so long. This year was a lot easier, for sure."LaMarcus Aldridge
Aldridge welcomes the challenge.
"Sure, I know that he and I have to take on bigger roles, especially [with] Tim being gone," Aldridge said. "We're going to try and be more vocal leaders; try to do more on the floor and in practice. It's just a mutual understanding that things are starting to shift here, and it's just more on him and me."
Along the way, Aldridge needs to further advance his 3-point shooting acumen, while learning to co-exist with another new big in Pau Gasol, who joined the Spurs back in July after playing the past two seasons with the Chicago Bulls.
Despite shooting 51.3 percent from the field last season, Aldridge attempted a total of 16 shots from long range and none of them fell. That statistic fell in stark contrast to Aldridge's production from 3-point range in his final season with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2014-15, when the five-time All-Star connected on a career-high 37 of 105 from 3-point range.
Popovich talked to Aldridge during the offseason about incorporating that element back into his game.
"Pop after last season told me to get back with it," Aldridge said. "So I'll start taking that shot more this year."
As for Gasol, Aldridge expects the two to develop chemistry quickly.
"He's a very skilled player. We've had some high-low action together," Aldridge said. "I feel like we've kind of learned how to play off each other in the post; so far, so good. The players who have played versus him, we all feel like he's a pretty smart player. I don't see him having issues picking up the offense. He played the triangle in L.A., and we have a lot of elbow stuff. I don't see him having any issues with that."
The pairing with Aldridge only reinforces Gasol's belief that despite recent changes to the game, a strong interior presence makes a difference.
"The game has changed, no question about it," Gasol said. "The teams that have won championships have won going small and playing at a faster pace. So you have to be aware of it, adjust to it. But you don't get away from your strength. I'm a big believer in playing to the strengths of you weapons and you have to utilize them. We're all here to win. That's the main thing. The team is always gonna be first. So whatever it takes."
That's Aldridge's mentality, too, which is why day after day he stands in the corner letting 3-pointers fly at practice in an attempt to add yet another wrinkle as he preps to play Year 2 with the Spurs now totally in his comfort zone.
Aldridge didn't travel with the team Monday for its 91-86 loss to the Phoenix Suns in the exhibition opener.
"People are a lot better than Year 1 [in Year 2] as far as being comfortable," he said. "I feel like I adjusted as time went on. Now, it should be easy for me."