I found this from the Wages of Wins Journal site

http://dberri.wordpress.com/2008/04/29/monta-ellis-this-time-and-not-lemarcus-aldridge/

The media’s vote indicated that LaMarcus Aldridge was the third most improved player. But if we look at the 25 most improved, Aldridge’s name is nowhere to be found.

We do find Aldridge’s name, though, in Table Two.

Table Two: The Unchanged in 2007-08

Table Two reports the players who changed the least from 2006-07 to 2007-08. The 20th player on this list is Aldridge. Yes, a player who members of the media think is the most improved really hasn’t changed much at all.

At least, not in the aggregate. There were some changes in Aldridge’s performance if we look at the individual stats.

Table Three: Evaluating LaMarcus Aldridge

As Table Three indicates, Aldridge did manage to take more shots this season. And despite a lower level of shooting efficiency, he was able to score more points. Of course, if you score less efficiently, you are not helping as much as you could.

In addition to scoring, Aldridge also posted an increase in assists and personal fouls. But he rebounded slightly less and committed a few more turnovers. The net effect was a very small change in Win Score per minute, and as noted, WP48.

Of course the media doesn’t look at Win Score or Wins Produced. In fact, they don’t appear to look at shooting efficiency or per-minute stats. What they did see is that Aldridge increased his per-game scoring from 9.0 to 17.8. And apparently, that was enough to get Aldridge some votes.

The Least Improved

At least, Aldridge did improve a bit. A few players didn’t quite fare this well. Table Four reports the least improved players - or the players who posted the biggest declines - in 2007-08.