http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/5-on-5-121101/nba-early-season-highlights-lowlights I loved Lillard before the draft, and he is still showing me more than I expected.
He has been so good at times that it almost scares me. Maybe too many bad breaks with my favorite players in the past but I feel like someone is messing with me and ready to pull the rug out from under this dream. At the very least its not like we havent earned it as Blazers fans to hit the jackpot for once.
I also had no idea that he was that quick. He may have got his shot blocked by Howard but he absolutely BLEW by Nash last night on that one play. Sometimes Im speechless at how fast he is.
Lillard looked really good last night, maybe too good. Nash, Duhon and Blake aren't exactly defensive stoppers. Let's see how he does against the likes of OKC, Houston, etc. before the book is written.
No, not at all, but Houston is a lot younger and faster than the Lakers. In any case I'm not saying I think Lillard is a tease, I'm just curious how responds to teams once there's a little bit of film on him and once he goes up against a more cohesive defensive effort than we saw from the Lakers. FWIW, I think he'll have some inevitable ups and downs, but will eventually settle into a being a pretty consistent 18/8 kind of guy (career numbers, not necessarily rookie numbers).
Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't think 18 and 8 is out of reach for him this season. He didn't even play that well last night on offense and he put up 23 and 11. I mean, it seemed like he didn't play nearly as well as we've seen him play and he put up those numbers? I think that says something. Westbrook will be a challenge for him. No doubt. I think Lillard likes challenges though. He usually rises to the occasion. I remember once last night where Nash scored on him and he got this look on his face like, "oh hell no!"
It will be interesting to see how he plays against another fast PG in Westbrook. That match up should tell us a lot. Not that I consider RW a good defedner but he is quick.
With the way this kid can score and shoot, I'd be a little disappointed if his career average is 18 points. I think he can get at least 20 a game. I'd be thrilled with 8 assists as a career average, however. But with how talented this kid is and the fact that he CAN shoot, I think 18 would be a bit underwhelming IMO. Maybe I just have unrealistic expectations, though, so who knows.
Here's the list of career 18/8 players for reference ... http://www.basketball-reference.com...tat=&c5comp=gt&c6mult=1.0&c6stat=&order_by=ws adjust expectations accordingly.
I think he'll get what his team needs him to get. Duncan could have put up Kobe numbers all these years, but he'd rather win.
Looking at that chart makes me wonder: Whats the opinion on how close of a comparison Lillard is to Isiah Thomas?
Career, sure, but I think it's reasonable that he could average 18 and 8 for his rookie season. It's the later in their careers that it becomes more difficult. Take Brandon Roy for example. If he continues to play, his averages will only dip further and further.
List of NBA players who averaged 16/7 for the first 10 seasons of their career. http://www.basketball-reference.com...at=&c5comp=gt&c6mult=1.0&c6stat=&order_by=per
Some of the deep shots Lillard took last night were questionable, but they were rhythm shots that you expect of natural scorers. And that's exactly what he is. Yeah, he's pretty damn good at distributing the ball, but he's clearly got a scorer's mentality. I wouldn't be surprised to see him average 20 ppg this year.
I have a feeling as he develops as a scorer his assist number wont be that high. I think he has the ability but I dont think that will be what this team need in the years to come. I would imagine that he will always be in the 5-7 ast/gm range. Again I hope Im wrong and Im also beginning to almost urealistically expect more and more of him every time i see him.
It's possible, but I think the scoring will see ups and downs. He shouldn't have trouble getting assists though, with Aldridge, Batum and Wes.
I think we'll see some 40 point games from the kid. When he gets hot from the perimeter he'll be unstoppable.
I don't know... he's too unselfish for that. We've got too many other scorers and I think he likes to dish the ball. 20 points per game is totally doable for this kid, but I think he also wants the 10 assists.
