I keep hearing people on the radio claim that Dame is "coasting", that he's "pacing himself", and that he's trying to "preserve himself" for later in the season by playing a less demanding brand of basketball. Anybody buying that? That basically sounds like people giving excuses for what is perceived as subpar play.
One was a response to the OP, one was a joke post. I keep that separate. But it is nice some noob tries to call me out and talk about quality over quantity when posting, what, 20 posts per day, and most of them (like this one I'm responding to) is more quantity than quality.
Can't believe how poorly many of you think of Anthony Davis. He might be the best PF in the league RIGHT NOW and if I could choose one big man to build a team around it would certainly be him. Agree that I'd take Lillard over Drummond. Drummond makes some really impressive plays, but everything inbetween those plays is kind of meh. Like someone else posted, I tend to think Drummond could be a sexier version of your typical defensive minded NBA C. Yes I think he'll be better than most C's but hard to see him turning into a scorer and like all of you have mentioned he is a horrific FT shooter which keeps him out of the game at crucial times. Lillard is a star right now, Drummond's upside is like a Tyson Chandler kind of defensive stalwart, and hes got a long way to go mentally to even reach that. Anyone with ESPN Insider have the whole list? I'd like to know where Harrison F. Barnes is ranked.
I thought most of us were giving Davis his just dues for being the best player in the draft. (Only one person said otherwise-I think)
No. I don't believe that he's coasting. That's not in his nature. That's not who Damian Lillard is. Personally, I believe it's a mixture of a few factors. Firstly, I think his confidence is off a little bit. He had that horrible game against Sacramento and he hasn't been the same since then. He supposedly worked on that floater during the summer, but it looks like he's gone away from it for lack of confidence. The first five games Vs Phoenix - 32 points, 10-20 shooting, 6-12 from deep, 6-8 from the line Vs Denver - 18 points, 6-13 shooting, 3-4 from deep, 3-4 from the line Vs Spurs - 25 points, 7-16 shooting, 3-8 from deep, 8-8 from the line Vs Houston - 22 points, 7-17 shooting, 4-9 from deep, 4-7 from the line Vs Sac - 22 points, 5-13 shooting, 4-9 from deep, 8-8 from the line Since then Vs Sac - 4 points, 1-15 shooting, 0-5 from deep, 2-4 from the line Vs Detroit - 25 points, 7-16 shooting, 5-8 from deep, 6-6 from the line Vs Phoenix - 11 points, 4-13 shooting, 0-2 from deep, 3-4 from the line Vs Boston - 17 points, 6-15 shooting, 2-6 from deep, 3-3 from the line Vs Toronto - 25 points, 10-22 shooting, 3-10 from deep, 2-2 from the line Vs Brooklyn - 19 points, 6-13 shooting, 2-7 from deep, 5-5 from the line Vs Milwaukee - 19 points, 7-18 shooting, 2-7 from deep, 3-3 from the line Vs Chicago - 20 points, 6-14 shooting, 3-5 from deep, 5-5 from the line Vs GS - 20 points, 6-20 shooting, 2-7 from deep, 6-6 from the line Vs NY - 23 points, 9-20 shooting, 2-7 from deep, 3-3 from the line Secondly, I think the team is playing a different brand of basketball. With Wes playing as well as he has, and Mo coming off the bench, I think Dame is still trying to find a rhythm in this offense. It doesn't help that Aldridge is struggling from the field at the same time as Lillard. It makes things much more complicated than if it was just one or the other. Lastly, I think the refs aren't giving him the benefit of the doubt. I thought he'd get more calls this season, but I haven't seen much difference in how the refs treat him. He still draws contact when he goes to the hole, but the refs hardly ever give him the whistle. Teams have become very physical in how they defend him. I've noticed on multiple occasions that defenders body him, they try to knock him off his rhythm when he's bringing the ball up the floor, and when he tries to drive. Until the refs start calling this contact, it will make things much more difficult for Lillard. If you look at his first five games, he had three games with 8 FTA. He hasn't had a single 8 FTA since then. Why? He still goes to the hole. He still draws contact. He's also having some stinkers from deep. During our run he's had four 2-7 games from deep. I think he's relying too much on his three point shot because he can get it whenever he wants, and it's a security blanket of sorts for him. I think he's frustrated with his lack of calls from the refs, and I think he's lost his confidence in his mid-range game a bit. He'll get it back. I have complete faith in Lillard's work ethic, but I also think he's hurting from not having a true point guard on the team right now. Williams is a scoring guard. Lillard played some of his best ball last year when we had Maynor running the point next to him.
That SAC game was around when Stotts started the new rotation pattern of taking Dame out of the game earlier to reduce his minutes. He'll adjust. No need to fret. His game is still filthy sick. Just needs to use more of that midrange.
Nope. http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/i...ers_look_to_keep_damian_lillard_fresh_wi.html Article on Nov 12 Three games prior to the 12th? Vs. SAC in POR
Na. I think it's a matter of Dame being a piece to a puzzle rather than the centerpiece he's used to being. While his assists are down, he's playing more team centric ball along with a seriously increased effort on the defense end. Couple those together and it's only natural his production would go down.
PER doesn't account for defense so i could see your argument if AD wasn't a beast defensively as well as being super efficient offensively. He is the new KG he just needs some outside shooting and a competent center and they'll be a hell of a team. Jrue Holiday was a nice pickup but they would have been better served running Noel and Davis together IMO. Vasquez wasn't a bad PG at all, they shouldn't have gone after Tyreke with the roster they have he isn't a complementary piece there.
His assists look down mostly because he's playing fewer minutes (36.8 versus 38.6). So let's take a look at some normalized data: http://www.basketball-reference.com/pi/shareit/hq65C Those are Damian's Per 36 minutes stats. You'll notice that his assists are basically the same (5.9 vs 6.0) as last year, per 36 minutes. His FG's made is exactly the same (6.3), but he's making 0.6 more 3 pointers this year than last year. He's also hitting 1.3 more free throws. He's rebounding a bit better (4.1 vs 2.9), and turning the ball over less (2.1 vs 2.7). He's also averaging 19.7 points versus 17.8 points. So his shooting percentage is in the toilet right now, but overall, he's playing much better, more in control, more involved in rebounding. This is why his PER is up around 19.0 this season instead of 16.4 last season.
The assists to turnover ratio going from close to 2:1 to 3:1 is a pretty big deal and probably the most encouraging sign.
Good call out. Damian isn't being hounded as much as last year because Mo and Nic are helping out a lot more. There's a lot more assists to go around, too, so Damian's numbers are effectively the same while everyone else's have gone up, but since the offense doesn't operate with Lillard as the pure hub anymore, it takes a ton of stress off him.
Unselfish play by Damian is not going to get him much praise but it is going to win games. Team first players sacrifice being the man to better contribute to the overall success of the team.
Partly that, but I also get the sense he's making better decisions with the ball in the games I've watched. More patient, better at reading the defense and just more savvy at the point.
Agreed; if he can get better at finishing on the drive, his number will be gaudy. That's the only part of his game where I don't feel he's mastering things ahead of time.
The finishing around the rim thing is the one area where I'm a little bit concerned. He's not "Bassy bad," but it seems like he's too enamored with the circus-shot layup rather than just going into a defender's chest and finishing or forcing the refs to call a foul.
