It really seemed like Lillard is the new punching bag from what I was reading last night. The guy put up 21 and 11 in 36 minutes. His final line was 21 points, 11 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. That's a pretty damn good line. Yes, his shooting slumped. He was 8-21 and 1-7 from three, but he did so many other things on the floor last night. People are really focusing on the one bad thing. He was actually shooting a really good percentage until the 4th quarter. He was 8-15 through three quarters. It was the 4th when things started to go off the rail, and mostly because I think he could see our lead slipping away and he started to do too much. I think that will slowly go away as he learns to trust his new teammates. Right now he just thinks he has to carry the team when we're having trouble scoring. I also think people need to stop acting like his shot is gone forever. He is in a slump. It's been going on for a while. His shot will come back. Dame is not the kind of person to just accept that this is the way things are now. I get that he signed the big contract. I get that he's the leader. I get that he's our star, but he played pretty damn well last night. Stop acting like he stunk up the joint.
Well said. Kobe shot 8-24, for reference. So it could be worse. Never worried about Dame. But he will be the scapegoat, and CJ will be loved and hated about as much as anyone this year.
Did I see last night he got his 600th 3 of his career. Breaking Klay's record for the fastest in the HISTORY of the NBA....... yet some still feel they have a place to complain about him. AMAZING! The guy is a superstar!
I think the criticisms have been fair; he tried to do a bit too much by himself on offense in the 4th and has been off on his three point shot for 8 months. Its not like anyone is saying he's bad or we'd be better if we traded him. I bet he figures these things out as the season goes on. Look at LeBron; he's the best player in the game and maybe the best of all time but he gets criticized endlessly for years. Part of being great is being held to a higher standard and having every decision second guessed by the masses. Dame is enough of a boss to not care what a bunch of dweebs on a message board say about him. He'll get the team playing well and enjoying being around each other. We can critique him and harp on him because he can take it.
The weird thing is that his shot looks a little different. I'm not sure if it's purely a confidence thing, or if he's not following through. I haven't watched any replays to take a look at it, but something seems different.
I thought Dame played a very good game, except for a couple of forced, long threes. His big plus was how he helped control the pace when he was on the floor. His presence seemed to make everything else go more smoothly, and he should get credit for that.
It's not like it was a continuous 8 months of basketball. That makes it sound worse than it is. There were 4 months away from basketball, so it's not like he's had 8 months to work his way through this. I'm sure he spent hours and hours in the gym working on his shot, but he has to be on the court to really work out of this slump.
Yeah. He's extending his leg out instead of going straight up. When I watched the replay, I saw that at least 3 times. I think that goes away soon, he'll have to see that on tape at some point. Again, not even remotely worried about Dame. He'll find it.
I think he'll find it too. I just think people got so used to his shot going in, and now that he's been pretty consistently bad for a few months, they're just accepting that as the new normal. I don't agree with it. If Jason Kidd can become a good three point shooter, I think Dame can regain his shot.
Ummm that's not what you just recently said: http://www.sportstwo.com/posts/3742402/ Just sayin' (shrug)
Very well said. He has obviously not shot the ball well for some time now and that is not being overly critical, just a realistic observation. His shot is a little flat and instead of stepping into it, he is doing a lot of step-back attempts. I was right behind the Blazer bench last night so got a very good view of arc, rotation, mechanics etc and it's like he is really snap/pushing a line-drive instead of getting the required arc to increase shooting percentage.
Think how many more assists he'd have if Legend made his open threes, Dames 3s are just not going in and it makes no sense, his shots look good and are riming out.
You dont make 600 threes the fastest in NBA history as a fluke. If it were the case, it'd happen a lot more. Dame is fine. I said it after his rookie year, he's the only one I never worry about. Do I cringe every now and then at shot selection like last night? Yes. But as a whole, I have never doubted him. He may not like to hear that, though.
It's a valid criticism..... but people are harping on it. Some posters more so than others, but good god... just constantly bringing it up. This has been going on for a while.
I think what he's saying is Superstar is above on the hierarchieal chain than the Quality NBA Starter.
Dame has improved tremendously since his rookie year, from his finishing abilities, defense, drawing more fouls, theres a lot of improvements he has made. But unfortunately his 3 point shot has gone to shits all the way to the playoffs. Its a pretty large sample size we have, including the preseason so of course its a cause of discussion. What he really needs to do is just stop shooting 5 feet behind the 3 point arc and just settle to about two 3's a game to when hes basically wide open or they need a crucial 3. That hero ball, steph curry style is not working for him period. He needs to quit that crap and just stick to what hes improving on. I wouldn't be surprised honestly if cj led this team in scoring
I was only bringing up that I am concerned about his shooting slump, and also how I thought he tried to do to much in the fourth citing three/four plays that were just not good. I still believe he is the best player on our team and he personally is my favorite player. Never a punching bag. It was just constructive criticism/discussion for this board. I am overly hyped for him to regain his shooting prowess.
