With last night's effort, Damian tied TP for 2nd on the all time 3 pointer list @ 773. Wes leads at 826. Additionally Damian passed Zach Randolph to be #16 on the free throws made list.
For what its worth, he trails Kiki Vandeweghe by 277 points for #13 on the all-time scoring list. Damon Stoudamire by 324 points @ #12 and Kevin Duckworth by 767 @ #11 on the all time scoring list. I think he gets both Kiki and Damon. A few more nights like last night (only with a W as well), and he takes Duck as well. Gramps...
I think it's safe to say LA saw the writing on the wall. There was no way LA would finish as the best player in Blazer history. It'll be Lillard by the end of next year!
And the truth is finally uncovered. This made me laugh. In part because its funny, but in part because there could be some actual truth to that.
I'll admit that I underestimated Lillard. Coming into the league, I thought he was an excellent point guard and would likely be an All Star multiple times, but I didn't see him as being the superstar that could be the alpha-male on a contending team. The way he's played this season, and particularly since the All-Star game have made me see the error of my opinion. As far as I'm concerned, the superstar box is fully checked when it comes to the Blazers.
I wanted some fucking other guy at the draft so yeah I was way wrong. You could see in his first summer league there was something special with Lillard, I changed my opinion of the draft pretty quick. I remember a number of Blazer fans I know thinking it was ridiculous that Adidas gave him that $100mil contract. One friend has ties to Nike. Bet they wish he was with their brand now. I haven't really put a ceiling on what he could do the last few years. It was way back in the 2013-14 season he hit all the game winners. But if I had to bet my life on it definitely wouldn't have picked him to be performing so effectively this season. The raw scoring totals yes. But I thought it would be him jacking up bricks on a losing team. This is more impressive that Westbrooks triple doubles last year for a lottery team. Nice job Dame!
You got it half right, LMA knew once he signed a contract with the Blazers he would lose all leverage and the organization wouldn't need to kiss his ass anymore. Once he signed a contract with the Blazers it was still going to become Lillard's team. Now LMA can still convince himself that once Duncan, Parker and Manu retire the Spurs will become his team. It won't.
My son was asking me the other night if Dame is the greatest Blazer ever. Just to hear that question made me smile. Dame is awesome and fun to watch, but he's got a ways to go to top Drexler and Walton. Drexler: - 12 seasons with Portland - Averaged 20.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 5.7 apg, 2.1 spg. - 2 NBA finals appearances while with the Blazers. - 8 time All-Star while with the Blazers. - All-NBA 1st team (1992). - Portland Trail Blazers all time leading scorer. - Portland Trail Blazers all time minutes played leader. - Portland Trail Blazers all time steals leader. - Portland Trail Blazers all time field goals leader. - Hall of Fame. Walton: - 4 seasons with Portland. - Averaged 17.1 ppg, 13.5 rpg, 4.4 apg, 2.6 bpg, 1.0 spg - NBA Champion with the Blazers. - NBA Finals MVP with the Blazers. - NBA MVP (1978) - 2 time All-Star while with the Blazers. - All-NBA 1st team (1978). - NBA Rebounding Leader (1977). - NBA Blocks Leader (1977). - Hall of Fame. Lillard: - 4 seasons with Portland. - Averaging 21.3 ppg, 6.2 apg, 3.8 rpg, 1.0 spg. - 2 time all-star. - NBA Rookie of the Year. Looking at these stats, I was surprised to see that Lillard's career scoring average is currently above Drexler's. Now if he can just win us a few championships he'll move right up my Best Blazers ever rankings.
So, I'm trying to think of a reason why we can't see another 50-point game from Dame this year and I can't think of any other than "it's not required to win".
Lillard scoring multiple 50pt games goes against the scripted story lines the NBA wants to push this season, I expect a memo from Silver to the officials to make sure Lillard stops committing 7 fouls per quarter.
I have a number of Blazers careers above Walton; and after this season that'll likely include Lillard. Walton had far and away the best single season, but a career is about much more than what a player did for 18 months. Think I might put Sabas ahead of Walton. Controversial to some; but most fans greatly overvalue team accolades when judging individuals. I'd probably rank them Drexler Porter Kersey Sheed Sabas Walton Roy LaMarcus Lillard Wes Lucas
In the entire history of the NBA, only 31 players have put up two or more 50+ games in the same season. 14 have had three or more, and six have had four or more.
