Lillard rookie year stats projection

But in this alternate universe, brandon Roy and greg oden never became the perennial all stars we all know and love!!!

 

Among players who qualify (sample size), Dame is third in the league in scoring in preseason behind only Melo and David Lee. And his FG% is better than both.

 

Oh, I totally agree. I guess it just shocked me to see his numbers at 50/40/90 at this point. A smile went across my face and I had to say something. Of course, it is only preseason, and it is a small sample size, but just having his numbers around that very mythological and rare feat is pretty neat. If his numbers even hover around that during his career, we will have something very special on our hands.

 

God damn. 17ppg, 50/40/90. Anyone who can do that in a five game stretch, even if it's just preseason, is flat out ballin'.

You have to figure if the draft were held today he'd be picked #2.

 

I can totally see teams taking away some of those pullup open shots that's he's hitting in the secondary transition, but he can then open up his inside game when they close out on him (right now, he's shooting more than 5 threes a game). It might take a bit of time for him to adjust to these defenses, but having Nic/Wes/LA hit shots around him will definitely help. I'm just glad Stotts gave him the reins and is letting him figure things out on his own without micromanaging.

 

I suppose they can try to close out on him more. But honestly, it seemed like teams were contesting a lot of those threes. He just has such a quick release, and an excellent handle that lets him get where ever he wants to on the perimeter. Baked into his awesome three point percentage are several pre-season broken plays where he's stuck with the ball 20 feet from the rim and 4 seconds on the clock. Those are going to be tough shots no matter who is guarding you.

I definitely agree that timing couldn't be better to ditch Nate and add Stotts. In much the same way that it was great timing that Nate was putting his imprint on the team when Roy came along.

 

That's a very reasonable and objective analysis on the timing of Nate's coming and going. I happen to agree with it. What would have been unacceptable to me was if Canales had been given the HC position. A young team like the current team needs some veteran coaching, and Kaleb is still around to be pals with the players (which isn't a criticism of Canales). I think as Kaleb gains more coaching experience, he'll be ready to assume the job of professional head coach, and not just an extension of the players as the head coach.

 

I won't project stats, but I think DL will put up near all-star numbers. His future improvement will likely involve limiting his TOs.

 

Seems ridiculous now to think that Canales was a real option at head coach. What a wreck that would've been.

 

Also, I have posted in this thread but have yet to project my statistical predictions. Here goes.

16.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 6.8 apg, 2.9 topg, 1.2 spg, 47% 2's, 38% 3's, 90% Ft's.
While that may be slightly optimistic for any rookie. I think it is definitely in the realm of the possible. And that feels really good to say.

 

What were some other recent star PGs rookie averages?

 

See the first post in the thread.

 

Here's the thing; Lillard is used to being the focus of the defense. That's nothing new to him. If the defense wants to key on him, he'll just find the open man. That's what sets him apart from most scoring point guards. He has no problem distributing the ball. He runs the pick and roll exceptionally, and his fast breaks are stellar (so far). If you key on him, he'll hurt you in other ways.

 

Kemba Walker avg 12/4/4 as a rook...... Lillard will get at least that.

 

after 1/3 of a season, he's kicking ass like many of us had hoped:

http://espn.go.com/nba/team/stats/_/name/por/portland-trail-blazers

 

Added Lillard to the comparison, and took out Lawson. Here.

Dame just needs to up his FG% a bit and he'll be at the top of the list.

 

1/3 way through the season, the possible is happening:

18.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 6.6 apg, 3.0 topg, 1.1 spg, 45.6% 2's, 37.3% 3's, 84.8% ft's.

Amazing prediction, handclap!

 

Bump.

Final stats: 19pts, 3.1reb, 6.5ast, 3.0tos in 38.6mpg, 42.9% FG, 36.8% 3pt, 84.4% FT, 16.4 PER, .501 eFG%, . 546 TS%

 

Most surprising stat to me is that he led the entire league in total minutes played.

 

I know and understand why some people (not necessarily you Mook) see that as a negative but the flip is that having him on the floor instead of Ronnie Price or Smith helped our the quality team immensely instead of the alternative. So when talking about ROY and such and the value you that player brought I think that stat should also be looked at in a positive fashion as well. That he was good enough and productive enough to stay on the floor that much and how much that improved our team and value it brought to our time. Or if you will Most Valuable Player for rookies for their team.