Very good point. Lillard definitely makes your lineup more versatile. Also, there's not only the issue of competence, but incompetence. If you have an incompetent SG, it kind of sucks. Spacing can be off because he can't shoot, your perimeter defense might be more porous, maybe he doesn't do a great job of attacking driving lanes. It sucks, but your team can live with it. It's very, very hard for a team to function with an incompetent point guard. You can't set up basic plays in a timely manner, spacing sucks, fast breaks suck, sometimes it's a struggle to just get it over the half court line, you may get lit up by all the great PG's in the league right now. If you have Lillard, you are basically insuring yourself against incompetent PG play. That means quite a lot.
In a way it's much like having a good or a bad quarterback. If you have a really good QB, you can get by with okay receivers. If you have a shit QB, it really doesn't matter how good your receivers are.
Why cant I have both Roy and Lillard?!?!?!?!?! IT"S NOT FAIR!!!! Ok, im done with my hissy fit. For reason mentioned above I think Dame has the ability to have a bigger impact on the overall game and I would pick him as well but Im ok with having Roy fall to me with the 2nd pick.
The other thing is, I remember there was rumors that Roy didn't want to play with a ball dominant point guard like Chris Paul. I don't get the feeling that Dame would care if we acquired a shooting guard that needed the ball. I think he'd find a way to adapt and flourish.
Re Lillard v. Roy: It depends on your other personnel. Ignoring that factor: I take Lillard for the reasons previously stated.
Of course, Nate McMillan would have turned Lillard into Steve Blake 2.0 "Get in the corner and wait for the ball."
I absolutely love Roy. Still my all time favorite player. But knowing what I know now; Portland could never have a pg worth a shit with Roy. He just needs the ball in his hand at all times. The biggest difference between the two is Lillard can run in multiple offensive sets and Roy is all about the iso. Individually, Roy was way more efficient and clutch. But the rest of the team just didn't flow well unless Roy was running it.
Look what he did to Batum, and you have your prime example that he would have most likely done the same thing. Amazing how Nic is suddenly getting trip dubs and scoring in a number of ways since Nate is gone.
Compare the teams around each during their rookie years: Other guard: Matthews v Jarrett Jack Small forward: Batum v Ime Udoka Power forward: Aldridge v Zach Randolph Center: Hickson v Magloire/Przybilla Seems to me that Lillard has had better players up and down the (starting) lineup than Roy did during his rookie year. Make of that what you will.
I liked the line-up they ran with after the trade deadline and they were done "showcasing" Magloire. PG - Jack SG - Roy SF - Ime PF - Zbo C - Aldridge Aldridge and Roy both played their best ball with that line-up. LaMarcus at center and Zbo at PF worked really well together. BNM
The Maloofs have driven a once proud franchise into the ground. They purchased majority control of the team July 1, 1999. With that team, already in place was probably the best front line in the NBA (Chris Webber, Vlade Divic, Peja Stojakivic), quality depth, and a solid coach (Rick Adelman) which carried the team for years of deep playoff runs and sold out season tickets. The Maloofs seemed ok owners during this period. It was when the rebuilding phase happened that their true incompetence won out. I feel bad for the (once) great fan base in Sacramento that was destroyed by bad management.
Roy was turning into one of the top Closers in the NBA. You can't really win in the playoffs without one.
Their bench was infinitely better. Jack/Dickau/Sergio Roy/Dixon Ime/Martell/Outlaw Zach/Aldridge Magloire/Prz
Yeah, I don't think any one is disputing that. Doesn't change the fact that in general, Lillard has shared the court with better players than Roy did in his rookie year.
In terms of individual stats, I'm not sure if that helped, or hurt Roy's production. It put more of a burden on Roy to score, but with that increased responsibility came increased opportunity. Lillard needs to share the ball with his more talented teammates. Perhaps they were/are both a good match for the players around them. Lillard the PG, needs to share and look to get his quality fellow starters involved. Roy the isolation monster needed to look to take over the game during crunch time. Overall, I like the Lillard/team style better than the Roy/iso offense, but I think Brandon did the best with what he had to work with. BNM
I think the question about Damien actually is - can he get much better (4 years of college after all) or is this basically what we can expect? Not that I'm complainin'
Here is what I expect to improve: FTA - the refs will start to give him calls that he's not currently getting Assists - I think his numbers will actually increase next year 3PA - I think he'll attempt less threes as he gets more calls.
I don't think there's that much of a drop off for how much he can improve. Playing against better competition does wonders for the advancement of skills. And I'd say his competition now is significantly better than last year.
