I don't agree. I think Nate built his offense around Roy, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was ideal. Roy was perfectly capable of playing off the ball, he just didn't want to and McMillan never challenged him to play outside his comfort zone. I never thought that the Roy iso was that great. Teams knew it was coming and the good teams could defend it rather easily.
What was playing off the ball and taking the ball out of his hands going to do to benefit him, though? Less shots/scoring opportunities?
Roy had the advantage that the coach and team acknowledged that he was the best player on the team. If Lillard get this sort of treatment I suspect he can be as good or better than Roy. Buttttttttttttt, he will have to show that he can end games like Roy and get superstar calls (which took Roy several years to get). Right now the coach/team/fans pay lip service to LeMarcus. Hopefully LMA will be able to acknowledge that Lillard is the team leader/best player. If he can't do that by the middle of next year, he'll need to be traded.
Why pick one over the other? They both were/are pretty special players at a time when this team could use one.
Wasn't trying to pick one over the other........ just thought that graphic put what Dame is doing into perspective.
Did I say you? Don't piss me off, fat boy. I know where you work! (Actually I enjoyed your graphic. Very interesting and it does show just how special Lillard's first NBA season has been.)
Cool, but let's see wait until LeMarcus consistently takes over in the 4th quarter before we crown HIS ass. Too late, he doesn't but he's been crowned already. I'm not actually putting the guy down, he's simply not a first option. Lillard will probably keep improving and will become just that.
Irving vs. Lillard is interesting. They are two different types of players. Bleacherreport likes Irving a bit better, which is reasonable. I have nothing bad to say about Irving - Jordanesque, but with class. However.... Irving's out for 3 weeks, and they may shut him down for the season. If they do, he'll have played 51 games in year 1, and 49 games in year 2. Lillard has already played 62 games this season (and still going) while averaging a ridiculous 38.5 mpg. Maybe we should be comparing Irving to Roy
@Dame_Lillard's scoring average is now up to a clean 19.0 ppg (with 6.4 apg & 3.2 rpg). He's the only Blazer to play in all 63 games.
Kind of think if Roy didn't have health issues he would have eventually become an MVP. Lillard may as well at some point?
What would have been interesting is if Roy was able to stay healthy, we could of had a Lillard/ Roy backcourt.
Not necessarily, because we wouldn't've had a high enough pick. A closer alternate reality is the one where we have a Chris Paul/Brandon Roy backcourt.
