Damian Lillard – A Tale Of Tape

Boise Blazer · May 31, 2013

http://ripcityproject.com/2013/05/31/damian-lillard-a-tale-of-tape/

To aid me on this front, I used the Game Score metric found on Basketball-Reference, which is a quick calculation to determine how well a player performed in a single game. I used it as a baseline to find some games that Lillard struggled in, before finally settling on the Blazers’ March 19th game against the Milwaukie Bucks (a 102-95 loss). Basketball-Reference ranked it as his eighth worst game of the season.
Even without fancy metrics and their ilk, a look at the box score clearly indicated that it was a bit of a struggle for Lillard – 2/10, 0/4 on threes, three rebounds, six turnovers, eight points, but 11 assists. I was originally trying to find a game without such gaudy assist numbers, but then I decided it would be nice to see one aspect of his game working when the others obviously weren’t.
So, I dived right in and watched every minute that Lillard played, focusing only on him. Here are my observations:
The game was the second of a back-to-back, both on the road, and Lillard’s 67th of the season. This is all to say that Lillard looked tired, and I can understand why. This goes a long way towards explaining the meager 10 shot attempts – he didn’t look to create for himself often at all. In fact, I could count on one hand how many times he tried to drive to the hoop.
But, by not looking to create for himself, he could expend his energy on finding his teammates, to the tune of 11 assists (tied for his second most of the season). Let me tell you, though, that if his teammates didn’t brick wide open jumper after wide open jumper or fumble the ball away, that total could have been 20. Easily.
Click to expand...

Good article. I mentioned this a few times throughout the year. He could have had a lot more assists. Also we all noticed that even his "bad" games were still pretty good.

Boise Blazer · Jun 6, 2013

Somewhat of a follow up:

http://ripcityproject.com/2013/06/06/damian-lillard-ice-in-the-veins/

Despite feasting off these pick and rolls and putting up 28, Lillard was still primarily looking to pass. This was evidenced perfectly when, with a minute left in the second quarter, he passed up on a nearly wide open three pointer to get the ball to Matthews, who was even more wide open and drilled it. It was an unassuming play, and will go down in the box score as an assist for Lillard, but it illustrates much, much more.
Click to expand...

mook · Jun 6, 2013

Thanks for posting these. Enjoyed reading them.

Log in or Sign up

Damian Lillard – A Tale Of Tape

Boise Blazer Thread Lightly

Boise Blazer Thread Lightly

mook The 2018-19 season was the best I've seen

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

Damian Lillard – A Tale Of Tape

Moderators

Boise Blazer Thread Lightly

Boise Blazer Thread Lightly

mook The 2018-19 season was the best I've seen

Share This Page

Useful Searches