I am just glad that I was able to witness both of their play. I love them both. I miss Roy, but mainly because he got robbed by his body
Roy was great but Lillard is better. I think he works a lot harder than Roy did and is always looking to add something, with Roy he came in with all his moves pretty much and while they were great, I don't remember him adding much to his game.
I'm not really interested in the "is Lillard better than Roy" side of the discussion. I will say that I'm thankful that Roy was able to help pull this organization from the cellar of the NBA in his short time here. I loved watching him play and the way his time in Portland ended broke my heart. Also, I can't believe how lucky we are that Oden and Roy's short careers didn't send this team back to the cellar for a decade. It's an amazing time to be a citizen of Rip City.
I think he' an even better person.... But he's an amazing player and awfully fun to watch last night. I like the football comparison to Russell Wilson. Very Similar Attributes. And interestingly, they both fell into Allen's Lap at about the same time.
I think at this point they are about even, main difference is that Dame is happening right now, with no injury concerns, and on a better team. I think Lillard has more of an upside that Roy did at this point in their careers though. When I think about comparisons of what their potential could play out to I would consider Roy more of a Dwade type and Lillard more in the Jordan/Kobe mold. Lillard has that killer rare killer instinct, where he is going to slice your heart out in front of you. What I find amazing about Lillards game though is how naturally team oriented he is, he knows his limits and plays within the flow of everyone so well. That type of maturity is what is going to set him apart from not just the legend of Roy but most everyone else.
Interestingly, I know I have read this many times but I don't see Michael or Kobe in Damian. Damian is his own man.
Lillard has Stotts as his coach, Roy had Nate as his. I wish we could have seen what Stotts could have done with Roy AND Lillard.
Did you notice that we were sinking last night in the 4th, with Aldridge bricking shot after shot, and then Dame came in and hit two big threes, that massive dunk, and then just poured it on until it was a laugher?
On the road, LA is putting up over 21 shots a game. As I've said before, I"d like to see LA par that down to 15 shots, trim back on the forced ones and give more shots to lillard/matthews. LA would probably improve his FG% in the process. We have such a talented and balanced roster, yet we have a guy who takes more shots than any player in the league, it makes no sense.
I don't think Roy would've fit. He was a ball dominant guard. Roy was allowed to be himself under Nate.
I can agree with that, but I do think he has the green light when he's wide open. I think teams are gambling with him, allowing them to concentrate on Lillard more. Then when open looks are hard to find, Stotts is force feeding Aldridge down low (higher % shot). So I think the total shot attempts are 5-7 wide open looks that he must take, 3-4 pressure last second shots and the rest when he does that high efficiency low post shot. So if we trim his shot, I think Stotts needs to have a plan B after Aldridge is wide open. Or possibly set a double pick with Lillard popping back for three while Batum or Matthews rolls to the basket. That way Aldridge has two wide open options for the more efficient shot.
I think Damian has embraced being in Portland far better than Roy ever did. If his appreciation and loyalty to the city/state is not real, he's sure done a great job making it appear so.
I'm kind of surprised by some of these responses. I love Dame, but people are really quick to forget how good Roy was. Roy, in his prime, almost single handily carried the number 1 offense in the league. Our offense in 08-09 was essentially only good at two things: a Roy iso, or grabbing an offensive rebound. They finished with an offensive rating of 113.9. To put that into perspective, the Blazers are 7th this year at 108.7. Last years offensive juggernaut was at 111.5. Roy's team was almost a whole 2.5 points higher. In fact, that 113.9 is highest offensive rating for any Blazers team EVER. The closest any other team has come is the 90-91 team that lost in the western conference finals. AND, he did this with a group of offensively challenged teammates. The second best player on that 08-09 team was an undeveloped Aldridge. Other than that, the team was filled with such great offensive players like Steve Blake....Travis Outlaw....Rudy Fernandez......Joel Przybilla.....Greg Oden....Rookie Nic Batum. Let's be serious here, Roy WAS the offense. I'm satisfied with the team right now, and I think Lillard could eventually become better than Roy at his peak, but Roy (and that whole 08-09 team for that matter) will always have a special place in my heart.
I was never a Roy fan. He was instrumental in lifting the franchise out of the Jail Blazer era, but Roy was better for Roy than he was for his teammates. I don't think the team could have gone much further with his Iso play, and he was too much of an alpha dog to relinquish that role. How crazy it is to think both Curry and Lillard were pegged by many as tweener guards unlikely to make it in the NBA, and now they're in the thick of discussions as the two best PGs in the league? So, Lillard will have hit 5 fewer FGs by the end of the year, at his current pace, but in 3 seasons instead of 4? That's a landslide victory!
The game has really changed in favor of "scoring PGs" that used to be called tweeners. God Shamgod would have ruled in this NBA.
