Wesley brought it on both sides of the ball. Our defense has crumbled without him in the lineup. Most everyone regards Aldridge as our best player and I definitely agree but Wes was 2nd. He never missed any games so he was taken for granted. I still believe Lillard is a special PG but for overall impact to a winning team I give the slight edge to Wes. He doesn't have the highlights but he shoots just as well from three; takes better shots, and provides so much more on defense. Afflalo hasn't played as good as I expected. He's been ok but not a starting level SG on a contending team. Maybe a big part of that is lack of familiarity or maybe part of it is he's just not more than a backup on a good team. CJ has been very impressive lately. He is scoring against great defenders and great team defense. He makes solid decisions. He is a much better defender than I expected for someone of his height from a college playing against weak competition. Lilliard has become a better than average defender now but he was god awful at first. CJ has a few dumb fouls but you can see defensive potential. He's a great shooter, ball handler, and driver. His court vision is lacking, hopefully it improves. If it had been Lillard out for the year instead of Wes and we could slide CJ into that role with all our other starters healthy and AAA on the bench we could've been a dark horse contender. But now I have zero realistic expectation of this team winning a title. Sure we need Aldridge and Batum to get healthy for the playoffs. It would be nice to see some development from a young player or two. A playoff series win would be nice and for one round I like our chances.
Lillard has been particularly whiny as of late. Complains when he doesn't get a call and doesn't run back. Drives into traffic looking for calls but not contact. Sure he is fouled sometimes, but his body language yesterday was downright awful for someone that is supposedly the leader of the team. He needs to mature.
I just think Lillard really had a hot start to his career and now he's regressing to probably his ceiling. He's a good pg don't get me wrong but he's nothing as we all imagined he is..
Dame the Game Lillard is the real deal, the only thing still missing from his game is playing defense.
i think dame just thought once he got the shoe deal and commercials he'd get respect. too bad for him he's a blazer and thus, will never get any. quit whining to refs, we all know they dont give you calls, just play through like old dame. CJ is a decent scorer but his defense is atrocious he's not on afflalo's level defensively, not even close. I sure hope he comes around and continues to get better though.
This is who AAA is. He is a mediocre player. Not a bad player, but also not one to put you over the hump... I never understood why so many people were clamoring for him to be a Blazer. Luckily, Neil didn't pay too high of a price for him.
Don't know what or who you are watching. If I was to say anyone's defense has been atrocious - it would be Afflalo.
Lillard had 29 p0ints and 7 assists last night. He had 23 points in the 2nd half in Memphis. You sound like the people who thought Aldridge would never be more than an 18/8 guy. Lillard is a hard worker wity a drive to be great. We have not seen his best yet. He has MVP potential. CJ is good at getting steals. His D is underrated.
CJ is basically replacing Mo..compare Mo's defense to CJ's and it'll make you feel better. CJ has stepped up given some burn. Afflalo is just way stronger and longer than CJ and has better lateral movement on defense. Afflalo is adjusting to an unexpected roster change just when he was getting comfortable..he's had a complicated transition filling in for Wes.
The only statistic Lillard is struggling with this year compared to years passed is his 3pt%. Hes avg career highs in multiple categories including PPG, RPG and overall FG% (Hes avg 50% from inside the arc). All the rest of his stats are either the same or barley under his seasonal career highs. The Blazers have had a lot more injuries this year compared to last and 1 injury effects everyone on the team. With people in and out of the line up it messes with peoples rhythm and chemistry. Lets just hope everyone is good to go for the playoffs and on the same page.
Man. Do we miss Wes. Aflfalo can't hit the broad side of a barn and CJ plays effective on ONE side of the ball.
Lots of overeaction here at S2 due to a bad losing streak and deteriating health of our team. Its not time to panic its time to stay afloat and get healthy going into the playoffs. If it wasnt for OKC we would be the team everyone felt bad for because of how bad wev had it injury wise. Wev got no excuses and no pressure since everyone just assumes were done. Perfect position to surprise the hell out of our first round playoff opponents.
