My man Dame is epic, legendary, illustrious, etc. etc. He wants to be the next Steph Curry, and he's damn close... Or is he? Steph: Dame: Is it fair to compare the two? No. Of course not, Steph is one of a kind. Point being, is Damian really truly able to carry us to a championship? Is the dread that we all fear that we're wasting the prime of his career warranted? Can a PG that doesn't shoot extra-extraterrestrial numbers lead our team to a championship? Despite winning the 3P competition... I say no.
While Curry is the better shooter % wise, Dame has been the better closer . Dame's Pts. per game,, and assist per game, career wise, are actually higher Than Curry's. Maybe because Curry has had more talent around him. Both are special players, but shooting % doesn't tell the whole story.
Portland doesn't get away with the illegal screens the way Golden State does. That will definitely have an impact on the % differential. And Golden State knows they get away with it, and they structure their whole offense around it. Not a knock on Steph, but it's just a fact. The players all know it. Steph is great. But there is also more at play here as well.
Hence the thread title. We all know it, we just don't talk about it. I might've put too much emphasis on the Steph part, I meant to be aiming towards the whole he's an average to slightly above average shooter part. Holding us back?
It's been a while since I looked, but convince me that Dames only average or slightly above average at shooting 3's. What's the league average? How many shots are average vs what Dame shoots? How many shots are contested vs the league average? How many shots are self created vs catch and shoot vs the league average? What is the average shot distance for Dame vs the league average? I am sure there are more variables, but this is just what I can think of off the top of my head. Without evidence my gut feel eye check believes Dame takes a lot of contested tough shots from range that are often self created, IE some of the hardest shots to take. Steph has multiple ball handlers that can help set him up and they do all sorts of screens and double screens to open him and Klay up for an open uncontested shot. I am not about to argue Dames a better shooter, he is not, Steph is likely the best shooter the NBA has ever seen. But I am arguing that Dame is not average, or even slightly above average, the dude has to be a statistical outlier and I would be very surprised to review any kinds of data that proves this assumption incorrect.
Dame "wants to be the next Steph Curry"??? That's not just ridiculous, it's slanderous to Dame's character, maturity and emotional intelligence. In no way do I see Dame attempting to imitate Steph Curry. Dame is Dame. Period.
Find this thread a little silly but I guess I'll play along. Are we talking about shooting (individual) or Championships (team)? The way I see it, if you swapped Steph and Dame onto each other's teams, Steph would have 0 rings and Dame would have at least 3. Hell, just putting someone like Klay next to him instead of a small guard that plays 0 defense would go a long way. Dame has never had even close to the type of players around him that Steph has. "Average to slightly above"... come on man.
If Dame shot as well as Curry, would he be able to lead this Blazers team to a title? I don't think so, based on our roster and figure assets. Is Dame as good a shooter as Curry? No. Does it follow that Dame isn't good enough to lead this Blazers team to a title? I think so. Should Portland trade him and start over in order to have a chance to win a title? Yes. I don't know if that was the point of the OP or not, but it is consistent with my feelings about the franchise.
Dame and Curry play very different styles. Curry runs of screens and plays without the ball. Dame has the ball in his hands almost all the time.
Or perhaps, not so dramatically, lower his 3PA to around 3 or 4 and get more efficient shots (He's shooting 11 shots a game!). Our hero ball offense is garbage and it's all we know, Ant and CJ are from the same ilk. It's almost just lazy coaching - Hey Dame, go jack up shots, and then hey Ant/CJ when you get the ball do the same thing. NBA Averages by year: https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/nba-league-average-3-point-percentage-every-season-since-2000
That's not how the NBA works anymore. 3PA are way up in the last few years because they're a more efficient way of scoring. Why are you choosing Dame's most efficient shooting season to bring all this up?
Because indeed I am dreading this is wasting our best players career. As I'm sure you're aware, sometimes to win a championship you gotta buck the trend. Also, he's efficient this year largely due to his very nice 46.7% (all time high) FG%.
