The players appear to be going two different directions. One is playing at a level that states that he is playing for a championship (Or maybe it's a contract). The other one is struggling and in some cases greatly. But the way Dame is playing for whatever reason makes it seem that he is not 100% on the same page. Is his focus on basketball or something else? LA is showing it's on basketball. Which goes to the point of my original reply. LA might be leading but some may not be following or on the same page. And those some are the integral parts. Never said he was pouting...
I'll admit Damian looked frustrated during the Phoenix game, but outside of that I think he's been fine. I like the fact he's really trying to get his teammates involved rather than chucking up 20 shots a night. He's had double-digit assists in five games this season, and two of those are in the last three games. Prior to the Phoenix game he had games of 23/12/8, 29/5/7 and 27/7/3... so I'm not exactly seeing cause for concern here. He had a stretch early in the season in which he was just out of this world, often in the clutch. It's unreasonable to expect heroics like that all season long. He's probably just saving all his cheat codes for the playoffs. Damian strikes me as the type who will usually raise his game when it matters most. And I think Batum has raised his overall game since Wes went down. Points, assists and rebounds in March are higher than they've been all season and he's back to shooting the 3-pointer with confidence. And if they, or anyone on the team, were fatigued lately, that's due to the sadists at the league office who scheduled back to back 5-games-in-7-night stretches this late in the season.
Didn't dame get more than 10 assists his last game? I would think that's the most important thing for our PG anyway. Yes, he's struggled at times with his shot, but the kid works hard, especially on the defensive end. Can't wait for the playoffs when we see Dametime again!
Understood. The first half was for you. The second half was for the group as a whole. I have seen some people state that his scowl is showing that he is pouting or frustrated. It is just his scowl period imo. Other than Dame not happy that he isn't superhuman lately I don't see what you are seeing.
I see, well I have to disagree, and point to recent history vs the Suns. Yes Aldridge went bonkers but lets look at the little things. Late in the game the suns for two or three straight possessions... They got the Blazers to switch Lillard onto Morris off of a P&R... Lillard forced Morris to take tough shots. Yes Lopez was showing in the middle, yes Aldridge wasn't directly out on Bledsoe. Point is Lillard didn't allow Morris to bully him down low. To me that's winning basketball. As well as following Aldridge.. Lillard didn't give up just because he was forced to switch onto a bigger guy. He trusted his teammates. Especially when you then enter the ball to Aldridge when he's hot as fuck. Instead of calling your own number and ignoring the hot man. To me if people weren't following Aldridge... They wouldn't be trying to get him the ball, or passing up shots to get him the ball. They'd be pulling a Westbrook and icing out a hot teammate, or shooting 30-40 times a game.
I didn't mean any offense so please don't take any. I will just state that Dame struggling doesn't mean that he isn't following the leader. Struggling happens. LMA could be putting in all this energy and showing as a great leader and still struggle. Luckily he isn't but the two things aren't mutual inclusive.
LaMarcus Aldridge averaged 24.3 points and 10.0 rebounds while shooting 50.7% from the field in 15 games during March.