http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/lillada01/shooting/2013/ Looking at Lillard and how he shoots greatly impacts our Win/Loss record. In the wins, Lillard shoots a hot 45.6% from the field. In the losses, he is shooting a dismal 37%. I was actually looking at his "Clutch performance" and was extremely surprised. He actually shoots better in the 2nd period than any other period (other than overtime where he is fucking 88% from the field). What I did see was he is really good at closing out quarters, shooting a high 44.5% with less than 6 minutes to play and 43% with less than 3 minutes to play. Lillard's sweet spot is 16ft and at the rim where he is seriously "money".
Its always been that way. Even with Miller and Blake. It is the direction the NBA has been heading. That is why we needed a scoring PG so badly. Lillard means everything to this team. When he is shooting well we are in most games. Now if he would drive to the basket vs shooting the 25 footer at the end of games I would be happier. His mid range pull up J is money.
he's been great and I hope he pares down those "too long" 3's, I think he will become more selective as he gains experience. With him and Nic's assist explosion our offense should remain solid.
I was looking at the other starters and the difference between wins/losses. Aldridge: 48% in wins and 45% in losses. <--- To big difference Matthews: 49% in wins and 39% in losses. <--- Huge difference. Batum: 46% wins and 37% in losses. <--- Huge difference. Hickson: 58% wins and 51% in losses. <--- Not a huge difference. So it seems our wing play has more to do with our wins than losses. Our front quart has been pretty consistent from the field.
I am absolutely loving Nic's play-making ability. And it appears that many/most of his assists are coming from setting up others with easy scoring opportunities around the basket - THOSE are the types of assists that we really need. For so long the vast majority of our assists seemed to come on long jumpers - interior passes are far more beneficial than exterior passes.
You wanna see something crazy? Go to Lillard's game log, and sort (descending) by GmSc (Game Score). We are 12-3 when he has a Game Score of 15.0 or higher. Basically, the better Lillard does, the better we do. We only have 2 losses when his ORtg for the game is as high or higher than his DRtg (14-2). That doesn't necessarily mean he's defending well, just that his offense is more potent than the guy he's guarding.
Certainly not pretty. However, I don't know that his FG% is a factor in winning - maybe in losing, but he has shot poorly in wins. He just always seems to find a way to contribute positively even when he's not shooting well. Here's wins where he shot poorly: ORL = .357 MEM = .364 PHI = .353 PHX = .333 NOH = .364 SAN = .364 CHA = .357 MIN = .300 I do wish he'd take the ball to the hoop more, like he was doing early in the season. BUT, I suppose that he's making up for not scoring around the basket himself by setting up others for easy points around the hoop. Using the threat of scoring himself in order to create for others? Whatever - the ONLY thing that's disappointing is his FG%, and overall it's not THAT bad (42%) for a wing player who takes the majority of his shots from deep.
I actually agree with you about Batum because he is definitely become a defensive guy and facilitator. I actually put more value on that than his outside shooting. That's why I don't really put a lot of weight on it as I would with Lillard. Matthews and Batum have a different role on this team. We look to Lillard to score. If he isn't scoring efficiently, we most likely lose the games.
Yeah, I've always been hesitant to put Nic into a primary scoring role because I think it could take away from his overall game. I think it's far more important that he focuses on defense and being an offensive catalyst more than a scorer. In previous years I always knew he had great court awareness and the ability to make the right reads/plays - it's great to see him given the freedom to use his talents! I think he's becoming my next Sabas - a player where I just love their all-around game.
