Lillard better without LMA, Lillard adjusted, or just weaker competition?

Lillard has really been focused after the ASG. With LA out, Lillard has shown he has the tools to be the #1 option of a very good team.

Conversely, I think we've seen that Matthews and Batum don't have the overall talent to step up their production dramatically in the absence of LA.

 

Yep; role players.

 

Not bad role players if they are able to help the team win with 3 of the 5 big men out with injuries.

 

They're great role players.

 

Larping or furies?

 

Damian is an elite scorer. In the 4 games after the break he is scoring 30 pts per game while shooting 50%.

The offense is like night and day when he goes out. Other than Mo no one can create their own shot. I think CJ will eventually help out, but right now it looks ugly.

It reminds me of Oregon when they had Ridenour. Their other players were pretty damn good, (Freddie and Luke) but when Rid left the game, the whole offense shut down. This is a PG dominated game. You have to have two really good ones unless you happen to have KD or LBJ on your team

 

Why is Lillard penetrating more and finishing better at the rim? The answer has little to do with LaMarcus being out. Yes, with LaMarcus out, Lillard has to look for his shot more, but he's not settling for more long jumpers. He's looking to drive a lot more and the reason is obvious - our last four opponents haven't had any shot blockers to deny the penetration. I'm not sure if it was the coaching staff telling him to drive more, or if he is just smart enough to know our last four opponents haven't had any rim protecting shot blockers to prevent him from getting to the rim and finishing with ease. Either way, the fact that he's driving more is also resulting in more FTA, which is also bolstering his scoring.

Here's a look at just how weak our last four opponents have been in terms of protecting the rim.

San Antonio Spurs: Their best shot blocker, by far, Tim Duncan didn't play against us. That left Tiago Splitter (16 BLKs all season - Robin Lopez has 14 BLKs since the All-Star break) and Boris Diaw (22 BLKs) as their starting bigs.

Utah Jazz: Their only halfway decent shot blocker, Derrick Favors (66 BLKs) didn't play against us. That left them with Enes Kanter (30 BLKs) and Marvin Williams (22 BLKs) as their starting bigs.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Dead last in the entire league in BLKs, and it's not close, and that's when they are healthy. Their leading shot blocker, Rony Turiaf (39 BLKs) and their starting center, Nikola Pekovic didn't play against us. That left Kevin Love (22 BLKs) and Dante Cunningham (35 BLKs) as their starting bigs.

Denver Nuggets: Started Timofey Mozgov (66 BLKs) and Kenneth Faried (49 BLKs) against us. Mozgov is the closest thing to a rim protector Lillard has faced since the All-Star break, but he's very slow footed, which allows quick players like Lillard to blow right past him. For the game, Denver's regular starting center, J.J. Hickson (40 BLKs) played more minutes than Mozgov and we all know from his days in Portland, rim protector is the last thing anyone would call J.J. Hickson.

With such a lack of shot blocking, rim protecting opposing bigs, it's no wonder Lillard has had the green light to attack the paint with impunity and has been finishing with ease. That's probably the weakest collection of interior defenders Lillard will see in any four game stretch all season.

So yes, Lillard gets more shots when Aldridge is out and Dorell Wright helps spread the floor, but the main reason, by far, why Lillard is driving the lane and having more success finishing has been the incredibly weak, practically non-existent interior defense of our last four opponents.

I'm not sure where to find it, but I'd be curious to see the break down of Lillard's scoring (points in the pant, jump shots and FTs) for the last four games and how it compares to his season averages. Even without seeing the numbers, I'd be surprised if his points in the paint haven't doubled in his last four games compared to the previous 53.

And, that's a good thing. This stretch of positive results has to help his confidence in his ability to finish at the rim. And when Lillard is a threat to penetrate, score at the rim and draw fouls, it will open up things more for his outside shot - guard him tight at the 3-point line and he'll drive past you, back off him to deny the penetration and he'll stick the 3-pointer. The fact that the team is winning these games with Aldridge out is huge. It's letting guys like Lillard and Lopez expand their rolls and boost their confidence, and that will pay dividends come playoff time.

BNM

 

Why not both?

 

Last night



Season average


IE he used to take long jumpers, last night it was all 3s or right under the basket.

 

OK, I didn't find the points in the paint stats for Lillard, but I did look at his shot results charts for the last four games. In shots taken at the rim, he was:

SAS: 9/12
UTA: 4/14
MIN: 5/6
SAS: 4/7

Total: 22/39

4 Game Averages:
FGM - 5.5
FGA - 9.75
FG% - .564

First 53 Games: 130/297

53 Game Averages:

FGM - 2.45
FGA - 5.60
FG% - .438

So, for the last four games Lillard is attempting an additional 3 FGA per game and also making an additional 3 FGM per game compared to the previous 53 games. He is also converting his shots at the rim at a much higher percentage (in spite of the 4/14 in the UTA game).

And, this doesn't even reflect the uptick in FTAs due to drawing more fouls by attacking the paint.

BNM

 

He's really not getting more FTA though. Last night was an anomaly. In the previous three games he had 5, 4, and 5 respectively, which is right in line with his 5.2 FTA average for the season. Last night he had 13 FTA, which was just insane.

 

A bunch of them were superstar calls. He finally got some of the calls that we have been screaming about. Hopefully he continues to get them.

 

Perhaps LMA's injury has been a good thing, especially when it happened. Lillard comes back from the ASG full of confidence, and is able to assert the "new" Dame on the game as the #1 scoring option. Having LMA come back is only going to help things, since the two of them play so well on the court together, unlike, say, Durant and Westbrook, who seem to have very little on-court chemistry, and use sheer talent to win games.

 

Do you never watch the games?

 

I think it's kind of like LA stepping up when Roy went down. It gave him a chance to see that he could be a #1 option, and he ran with it. We are getting to see Dame as the #1 option, but unlike Roy, LA doesn't have a career ending injury. I love when the two of them are firing on all cylinders in the same game.

 

You miss so much by listening to the radio though.

And trust me, Wheels makes everything out to be way worse than it is.