SBNation: Why Lillard Struggles At The Rim

http://www.sbnation.com/2013/12/30/5247416/new-york-knicks-defense-breakdown

 

Great Stuff. One of the best thing's about Dame is that he is truly a student of the game and will undoubtedly improve as the learning continues.

 

100% agree. I love it when I see this stuff because I know it just fuels him to get better.

 

Great article. So by his stats Lillard is shooting 27.1% when finishing with the left hand and 51.7% when finishing with the right.

 

19 left handed finishes and 51 left misses = 19/70 or 27.1%

Shooting 40.6% on 155 attempts means he made 63/155 with both hands. Removing the left handed attempts means he made 44 of 85 right handed attempts or 51.7%

 

I was thinking about this yesterday, but it seems to me that he's made it a focus to try and utilize his left hand a lot more this year. He often finished with his right hand while going left last year, opting to go under instead of over the shot blocker.

 

He WILL improve and be elite in the next several years. I truly believe Lillard will finish his career as the greatest Blazer of all time. He has the dedication, loyalty, skill and attitude to be one of the greatest PGs of all time.

 

Sounds like the typical "trying to avoid the contact leading to a tougher shot". Everyone here already knew that.

Think how many points Damian would score if he adopted the "run into guys and shoot free throws" strategy. Works for Harden.

 

All part of Stotts brilliant plan! He told Lillard to mainly use his left all season, while we get to the playoffs; then use the right and destroy them all!

 

I wonder why the discrepancy is so big between this year and last. You would think that Lillard had these same issues last year but clearly the numbers show he was much better last year compared to this.

 

That was a good write-up. It's interesting that Lillard's decrease in FG% comes at the rim, and isn't at all about his shooting.

 

He gets hammered a lot. (No not that kind of hammered.) He should be shooting double the free throws he gets. He needs to learn how to get the foul call. He should start by bitching out the refs more, and stop avoiding the contact. He should initiate the contact, like Harden, so he is in control of the impact rather than being a punching bag.

 

I'm way more worried about his shitty defense

 

Of course you are.

 

To me it looks like he falls off balance trying to draw fouls, and often times the refs swallow their whistle and he ends up on his ass while the other team runs the other way. If he were given "superstar" treatment he'd be getting to the line more.

 

His free throw attempts per game are already up +2 from last year. This will only improve.

 

Lillard missed an open point blank lefty again.. Really needs to work on that in practice ...

 

I think its something as simple as leaving his feet too soon.

 

Lillard is listed at 6-3, but looks 6-2. He gets knocked down if he plays inside physically. He can't just bowl into the tall tenpins.