That transition happened well before Lillard and Curry. We've been in the era of dominant primary ball handlers since at least Jordan. Maybe as far back as Magic, but that was an era fairly dominated still by bigs. It's what makes Houston with Harden is so tough to beat (at least in the regular season when the refs bail him out; kinda sorta similar to why the Roy ISO in the regular season worked), and Kobe/T-Mac in their primes. So, to get back to the point, everyone knew the importance of a scoring PG and many if not most still felt that Lillard and Curry lacked the skillset to make it in the league. Remember Lillard's shot was supposedly too slow and too low to avoid being blocked, and he had no first step to get to the rim, let alone finish? Now he's unstoppable on the perimeter and among the best slashers.
I agree. There as always been a few around. Tiny Archiable led the league in scoring in 72-73 with 34 pPG and 11 assists. I loved watching players like Kevin Johnson and Mark Price in the early 90's. Scoring PG's are so valuable especially when they involve their teammates too. Players who have good handles and can shoot, are crucial to have when the game is on the line.
NateBishop3 meltdown in 3...2...1... damianlillard 14 minutes ago Katniss Everdeen with the shot boy.
Dame goes up to #11 on NBA Jersey sales http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/1...es-back-atop-sales-list?ex_cid=espnapi_public Impressive.
This is so hypothetical and we will never know for sure. Roy was exactly what we needed him to be at that time. From his very first game against Seattle,we needed someone who could take over the game down the stretch. but since we are playing "what if" ....what if he came to the Blazers and Dame was one year older and Stotts was the coach? Could he fit in and take the pressure off of Damian when other teams doubled teamed Dame? I think a healthy Roy would fit into the team concept much like he did at UW.
The offensive progression of Lillard from his rookie year to now is simply amazing! http://www.teamrankings.com/nba/player/damian-lillard 2012-13: FG%: 42.9, eFG%: 50.1, TS%: 54.6 2013-14: FG%: 42.6, eFG%: 50.8, TS%: 56.9 2014-15: FG%: 45.8, eFG%: 54.3, TS%: 59.6 The steady climb from year 1 to 3 is off the charts, all while he has been upping his usage in process.
