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Blazers’ Damian Lillard ready to unveil his new weapon: the half-court shot
By Jason Quick Dec 8, 2020
32
Fair warning to NBA defenses this season: Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard has a new weapon he is ready to unveil: shooting from half court.
For real.
The NBA’s biggest deep threat says he is ready to extend his range to half court, a claim that was given some credence last week when the Trail Blazers published a video of Lillard sinking jumpers from the half-court line.
On Tuesday, after the Blazers’ first training camp practice, The Athletic asked Lillard how feasible it was for him to shoot from half court during a game.
“Very possible,” Lillard said.
Lillard, who led the NBA last season with 54 makes from 30 feet or longer, said he won’t be going wild with half-court shots, which are 47 feet from the basket.
“Obviously, I’m not just going to be out here every game firing a shot from half court — or maybe not even every 20 games,” Lillard said. “It might be once or twice in the whole season that I feel like … F it.”
But he did add that if he gets rolling, he might become more willing to give a half-court heat check.
“If I get in a game and I hit three, four 3s in a row? That’s when you should have your eyes open because it might be going up from half court at that point,” Lillard said.
Coach Terry Stotts said that last season Lillard told him he was ready to start shooting from half court.
“I know it’s coming,” Stotts said. “You know, I just hope he makes it. … But you know, as I’ve said before, Dame has pushed out his range, and I think everybody realizes that his range is a threat, and I think he has been relatively judicious in his shots. But I think we all know it’s coming.”
Lillard last season shot 41.9 percent (54 of 129) from 30 feet and beyond, and in his eight NBA seasons, nobody has made more shots from beyond 30 feet than Lillard, who has 95. Golden State’s Stephen Curry is second during that timespan, having made 67.
Lillard began concentrating on extending his range three seasons ago, and his signature long-range moment came in Game 5 in the first round of the 2019 playoffs, when he hit a 3-pointer from 37 feet over the outstretched hand of Paul George to eliminate Oklahoma City.
Taking shots from 30 feet or beyond was by design for Lillard, a way to counter defenses that were more aggressively trapping him farther and farther away from the basket, particularly in the playoffs. The more teams have to extend themselves to guard against his shot, the more it works to Lillard’s advantage. He says it affords him more space to gather a head of steam toward the rim, creates more ground the help defender has to cover to reach him and makes it easier for him to see the defense and plays develop.
The most extreme example of a defense selling out to get the ball out of his hands occurred last season in the Orlando bubble, when Brooklyn sent two defenders to trap him as soon as he crossed the midline.
The suffocating attention led Lillard to take advantage of a momentary lapse by the Nets defense by launching a pull-up 35-footer in the fourth quarter with the Blazers trailing by seven. The shot was true and ignited a 134-133 comeback victory during which Lillard hit eight 3s and finished with 42 points.
“It started with how teams started to defend me,” Lillard said. “I was getting a lot of attention where I was getting trapped and blitzed. … It was like I had to start playing from further out to give myself more space. I really just wanted to become a more serious threat from further out.”
About three years ago, he began implementing long-range shooting to his normal offseason workout plans. Then those shots became part of his regular post-practice routine. And many of those repetitions were witnessed by Stotts.
“When I was younger and would shoot from deep, Coach would be like, ‘Dame! Why you taking these shots?’ … and our (assistant) coaches would be like, ‘Terry is not going to be accepting right away,'” Lillard said.
“But I think once Terry started seeing me in the summer more often and he would see how often I would train at it … I think it’s grown on him,” Lillard said. “I think he accepts it.”
In the past three seasons, Lillard is shooting 36.4 percent from beyond 30 feet, and his 78 makes are the most in the league, with Atlanta’s Trae Young second with 62. It’s why Lillard says it shouldn’t be considered crazy for him to pull up at half court and shoot.
“I’ve done it a few times, and I was just barely inside half court,” Lillard said.
But those were 35- or 37-footers. Shooting from 42 to 46 feet is a whole different deal. It’s why teammate and backcourt mate CJ McCollum offered a warning when Lillard started talking about taking half-court shots in a game.
“I told him he do that shit, he better make it,” McCollum said.
McCollum pointed to last season’s Brooklyn game in the bubble, when Lillard was on the edge of the NBA logo when he went up for the 35-footer that ignited the fourth-quarter comeback.
“I mean, he has the range, he’s been close,” McCollum said. “He’s smart enough to know when to do something like that and when not to. I think in the Brooklyn game he shot it from damn near half court and it was draws — nothing but net. And it was a shot we needed.”
Now, Lillard says that range will extend even farther, creating yet another piece of an arsenal that defenses have to consider. All the while, it has added some intrigue and spice to upcoming Blazers games.
“I do it for the challenge,” Lillard said. “And for the fun, kind of, as well.”
(Photo: Steve Dykes / Getty Images)
By Jason Quick Dec 8, 2020
Fair warning to NBA defenses this season: Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard has a new weapon he is ready to unveil: shooting from half court.
For real.
The NBA’s biggest deep threat says he is ready to extend his range to half court, a claim that was given some credence last week when the Trail Blazers published a video of Lillard sinking jumpers from the half-court line.
On Tuesday, after the Blazers’ first training camp practice, The Athletic asked Lillard how feasible it was for him to shoot from half court during a game.
“Very possible,” Lillard said.
Lillard, who led the NBA last season with 54 makes from 30 feet or longer, said he won’t be going wild with half-court shots, which are 47 feet from the basket.
“Obviously, I’m not just going to be out here every game firing a shot from half court — or maybe not even every 20 games,” Lillard said. “It might be once or twice in the whole season that I feel like … F it.”
But he did add that if he gets rolling, he might become more willing to give a half-court heat check.
“If I get in a game and I hit three, four 3s in a row? That’s when you should have your eyes open because it might be going up from half court at that point,” Lillard said.
Coach Terry Stotts said that last season Lillard told him he was ready to start shooting from half court.
“I know it’s coming,” Stotts said. “You know, I just hope he makes it. … But you know, as I’ve said before, Dame has pushed out his range, and I think everybody realizes that his range is a threat, and I think he has been relatively judicious in his shots. But I think we all know it’s coming.”
Lillard last season shot 41.9 percent (54 of 129) from 30 feet and beyond, and in his eight NBA seasons, nobody has made more shots from beyond 30 feet than Lillard, who has 95. Golden State’s Stephen Curry is second during that timespan, having made 67.
Lillard began concentrating on extending his range three seasons ago, and his signature long-range moment came in Game 5 in the first round of the 2019 playoffs, when he hit a 3-pointer from 37 feet over the outstretched hand of Paul George to eliminate Oklahoma City.
Taking shots from 30 feet or beyond was by design for Lillard, a way to counter defenses that were more aggressively trapping him farther and farther away from the basket, particularly in the playoffs. The more teams have to extend themselves to guard against his shot, the more it works to Lillard’s advantage. He says it affords him more space to gather a head of steam toward the rim, creates more ground the help defender has to cover to reach him and makes it easier for him to see the defense and plays develop.
The most extreme example of a defense selling out to get the ball out of his hands occurred last season in the Orlando bubble, when Brooklyn sent two defenders to trap him as soon as he crossed the midline.
The suffocating attention led Lillard to take advantage of a momentary lapse by the Nets defense by launching a pull-up 35-footer in the fourth quarter with the Blazers trailing by seven. The shot was true and ignited a 134-133 comeback victory during which Lillard hit eight 3s and finished with 42 points.
“It started with how teams started to defend me,” Lillard said. “I was getting a lot of attention where I was getting trapped and blitzed. … It was like I had to start playing from further out to give myself more space. I really just wanted to become a more serious threat from further out.”
About three years ago, he began implementing long-range shooting to his normal offseason workout plans. Then those shots became part of his regular post-practice routine. And many of those repetitions were witnessed by Stotts.
“When I was younger and would shoot from deep, Coach would be like, ‘Dame! Why you taking these shots?’ … and our (assistant) coaches would be like, ‘Terry is not going to be accepting right away,'” Lillard said.
“But I think once Terry started seeing me in the summer more often and he would see how often I would train at it … I think it’s grown on him,” Lillard said. “I think he accepts it.”
In the past three seasons, Lillard is shooting 36.4 percent from beyond 30 feet, and his 78 makes are the most in the league, with Atlanta’s Trae Young second with 62. It’s why Lillard says it shouldn’t be considered crazy for him to pull up at half court and shoot.
“I’ve done it a few times, and I was just barely inside half court,” Lillard said.
But those were 35- or 37-footers. Shooting from 42 to 46 feet is a whole different deal. It’s why teammate and backcourt mate CJ McCollum offered a warning when Lillard started talking about taking half-court shots in a game.
“I told him he do that shit, he better make it,” McCollum said.
McCollum pointed to last season’s Brooklyn game in the bubble, when Lillard was on the edge of the NBA logo when he went up for the 35-footer that ignited the fourth-quarter comeback.
“I mean, he has the range, he’s been close,” McCollum said. “He’s smart enough to know when to do something like that and when not to. I think in the Brooklyn game he shot it from damn near half court and it was draws — nothing but net. And it was a shot we needed.”
Now, Lillard says that range will extend even farther, creating yet another piece of an arsenal that defenses have to consider. All the while, it has added some intrigue and spice to upcoming Blazers games.
“I do it for the challenge,” Lillard said. “And for the fun, kind of, as well.”
(Photo: Steve Dykes / Getty Images)
