mook
The 2018-19 season was the best I've seen
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Seems like it deserves its own thread. He's been incredibly good in his first two games, putting up numbers that would shame Derrick Rose in his MVP season in just 33 mpg. This is coming off a preseason where he seemed to already be in playoff form. The dude seems to have a massive chip on his shoulder from the playoff embarrassment, and it feels like he's made up his mind to be a one-man wrecking crew this year.
And Lillard's body of work shows remarkable, consistent improvement.
PER by year:
2012-13 16.4
2013-14 18.6
2014-15 20.7
2015-16 22.2
2016-17 24.1
2017-18 25.2
2018-19 31.7 (2 games)
You can argue about this year being a 2 game trend, which is a terrible sample size of a mediocre metric, but you can't argue the overall trend. He. Just. Gets. Better. He may not put up 31.7 all year (although he may) but the trend shows he's probably better than 25.2.
And nobody ever sees the improvement coming. How many people predicted he'd get better the next season? I don't mean last year, or the year before, or the year before that. I mean ever. When he was a rookie I remember people marveling, "What a stud! But you really have to remember he's a 4 year guy from a nobody school. He's a finished product. Now, Dion Waiters has so much upside..." They sleep, and they've always slept.
It's really overlooked how much he's steadily improved as a player, maybe because it's such a contrast to the instant success of a guy like Rose who won the MVP at 22. But Rose is remarkable because he was so young. Let's look at our two most recent MVP's, and their ages when they first won. Harden, 28. Westbrook, 28. The average MVP age since Rose is 28. Guess how old Lillard is?
I get it that his stats so far were home games against teams in turmoil (the Spurs just lost their starting PG, and the Lakeshow will be synonymous with turmoil this year), but this is beyond numbers. He's doing it on a huge stage--that opening night game was probably the most talked-about regular season game in franchise history. He's playing off the ball more with Turner, and letting guys like Sauce and Curry create more of the long range spacing. He's getting Nurk and Collins more involved in the offense. He's taking every hard shot when the offense breaks down.
Can he keep it up? Are they right to sleep? Only time will tell. But this is how you start an MVP season. And I don't want to wake up.
And Lillard's body of work shows remarkable, consistent improvement.
PER by year:
2012-13 16.4
2013-14 18.6
2014-15 20.7
2015-16 22.2
2016-17 24.1
2017-18 25.2
2018-19 31.7 (2 games)
You can argue about this year being a 2 game trend, which is a terrible sample size of a mediocre metric, but you can't argue the overall trend. He. Just. Gets. Better. He may not put up 31.7 all year (although he may) but the trend shows he's probably better than 25.2.
And nobody ever sees the improvement coming. How many people predicted he'd get better the next season? I don't mean last year, or the year before, or the year before that. I mean ever. When he was a rookie I remember people marveling, "What a stud! But you really have to remember he's a 4 year guy from a nobody school. He's a finished product. Now, Dion Waiters has so much upside..." They sleep, and they've always slept.
It's really overlooked how much he's steadily improved as a player, maybe because it's such a contrast to the instant success of a guy like Rose who won the MVP at 22. But Rose is remarkable because he was so young. Let's look at our two most recent MVP's, and their ages when they first won. Harden, 28. Westbrook, 28. The average MVP age since Rose is 28. Guess how old Lillard is?
I get it that his stats so far were home games against teams in turmoil (the Spurs just lost their starting PG, and the Lakeshow will be synonymous with turmoil this year), but this is beyond numbers. He's doing it on a huge stage--that opening night game was probably the most talked-about regular season game in franchise history. He's playing off the ball more with Turner, and letting guys like Sauce and Curry create more of the long range spacing. He's getting Nurk and Collins more involved in the offense. He's taking every hard shot when the offense breaks down.
Can he keep it up? Are they right to sleep? Only time will tell. But this is how you start an MVP season. And I don't want to wake up.
