ESPNInsider Preview of Dame in the Playoffs..........

[THE HCP]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/play...ations-five-playoff-first-rs-nba?refresh=true

Damian Lillard -- Portland Trail Blazers

The Blazers started the season on fire, competing for the mantle of "best record in the NBA" for a good chunk of the 2013 portion of the season, but have since come back down to earth. Still, that early cushion kept them out of the "danger zone" of the Western Conference playoff bracket: The bottom three seeds that have to go against the Spurs, Thunder and Clippers.

Despite not having home-court advantage, the Blazers facing the Rockets has to be looked at as a positive for Lillard, who will be going against a less-than-100 percent Patrick Beverley, who is still shaking off the effects of a torn meniscus in his right knee. While Houston's defense has improved this season, the Rockets are still vulnerable on the perimeter, and Lillard has to take advantage of the matchups at point guard, whether it's Beverley or the defensively challenged Jeremy Lin.

On the other hand, Lillard has to bring better effort and awareness defensively, particularly in pick-and-roll coverage, a main staple of Houston's offense. Lillard has a bad habit of getting caught on screens (which leads to dribble penetration and will open up Houston's 3-point shooters) or, worse, going under on screens, something that Lin and Beverley (and even third-string players such as Isaiah Canaan) will exploit.

 

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On the other hand, Lillard has to bring better effort and awareness defensively, particularly in pick-and-roll coverage, a main staple of Houston's offense. Lillard has a bad habit of getting caught on screens (which leads to dribble penetration and will open up Houston's 3-point shooters) or, worse, going under on screens, something that Lin and Beverley (and even third-string players such as Isaiah Canaan) will exploit.

Dame just has to get better at this. He is consistently too late reading when the picks are coming. Watching him against Curry vs. the times when Wesley was guarding him really drove this point home for me. Wes is just so much more aware of when the screen is coming and moves to position himself so that he can stick with his man. Dame gets picked or has to go under the screen almost every time. His on-man defense has made improvement this year, it seems to me, but he just needs to get better at anticipating the screens and positioning himself better.