How far has Lillard come

[SportsAndWhine]

When a 20 point, 7 assist night is considered a bad game?

You look at that game and think, "Wow, Lillard didn't get his usual 4 rebounds... he missed a free throw. He shot poorly." Then I remember back to when he was a rookie, hoping for a point guard who could give us 18/6 every night. And he's so far beyond exceeding those expectations now that I don't even know how to keep perspective.

I'll put it this way: Damian Lillard will be the first player in history to have two seasons of 24.0+ PER as a Blazer.

Hats off to Damian Lillard. He's gone above and beyond anything I could have hoped. May he always have a chip on his shoulder.

 

[julius]

Well, ever since he stopped drinking like a fish, his production has gone way up.

Spoiler

*No, I'm not saying he drinks like a fish. This is a reference to something BGD said once. He claimed to have heard that Damian drinks like a fish.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Dame did not shoot well last night, but he still had a pretty good game. Watching the replay just now I did notice he missed 3-4 layups that he would normally make. Another example of why we need both Dame AND CJ. You can't depend on either of them (or anyone else in the league for that matter) to have a good shooting night every game. Luckily for us at least one of them tends to be on.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

I didn't understand how great Drexler was until we LOST a game to the Sonics. The headliner was Derrick McKey with 20 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists....

Drexler AVERAGED that.

 

[Nate]

Dame is the Gboat

 

[Nate]

I think his diet change, is why we haven’t heard anything about PF in his foot this year.

Meat is proven to cause inflammation in the parts you don’t want it; chicken included.

 

[RR7]

I'm pretty sure he dropped the vegan thing though.

 

[SportsAndWhine]

I'm pretty sure he dropped the vegan thing though.

Source?

 

[KingSpeed]

Source?

Here's one of many:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sb...iet-lifestyle-update-trail-blazers-nba-trends

 

[SportsAndWhine]

Here's one of many:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sb...iet-lifestyle-update-trail-blazers-nba-trends

Thanks.

 

[Nate]

I'm pretty sure he dropped the vegan thing though.

His diet is mostly vegan though.

I have a mainly vegan diet, but I eat a lot of eggs.

 

[ripcityboy]

Dame may be the most determined athlete Portland has ever had. His accolades are so richly deserved that I don't think about how far he's come sometimes. But he has made himself as complete a player as he could possibly be. When you think he went to Weber State and where he is now.... amazing.

 

[Natebishop3]

If you put Dame's mind and personality in Sheed's body, he would have been on the same level as Garnett and Duncan.

 

[Nate]

If you put Dame's mind and personality in Sheed's body, he would have been on the same level as Garnett and Duncan.

Sheed has the talent for sure.

 

[TBpup]

Dame did have an off night shooting but still found ways to contribute. 20 pts, 7 assists, 1 reb, 28% shooting.
Ironically, Westbrook got roasted for his off night performance with..... 30 pts, 6 assists, 11 rebs, 39% shooting.

 

[julius]

Dame did have an off night shooting but still found ways to contribute. 20 pts, 7 assists, 1 reb, 28% shooting.
Ironically, Westbrook got roasted for his off night performance with..... 30 pts, 6 assists, 11 rebs, 39% shooting.

I think it's the fact he shot over 30 times that is why he got "roasted". Though I'm not sure he got roasted for any othe reason than he's Russell Westbrook.

 

[TBpup]

I think it's the fact he shot over 30 times that is why he got "roasted". Though I'm not sure he got roasted for any othe reason than he's Russell Westbrook.

'Melo was out...not surprising he took more shots. I don't mind them bashing him. It's just that he put up better numbers with more efficiency than Dame but Dame gets credit for what he did despite and off game and Westbrook gets trashed. Hey, I don't like him either but it seems a bit out of balance from last night's game.

 

[Strenuus]

'Melo was out...not surprising he took more shots. I don't mind them bashing him. It's just that he put up better numbers with more efficiency than Dame but Dame gets credit for what he did despite and off game and Westbrook gets trashed. Hey, I don't like him either but it seems a bit out of balance from last night's game.

No, no. It's perfectly balanced.

Fuck Westbrook.

 

[Nate]

'Melo was out...not surprising he took more shots. I don't mind them bashing him. It's just that he put up better numbers with more efficiency than Dame but Dame gets credit for what he did despite and off game and Westbrook gets trashed. Hey, I don't like him either but it seems a bit out of balance from last night's game.

They lost.

 

[SportsAndWhine]

Dame did have an off night shooting but still found ways to contribute. 20 pts, 7 assists, 1 reb, 28% shooting.
Ironically, Westbrook got roasted for his off night performance with..... 30 pts, 6 assists, 11 rebs, 39% shooting.

Westbrook got roasted for airballing a three then going for a dunk to make sure he got 30.

 

[Cippy91]

And to think there was a time where people on the forum would campaign to trade lillard and build around cj. Honestly wasn’t that long ago. Past few years he has been a top 3 pg in the league and I stand by that. He could have the most off first half and come back in the second and go crazy or he could just light you up all game like he usually does

 

[julius]

'Melo was out...not surprising he took more shots. I don't mind them bashing him. It's just that he put up better numbers with more efficiency than Dame but Dame gets credit for what he did despite and off game and Westbrook gets trashed. Hey, I don't like him either but it seems a bit out of balance from last night's game.

He too more shots, when Paul George was playing better. Should've gone to him.

 

[illmatic99]

He's getting MVP pub nationally.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...amian-lillard-nba-mvp-conversation/397068002/

 

[dviss1]

'Melo was out...not surprising he took more shots. I don't mind them bashing him. It's just that he put up better numbers with more efficiency than Dame but Dame gets credit for what he did despite and off game and Westbrook gets trashed. Hey, I don't like him either but it seems a bit out of balance from last night's game.

Dame gets credit from us but it was CJ who got props from the national media.

Bottom line, the only number that matters is the one in the win column.

 

[Driew]

He's getting MVP pub nationally.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...amian-lillard-nba-mvp-conversation/397068002/

Ehhh this is hardens to lose at this point. He should have won it last year but gave it to stat stuffer Westbrook.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

 

[42N8Bounce]

Ehhh this is hardens to lose at this point. He should have won it last year but gave it to stat stuffer Westbrook.

NBA.com has the MVP rankings as -
1. J Harden (31.3 ppg, 9.0 apg, 5.2 rpg, 49-13)
2. L James (26.7 ppg, 9.0 apg, 8.4 rpg, 37-26)
3. K Durant (26.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 5.4 apg, 49-14)
4. S Curry (26.7 ppg, 6.4 apg, 5.3 rpg, 49-14)
5. A Davis (28.1 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 2.2 bpg, 36-26)
...
6. D DeRozan (23.7 ppg, 5.2 apg, 3.9 rpg, 45-17)
7. K Irving (24.8 ppg, 5.1 apg, 3.7 rpg, 45-20)
8. R Westbrook (25.3 ppg, 10.2 apg, 9.7 rpg, 37-28)
9. G Antetokounmpo (27.2 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 4.8 apg, 34-30)
10. D Lillard (26.6 ppg, 6.5 apg, 4.5 rpg, 38-26)

This is definitely Harden's to lose. Stats and record indicate he's a step above the rest of the field.

I think Lillard should be ranked a bit higher, but it's tough to put him above any of the top 5. (Yes, that pained me to say that.)