Lillard overrated?

[SheedSoNasty]

http://m.espn.go.com/nba/story?storyPage=5-on-5-PG-130808

Gordon: I'd prefer to punt on this, as I think most point guards are properly rated now that we're no longer pretending Tyreke Evans can properly run a team. I suppose we might say it's Damian Lillard, whose PER was just a tick above league average and clearly benefited from a glut of minutes on a bad team.

Oh hell no!

 

[magnifier661]

I hope Lillard sees this

 

[Eastoff]

I hope Lillard sees this

just tweeted him. Not that he'll see it.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Of note, the person who said Lillard is a Nets blogger... I wonder if he's bitter about having Wallace instead of the Lillard pick.

 

[magnifier661]

Of note, the person who said Lillard is a Nets blogger... I wonder if he's bitter about having Wallace instead of the Lillard pick.

Good catch!

 

[illmatic99]

It's not far fetched.

 

[Nate4Prez]

I don't think Lillard is overrated around the NBA, but I do think he is overrated by many around here. I love having a reliable point guard, and I can't think of the last time we had someone as good as Lillard at PG on a Blazers team, but a lot of people around here think he is on the same level as Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Derrick Rose and Kyrie Irving. He is not at that level yet, and maybe he won't ever be, but he is at the top of the second tier of point guards, and I'm more than okay with that.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

His statement was based on nothing more than PER. Looking at other advanced stats (VA, EWA, +/-...), Lillard comes up more favorably.

 

[magnifier661]

I don't think Lillard is overrated around the NBA, but I do think he is overrated by many around here. I love having a reliable point guard, and I can't think of the last time we had someone as good as Lillard at PG on a Blazers team, but a lot of people around here think he is on the same level as Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Derrick Rose and Kyrie Irving. He is not at that level yet, and maybe he won't ever be, but he is at the top of the second tier of point guards, and I'm more than okay with that.

Maybe not at the skill set of a Irving, but he was just a rookie. I think we need to look at a few more seasons before we claim he's only a second tier PG.

The things Lillard possess is deadly range, control, Bball IQ, work ethic, drive and doesn't have to rely on his athleticism to get a shot off. Something Irving, dwill and Williams relies on.

 

[e_blazer]

Gordon: I'd prefer to punt on this, as I think most point guards are properly rated now that we're no longer pretending Tyreke Evans can properly run a team. I suppose we might say it's Damian Lillard, whose PER was just a tick above league average and clearly benefited from a glut of minutes on a bad team.

The thing that's so dumb about this is the notion that PER benefits from a "glut of minutes on a bad team". There are a bunch of guys in the NBA who produce a high PER in a limited number of minutes, but playing at a highly efficient rate when you're logging huge minutes is much tougher. And playing on a bad team is supposed to help? I wonder how Damian's numbers would have looked if his assist totals weren't being reduced by the time spent playing with bench players who consistently bricked wide open shots that he'd set them up for. And how many times did he feel pressured to put up a shot that he might have otherwise passed on if he'd had competent players on the court with him at all times. PER is a decent starting point for looking at a player's relative contributions on the court, but it's only that...a starting point. This guy should have just stuck with his initial notion to punt on the question.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Hard to be overrated when you play for a small market team on the west coast. Most NBA fans on the east coast barely knows who he is.

He's rated but hardly overrated.

 

[Boise Blazer]

Looking at the roster today its absolutely crazy to think that Lillard's assists arent going to up if not way up. Our guys are going to be soooooo wide open its ridiculous.

 

[BigGameDamian]

I don't think Lillard is overrated around the NBA, but I do think he is overrated by many around here. I love having a reliable point guard, and I can't think of the last time we had someone as good as Lillard at PG on a Blazers team, but a lot of people around here think he is on the same level as Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Derrick Rose and Kyrie Irving. He is not at that level yet, and maybe he won't ever be, but he is at the top of the second tier of point guards, and I'm more than okay with that.

Much like they think about Wes Mathews?

 

[Draco]

I do think Lillard had to create a lot of offense last season because we had no good options. He really excelled in that role. This year there'll be more skilled teammates which gives him a great opportunity to increase his assists and his own scoring efficiency. But its not a guarantee he does so. Some players play better being able to selfishly chuck, hopefully Damian is a more complete player than that.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

I do think Lillard had to create a lot of offense last season because we had no good options. He really excelled in that role. This year there'll be more skilled teammates which gives him a great opportunity to increase his assists and his own scoring efficiency. But its not a guarantee he does so. Some players play better being able to selfishly chuck, hopefully Damian is a more complete player than that.

One of the biggest criticisms of Lillard throughout the year was that he too often seemed focused on creating for teammates in the first half rather than creating offense for himself, and didn't become "selfish" until midway through the third. Hopefully, a more fully rounded-out roster will improve the effectiveness of his creating. I wish someone kept track of "bricked assists"--Dame would have been pretty high on that list...

 

[Boob-No-More]

What bullshit. Lillard was just a rookie last season. He got a lot of minutes because we had zero depth, but that hardly helped his stats. And, his "just a tick above league average" PER of 16.4 was better than Derrick Rose's rookie PER of 16.0.

BNM

 

[magnifier661]

What bullshit. Lillard was just a rookie last season. He got a lot of minutes because we had zero depth, but that hardly helped his stats. And, his "just a tick above league average" PER of 16.4 was better than Derrick Rose's rookie PER of 16.0.

BNM

Shhhhh you aren't supposed to make sense!

 

[Daweez04]

I think Lillard will be similar to Roy was in the SG world. Kobe and Wade were always the undisputed 1 and 2 guys in that category, then came in Roy.

Problem is there are more elite PGs right now than there were SG back then, but I think Lillard will fit into that same just below elite guys like Wade and Kobe were at the time.

 

[bobf]

I suspect that getting double-teamed all the time tends to hurt your PER.

 

[Natebishop3]

What bullshit. Lillard was just a rookie last season. He got a lot of minutes because we had zero depth, but that hardly helped his stats. And, his "just a tick above league average" PER of 16.4 was better than Derrick Rose's rookie PER of 16.0.

BNM

Don't tell that to (Insert random blogger here) because it would poke holes in his (Insert random hyperbole here).

 

[Daweez04]

What bullshit. Lillard was just a rookie last season. He got a lot of minutes because we had zero depth, but that hardly helped his stats. And, his "just a tick above league average" PER of 16.4 was better than Derrick Rose's rookie PER of 16.0.

BNM

Everyone wants to compare Lillard to vets PERs, and not what they were like as rookies, saw it all last year. Lillard's Rookie stats were very comparable to most of the "elite" PGs rookie seasons. But logic doesn't help their point, or get them more hits on their website, so don't expect to see it used.

 

[OneLifeToLive]

Interesting. No mention of John Wall in any of these categories.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Interesting. No mention of John Wall in any of these categories.

Maybe if there were a "most forgotten about PG" category, he would show up there (assuming that's different than "underrated")?

 

[oldguy]

Maybe I missed it, but I don't recall a lot of people making a case that Damian was an elite PG last year. Everyone seems to love him (me too) but most acknowledged that he wasn't in the top tier.

Go Blazers

 

[Natebishop3]

Maybe I missed it, but I don't recall a lot of people making a case that Damian was an elite PG last year. Everyone seems to love him (me too) but most acknowledged that he wasn't in the top tier.

Go Blazers

I think most fans would still put him below guys like Irving, Paul, Williams, etc. I think he's on that tier with Wall, Holiday, Curry, etc, but I also think Curry is climbing the charts. He could very well be on the top tier next season.

 

[Denny Crane]

What bullshit. Lillard was just a rookie last season. He got a lot of minutes because we had zero depth, but that hardly helped his stats. And, his "just a tick above league average" PER of 16.4 was better than Derrick Rose's rookie PER of 16.0.

BNM

John Lucas III put up a 16.4 PER for the Bulls when he got PT because everyone else was hurt.

Go figure.

 

[dviss1]

I don't think Lillard is overrated around the NBA, but I do think he is overrated by many around here. I love having a reliable point guard, and I can't think of the last time we had someone as good as Lillard at PG on a Blazers team, but a lot of people around here think he is on the same level as Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Derrick Rose and Kyrie Irving. He is not at that level yet, and maybe he won't ever be, but he is at the top of the second tier of point guards, and I'm more than okay with that.

BITE YOUR TONGUE!!

[video]

And you must have missed what he did to Pop and the Big 3 here for a beatdown:

[video]

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Chris Haynes ‏@ChrisBHaynes - Gary Payton being hired by Fox Sports 1 has made it difficult for #Blazers Damian Lillard, others to get a workout date. Sides still trying.




That's interesting, I was just thinking about this today. I follow both GP and Lillard on twitter and hadn't seen either one mention about getting together. I really hope GP is able to make the time to work with Lillard.

 

[Natebishop3]

Chris Haynes ‏@ChrisBHaynes - Gary Payton being hired by Fox Sports 1 has made it difficult for #Blazers Damian Lillard, others to get a workout date. Sides still trying.




That's interesting, I was just thinking about this today. I follow both GP and Lillard on twitter and hadn't seen either one mention about getting together. I really hope GP is able to make the time to work with Lillard.

That would be disappointing if they can't find a time to work out.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

That would be disappointing if they can't find a time to work out.

Defense is the one area that playing for a small college hurt Lillard. He never had to guard players that were anywhere close to being as good as him. I know that Lillard is driven to be better but learning a few tips and tricks from someone like Payton would be invaluable.