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donkiez said:
Its easy to forget just how good Roy really was. Think of the Dallas playoff game for starters. Roy was a borderline superstar and rising when he left the game, he was ranked as high as 5th best player in the NBA at one time. Given a reality with a healthy Roy I'm still not sure who I would rather have on my team.
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I am just glad that I was able to witness both of their play. I love them both. I miss Roy, but mainly because he got robbed by his body :(
 
donkiez said:
Its easy to forget just how good Roy really was. Think of the Dallas playoff game for starters. Roy was a borderline superstar and rising when he left the game, he was ranked as high as 5th best player in the NBA at one time. Given a reality with a healthy Roy I'm still not sure who I would rather have on my team.
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Roy was great but Lillard is better. I think he works a lot harder than Roy did and is always looking to add something, with Roy he came in with all his moves pretty much and while they were great, I don't remember him adding much to his game.
 
I'm not really interested in the "is Lillard better than Roy" side of the discussion. I will say that I'm thankful that Roy was able to help pull this organization from the cellar of the NBA in his short time here. I loved watching him play and the way his time in Portland ended broke my heart. Also, I can't believe how lucky we are that Oden and Roy's short careers didn't send this team back to the cellar for a decade. It's an amazing time to be a citizen of Rip City.
 
I think he' an even better person....

But he's an amazing player and awfully fun to watch last night. I like the football comparison to Russell Wilson. Very Similar Attributes. And interestingly, they both fell into Allen's Lap at about the same time.
 
BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94 said:
Roy was great but Lillard is better. I think he works a lot harder than Roy did and is always looking to add something, with Roy he came in with all his moves pretty much and while they were great, I don't remember him adding much to his game.
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I think at this point they are about even, main difference is that Dame is happening right now, with no injury concerns, and on a better team. I think Lillard has more of an upside that Roy did at this point in their careers though. When I think about comparisons of what their potential could play out to I would consider Roy more of a Dwade type and Lillard more in the Jordan/Kobe mold. Lillard has that killer rare killer instinct, where he is going to slice your heart out in front of you. What I find amazing about Lillards game though is how naturally team oriented he is, he knows his limits and plays within the flow of everyone so well. That type of maturity is what is going to set him apart from not just the legend of Roy but most everyone else.
 
donkiez said:
I think at this point they are about even, main difference is that Dame is happening right now, with no injury concerns, and on a better team. I think Lillard has more of an upside that Roy did at this point in their careers though. When I think about comparisons of what their potential could play out to I would consider Roy more of a Dwade type and Lillard more in the Jordan/Kobe mold. Lillard has that killer rare killer instinct, where he is going to slice your heart out in front of you. What I find amazing about Lillards game though is how naturally team oriented he is, he knows his limits and plays within the flow of everyone so well. That type of maturity is what is going to set him apart from not just the legend of Roy but most everyone else.
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Interestingly, I know I have read this many times but I don't see Michael or Kobe in Damian.

Damian is his own man.
 
donkiez said:
Its easy to forget just how good Roy really was. Think of the Dallas playoff game for starters. Roy was a borderline superstar and rising when he left the game, he was ranked as high as 5th best player in the NBA at one time. Given a reality with a healthy Roy I'm still not sure who I would rather have on my team.
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Lillard. He plays better with others.
 
Lillard has Stotts as his coach, Roy had Nate as his. I wish we could have seen what Stotts could have done with Roy AND Lillard.
 
Scalma said:
AGREED. Less LA, more Dame. That's not a knock on LA either. Dame is just that good, and IMO he's the best player on the team.
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Did you notice that we were sinking last night in the 4th, with Aldridge bricking shot after shot, and then Dame came in and hit two big threes, that massive dunk, and then just poured it on until it was a laugher?
 
On the road, LA is putting up over 21 shots a game. As I've said before, I"d like to see LA par that down to 15 shots, trim back on the forced ones and give more shots to lillard/matthews. LA would probably improve his FG% in the process. We have such a talented and balanced roster, yet we have a guy who takes more shots than any player in the league, it makes no sense.
 
Sinobas said:
We have such a talented and balanced roster, yet we have a guy who takes more shots than any player in the league, it makes no sense.
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Actually, Kobe and Westbrook average more FGA per game, and Harden has taken more shots overall...
 
santeesioux said:
Lillard has Stotts as his coach, Roy had Nate as his. I wish we could have seen what Stotts could have done with Roy AND Lillard.
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I don't think Roy would've fit. He was a ball dominant guard. Roy was allowed to be himself under Nate.
 
Sinobas said:
On the road, LA is putting up over 21 shots a game. As I've said before, I"d like to see LA par that down to 15 shots, trim back on the forced ones and give more shots to lillard/matthews. LA would probably improve his FG% in the process. We have such a talented and balanced roster, yet we have a guy who takes more shots than any player in the league, it makes no sense.
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I can agree with that, but I do think he has the green light when he's wide open. I think teams are gambling with him, allowing them to concentrate on Lillard more. Then when open looks are hard to find, Stotts is force feeding Aldridge down low (higher % shot). So I think the total shot attempts are 5-7 wide open looks that he must take, 3-4 pressure last second shots and the rest when he does that high efficiency low post shot.

So if we trim his shot, I think Stotts needs to have a plan B after Aldridge is wide open. Or possibly set a double pick with Lillard popping back for three while Batum or Matthews rolls to the basket. That way Aldridge has two wide open options for the more efficient shot.
 
I think Damian has embraced being in Portland far better than Roy ever did.

If his appreciation and loyalty to the city/state is not real, he's sure done a great job making it appear so.
 
I'm kind of surprised by some of these responses. I love Dame, but people are really quick to forget how good Roy was.

Roy, in his prime, almost single handily carried the number 1 offense in the league. Our offense in 08-09 was essentially only good at two things: a Roy iso, or grabbing an offensive rebound. They finished with an offensive rating of 113.9. To put that into perspective, the Blazers are 7th this year at 108.7. Last years offensive juggernaut was at 111.5. Roy's team was almost a whole 2.5 points higher. In fact, that 113.9 is highest offensive rating for any Blazers team EVER. The closest any other team has come is the 90-91 team that lost in the western conference finals. AND, he did this with a group of offensively challenged teammates. The second best player on that 08-09 team was an undeveloped Aldridge. Other than that, the team was filled with such great offensive players like Steve Blake....Travis Outlaw....Rudy Fernandez......Joel Przybilla.....Greg Oden....Rookie Nic Batum. Let's be serious here, Roy WAS the offense.

I'm satisfied with the team right now, and I think Lillard could eventually become better than Roy at his peak, but Roy (and that whole 08-09 team for that matter) will always have a special place in my heart.
 
I was never a Roy fan. He was instrumental in lifting the franchise out of the Jail Blazer era, but Roy was better for Roy than he was for his teammates. I don't think the team could have gone much further with his Iso play, and he was too much of an alpha dog to relinquish that role.

e_blazer said:
The only thing Lillard had done wrong lately was to say that the best PG in the league is Steph Curry. Ņo way Curry could make the plays Dame did tonight. Lillard is the best PG in the NBA.
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How crazy it is to think both Curry and Lillard were pegged by many as tweener guards unlikely to make it in the NBA, and now they're in the thick of discussions as the two best PGs in the league?

BlazerCaravan said:
As a Blazer, Roy hit 473 field goals in the 4th or OT. That's 2006-2010.

So far in his career, Lillard has hit 374 4th quarter or OT field goals.

He's on pace to hit 468 by the end of the year.
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So, Lillard will have hit 5 fewer FGs by the end of the year, at his current pace, but in 3 seasons instead of 4? That's a landslide victory!
 
handiman said:
How crazy it is to think both Curry and Lillard were pegged by many as tweener guards unlikely to make it in the NBA, and now they're in the thick of discussions as the two best PGs in the league?
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The game has really changed in favor of "scoring PGs" that used to be called tweeners. God Shamgod would have ruled in this NBA. :ghoti:
 
BlazerCaravan said:
The game has really changed in favor of "scoring PGs" that used to be called tweeners. God Shamgod would have ruled in this NBA. :ghoti:
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That transition happened well before Lillard and Curry. We've been in the era of dominant primary ball handlers since at least Jordan. Maybe as far back as Magic, but that was an era fairly dominated still by bigs. It's what makes Houston with Harden is so tough to beat (at least in the regular season when the refs bail him out; kinda sorta similar to why the Roy ISO in the regular season worked), and Kobe/T-Mac in their primes.

So, to get back to the point, everyone knew the importance of a scoring PG and many if not most still felt that Lillard and Curry lacked the skillset to make it in the league. Remember Lillard's shot was supposedly too slow and too low to avoid being blocked, and he had no first step to get to the rim, let alone finish? Now he's unstoppable on the perimeter and among the best slashers.
 
handiman said:
That transition happened well before Lillard and Curry. We've been in the era of dominant primary ball handlers since at least Jordan. Maybe as far back as Magic, but that was an era fairly dominated still by bigs. It's what makes Houston with Harden is so tough to beat (at least in the regular season when the refs bail him out; kinda sorta similar to why the Roy ISO in the regular season worked), and Kobe/T-Mac in their primes.

.
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I agree. There as always been a few around. Tiny Archiable led the league in scoring in 72-73 with 34 pPG and 11 assists.
I loved watching players like Kevin Johnson and Mark Price in the early 90's. Scoring PG's are so valuable especially when they involve their teammates too. Players who have good handles and can shoot, are crucial to have when the game is on the line.
 
Scalma said:
I don't think Roy would've fit. He was a ball dominant guard. Roy was allowed to be himself under Nate.
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This is so hypothetical and we will never know for sure. Roy was exactly what we needed him to be at that time. From his very first game against Seattle,we needed someone who could take over the game down the stretch. but since we are playing "what if" ....what if he came to the Blazers and Dame was one year older and Stotts was the coach? Could he fit in and take the pressure off of Damian when other teams doubled teamed Dame? I think a healthy Roy would fit into the team concept much like he did at UW.
 
The offensive progression of Lillard from his rookie year to now is simply amazing!

http://www.teamrankings.com/nba/player/damian-lillard
2012-13: FG%: 42.9, eFG%: 50.1, TS%: 54.6
2013-14: FG%: 42.6, eFG%: 50.8, TS%: 56.9
2014-15: FG%: 45.8, eFG%: 54.3, TS%: 59.6

The steady climb from year 1 to 3 is off the charts, all while he has been upping his usage in process.
 


Mr. Clutch himself is (understatedly) vying for rights to Mr. MVP.

Damian Lillard has, without question, been the Portland Trail Blazers' best player this season. He leads the team in PER (23.2) and joins Harden, Curry and James as the only players posting at least 20 points, four rebounds, six assists and one steal per game while putting in 36 percent or more of their treys.

There's also something immeasurably incredible about his big-moment gene, if such a thing actually exists. Sure, he's shooting 60 percent during the final 10 seconds of contests in which the Blazers are behind by no more than five points. But you cannot quantify his late-game composure and aplomb.

"Lillard's clutch work at crunch time continues to amaze," explained NBA.com's Sekou Smith. "He is a fearless shot taker (and maker) with the game on the line, a quality you enter the NBA with and develop (as opposed to one that is learned)."

Thanks to that inherent coolness, Lillard's continued rise through the superstar ranks is moving at a brisk pace. He ranks fifth in win shares, behind only Harden, Davis, Paul and Curry, and he's improved his defense for the NBA's third-best defensive team—not to mention the second-best squad (by record) overall.

"He's fun to watch," Aldridge said of Lillard following Portland's Sunday night win, per NBC Sports' Shahan Ahmed. "I wanted to get some popcorn and just have a seat."

If that's not a feeling shared by all, something's wrong. And if Lillard doesn't start engendering more MVP dap soon, that's even wronger.
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