Damian Lillard struggles big time right now

[KyRo23]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say he will be just fine. He averaged a career high last year. He didn't just completely lose it in 5 months or whatever. Wait til he goes on a hot streak and this thread will look wild

[Impuniti]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say he will be just fine. He averaged a career high last year. He didn't just completely lose it in 5 months or whatever. Wait til he goes on a hot streak and this thread will look wild

Bucks are still very clearly one of the favorites for the championship and that's not changing 12% into the season.

[andalusian]

I suspect he will get on a heater within a month, have a couple of weeks where he looks like the best player in the NBA, get back to "very good" only. That's pretty standard for him, he has always had big variance in his performances.

[DC_Melo]

You're delusional. Dame is a Made in Taiwan Curry. A cheap knock off. Getting swept by the Warriors while CJ was showing out was one of the most pathetic performances by a star I had seen in a long time, almost as bad as his performance vs the Pels.

Nobody with any semblance of common sense considered that OKC team a real contender. We know how Dame plays vs actual contenders in the playoffs, like a top 50 player in the league.

His last playoff series was against the Nuggets…

34.3 Points on .660 TS%, 30.4 PER, 10.2 assists

I guess Taiwan has stepped up their cheap knock off game

[rockmanslim]

Dame rarely starts the season in peak form. He always blows up around the ASB.

Here are his November stats for past couple seasons

18/19 - 25.2 pts, 5.2 rebounds, 6.1 assists on 41%/36%/86%
19/20 - 26.6 pts, 4.5 rebounds, 7.2 assists on 45%/38%/94%
20/21 - bubble year
21/22 - 22.8 pts, 4.1 rebounds, 7.6 assists on 42%/33%/90%
22/23 - 22.3 pts, 3.8 rebounds, 9 assists on 35%/28%/83%
23/24 - 22.4 pts, 3.4 rebounds, 5 assists on 36%/25%/94%

Notice the downward trend though. Father Time is ruthless.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Dame rarely starts the season in peak form. He always blows up around the ASB.

Here are his November stats for past couple seasons

18/19 - 25.2 pts, 5.2 rebounds, 6.1 assists on 41%/36%/86%
19/20 - 26.6 pts, 4.5 rebounds, 7.2 assists on 45%/38%/94%
20/21 - bubble year
21/22 - 22.8 pts, 4.1 rebounds, 7.6 assists on 42%/33%/90%
22/23 - 22.3 pts, 3.8 rebounds, 9 assists on 35%/28%/83%
23/24 - 22.4 pts, 3.4 rebounds, 5 assists on 36%/25%/94%

Notice the downward trend though. Father Time is ruthless.

Well you aren't wrong about Father Time but when looking at his end of season stats you don't necessarily see the same downward trend over these years.

[Impuniti]

You're delusional. Dame is a Made in Taiwan Curry. A cheap knock off. Getting swept by the Warriors while CJ was showing out was one of the most pathetic performances by a star I had seen in a long time, almost as bad as his performance vs the Pels.

Nobody with any semblance of common sense considered that OKC team a real contender. We know how Dame plays vs actual contenders in the playoffs, like a top 50 player in the league.

His last playoff series was against the Nuggets…

34.3 Points on .660 TS%, 30.4 PER, 10.2 assists

I guess Taiwan has stepped up their cheap knock off game

You know what, you're right and I'm wrong. He did one great series.

[California Gold]

Guaranteed this thread will be bumped in about 2 months or so.

It's November.

[rockmanslim]

Dame rarely starts the season in peak form. He always blows up around the ASB.

Here are his November stats for past couple seasons

18/19 - 25.2 pts, 5.2 rebounds, 6.1 assists on 41%/36%/86%
19/20 - 26.6 pts, 4.5 rebounds, 7.2 assists on 45%/38%/94%
20/21 - bubble year
21/22 - 22.8 pts, 4.1 rebounds, 7.6 assists on 42%/33%/90%
22/23 - 22.3 pts, 3.8 rebounds, 9 assists on 35%/28%/83%
23/24 - 22.4 pts, 3.4 rebounds, 5 assists on 36%/25%/94%

Notice the downward trend though. Father Time is ruthless.

Well you aren't wrong about Father Time but when looking at his end of season stats you don't necessarily see the same downward trend over these years.

His other months:

December
18/19 - 27.1 pts, 4.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists on 48%/46%/89%
19/20 - 27.0 pts, 3.3 rebounds, 7.9 assists on 44%/35%/85%
20/21 - 23.0 pts, 4.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists on 40%/29%/93% (bubble year)
21/22 - 29.6 pts, 4.6 rebounds, 6.2 assists on 41%/36%/85%
22/23 - 29.2 pts, 3.8 rebounds, 7.2 assists on 45%/40%/95%

January
18/19 - 25.4 pts, 4.1 rebounds, 7.6 assists on 44%/28%/95%
19/20 - 34.1 pts, 5.1 rebounds, 8.4 assists on 49%/45%/88%
20/21 - 31.5 pts, 4.9 rebounds, 7.5 assists on 47%/41%/95% (bubble year)
21/22 - abdominal injury
22/23 - 34.5 pts, 3.9 rebounds, 7.6 assists on 50%/37%/91%

February
18/19 - 23.4 pts, 4.8 rebounds, 7.3 assists on 43%/34%/93%
19/20 - 30.4 pts, 3.7 rebounds, 8.7 assists on 46%/41%/92%
20/21 - 30.2 pts, 3.8 rebounds, 9.1 assists on 43%/37%/93% (bubble year)
21/22 - abdominal injury
22/23 - 38.5 pts, 5.7 rebounds, 7.0 assists on 50%/41%/96%

March
18/19 - 27.3 pts, 4.6 rebounds, 8.2 assists on 45%/39%/92%
19/20 - 20.8 pts, 3.8 rebounds, 6.0 assists on 40%/41%/88%
20/21 - 29.8 pts, 4.1 rebounds, 7.4 assists on 45%/38%/96%
21/22 - abdominal injury
22/23 - 32.5 pts, 7.0 rebounds, 7.8 assists on 43%/33%/89%

Hey look I just talked myself off the ledge.

[Darth Celtic]

Sending Jrue to the Celtics and seeing Dame struggle with career-low numbers seems quite significant, doesn't it? I'm not suggesting that Dame can't improve, but the expectation was certainly higher than his current performance. It's way below what was anticipated. While it's true that a season can't be judged solely on the first 10 games, but this looks really dire right now.

Jrue's production and efficiency is super low too. Fewest ppg since his rookie year. Fewest apg since 2012. Worst eFG since 2019.

Adjustment takes time.

The true.

Yep, I love Jrue. He is struggling too. Come playoff time he will be locked in on defense (all of the time) and adequate on offense (at times).

Lack of usage isn't struggling. He is averaging 13pts, 7 RB, and 5.5a a game and his 2 and 3 % are at his career average with his ft% way up. The dudes on a team of 4 all stars and one starting sg who would start on almost every team. How would you expect him to score 20 a game. He isn't struggling at all

[Profound23]

Jrue's production and efficiency is super low too. Fewest ppg since his rookie year. Fewest apg since 2012. Worst eFG since 2019.

Adjustment takes time.

The true.

Yep, I love Jrue. He is struggling too. Come playoff time he will be locked in on defense (all of the time) and adequate on offense (at times).

Lack of usage isn't struggling. He is averaging 13pts, 7 RB, and 5.5a a game and his 2 and 3 % are at his career average with his ft% way up. The dudes on a team of 4 all stars and one starting sg who would start on almost every team. How would you expect him to score 20 a game. He isn't struggling at all

I am just saying the production of Jrue and Dame is down so far. Both aren't being used as much as they were previously so that is one of the many reasons. They are also getting used to being on a new team.

I am confident in 3 months we will see both firing on all cylinders.

[PistolPeteJR]

Give it some time. Blockbuster trades tend to have rough starts. The team needs to figure out it's new identity. The Big 3 Heat had a team only meeting 17 games into their first season because their start was so disappointing, still made it to the Finals that year

The Kawhi trade to Toronto made them champs right away..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Completely untrue. Had they not traded for Marc Gasol midseason, they wouldn't have made it to the Finals, let alone won.

[GiannisAnte34]

Give it some time. Blockbuster trades tend to have rough starts. The team needs to figure out it's new identity. The Big 3 Heat had a team only meeting 17 games into their first season because their start was so disappointing, still made it to the Finals that year

The Kawhi trade to Toronto made them champs right away..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Completely untrue. Had they not traded for Marc Gasol midseason, they wouldn't have made it to the Finals, let alone won.

without Gasol the Raps get bounced in round 2 to Jimmy Buckets and Embiid

[JayMKE]

The Bucks are kind of a mess right now with Griffin and Dame is a known slow starter, I’m pretty confident he’ll put it together if he stays healthy.

[hardenASG13]

I stand by the fact that Portland never had expectations or were watched closely by many. They didn't.

Again, I’m well aware it’s a different spotlight now, but to say a guy leading a perennial playoff team has no expectations is simply false.

Again, not a Harden fan and don't care to compare them. But Hardens teams were winning at high rate prior to CP3.

Let’s look at those years. Excluding 2012/13 because it was Lillard’s rookie year,

2013/14
Houston: 54-28, 1st round exit (knocked out by Lillard)
Portland: 54-28, 2nd round exit

2014/15
Houston: 56-26, 3rd round exit
Portland: 51-31, 1st round exit

2015/16
Houston: 41-41, 1st round exit
Portland: 44-38, 2nd round exit

2016/2017
Houston: 55-27, 2nd round exit
Portland: 41-41, 1st round exit

Was Lillard really any less impactful than Harden? Harden won a handful more regular season games and exactly one more playoff series. Not to mention Houston had Howard, who was still better than any teammate Lillard had.

Let’s stop with this false narrative that Lillard and the Blazers had zero expectations

Curry made Klay and Green what they are. I think this speaks for itself, because curry is a true superstar. You think Dame replaces Curry on those teams with the same results. Check the warriors roster in that series.

Curry made Klay arguably the second best shooter in NBA history? He made Green a do it all junkyard dog? Stop it.

Curry had/has a very positive impact on his team and teammates, but I absolutely believe that Dame could have still led the Warriors to at least a couple chips with that roster.

Yes Dame made a WCF. They beat a bad OKC team and then a young Nuggets team. It wasn't a historic feat and wasn't replicated before or after.

Well, that bad OKC team had PG13 and Westbrook, and got hyped as contenders all year long. They only got called a bad team after losing to the Blazers.

Lillard had an absolute masterclass game 5, dropping 50 on insane efficiency, including 15 points in the final 5 minutes to erase a double digit lead and hit the walk off game winner at the buzzer… He owned the Thunder so badly that series it led to their dismantling.

I don't care to disect his whole career. Sure hes been a good player. I wouldnt say great. Im sure his impact numbers on portland paint him as that, as he was theie best player!Just think all the hype around him joining Milwaukee was overblown. So far it has been. Maybe he turns it around, I'm sure they'll catch a hot streak. We will see.

I get it. If you dissected his career you might have to confront the uncomfortable truth that Lillard has been a hyper efficient player and consistent net positive on the court.

You're delusional. Dame is a Made in Taiwan Curry. A cheap knock off. Getting swept by the Warriors while CJ was showing out was one of the most pathetic performances by a star I had seen in a long time, almost as bad as his performance vs the Pels.

Nobody with any semblance of common sense considered that OKC team a real contender. We know how Dame plays vs actual contenders in the playoffs, like a top 50 player in the league.

Bingo! Really not worth discussing this further DC Melo, we won’t agree on this one.

[JN61]

He will be fine. That said I've always said it; Lillard has nothing to offer past his scoring. He has always been extremely mediocre passer even if he gets solid assist numbers. And well we know about his defense..

But yes. I don't know why people expect him to be 30 point scorer on that team. He will be fine as 24-25 ppg guy, his efficiency gets better eventually. But what we know about Lillard is his efficiency always craters when he plays in games that actually matters.

[Big J]

This looks really dumb right now.

[rockmanslim]

Welp.

[Profound23]

Love it, a week ago we get a thread on how Giannis is past his prime, he goes off for 50+

Then we get this Dame thread and tonight he goes off.

Waiting for the "Giannis is holding Dame back, they can't play together" thread so we can see them both just destroy the NBA.

[Biggyd81]

Lillard getting bailed out at the line this year - Hardenesque.