The OFFICIAL rookie impressions thread pt.III

[NO-KG-AI]

I feel like when a guy can shoot as well as Lillard, any kind of guys you put around him will fit. Whether he's your first option, or your third option, you can meld his talents in.

[fishnc]

This thread needs a lot more video.

[Shem]

The Eric Maynor affect is like a godsend for Lillard. Maynor has played 8 games as a Blazer and Lillard has reached 20 or more points in the last 7 of them. Having a good backup point guard really helps.

[orangeparka]

Lillard's hella hot with his jumper right now and he knows it. He's taking a lotta of'em if given room and making a ton.

Nearly 50% from three. Dayum.

It's just a shame it's not really resulting in too many wins and the Blazers aren't doing too well right now, 4-11 in their last 15 now. They really need to get it together, would love to see how Lillard does in the playoffs.

[Bskey]

Lillard's hella hot with his jumper right now and he knows it. He's taking a lotta of'em if given room and making a ton.

Nearly 50% from three. Dayum.

It's just a shame it's not really resulting in too many wins and the Blazers aren't doing too well right now, 4-11 in their last 15 now. They really need to get it together, would love to see how Lillard does in the playoffs.

Blazers schedule is pretty brutal lately and until the end of the season. I expected them to start losing like this. I think minutes are catching up to them, especially Batum (also has a hurt wrist). That said though Lillard has looked great and Maynor has had a pretty big impact.

Meyers Leonard is gaining confidence in himself on offense. He is a nice shooter. He just looks so lost on defense though.

[Dame Lizard]

It looks like we are in for a great Davis vs Lillard Western Conference Rookie of the Month award for March. Stats are likely to change significantly by month's end, but:

In terms of: PPG/RPG/APG/SPG/BPG/FG%

Davis: 17/12/1.2/0.4/2.4/52.9%

Lillard: 24.5/2.5/6.5/1.0/0/52.9%

They have exactly the same FG% so far, fair bit of a coincidence!

[Shem]

Lillard's hella hot with his jumper right now and he knows it. He's taking a lotta of'em if given room and making a ton.

Nearly 50% from three. Dayum.

It's just a shame it's not really resulting in too many wins and the Blazers aren't doing too well right now, 4-11 in their last 15 now. They really need to get it together, would love to see how Lillard does in the playoffs.

Blazers schedule is pretty brutal lately and until the end of the season. I expected them to start losing like this. I think minutes are catching up to them, especially Batum (also has a hurt wrist). That said though Lillard has looked great and Maynor has had a pretty big impact.

Meyers Leonard is gaining confidence in himself on offense. He is a nice shooter. He just looks so lost on defense though.

Since you're a Blazers fan, I'm surprised you don't join us over in the Portland area of RealGM:

viewforum.php?f=28

[GhostsOfGil]

He was at the beginning of the season but not now.

anyways, I don't see how he can say waiters slashing ability is the reason he thinks Waiters potential "looks far higher than Lillard"

I'd say Lillard is getting to the rim and finishing even better than Waiters

Well waiters' eFG% inside the paint has continued to improve. With that said I think Lillard is indeed the better finisher, but Waiters ability to get into the paint at will was what impressed me. I can see where the Dwayne wade comparison came from. (not saying he will be as good, but the similarities are evident.)

[JungleCat022]

Waiters: 20 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 5-13 shooting

[Wizenheimer]

Lillard's hella hot with his jumper right now and he knows it. He's taking a lotta of'em if given room and making a ton.

Nearly 50% from three. Dayum.

It's just a shame it's not really resulting in too many wins and the Blazers aren't doing too well right now, 4-11 in their last 15 now. They really need to get it together, would love to see how Lillard does in the playoffs.

what has killed the Blazers is Batum's injury. They were doing pretty well, then Batum messed up the wrist in his dominant hand. Since then, his scoring and ball-handlung numbers have dropped off a cliff and that left Lillard on an island in the Blazer offense. That's when Lillard's efficiency fell because Batum had been carrying some of the load of running the offense and scoring

as mentioned, adding Eric Maynor has helped a ton

[DeBlazerRiddem]

One of the criticisms of Lillard, he plays best when not a full time point guard. Maybe it is too much asking him to be a first option in both scoring and playmaking while maintaining efficiency, maybe it is reflective of the evolution the NBA is going through - more small ball, multiple play initiators - but scoring combo guards have not been looked on too favorably.

Perhaps Lillard can be the one to break the mold - he's got great skills, he's got great character, great BBIQ - pretty much all the tangibles and intangibles necessary. His uphill battle will be against the type of player he is, to see if he can rise above all the other mediocre scoring combo-guards who came before him.

[Shem]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaybPY_ll5U[/youtube]
The guy who made this video is using ESPN's box score and it credits Lillard with Maynor's three foul shots at the end of the game so he think Lillard had 30 when he actually had 27.

[Wizenheimer]

One of the criticisms of Lillard, he plays best when not a full time point guard. Maybe it is too much asking him to be a first option in both scoring and playmaking while maintaining efficiency, maybe it is reflective of the evolution the NBA is going through - more small ball, multiple play initiators - but scoring combo guards have not been looked on too favorably.

Perhaps Lillard can be the one to break the mold - he's got great skills, he's got great character, great BBIQ - pretty much all the tangibles and intangibles necessary. His uphill battle will be against the type of player he is, to see if he can rise above all the other mediocre scoring combo-guards who came before him.

I have not seen the criticism you talk about and if I had, I'd imagine I would disagree. Got and links?

Lillard is doing fine as a PG. His passing numbers are pretty equivalent if not better then a lot of the higher level PG's today when they were rookies. And my guess is that Lillard is getting more defensive focus then most of his peers got as rookies

But I think any PG is going to be affected if he is the only competent ball-handler on the team capable of running an offense. I don't think it's a coincidence that Lillard's efficiency declines started about the time Batum was injured. Before then, Batum was carrying some of the load of running the offense and finding shots for himself and others. And of course, the Blazers did not have any capable ball-hndlers on the bench

the fact that Lillard's efficiency jumped back up after Eric Maynor arrived sure seems to support that narrative.

go back and look at other PG's to see what kind of ball-handling help they had as rookies. Chris Paul had Speedy Claxton who averaged 5 assists and they played a lot together. Deron Williams had AK47 and Keith Keith McLeod to share burden as well as some good big men passers. Derick Rose had Ben Gordon and Kirk Heinrich. Westbrook had Earl Watson who actually average more assists. Ty Lawson had Chauncy Billups and Melo. Stephon Curry had Monta & CJ Watson. Jrue Holiday had Iggy, Lou Williams. Wiilie Green and 25 games of AI

meanwhile, Lillard has had Nolan Smith, Ronnie Price, an injured Batum and 8 games of Eric Maynor. That's baptism by fire, and while his peers generally had veteran back court help as rookies, Lillard has essentially been on an island

[Dame Lizard]

Waiter's clip on the top 10 NBA plays of the night was really, really smooth.

[mrmsix6]

[sir G Wallace]

Lillard's hella hot with his jumper right now and he knows it. He's taking a lotta of'em if given room and making a ton.

Nearly 50% from three. Dayum.

It's just a shame it's not really resulting in too many wins and the Blazers aren't doing too well right now, 4-11 in their last 15 now. They really need to get it together, would love to see how Lillard does in the playoffs.

what has killed the Blazers is Batum's injury. They were doing pretty well, then Batum messed up the wrist in his dominant hand. Since then, his scoring and ball-handlung numbers have dropped off a cliff and that left Lillard on an island in the Blazer offense. That's when Lillard's efficiency fell because Batum had been carrying some of the load of running the offense and scoring

as mentioned, adding Eric Maynor has helped a ton

Yeah Batum's annoying injury has really cramped Portland's production. He had 4 points in 41 minutes last night. What in the ****? It was still a close game against a fully healthy Grizzly team so you know Portland has been fighting, just like in a lot of close games they have lost and won as well.

[ComboGuardCity]

53% shooting for a guard is unreal

[Shem]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wutyzYvcKk[/youtube]

[fart]

Zeller I have given up on. He looks like a little toddler out there trying to guard other centers and constantly gets bullied like a little kid. If Zeller's jumper isn't falling, he is pretty much useless out there and.....his jumper hasn't been falling.

[JungleCat022]

Waiters' spin move:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMjMWMGUY7Q

Waiters' dunk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7YHzkWd9S0

Not sure why I can't get these to embed