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Lillard is really lucky to be one a good team with great teammates.

It makes him look a lot better than he would had he gone to a bad situation. This isn't a knock. Just an observation.

Glad to see a four year college guy succeed this well in the league. Some of these kids in school who aren't projected to go top 5 should take notes. Lillard lets the game come to him and hardly forces anything. He is the most ready guy I've seen in a while. Definitely not your prototypical first year player. Those 4 years at Weber state really helped him for the league.

Optms wrote:Lillard is really lucky to be one a good team with great teammates.

It makes him look a lot better than he would had he gone to a bad situation. This isn't a knock. Just an observation.

Glad to see a four year college guy succeed this well in the league. Some of these kids in school who aren't projected to go top 5 should take notes. Lillard lets the game come to him and hardly forces anything. He is the most ready guy I've seen in a while. Definitely not your prototypical first year player. Those 4 years at Weber state really helped him for the league.

blazers weren't suppose to be good at all

not above .500 at least

Cro_Ruption wrote:

Optms wrote:Lillard is really lucky to be one a good team with great teammates.

It makes him look a lot better than he would had he gone to a bad situation. This isn't a knock. Just an observation.

Glad to see a four year college guy succeed this well in the league. Some of these kids in school who aren't projected to go top 5 should take notes. Lillard lets the game come to him and hardly forces anything. He is the most ready guy I've seen in a while. Definitely not your prototypical first year player. Those 4 years at Weber state really helped him for the league.

blazers weren't suppose to be good at all

not above .500 at least

Lillard is a BIG reason why they're 4 game above .500 right now.

NBA TV is going to do a thing about the Blazers and how they're contenders right now because of Damian Lillard after the commercial break.

Blazing_royale wrote:Austin river an official bust yet?

Say something? I was too busy staring at your avatar...

Shem wrote:NBA TV is going to do a thing about the Blazers and how they're contenders right now because of Damian Lillard after the commercial break.

Contenders?

Wonder how Wall/Beal backourt will come along. Alot of potential right there.

KingCuban wrote:

Shem wrote:NBA TV is going to do a thing about the Blazers and how they're contenders right now because of Damian Lillard after the commercial break.

Contenders?

Playoff contenders.

Brad Beal January stats (5 game sample size)
MPG: 38.0
eFG%: 50.6
TS%: 51.9
FG%: 42.0
FT%: 60.0 (1.8/3.0)
3PT%: 56.0 (2.8/5.0)
PPG: 18.2
RPG: 4.0
APG: 3.4
STL: 1.2
BLK: 0.6
TOV: 1.2
USG%: 23.0

Very impressive. Needs to keep shooting well and start to get to the line more.

^Those type of numbers are a lot more deserving of ROM than his inefficient December numbers were.

Agreed. That 3 point % is probably not sustainable but nevertheless, good stuff.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpsvxE5xb0g[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI2lyo8PpG0&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

Saw some of the same things from Beal that have me worried going through his game against OKC on synergy. He came off a pick and dropped Ibaka with a nice in and out dribble, stepped back for a jumper and looked like he had sufficient space but Thabo was able to recover and block it.

He again looked good on all the shots were he was able to get space for but still showed that he has trouble hitting tough, close guarded shots.

He's definitely looked more confident the last few weeks and been more aggressive looking for his offense which is what he's going to need to continue to do to develop.

Halcyon wrote:Brad Beal January stats (5 game sample size)
MPG: 38.0
eFG%: 50.6
TS%: 51.9
FG%: 42.0
FT%: 60.0 (1.8/3.0)
3PT%: 56.0 (2.8/5.0)
PPG: 18.2
RPG: 4.0
APG: 3.4
STL: 1.2
BLK: 0.6
TOV: 1.2
USG%: 23.0

Very impressive. Needs to keep shooting well and start to get to the line more.

Good to see.

Basically what's changed with Beal is the 3pt shooting, pretty much.

Considering he's shooting it over 55% I wouldn't find it that encouraging as it's not sustainable - but I still like him alot as a player moving forward, especially cause I think he has that physical nature in him to take the hit and draw more fouls if he went for it once he has a year or two under his belt in the league which would really enhance his game.

Releasing the ball quicker, and focusing alot of getting to the line playing more physical bully style of play accepting to take the hits in the paint should be his priorities imo.

RipCity71252 wrote:Saw some of the same things from Beal that have me worried going through his game against OKC on synergy. He came off a pick and dropped Ibaka with a nice in and out dribble, stepped back for a jumper and looked like he had sufficient space but Thabo was able to recover and block it.

He again looked good on all the shots were he was able to get space for but still showed that he has trouble hitting tough, close guarded shots.

He's definitely looked more confident the last few weeks and been more aggressive looking for his offense which is what he's going to need to continue to do to develop.

Not to be trite, but Thabo does those type of things to a lot of people, he's one of the best defensive players in the league and a guy that's paid to give even elite wings headaches. He did utilize a pump fake later that allowed him to put one in directly in Thabo's face late in the fourth quarter that was a huge basket, he has demonstrated much better athleticism than people give him credit for to get to the basket and finish in traffic, and he has a developing runner/tear drop that should help mitigate any length concerns one might have going forward. And remember, the kid is 19. Refining or significantly improving deficient aspects of his game should happen organically, and that includes quickening his release and developing more ways to get shots off over longer opponents through guile.

boogie-reke wrote:Basically what's changed with Beal is the 3pt shooting, pretty much.

Considering he's shooting it over 55% I wouldn't find it that encouraging as it's not sustainable - but I still like him alot as a player moving forward, especially cause I think he has that physical nature in him to take the hit and draw more fouls if he went for it once he has a year or two under his belt in the league which would really enhance his game.

Releasing the ball quicker, and focusing alot of getting to the line playing more physical bully style of play accepting to take the hits in the paint should be his priorities imo.

He's shooting the three at an unsustainable rate over that time frame, but he's also shot significantly worse at the stripe over that same period than his season average prior to this solid run. That should help mitigate some of the efficiency drop off when he's 3pt rate normalizes (assuming his recent free throw struggles are a blip and not a trend), and he seems to be getting more comfortable with his midrange game lately, so his 2pt % might be ready for a jump as well. Not to mention the fact that he should be getting better shots once Wall returns (assuming he resembles the player we've come to expect him to be at some point after the allstar break), and once NeNe's minutes stabilize.

Getting your shot blocked happens the most during your rookie season. Its nothing that hinders a player going forward. Beals fine.

Halcyon wrote:Brad Beal January stats (5 game sample size)
MPG: 38.0
eFG%: 50.6
TS%: 51.9
FG%: 42.0
FT%: 60.0 (1.8/3.0)
3PT%: 56.0 (2.8/5.0)
PPG: 18.2
RPG: 4.0
APG: 3.4
STL: 1.2
BLK: 0.6
TOV: 1.2
USG%: 23.0

Very impressive. Needs to keep shooting well and start to get to the line more.

Not to be a downer, but Beal is also only hitting 35% of his shots inside the arc during that stretch.

He's a little jumper-reliant right now, yeah. He should pick it up though. I think he'll be the best wing in this draft, eventually.