Raptors NBA Draft Thread: Damian Lillard (POR)

[fredericklove]

The problem I have with this that it trying to prove that Lillard isn't good by pointing out the competition he hasn't faced. It doesn't state any reasons on why he is bad.

Essentially its arguing why he "might not be good" instead of "why he is bad/won't be good"

Just saying the combine hype and the 1 on zero workouts are main keys to his rising stocks, while those inferior college competition/questionable point guard skills concern remains but clearly right now scouts are heavily buying into the hype and impressive workouts. It just shows u how big of an impact a combine workout/personal workout are to a prospect.

[JPHolling]

to me his risks, and the fact the raptors currently have a similar pg in JB. make it not worth drafting lillard.

[fredericklove]

LMAO!!!!! Oh you said that is weak, my brother? Read my words man, don't dodge it. You claimed Lamb scares you because he has not improved. Don't dodge this quote. Well, I guess I'm here to teach you. Watch and learn. When you analyze a player whether he improves year-to-year, you analyze it from his season-to-season comparison, not from player-to-player comparison. There are stats where he dropped slightly abit or stays the same but when you said he didn't improve, oh really, he didn't improve anything? Now here is something.

2010-11: 11.1 (pts), 9.1 (FGA), 3.3 (2pt), 54.6 (2P%), 1.1 (3PT), 4.5 (REB TOT), 0.9 (stls)
2011-12: 17.7 (pts), 13.4 (FGA), 4.3 (2pt), 60.1 (2P%), 2.1 (3PT), 4.9 (REB TOT), 1.2 (stls)

Has Lamb improved?

I don't see the minutes per game difference in those stats. Oh right, that's a partial perspective. Lamb played 10 more mpg and everything stayed the same but his FTA and FGA (both stats are pretty much correlated with mpg). He only improved in a couple of categories and its pretty much expected of anyone given 10 more minutes per game. I see it as hypocritical to call cdel00 biased when you're not adjusting your stats per 36. His argument was valid in saying that Lillard made bigger strides than Lamb or anyone else did.

My whole point here is that cdel00 claimed that Lamb didn't improve. That's why alot of people raised their eyebrows toward his claim. Is it not an evidence that he does shows improvement over on a few statistic?

I agree Lillard made bigger strides in the improvements of his stats, never said I disagree. My point was just emphasizing on his claim of Lamb's failure to improve. There's reason why I didn't include MPG. What would you say to this situation... if he's given more MPG in 2nd year, and he FAILS to reach higher than the 11.1 pts that he avg in freshman season, what does that say? That he fails to improve when given more mins? But now he's got more mins and his points avg didn't drop, instead it goes up. That says something about evidences of improvement there.

[neurotik]

The problem I have with this that it trying to prove that Lillard isn't good by pointing out the competition he hasn't faced. It doesn't state any reasons on why he is bad.

Essentially its arguing why he "might not be good" instead of "why he is bad/won't be good"

Just saying the combine hype and the 1 on zero workouts are main keys to his rising stocks, while those inferior college competition/questionable point guard skills concern remains but clearly right now scouts are heavily buying into the hype and impressive workouts. It just shows u how big of an impact a combine workout/personal workout are to a prospect.

I agree that the combine and workouts are the reason why he's being considered by Portland, GSW, and other teams in the top 10. But that shows that he actually did impress in the combine, the measurements, the workouts, and the interviews.

I don't follow the Big Sky conference, so I'm not going to pretend like I've watched any of Lillard's games and have an accurate assessment of his value as a prospect. But I will say this, if I thought he was a good prospect then impressing at the combines, workouts, interview, etc. would be an important part of my evaluation of him.

Acing all of the pre draft activities doesn't point out any negatives (not that I'm saying he doesn't have any) it only highlights positives so it shouldn't be an argument against him.

[No-lillard]

DG he can ignore me all he wants but the facts are the facts and poor Fred hasn't learned the meaning of the stats per 40 yet.

I'll try and explain. The Stats per 40 pace adjusted trys to level the mins per game and possessions per game. In Lambs freshman year he played something like 30 percent less in hiss soph year. So when comparing Lambs fredhman season to his Sophnore season the per 40 stat set levels the playing field by fixing the court time to a constant its used for an apples to apples comparison.

Just my opinion
I've seen a lot of Uconn games in 10/11 ( i loved Kemba, he was very talented)
I think i've seen the last 10-12 games (conference tourneament and March Madness).
Lamb improved from the first games (Maui i.e.) and was very good in March madness
Good
Then i've seen Lamb last summer with the NT
Good
I've seen not so many games of UConn this year (maybe 3-4)
I thought he can improve more, but i think he regress a lot
He was not the same player (maybe he missed Kemba)
But he can be a good shooter, not a leader, not a go-to-guy but a good SG with a good jumpshot

@Cdel
Sorry, i am not a apple.
Maybe a lemon

[cdel00]

Q&A with Lillard

http://dimemag.com/2012/06/dime-qa-dami ... -doubters/

"
Damian Lillard is not letting the current love affair NBA teams have with his game get to his head. He recognizes the work still to be done, more people to prove wrong and an Oakland hoops tradition to carry on. The 6-3 point guard’s everlasting chip on the shoulder is birthed out of past underrating and overlooking.

Despite putting up 28 points per game his senior year at Oakland (CA) High, Lillard was written off as a mid-major recruit, thus landing at Weber State of the Big Sky conference. He was the first freshman to land a spot on the All-Conference first team since Detroit Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey (Eastern Washington) back in 2006. After Lillard was named conference MVP as a sophomore, his season was derailed as a junior due to a broken foot.
"


But you know that all ready

Lillard shows SWAGGER

"
Dime: You were considered a two-star prospect coming out of Oakland High, now you are considered a sure-fire lottery pick and the top point guard in the draft. How are you dealing with this newfound attention?
Damian Lillard: I’m dealing with it well. When people doubted me and didn’t give me a lot of credit for the player that I was, I didn’t buy into what they were saying then. I didn’t believe that hype so now that everything is switched and people are showing me all this love and finally respecting what I do, I’m feeling the same way about it. I appreciate it but I don’t buy into it too much the same way as I didn’t buy into it before all of this was here.
"

He knows nothing will be given to him and is listening to GP advice while working on his D right now.

"
Dime: You have the same agent as Gary Payton, Aaron Goodwin. Have you had any interaction with Gary?
DL: Yeah, I’ve talked to GP. Most of the stuff we talk about is defense. He was telling me that I got a lot of game offensively, but I’d take myself to the next level if I became a better defender. So I’ve been working on a lot of lateral movement stuff with Ant (personal trainer) and explosiveness.
"

Enjoy the read the kid is very real, very likable, you can't help pull for him. He's doing it old school.

[GreatWhiteStiff]

"But now he's got more mins and his points avg didn't drop, instead it goes up. That says something about evidences of improvement there."

yeah but his minutes went up and some of his stats stayed pretty much the same. That says something about evience of regression there.

[heat613]

fredericklove.. man whos the girl in ur avi..

[No-lillard]

Just another little stat


2011/2012
He played against 2 decent teams (not-Sky)

BYU 5/12, 15 points
California 4/17, 14 points

2010/2011
Only 9 games played, 1 against a decent team (OK, Arizona St. wasn't so good but they are a PAC-10 team)
2/17, 8 points !!! (and they lose 58-59 at home )

2009/2010
again BYU 8/16, 23 points (that was good)
And UNLV (ranked #23, wow!!), 2/13, 8 points


Toital= 5 games against decent teams, 5 losses, 4 bad lines

Now i know why he had a solo workout
He's good against scrubs, he's bad when good players are on the floor

[cdel00]

Just another little stat


2011/2012
He played against 2 decent teams (not-Sky)

BYU 5/12, 15 points
California 4/17, 14 points

2010/2011
Only 9 games played, 1 against a decent team (OK, Arizona St. wasn't so good but they are a PAC-10 team)
2/17, 8 points !!! (and they lose 58-59 at home )

2009/2010
again BYU 8/16, 23 points (that was good)
And UNLV (ranked #23, wow!!), 2/13, 8 points


Toital= 5 games against decent teams, 5 losses, 4 bad lines

Now i know why he had a solo workout
He's good against scrubs, he's bad when good players are on the floor

Haters gonna hate there will always be those people, lillard knows this it fuels him

Dime: To this day even when you’re working out for NBA teams, do you still carry that chip on your shoulder of being overlooked and playing at Weber State?
DL: I gotta keep it because it’s what got me to this point. I have always had to prove myself. Right now, they’re giving me some respect. I’ll be a lottery pick, but I know it’s still a lot of people that probably don’t think I’m worthy of a lottery pick. Just the fact that I know people doubted me at every level and it’s always going to be those people. I’m always going to have that chip on my shoulder because I’ve always been the underdog. They’re probably expecting me not to do well. I know its people out there like that and I’m gonna keep working to show them that I belong.

[fredericklove]

fredericklove.. man whos the girl in ur avi..

lol everyone asks me that, its Peyton Mackenzzy from tumblr, she's just a random girl (not a celebrity)

[fredericklove]

"But now he's got more mins and his points avg didn't drop, instead it goes up. That says something about evidences of improvement there."

yeah but his minutes went up and some of his stats stayed pretty much the same. That says something about evience of regression there.

For the last time, I'm proving he has areas he improved, some areas stays the same and some areas drop abit. I'm just countering cdel's strong claim of "he didn't improve in his second season", got it?

[No-lillard]

Haters gonna hate there will always be those people, lillard knows this it fuels him

Dime: To this day even when you’re working out for NBA teams, do you still carry that chip on your shoulder of being overlooked and playing at Weber State?
DL: I gotta keep it because it’s what got me to this point. I have always had to prove myself. Right now, they’re giving me some respect. I’ll be a lottery pick, but I know it’s still a lot of people that probably don’t think I’m worthy of a lottery pick. Just the fact that I know people doubted me at every level and it’s always going to be those people. I’m always going to have that chip on my shoulder because I’ve always been the underdog. They’re probably expecting me not to do well. I know its people out there like that and I’m gonna keep working to show them that I belong.

Just a question

"but I know it’s still a lot of people that probably don’t think I’m worthy of a lottery pick. Just the fact that I know people doubted me at every level and it’s always going to be those people"

Then work with and play against the other player
Why not?
But i know the answer
Best case:fear

[JPHolling]

Haters gonna hate there will always be those people, lillard knows this it fuels him

Dime: To this day even when you’re working out for NBA teams, do you still carry that chip on your shoulder of being overlooked and playing at Weber State?
DL: I gotta keep it because it’s what got me to this point. I have always had to prove myself. Right now, they’re giving me some respect. I’ll be a lottery pick, but I know it’s still a lot of people that probably don’t think I’m worthy of a lottery pick. Just the fact that I know people doubted me at every level and it’s always going to be those people. I’m always going to have that chip on my shoulder because I’ve always been the underdog. They’re probably expecting me not to do well. I know its people out there like that and I’m gonna keep working to show them that I belong.

Just a question

"but I know it’s still a lot of people that probably don’t think I’m worthy of a lottery pick. Just the fact that I know people doubted me at every level and it’s always going to be those people"

Then work with and play against the other player
Why not?
But i know the answer
Best case:fear

Im not a lillard fan. at all... I will be upset if the raptors draft him.
BUT theres no way an athlete of his calibre is scared to go up against other top basketball players.

[No-lillard]

Im not a lillard fan. at all... I will be upset if the raptors draft him.
BUT theres no way an athlete of his calibre is scared to go up against other top basketball players.

A overrated player can only drop

[fredericklove]

Im not a lillard fan. at all... I will be upset if the raptors draft him.
BUT theres no way an athlete of his calibre is scared to go up against other top basketball players.

A overrated player can only drop

No way man, I don't want him to drop. I hope a team that takes risks and takes him early so that we can avoid him. Him going higher is actually doing us a huge favor. Whew.

[BillyGM]

Im not a lillard fan. at all... I will be upset if the raptors draft him.
BUT theres no way an athlete of his calibre is scared to go up against other top basketball players.

A overrated player can only drop

No way man, I don't want him to drop. I hope a team that takes risks and takes him early so that we can avoid him. Him going higher is actually doing us a huge favor. Whew.

This comes out from Lamb lover lips.
I would be glad if Lillard dropped to us, but thats never going to happen he is too good.

[No-lillard]

Im not a lillard fan. at all... I will be upset if the raptors draft him.
BUT theres no way an athlete of his calibre is scared to go up against other top basketball players.

A overrated player can only drop

No way man, I don't want him to drop. I hope a team that takes risks and takes him early so that we can avoid him. Him going higher is actually doing us a huge favor. Whew.

Misunderstanding
I told "A overrated can only drop" because he's in the same Drummond situation
Drummond did a lot of workouts with other player and he drop in the mock
Lillard refuse to workout with others for this reason
Obviously he prefers to be a high pick ($$$$)

[BillyGM]

Hello Andre, didn't know you want to be a Raptor.

[DG88]

Haters gonna hate there will always be those people, lillard knows this it fuels him

Dime: To this day even when you’re working out for NBA teams, do you still carry that chip on your shoulder of being overlooked and playing at Weber State?
DL: I gotta keep it because it’s what got me to this point. I have always had to prove myself. Right now, they’re giving me some respect. I’ll be a lottery pick, but I know it’s still a lot of people that probably don’t think I’m worthy of a lottery pick. Just the fact that I know people doubted me at every level and it’s always going to be those people. I’m always going to have that chip on my shoulder because I’ve always been the underdog. They’re probably expecting me not to do well. I know its people out there like that and I’m gonna keep working to show them that I belong.

Just a question

"but I know it’s still a lot of people that probably don’t think I’m worthy of a lottery pick. Just the fact that I know people doubted me at every level and it’s always going to be those people"

Then work with and play against the other player
Why not?
But i know the answer
Best case:fear

If he was working out alone because of fear then why did participate in all of the draft combine workouts? His agent is settings up these solo workouts so that he can protect his client. You seem to not understand how this process works. Most players that a set to go in the top half of the lottery usual do solo workouts because their agent doesn't want them dropping. In the case for late lottery picks they will be in group workout so that they can possibly move up in the draft. Players usually follow the advice of their agents during this process. Damian said it himself if it was up to him he'd go head to head with these guys but his agent told him that doing solo workouts would be best.