Is Damian Lillard a bad defender?

[JerrySeinfeld]

I just noticed that it seems like recently Kyrie with 55 points, CP3 with 41, Curry with 45, all vs the Blazers. Westbrook has also scored 40 or close to it every game vs the Blazers as well.

I don't watch the Blazers enough so someone tell me if Damian Lillard is a bad defender or not.

[navy]

He is. But it's not like you mentioned any scrubs going off....

[dabigbaws]

Yes.

[qrich]

He's an atrocious defender, though, he does try. Just sucks at it.

That, teamed with Stott not knowing how to scheme up the defensive end hurts the Blazers big time. I mean, when healthy, RoLo, Afflalo, Wes, Batum are all good or better defenders and should be able to pick up Amian Lillar's slack.

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

Yea but not much worse than Steph Curry yet nikkas think hes an elite defender now. Goes to show what a great defensive supporting cast can do for a players perception/reputation. See: Lebron

[Genaro]

Yes he is, but opp point guard defense is a team responsibility. Stotts has to build a better help defense to cover Lillard's mistakes.

[trabash]

Compared to Lillard - James Harden is a defensive juggernaut. I think that says it all :oldlol:

[VengefulAngel]

Yea but not much worse than Steph Curry yet nikkas think hes an elite defender now. Goes to show what a great defensive supporting cast can do for a players perception/reputation. See: Lebron

Lebron is a bad example of how a supporting cast improves perspective of an individuals defense. Historically this notion has been due to the fact that great defenses ofter have a rim protector, which Lebron did not have in Miami. Miami actually required Lebron and co to have versatility in order to scramble on the perimeter 'crowding' the ball handler. The team defense in actuality was built for players like 'Lebron and Bosh' (I am mentioning Bosh due to his PnR defense)

It seems as if you don't know much about team defenses, and actually how to assess whether an individual is a bad defender.

Lebron when giving 100 percent effort is an elite defender. Don't get me wrong he doesn't do this often. But if Lebron had to focus on defense alone a la Tony Allen, he has all the necessary capabilities to be an absolute terror on that end of the ball.

Can't wait for your response.

[bobopenguin]

just as good as Steve Nash.

[JerrySeinfeld]

Lebron is a bad example of how a supporting cast improves perspective of an individuals defense. Historically this notion has been due to the fact that great defenses ofter have a rim protector, which Lebron did not have in Miami. Miami actually required Lebron and co to have versatility in order to scramble on the perimeter 'crowding' the ball handler. The team defense in actuality was built for players like 'Lebron and Bosh' (I am mentioning Bosh due to his PnR defense)

It seems as if you don't know much about team defenses, and actually how to assess whether an individual is a bad defender.

Lebron when giving 100 percent effort is an elite defender. Don't get me wrong he doesn't do this often.But if Lebron had to focus on defense alone a la Tony Allen, he has all the necessary capabilities to be an absolute terror on that end of the ball.

Yeah, and so do so many other athletes.

I don't see why fans always feel the need to, and this is usually with LeBron, redirect discussion about his bad defense and say that it's okay because he can be good when he tries.

**** that noise. Defense is all about heart, intensity, effort, having that competitive fire to, as soon as the ball as thrown up, commit to locking up your man and getting up into his head, planting your seed, living rent free up there, breaking his ****ing will. Does that sound like LeBron to you? If anything he's been on the receiving end of that sort of mentality more than he's dished it out.

With LeBron I see a man who for the longest time wanted the glory of having a DPOY award but wasn't willing to make the same sacrifice that Jordan was when he got his and overall was nowhere near as deserving as other players. Switching onto the other teams best player for the final 3 minutes of a game is nice, and the media will eat it up, but once you realize that there are a plethora of tangible defensive stats which show that even guys like Durant with an average defensive rep have been playing better defense than LeBron for the past few years, it's laughable at best to hype up LeBron's defense just because he can "be great if he tries."

Best defender on the planet right here, living rent free in Bran's beta ass mind, giving no ****s

https://usatftw.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/lebronkawhi.gif

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F_Djc-gnmOo/U5fQ934WyMI/AAAAAAAAHaA/_KJ6nAzHuds/s1600/3.gif

[VengefulAngel]

Yeah, and so do so many other athletes.

I don't see why fans always feel the need to, and this is usually with LeBron, redirect discussion about his bad defense and say that it's okay because he can be good when he tries.

**** that noise. Defense is all about heart, intensity, effort, having that competitive fire to, as soon as the ball as thrown up, commit to locking up your man and getting up into his head, planting your seed, living rent free up there, breaking his ****ing will. Does that sound like LeBron to you? If anything he's been on the receiving end of that sort of mentality more than he's dished it out.

With LeBron I see a man who for the longest time wanted the glory of having a DPOY award but was nowhere near as deserving as other players. Switching onto the other teams best player for the final 3 minutes of a game is nice, and the media will eat it up, but once you realize that there are a plethora of tangible defensive stats which show that even guys like Durant with an average defensive rep have been playing better defense than LeBron for the past few years, it's laughable at best to hype up LeBron's defense just because he can "be great if he tries."

Best defender on the planet right here, living rent free in Bran's beta ass mind, giving no ****s



I love how this post is targeted at one of the most irrelevant parts of my post, but I will address it anyway.

I actually agree that most defensive hole's are based off of intensity, but that isn't the complete picture. Ill give an example, I get to guard any NBA PG for one possession, the floor is cleared, now I need a strategy to guard him, I do not have the foot speed/lateral quickness to keep him from getting to the basket and getting a high percentage shot. I will stand a better chance if I know his tendencies/skill set. If I knew that for example that after his 5th dribble he would always drive left, I would actually be in a better position to guard him, or if I knew he was a poor perimeter shooter I would lay off him.

Defense isn't solely based on a individual, no matter how much 'effort' I give I may not have the lateral quickness to guard him. Russell Westbrook when getting to the rim 1 on 1 is nearly impossible to stop so requires 'help'.

Most fans tend to overrate an individuals impact on the defensive end, when in actuality they are probably admiring the team's defensive principles.

Most great defenders look at the offensive player's tendencies and watch a lot of game film in order to prepare, to say defense is all 'effort and heart' is asinine/ludicrous.

[JerrySeinfeld]

I love how this post is targeted at one of the most irrelevant part of my post, but I will address it anyway.

I actually agree that most defensive hole's are based off of intensity, but that isn't the complete picture. Ill give an example, I get to guard any NBA PG for one possession, the floor is cleared, now I need a strategy to guard him, I do not have the foot speed/lateral quickness to keep him from getting to the basket and getting a high percentage shot. I will stand a better chance if I know his tendencies/skill set. If I knew that for example that after his 5th dribble he would always drive left, I would actually be in a better position to guard him, or if I knew he was a poor perimeter shooter I would lay off him.

Defense isn't solely based on a individual, no matter how much 'effort' I give I may not have the lateral quickness to guard him. Russell Westbrook when getting to the rim 1 on 1 is nearly impossible to stop so requires 'help'.

Most fans tend to overrate an individuals impact on the defensive end, when in actuality they are probably admiring the team's defensive principles.

Most great defenders look at the offensive player's tendencies and watch a lot of game film in order to prepare, to say defense is all 'effort and heart' is asinine/ludicrous.

I'd hope that most great defenders watch film.

I'm saying it doesn't matter if you have the tools to be great on that end of the floor but lack the competitive fire like LeBron does. The guy runs away everytime a challenge appears :lol

[Nowitness]

Yes.

Focuses too much on that wack Christian rap career rather than learn from Payton.

[Wavves]

He is a very bad defender but it is much more obvious with Wes Mathews out. The team played some decent to good defense up until he got injured.

Mathews and Batum together really help Dame shine in his role, which is of course the scoring PG that we need.

[RoseCity07]

The only guard on the Blazers that consistently carries their weight on defense is Wesley Matthews. It's really the team defense though.

Lillard has dropped 37 on Curry, is Curry a bad defender? Lillard droppe 40 on Westbrook, is Westbrook bad? It's hard to stop elite guards. I think the case is that Lillard isn't Chris Paul, and the Blazers don't have any scheme to stop elite point guards.

[AkronAngel]

Yes he is. Sadly, this seems to be an improvement over last year too.