Lillard or Paul George?

[Kblaze8855]

I feel like we as a general fanbase are down on Paul and high on Lillard despite pretty similar accomplishments. Lillard has the more spectacular moments. One of the wildest games in history last year. 2 series wining buzzer beaters....one of them in Pauls eye. But no more real playoff success. Both have "SMH...." losses. Some bad series. Paul is obviously the better defender. Lillard is having his best statistical season but his team is doing nothing. Just made the WCF but had an awful game to get there as CJ refused to let them lose. Paul had the epic moments vs the Heat. Not just the main series they pushed them in 2013. Also less remembered times like this:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVD9mo69j7w



He has his moments. I feel Lillard is more loved right now though. Both the same age(Paul turned 30 in May lillard turns 30 tomorrow). Who is your pick now and going forward and who has had the better career?

[Darius]

IMO George because he can slot in perfectly as a #2 option on a championship team.

He can defend, shoot the 3 at a high volume/efficiency, pass, dribble... basically everything on the court at a very high level and can play off ball.

Lillard is a fun player but you are doomed to low ceiling teams because he can only be the #1 option as he needs to ball in his hands... but he isn't good enough to lead a team to a chip.

[dbugz]

Put the blazers in the eastern conference and they'll always be going to ecf for sure.

George pacer's in the west aint gonna taste how it feels like to play in the playoffs.

Lillard attitude > PG

[Akeem34TheDream]

Paul George all day.

[Shogon]

Paul George all day.

[Doranku]

I hate Paul George but probably gotta go with him here. Lillard is too much of a chucker and obviously the defensive gap is massive.

[TheCorporation]

King Paul George

Defense matters

[SouBeachTalents]

You're not winning the title with either as your best player, and as someone else said, PG would be a better fit on more teams than Lillard. I'd go with PG here too

[Whoah10115]

It's really not a question. Lillard is better than Paul George. Lillard can lead your team. And based on his time with Aldridge, he can clearly be your number 2 or 1a/1b.

Lillard is a guy you drop into any era and he does what he does. Also, people are absolutely higher on George, and they ignore Dame.

Lillard > Westbrook all day, and Lillard > George the same.

[Roundball_Rock]

George. Scoring is an area you would think Lillard would have the edge and he does but it is small.

Peak scoring year: Lillard 28.9 (20'), George 28.0 (19')
Prime scoring: Lillard 24.8, George 22.3 (prime defined here from their first AS year to 20')

The prime scoring gap closes if you look at PG post-injury, where he is at 23.8 from 2016-2019.


George pacer's in the west aint gonna taste how it feels like to play in the playoffs.

They did what the Spurs did: take Miami to 7.

[dbugz]

They did what the Spurs did: take Miami to 7.

One hit wonder.

Dame consistently in the playoffs on a tougher western conference.

West 1st round is East conference finals.

[Roundball_Rock]

They were in the ECF with 56 wins the next year.

[RRR3]

They were in the ECF with 56 wins the next year.
I would ignore that poster. Massive troll who can’t even remember to spell LeBron’s name correctly :oldlol:

[StrongLurk]

Paul George

[dbugz]

I would ignore that poster. Massive troll who can’t even remember to spell LeBron’s name correctly :oldlol:

and here you reading my post and remembering how i spelled his name.

someone is hurt here because I can't spell libron correctly :roll:

congrats you got trolled :roll:

[ncrizzle]

"No OT tonight"

:: bricks ::

neither are a #1 on a championship team. But i dont think dame could be a #2 where george i believe can

[tpols]

Dame Lilliard has been surprisingly bad in the playoffs if you look at things holistically, outside his big shots that seem to be the only thing people remember about him. Outside playoff year 1, where he had his career high ORTG by far, his splits have been a net negative in every playoff run. His defensive numbers are atrocious and offensive efficiency mediocre. And yes I have "watched" him ... a lot. He's a chucker and ball dominator type who has some big balls moments once in a while. I actually like watching him because of some of the wild deep balls he hits and his competitive drive / leadership ability which probably give him better intangible impact on his teams than PG. But Paul George has done exactly the same offensively, except he has great defensive splits.

[tpols]

For reference, the Blazers have been a solid wild west playoff team for years... past 3 years? 23rd, 25th, and 30th ranked assist teams.

You dont win in the NBA without teamwork, unless you vastly out talent your opposition.

[ClipperRevival]

IMO George because he can slot in perfectly as a #2 option on a championship team.

He can defend, shoot the 3 at a high volume/efficiency, pass, dribble... basically everything on the court at a very high level and can play off ball.

Lillard is a fun player but you are doomed to low ceiling teams because he can only be the #1 option as he needs to ball in his hands... but he isn't good enough to lead a team to a chip.

Pretty much this.

But we also have to factor in their mentalities. Dame got that self belief while PG seems more unsure at times. But assuming both are right mentally, PG all day. When PG is right, he legit looks like a top 5 player on both ends. And him being a 2nd fiddle is best besides Kawhi. Being "the man" is too much for PG imo. He can't handle that pressure.

[Axe]

Paul george without a doubt. At least he and the pacers took a defending champion in the miami heat to seven games way back then during the 2013 ecf, unlike dame and the trailblazers which only got swept by a limping warriors team in the wcf last year without kd after choking in the second halves of the last three games against them.

[Omar Johnson]

Depends on what types of player you want, if you want a shooter you pick Lillard, if you want a defender you pick George.

[NBAGOAT]

lillard is better this year but I take george overall. Lillard hasnt had a year as good as george last year and george has more top 10 years. This year Lillard's team is trash and pretty injured and cj is quite overrated(i still see people put him over beal) while george has had injury issues. yes george fits better on more teams as a 2nd option but lillard is certainly a good fit with a star big or wing better than george. Has the versatility to be a score first guy or playmake. Imagine him instead of murray/simmons with jokic/embiid or in a kyrie role with lebron or shouldering the playmaking load alongside kd or kawhi.

[CTbasketball92]

George. Scoring is an area you would think Lillard would have the edge and he does but it is small.

Peak scoring year: Lillard 28.9 (20'), George 28.0 (19')
Prime scoring: Lillard 24.8, George 22.3 (prime defined here from their first AS year to 20')

The prime scoring gap closes if you look at PG post-injury, where he is at 23.8 from 2016-2019.



They did what the Spurs did: take Miami to 7.

I really don’t think PG and Dame are close as scorers.

I can’t get to all the stats right now, but Dame has been a lock for 25ppg+ on 58 TS% > for the last four or five seasons, while I think PG has only done that once during that same time period. Dame’s topped PG’s career high a bunch of times and I think has scored over 55 points 5 or so times, 60 twice. Dame has 15-20 game stretches where he averages like 33/7/8 on 62 TS% and is as unstoppable as any scorer in the league. Paul George has had a bunch of months where he’s averaged only like 19-21 points a game on below average efficiency. He’s not nearly the slasher that Dame is and he simply doesn’t get as hot as often from long range. He’s not that acrobatic. He’s very streaky. Last year was his one real elite year as a scorer and that’s just up and in the wind now.

I also think Dame is better enough of an offensive player to the point where it offsets PG’s defensive advantage. Dame is pretty rare as a scorer. Third best guard scorer besides Harden and Steph. PG is v streaky and even his two way impact can fluctuate a good amount. Because he has a high floor as a spacer and defensive ace and has a pretty game people I think overrate him a bit. Jimmy Butler’s been top 10 type player over PG for the last five yaars, but most people don’t realize that. PG has been underwhelming this year

[CTbasketball92]

Paul george gets more of a break than almost any other player I’ve seen recently. He came up pretty empty in some key ways in the playoffs last year and the year before that’s. People give him a bit too much credit for those Miami series as if his team was awful and Lebron wasn’t mostly carrying the ghost of Dwade. Wade averaged like 13-15 ppl in the 2013 playoffs. Paul George has had exactly one indisputable top 3 mvp case and that was last year, where he kinda underperformed in the playoffs anyway. Did OKC even have an above average offense last year? I feel like that means that even Pg’s Offensive impact in his best year was kinda overrated.

[CTbasketball92]

Dame Lilliard has been surprisingly bad in the playoffs if you look at things holistically, outside his big shots that seem to be the only thing people remember about him. Outside playoff year 1, where he had his career high ORTG by far, his splits have been a net negative in every playoff run. His defensive numbers are atrocious and offensive efficiency mediocre. And yes I have "watched" him ... a lot. He's a chucker and ball dominator type who has some big balls moments once in a while. I actually like watching him because of some of the wild deep balls he hits and his competitive drive / leadership ability which probably give him better intangible impact on his teams than PG. But Paul George has done exactly the same offensively, except he has great defensive splits.

I think Dame has made his bed and he’s got to lay in it, but Dame x CJ I think is the real problem, as is losing arguably their second best player for more than a year and now not even having time to slide into the mix for the playoffs. If Dame were next to a Jimmy Butler or A Ben Simmons I think his playoff numbers would likely be better. Instead most years he’s kind of overmatched from a squad standpoint. Last year might have gone better for him if Nurk were healthy. I think Paul George probably has less success in a similar situation due to his problems with volume scoring consistently and his inability to run an offense. Once that awesome Pacers team broke up and the league changed, PG wasn’t exactly doing big things either. He lives off those couple of LeBron matchups but meh.

[ShawkFactory]

They way they game has been, neither will ever win as the guy. Paul George would be the best 2nd guy to get you over the hump.

But if I have to sit and watch my team be a perennial 5-8 seed and perhaps make it past the first round every couple of years? I'm taking Lillard. More fun to watch, more ability to take over a game completely on his own at this point.

[Reggie43]

Still bitter about Paul George leaving the Pacers and I was not a huge fan of his in his time in Indiana (I liked West, Hill and Roy better). I know some of you remember this but lets not forget that Hibbert playing out of his mind was arguably a bigger reason why they pushed the Heatles to seven games. He destroyed Bosh for 22 and 10 on 56% shooting, doubling Bosh's totals while being limited to 38% fg.

[Turbo Slayer]

Probably George. But Dame is fun to watch.