Dame Lillard: Why does he get a pass? Alot of people REALLY Love the guy I mean he has not done too too much but people have him at MVP Level player Top 5 or 10 in the League I Just Don't See It He is John Wall to me (John is a better driver and disher Dame is a better shooter) And about his Defensive ability . . . . . that is where the biggest pass comes from Rocket River
People like that he shoots far and hits game-winning shots. Totally agree, though. He may play like Steph, but is worse in every way.
Dame's been a popular, beloved kind of guy for various reasons. However, I don't know if many have considered him a top 10 player the last 2-3 years because he clearly hasn't been. He's NEVER been a top 5 player. I put him a notch above John Wall because Wall was selfish and insecure his entire career while Dame has always played winning basketball. Neither guy was good enough to be Batman on a championship team. IMO, I don't think Wall was even good enough to be Robin because of his ego. When it comes to legacy, Dame has it all on the line this year. So far this season, he has a high number of clunky games where he can't his the broad side of a barn. The Rockets game was an example. When the playoffs come, I expect him to play his best, but we'll see.
He's in a perfect position because he's not quite good enough to get all the garbage that comes with being a superstar
He's one of the players who's image benefited greatly from the market he played in. Portland always played too late for most of the country to watch, and being a small market kept them off national TV. As a result, people only knew of Dame from highlights and hitting some big shots in the 1st round, while bearing little if any expectations. I remember someone at school arguing that Dame was the 2nd best player in the world sometime in 2019-2020, the phrase "DAME 2" became an inside joke amongst my friends.
In a 2 on 2 match up who wins Dame and CJ McCullum or John Wall and Bradley Beal I always considered them the same West vs East Rocket River
Dame > John Wall. Problem is, this is not a fair matchup because prime Brad Beal >>>>>>> prime CJ McCollum. What most people don't understand is how overrated McCollum was on the Blazers. An unpredictable yo yo they couldn't count on. If you think Dame's defense was bad, CJ's was non-existent. Speaking of getting a pass, CJ is a cool cat who a lot of people like (including me). He's very articulate and crafty with his words. Considering perception vs. reality, he gets a much bigger pass than Dame IMO.
It's all about hitting those key shots in key moments man. If you haven't won a championship, that's your next best thing to cling on too, otherwise you are just called a loser like James Harden.
Likeable, loyal guy. He can make game winning shots from anywhere on the court. Also Portland made 8 consecutive playoffs with him which is sth. People like underdogs and players that are almost bigger than the teams they play for. Fans wish those players to leave their teams because they are too big for those teams they deserve better but also admire their loyatly and understand why they don't. It was a Totti-Roma thing. Totti was Roma like Dame was Portland.
He played out of his mind on offense last year and had some good shooting. That regressed back a bit. He always got a pass because nobody had expectations and Portland was on TV late and was never a legit threat even when they made the WCF. Now people see him being a defensive liability on a contending team that was previously good in that spot with Holiday - and it's harder to hide than when he was playing next to CJ or Simons.
Yes, for the mere fact that it's out of 30 teams rather than 20. (CL is however much harder too) I was just pointing out Totti's stature in the game is quite a bit higher than that of Lillard's. Totti won once, and finished 2nd quite a few times more. Even won the European top scorer once. So Totti can stay in the team happy while also having gained enough respect without having to go elsewhere. There are definitely many such examples of players outlsizing their team and bounce towards the end of their career.
Or a tad better Trae Young. He has a lethal Pick and Roll game and a great shot from the logo..... He is not all that all round......
He's a high octane scorer for more than a decade now. His team is always in the playoffs and he's hit some ridiculous shots and put up crazy scoring numbers. Even though his team never went anywhere in the playoffs, his long 3's in the clutch gets played over and over again on TV. People also never expect his team to win for some reason, so he never "disappoints" people, so whenever he does win a series he gets all the praise (beating Houston in 2015 and then beating OKC in 2019) It's like playing with house money because everyone thinks you are always the underdog.
To be fair, this has been the first time he has been on a so called stacked team and he is already 34 years old......
