According to Lonzo Ball, Damian Lillard can not only shoot from the half-court but also has underrated passing and finishing abilities. The newest Bulls guard explains how the Blazers superstar is one of the toughest players he had to guard.
Advertisement
Damian Lillard is one of the top guards in the league today. The Portland Trail Blazers superstar is among the best shooters in the league who needs to be heavily guarded as soon as he crosses the half-court line.
Throughout his 9-year career, Dame Dolla has been an explosive scorer dropping 40-bombs at his own will. And because of his amazing ability of handling, shooting and scoring the rock, Lillard has 6 All-Star appearances and 6 All-NBA selections.
With a career average of 24.7 points, 6.6 assists and 4.2 rebounds on an efficient 44/37/89 shooting split, there has been virtually no defender who completely locked down Dame. And Lonzo Ball is just one of the many stars in the league who has been torched by the Blazers leader, on several instances in his career.
Also Read: NBA Twitter goes crazy after vacation photos of the Mavericks MVP go viral
“Damian Lillard is an underrated passer and can even finish at the rim”: Lonzo Ball
Back in 2019, Lonzo was asked to mention the five toughest players he had ever guarded. Before naming Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, James Harden and DeMar DeRozan, the eldest Ball brother started the list with Dame. In his “The Players’ Tribune” article, the newest Bulls guard mentioned:
“I’m going to kick this off with Dame, because he’s a killer.
He can shoot from half court, so you have to pick him up right when he crosses that line. And any time you have to guard a guy out that far. Especially someone who can move like Dame — it’s tough to stay in front of him because he just has so much space to maneuver.
The only thing you can do is try to get up into him — cut off his angles so he can’t use all that space. And doesn’t have room to shoot. But that’s easier said than done. He shoots too fast, too quick, from too deep. So when I play against him, I might pick a side. Take away his shooting hand and force him inside to the paint.
But he’s also an underrated passer and he can finish at the rim. So even if you force him to the paint, you gotta hope you either get help on the drive or that you can ride with him long enough to force a tough shot.
And he’s got that dog in him, too. He plays with a chip on his shoulder. He came into the league out of a small school and had to prove himself. And even now that he’s done that, he’s still out there every night making sure people know. You can tell by the way he plays that he thinks he’s the best point guard in the league.
He has every right to feel that way.”
Also Read: Former NBA Champ discusses the difference between the Timberwolves and Spurs legend
