While the title may seem a bit pointed and may give the allure of another easy hot take piece on what is an early-season and popular player struggling, I promise that while this post may still be that, the title itself is more about me being lazy and just picking something with an easy rhyming scheme. But hey, it works. FOR ME. But guess what’s not working? Everything for Dame, that’s for sure. And while you expect to feel at least a lil’ scared and haunted on Halloween, I’d say watching one of the worst performances of Damian Lillard‘s career is a bit scarier than should be allowed. (So many Halloween references, so little time.) So what’s up with Dame and will he continue to stay lame? Linger and enjoy the rhyme a bit more before jumping in and finding out…
So yeah, last night’s game against the Hornets, Lillard managed 25 points, but the way he got there is something you probably don’t want to witness if you are a Dame fan, a Trail Blazers fan, an NBA fan, or just a human being. Going 10-24 from the field and just 4-11 beyond the arc, I don’t think it was hyperbole to say that watching him play was akin to seppuku. Which is a problem, because you could probably say the same thing about most of the games he’s played so far in this now young season.
And that’s part of the rub, which makes me hungry for brisket, but beyond BBQ terms, something to remember is there have been just six games played so far. Hard to make any wide-ranging analysis at this point, but should you be concerned at least a bit? Well, sure, Lillard is just shooting 34% from the field and 23% from three-point land as of this writing.
I think it’s easy to compare this situation to that of Steph Curry ala 2020, but I’m not sure it’s that easy. Keep in mind that after just a couple of terrible shooting games, he rebounded (figuratively) quickly and went on to score 62 points in his sixth game. An additional point is that Curry had a bit more caveats in that the personnel was a bit new to him where Lillard is essentially playing with the same cast. The numbers also don’t really support this idea as well, so far Dame has averaged 18 points with the aforementioned dismal 23% three-point shooting percentage, Curry was averaging 32 points on 36% shooting outside, quite the difference.
Something else to ponder, while I think it’s simpler to say that this is a small sample size problem, that every player goes through a bad stretch, and there’s nothing wrong about stating the obvious, but a possible red flag is that it really hasn’t just been six games Lillard has struggled in. Think back all the way to the Olympics, he didn’t really perform up to his usual standards at that time too.
So if he’s not struggling, the next logical conclusion is injury, and this one is harder to judge. Granted, none of us are medical professionals, I mean some of you might be, but we’re not in the locker room regardless, so all we can see is that Dame is not Dame and that if you do take the Olympics production into consideration, which I think is fine to a degree, you might have to concede that there is something here that’s holding him back physically. Age could be a factor, of course, but if it is, this would be quite the quick and precipitous drop, enough so to where if I’m going to assume anything, it would probably be slanted more toward injury than going old and busted. *cries in almost 40.
At the end of the day and as I’ve echoed here, it really is far too early, no matter what the process is to make that conclusion, to make sweeping wholesale changes in what you and I project for Damian Lillard. There are solid points on both sides of the argument, and in six more games, this worry and fluster for Dame might all seem silly and anxious. In fact, I hope that’s the case, but it is something when you see a player of this caliber struggle right out of the gate.
And one point in Dame’s corner as I wrap this up, last night’s game may have been pretty atrocious, but it shouldn’t cover up the fact that the game before against the Clippers, Lillard scored 25 from 9-17 FG shooting and went 5-7 in 3PT. So whether he is injured, old, or just trying to force things, he can obviously still do the thing that he’s used to doing, and through all of this, we should remember that.
From Dame to Lame can be just as easy as Lame to Dame.
DEEP BRO.
Jay is a longtime Razzball everything who consumes an egregious amount of Makers Mark as a vehicle to gain wisdom and augment his natural glow. Living in the D.C. area, he also likes spending time visiting the local parks and feeding lettuce to any turtles he encounters, including Mitch McConnell. You can follow him on Twitter @jaywrong.
