Would you choose Lillard over Curry?

[BudweiserCeltic]

Lillard vs Curry seems a little silly considering Curry's epic season.  Curry's having the best single season since Jordan.   

But in defense of the premise, Curry is definitely helped a bit by being surrounded with incredible talent. 

He's better than Lillard, but Lillard deserves a ton of credit right now.  Heading into this season, it seemed Portland would be one of the worst teams in the league.  They tore apart a playoff team and dropped 6 of their top 7 guys.   Some thought Lillard might have been helped a bit by playing with LaMarcus Aldridge and that Lillard would struggle as the main option.  Surely, his efficiency would take a hit without the help of Wes Matthews, Aldridge, Batum, Robin Lopez and Afflalo.

Nope.  Averaging 25.1 points, 7.2 assists, 4.2 rebounds, 1.1 steals with 43%/37%/86% shooting.   Roughly the same shooting percentages as always.   He and CJ MCCollum have actually formed a poor man's Splash Brothers.  McCollum is averaging 21 points with impressive 45%/41%/80% shooting.  Woah. 

They have the 7th seed right now.  Just crushed Golden State.  They have won 11 of their last 12 games.   Lillard is averaging 30.1 points, 8 assists, 3.4 rebounds, 1.9 steals with 46%/38%/87% shooting this month.   He seems to have reacted aggressively to the all-star snub.    Lillard deserves a ton of credit right now.  FWIW, his stats are similar to Curry's a couple seasons ago when Curry was the same age.   That's not to say Lillard is going to make that type of leap, but he's earned my respect this season. 

What is being discounted in the comparisons is that Curry's calling card has always been his extraordinary efficiency, Lillard isn't even close in that regard. Curry has pretty much, with one exception, improved his shooting efficiency every single year which is incredible considering how good a shooter he already was. Lillard has been just he opposite, with the exception of one year, he's been going down every year... though staying around he same level all told.

Lillard is very good, but that's where the comparison ends with these two. It's not that Lillard isn't good, but that Curry is simply exceptional, and Lillard's trajectory so far doesn't project to be as dominant as Curry has been or even close to it.  Lillard's best TS% season is the same as that of Curry's worst (his rookie season). But, Lillard does have the tool to become one of the top players around the league, but it's still a long way to go. He's on a hot stretch though in this month, funny thing is that Curry has been even better during this month, so that should tell us something.

So in all, I'm with you that Lillard deserves a lot of praise and credit, I do take issue with the stance of similar stats at the same age simply because it devalues what Curry is all about, efficiency, and he was way ahead of Lilllard even back then.

[Al91]

Simply answer: "no".

About two years ago Lillard was the better shooter compared to Thompson and Curry. Lillard was more efficient, and personally I value efficiency over volume (i.e. Ray's timely shots late in his career are indicative of efficient play, rather than chucking IMO). However, Lillard couldn't steal any hype away from Curry, and Lillard's actions following the AS game omission last year didn't help his reputation.

I believe on a podcast I heard a couple people talking about where they place Lillard overall among PGs. My personal ranking is as follows (top ten currently only):

Curry
Westbrook
Paul
Lillard/Lowry
Wall
IT
Irving

I can't even get to ten...I didn't look at anyone outside of the playoffs, and these are truly the only "super PGs" currently in the playoffs.

Lillard comes ahead of Wall and Irving simply because Lillard is dragging his team along farther than anyone predicted.
Wall has had great seasons with WAS, but with HUGE help from Nene, Gortat, and Pierce (last year).
Irving couldn't do anything without LeBron...that CLE team wasn't going anywhere.
IT gets the benefit of me being a homer and analyzing his impact on BOS with a bias.
Curry, Westbrook, and Paul are in a class of their own, and clearly capable of leading their team to post-season success without one of their fellow stars (see Westbrook sans Durant last year, Paul sans Blake this year, and Curry's just "OMG this is amazing" offense all the time).

I don't remember seeing Parker play at the amazing level I'm used to be accustomed to since the Spurs' back-to-back final trips. Rondo is lighting it up on a poorly managed team...and that's all I'll say about him.

I mean, I don't think I'm missing any truly revolutionary guards. For a league that's greatest depth is supposedly at PG, I don't see where all these guys are...

[Eddie20]

Triboy, do you still feel the same way?

[Ogaju]

A Lillard is okay, but Curry is the 'spice of life'.

[Tr1boy]

Triboy, do you still feel the same way?

What?

What a poor defender RW is.   Yeah I will say that

[Roy H.]

Triboy, do you still feel the same way?

What?

What a poor defender RW is.   Yeah I will say that

Yeah, I can't believe RW left Curry open from 9 feet beyond the 3PT line!

[Eddie20]

Triboy, do you still feel the same way?

What?

What a poor defender RW is.   Yeah I will say that

So him hitting 30 foot 3's in clutch moments and being completely unguardable is Westbrook's fault? He's the best player in the game and it's a shame you are too stubborn to ackowledge that your thread was off-base and devoid of reality.

[Vox_Populi]

Is there an argument, this season, for any player over Curry? This might be the greatest offensive season of all time.

[Tr1boy]

Triboy, do you still feel the same way?

What?

What a poor defender RW is.   Yeah I will say that

So him hitting 30 foot 3's in clutch moments and being completely unguardable is Westbrook's fault? He's the best player in the game and it's a shame you are too stubborn to ackowledge that your thread was off-base and devoid of reality.

Again RW

AB, Tony Allen and any other good defender would not let Curry make those shots

RW the dummy runs back without paying attentiom and before you know it's too late. 40 percent chance Curry can make that shot.Now tell me, how do you think AB would of guarded Curry in that instance?? Aware/ Glued from the moment GSW inbounded the ball

[Roy H.]

Is there an argument, this season, for any player over Curry? This might be the greatest offensive season of all time.

I don't think there is. Lebron, Durant and RW are still transcendental players, but Curry makes shots that don't even go in on video game "easy mode".

Yes, Curry is in a perfect system, but that system isn't why he's nailing multiple 30+ foot shots in the clutch. He's easily the best shooter I've ever seen, combining accuracy with volume.

[Roy H.]

Triboy, do you still feel the same way?

What?

What a poor defender RW is.   Yeah I will say that

So him hitting 30 foot 3's in clutch moments and being completely unguardable is Westbrook's fault? He's the best player in the game and it's a shame you are too stubborn to ackowledge that your thread was off-base and devoid of reality.

Again RW

AB, Tony Allen and any other good defender would not let Curry make those shots

RW the dummy runs back without paying attentiom and before you know it's too late. 40 percent chance Curry can make that shot.Now tell me, how do you think AB would of guarded Curry in that instance?? Aware/ Glued from the moment GSW inbounded the ball

40% chance he nails a 3PT from 32 feet at the buzzer?

Is any other player greater than 10% in that situation? Curry's range is unprecedented.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Triboy, do you still feel the same way?

What?

What a poor defender RW is.   Yeah I will say that

So him hitting 30 foot 3's in clutch moments and being completely unguardable is Westbrook's fault? He's the best player in the game and it's a shame you are too stubborn to ackowledge that your thread was off-base and devoid of reality.

Again RW

AB, Tony Allen and any other good defender would not let Curry make those shots

RW the dummy runs back without paying attentiom and before you know it's too late. 40 percent chance Curry can make that shot.Now tell me, how do you think AB would of guarded Curry in that instance?? Aware/ Glued from the moment GSW inbounded the ball

I'll tell you what they would've done... fouled him on the shot.

[Eddie20]

Triboy, do you still feel the same way?

What?

What a poor defender RW is.   Yeah I will say that

So him hitting 30 foot 3's in clutch moments and being completely unguardable is Westbrook's fault? He's the best player in the game and it's a shame you are too stubborn to ackowledge that your thread was off-base and devoid of reality.

Again RW

AB, Tony Allen and any other good defender would not let Curry make those shots

RW the dummy runs back without paying attentiom and before you know it's too late. 40 percent chance Curry can make that shot.Now tell me, how do you think AB would of guarded Curry in that instance?? Aware/ Glued from the moment GSW inbounded the ball

You're making an argument that doesn't fit your thread title (Lillard > Curry). Yes, Bradley is a better defender than Westbrook. And? What's your point? Isn't the basis of the thread to suggest, with a straight face, that you think Lillard is better than Curry?

[Roy H.]

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/02/stephen-curry-video-games-nba-2k16

[Tr1boy]

Is there an argument, this season, for any player over Curry? This might be the greatest offensive season of all time.

I don't think there is. Lebron, Durant and RW are still transcendental players, but Curry makes shots that don't even go in on video game "easy mode".

Yes, Curry is in a perfect system, but that system isn't why he's nailing multiple 30+ foot shots in the clutch. He's easily the best shooter I've ever seen, combining accuracy with volume.

Nice reaction after RW is the one guarding Curry

Watch the games vs grizzlies/Celtics and post your reaction

You know why the Spurs were able to beat Cavs in the finals?  Leonard slowing down/shutting down Lebron

You know why the Bulls were unstoppable bc nobody could slow down Jordan.   

Remedy to slow down Curry is have a solid defender like AB, Allen on him. Play physical D. Glue onto him

This said he is still one of the top players in the league. Let's just calm down to say he is the greatest ever bc he is making beyond the 3 shots being guarded by so so defenders