Damian Lillard's Improvement: Drives to the Basket Leading to Efficiency

By Fansided and McLayne Bertsch/FanSided via Rip City Project
Published

Damian Lillard is driving to the hoop and finishing at a career-high rate

Let us take another pause in the catastrophic whirlwind of a Trail Blazers’ season to provide some Holiday cheer. Despite hitting rock bottom, reaching historic levels on defense, there are plenty of positive signs on offense. Yes, the Trail Blazers have actually improved offensively over last year’s version. The defense is just THAT much worse this year.

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    One of the bets that General Manager Neil Olshey made in keeping the team intact was that Damian Lillard will continue to improve. Teams with young superstars can make leaps when said superstar takes his game to a new level. The Toronto Raptors are seeing this improvement with DeMar DeRozan’s newfound efficiency.

    Lillard has taken an important step in being an all-around scorer and distributor. Unfortunately, he’s made zero strides defensively, which masks his improved offensive efficiency.

    Lillard is taking the ball to the hoop more often this season and settling for less contested jumpers. His field goal percentage, free throws and points per game have all benefited substantially. Lillard is currently shooting 45.7% from the field (41.9% last year), attempts 8 free throws a game (6.2 last year), and scores 27.4 points per game (25.1 last year). Lillard plays the exact same amount of minutes per game this season. The quantity and quality of his drives to the hoop are the reason for improvement.

    In the table below, you can see his progression through the last four years. Lillard not only drives the ball at a career-high rate, his finishing at the rim is now elite. It’s one of the top rates in the league for a guard.

    Damian Lillard’s Drives (Per Game)

    NBA Season Drives Field Goals Made Field Goals Attempted FG % Free Throw Attempted
    2013-2014 8 1.9 4.6 40.9% 2.4
    2014-2015 9.5 2.4 4.7 51.7% 2.2
    2015-2016 9.8 2.7 5.5 48.2% 2.7
    2016-2017 10.2 3.2 5.8 55.7% 2.9

    Via nba.com’s player tracking stats

    This type of success driving the ball is the exact reason it’s so curious to see the former Weber State guard settle for a contested three pointer down by one point on Wednesday night. It’s easier said than done to score on the ‘Iron man’ Wesley Matthews. However, it’s clear that good things happen when Lillard drives to the hoop.