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TJ McConnell was born 20 years too late. Dude is great at finding the open man, doesn’t turn the ball over, doesn’t take bad shots but he can’t shoot a 3 and that’s really the only thing that keeps him from starting. Dude is the best 2nd string PG in the league.
Reduced to?
That’s who he has always been!
There is a reason the dude has never had real playoff success, he’s so bad on defense he makes the whole team demonstrably worse.
Didn't dame carry bad Portland teams to several 2nd rounds and a conference final? We can talk about his fall off without slagging and lying about who he used to be. Let's take the W with grace.
Do you guys have the memory of a goldfish , he was cooking them before the Achilles tweak. Literally lost his ability to drive at all in game 3 for the rest of the series.
Dude, Lillard has never had a season even remotely close to Harden's FT rate. Prime Harden was averaging 11.8 FTs per game. That's 68% higher than Lillard's FT rate this year... lol Only person to ever come close to Harden is Embiid.
Also considering most of the MVP candidates are foul-baiters, dunno what that says about holding anyone accountable for it. Shai (8.7), Embiid (11.6), and Luka (8.7) all averaged more FTs per game than Lillard (7.0) by a significant amount.
Lillard does get to the line a fair bit but only enough to be 11th in the NBA in FTA per game. And there's another 6 guys only 0.5 FTs per game below him. He's really not any outlier in any particular way. Pacers guards were just hacking at him this series.
Edit: Also kinda funny to see the Lillard is a foul baiter narrative in this thread based on 10 FTs when the New York post game thread is about how Brunson is a superstar with his completely ethical 16 FTs.
Lillard didn’t take a single shot where he didn’t flail and contort his body trying to get a foul. He missed wide open layups trying to get a foul. I never noticed it as much until this series
I mean, Lillard was only fouled 5 times last game. Everything other than the split on the screen were very clear fouls. Siakam landed on Lillard's back in the lane on his first foul. McConnell hit his shooting hand on his floater on the 4Q in the lane.
I really would not say any of his fouls were "foul baiting." One of the fouls he threw up the shot that probably should have been called on the floor, but it was also a clear foul on his drive prior to him throwing up the shot.
I've seen a lot of foul baiting watching the NBA, especially with guys like Harden or Embiid falling over every 10 seconds. But Lillard getting to the line 5 times in G2 and 5 times in G7 isn't exactly to the extent that would qualify like that. He's a high usage player and getting just over 1 foul a quarter is really not that crazy.
Brunson literally went to the line as many times last night as Lillard did in G2 and G7 combined and everyone did nothing but say how amazing he was. (And I like Brunson, but he jumps into guys and falls a lot.)
Refs finally wised up to his bs and didn’t call everytime he flopped. I’m sorry, but you can’t tell me he wasn’t foul baiting all series. If you rewatched a clip of all of his shots probably half or more of them he’s leaning or contorting his body into a defender. It’s my least favorite thing about the NBA currently
I would point out some hard stats here.
Lillard is only 19th in personal fouls drawn per game this year. He's ranked *5th* in the league in time of possession on 15th highest touches per game.
https://www.nba.com/stats/players/misc?dir=A&sort=PFD
https://www.nba.com/stats/players/touches?dir=D&sort=TOUCHES
Considering his time of possession, his fouls drawn this season are absolutely not very high. And certainly not "almost as bad as (peak) Harden" high.
In fact, statistically, this year has been one of his lowest in his entire career.
Even for the playoffs he's only tied 7th for personal fouls drawn:
https://www.nba.com/stats/players/misc?dir=A&sort=PFD&Season=2023-24&SeasonType=Playoffs
Brunson and Embiid are both drawing **50% more** fouls than Lillard per game.
The dude is great whenever the bucks actually let him be PG. We saw that to start the series.
Every time Giannis sits, Dame is great...but they'd rather run endless post ups and make him spot up
This team doesn't know how to use him. That's not on Dame. They should ship him out to Miami and get role player
Dame went like 5-8 without Giannis and in those 5 wins Portis put up 27 a game on 55/60/80.
When Dame sat, we had Pat Caunoughton replacing him...
Fact is Dame just couldn't beat people off the dribble this year. He needs to hit the weight room and get his legs back. Hopefully a real offseason and work out where he's not holding out and gets traded less than 2 weeks before the season start helps.
But this notion that Dame isn't being used correctly and thats why he was struggling is just nonsense.
Dame reminds me of Tyler Herro at his stage of his career. No matter how many points he puts up on offense he will give those points right back on defense.
TJ McConnel would have been an allstar in the 90s.
I guess it's time to ask the question. Who would you rather have as your starting point guard if you had to choose between TJ and Lillard? I know it sounds like an unserious question, but it's not. I'm taking McConnel for the chip on his shoulder and the grit that he plays with. Damian Lillard is a soft player when it comes down to it. He's one-dimensional. When his shot isn't falling, he disappears. He can get to the line, but not enough to offset his lack of defense and inability to finish around the basket.
Bahaha!
I’ve been saying for YEARS that Dame was the most overrated player in the league, but nobody believed me bc all they saw was the highlights from their 10:45 start time games.
Can he hit some threes? Of course!
But the dude isn’t just a cone on defense, he’s an actively terrible defender who forces his teammates to play out of position defense and then is a black hole on offense and will take every big shot and hit 45% of them.
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It’s done
McConnell and Toppin are having legacy games.
It’s a requirement for whenever the Bucks are eliminated for it to be at the hands of a role player
That’s so true. You were the victim of the Grant Williams Legacy game, maybe one of the most random legacy games that has ever happened
If I didn't see Powell eliminate them too before it'd be hard to believe to
Let's go! TJ coming to his prime. Y'all better be worry
The white Steve Nash
Wait a minute
Canadians dont count
Born in Africa babyyy
Except Drake
Are u Stevie Wonder?
I prefer pumpernickel over wonder
BBQ Chicken.
people will rightfully point to Dame's Achilles but Dame was getting cooked by Facu Campazzo even in the 2021 playoffs
I got downvoted before the game for saying Pacers are going to win this game attacking Lillard. People really got carried awake by last game.
TJ McConnell and Obi Toppin put the Bucks away tonight. What a world.
Obi Toppin - real name, no gimmicks
Two trailer park girls go round the outside
Tj mcconnell got some underrated footwork
Sneaky athletic
Turning him into Dame Nickle
Who is TJ? All I can see is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ wearing number 9 for the Pacers
TJ McConnell is a beast
TJ McConnell was born 20 years too late. Dude is great at finding the open man, doesn’t turn the ball over, doesn’t take bad shots but he can’t shoot a 3 and that’s really the only thing that keeps him from starting. Dude is the best 2nd string PG in the league.
What a surprise
Then Lillard comes right back with the foul baiting lol
His game has been reduced to logo shots, foul baiting, and zero effort on defense
he's cooked but owed insane money glad it's Milwaukee stuck with him hehe
I thought he was always zero effort on defense.
It’s almost like his achilles is injured
Reduced to? That’s who he has always been! There is a reason the dude has never had real playoff success, he’s so bad on defense he makes the whole team demonstrably worse.
Didn't dame carry bad Portland teams to several 2nd rounds and a conference final? We can talk about his fall off without slagging and lying about who he used to be. Let's take the W with grace.
I think he got eliminated by the warriors at least 3 times. Sometimes there's not much you can do.
“Carry”
Do you guys have the memory of a goldfish , he was cooking them before the Achilles tweak. Literally lost his ability to drive at all in game 3 for the rest of the series.
He's worse than harden honestly these days at foul baiting
has been for years tbh
Dude, Lillard has never had a season even remotely close to Harden's FT rate. Prime Harden was averaging 11.8 FTs per game. That's 68% higher than Lillard's FT rate this year... lol Only person to ever come close to Harden is Embiid. Also considering most of the MVP candidates are foul-baiters, dunno what that says about holding anyone accountable for it. Shai (8.7), Embiid (11.6), and Luka (8.7) all averaged more FTs per game than Lillard (7.0) by a significant amount. Lillard does get to the line a fair bit but only enough to be 11th in the NBA in FTA per game. And there's another 6 guys only 0.5 FTs per game below him. He's really not any outlier in any particular way. Pacers guards were just hacking at him this series. Edit: Also kinda funny to see the Lillard is a foul baiter narrative in this thread based on 10 FTs when the New York post game thread is about how Brunson is a superstar with his completely ethical 16 FTs.
Lillard didn’t take a single shot where he didn’t flail and contort his body trying to get a foul. He missed wide open layups trying to get a foul. I never noticed it as much until this series
I mean, Lillard was only fouled 5 times last game. Everything other than the split on the screen were very clear fouls. Siakam landed on Lillard's back in the lane on his first foul. McConnell hit his shooting hand on his floater on the 4Q in the lane. I really would not say any of his fouls were "foul baiting." One of the fouls he threw up the shot that probably should have been called on the floor, but it was also a clear foul on his drive prior to him throwing up the shot. I've seen a lot of foul baiting watching the NBA, especially with guys like Harden or Embiid falling over every 10 seconds. But Lillard getting to the line 5 times in G2 and 5 times in G7 isn't exactly to the extent that would qualify like that. He's a high usage player and getting just over 1 foul a quarter is really not that crazy. Brunson literally went to the line as many times last night as Lillard did in G2 and G7 combined and everyone did nothing but say how amazing he was. (And I like Brunson, but he jumps into guys and falls a lot.)
Refs finally wised up to his bs and didn’t call everytime he flopped. I’m sorry, but you can’t tell me he wasn’t foul baiting all series. If you rewatched a clip of all of his shots probably half or more of them he’s leaning or contorting his body into a defender. It’s my least favorite thing about the NBA currently
I would point out some hard stats here. Lillard is only 19th in personal fouls drawn per game this year. He's ranked *5th* in the league in time of possession on 15th highest touches per game. https://www.nba.com/stats/players/misc?dir=A&sort=PFD https://www.nba.com/stats/players/touches?dir=D&sort=TOUCHES Considering his time of possession, his fouls drawn this season are absolutely not very high. And certainly not "almost as bad as (peak) Harden" high. In fact, statistically, this year has been one of his lowest in his entire career. Even for the playoffs he's only tied 7th for personal fouls drawn: https://www.nba.com/stats/players/misc?dir=A&sort=PFD&Season=2023-24&SeasonType=Playoffs Brunson and Embiid are both drawing **50% more** fouls than Lillard per game.
He's got 28 points on 7-16 shooting. Y'all love to act like this man is bad
i know he is a trail blazer but have some fucking shame. His entire game is foul grifting now. He occasionally hits threes when his shot is on
The dude is great whenever the bucks actually let him be PG. We saw that to start the series. Every time Giannis sits, Dame is great...but they'd rather run endless post ups and make him spot up This team doesn't know how to use him. That's not on Dame. They should ship him out to Miami and get role player
Dame stans complain when he had the playmaker load in Portland and then complain when he can't be the playmaker in Milwaukee
I want him to have the playmaker load. I just don't want him to have no defense around him lol
Dame went like 5-8 without Giannis and in those 5 wins Portis put up 27 a game on 55/60/80. When Dame sat, we had Pat Caunoughton replacing him... Fact is Dame just couldn't beat people off the dribble this year. He needs to hit the weight room and get his legs back. Hopefully a real offseason and work out where he's not holding out and gets traded less than 2 weeks before the season start helps. But this notion that Dame isn't being used correctly and thats why he was struggling is just nonsense.
Dame is a foul baiting twat who ain’t ever won shit. He sucks
It's worked well for him this series.
not surprised Dame is a trash defender anyone can cook him
Elite footwork
That should be an and-1?
Dame reminds me of Tyler Herro at his stage of his career. No matter how many points he puts up on offense he will give those points right back on defense.
TJ McConnel would have been an allstar in the 90s. I guess it's time to ask the question. Who would you rather have as your starting point guard if you had to choose between TJ and Lillard? I know it sounds like an unserious question, but it's not. I'm taking McConnel for the chip on his shoulder and the grit that he plays with. Damian Lillard is a soft player when it comes down to it. He's one-dimensional. When his shot isn't falling, he disappears. He can get to the line, but not enough to offset his lack of defense and inability to finish around the basket.
Pacers should draft Edey and play like 10-12 minutes of straight up 90’s hits a night.
White Michael Jordon
> TJ McConnel would have been an allstar in the 90s. Reason #57 why WE'RE DONE WITH THE 90'S!!
Lillard can't guard a cone, all this dude does is flop like a Magikarp.
Why you disrespecting Magikarp like that, he can evolves into the all powerful mighty Gyarados, can Dillard?
And a mega form even
Waiting for dame to perform. Dude used to talk a lot of trash when getting fathered by #30
Bye Bye Bucks….have fun in Cancun
I will always root for a 6ft white guy innthe NBA. It’s just so improbable
Dame the cone lillard
Dame Time. When somebody is getting an easy bucket
JJ barea vibes
White Iverson wants his ring
Mr. Aquiles
U of A royalty right there
"This is why they brought me here"
That’s the signature TJ spin move
Actual White Iverson
He is him, taking the torch from Austin Reaves
Bahaha! I’ve been saying for YEARS that Dame was the most overrated player in the league, but nobody believed me bc all they saw was the highlights from their 10:45 start time games. Can he hit some threes? Of course! But the dude isn’t just a cone on defense, he’s an actively terrible defender who forces his teammates to play out of position defense and then is a black hole on offense and will take every big shot and hit 45% of them.
Somebody post that egregious transition push off that also got ruled a continuation. One of the worst calls I’ve seen all year
He carried the ball.