Post by Kasey on Jan 15, 2014 13:10:55 GMT -8
this is a pretty interesting read from Sports Illustrated. it speaks of the seemingly countless stream of NBA point guards to come out of the city of Oakland, referencing Gary Payton, Brian Shaw, Jason Kidd and former Oregon St. standout Lester Connor. It speaks of Damian having the Oakland attitude when it comes to playing point guard in the league.
Click here to read the entire article.
In 1990, the year Payton was drafted No. 2 by the Seattle SuperSonics and Kidd led St. Joseph to the state championship, Damian Lillard was born into the cradle of the crossover.
Lillard is the product of a different time -- more of a sniper than his predecessors, less of a stopper -- but the same hard-bitten place. "You learn the history, and you learn that Oakland carries weight," he says. "It means you don't get scared. You want to play one-on-one? We can do that. You want to fight after a game at the park with your cousins? I guess we can do that too."
The Blazers take their cues from Lillard on both ends of the floor. They rank 26th in points allowed, causing concern about the sustainability of their success. "He's not where he needs to be defensively," says Payton. "But he calls to ask what he's doing wrong."
"Oakland is not New York, it's not Southern California," says Phil Beckner, an assistant coach at Weber State who helped recruit Lillard. "Point guards there have to scratch, or they will get left by the wayside. You can't break those guys."
The NBA is full of Oakland point guards, even if they don't play. They work for the Mavericks, Jazz, Clippers and 76ers as trainers, executives, video guys. Kidd is the coach in Brooklyn. Shaw is the coach in Denver. Two of his assistants are Oakland point guards. One is Conner. "If I could have a staff of all Oakland point guards," Shaw cracks, "I probably would."
Click here to read the entire article.