Dime is the premier basketball magazine, covering the NBA, NCAA, High School, Playground and International basketball - as well as sneakers, fashion and music.
Issue link: http://dimemagazine.epubxp.com/i/109153
LILLARD IS 6-2, 195 pounds, 22 years old and is the next logical step in the line of high-scoring point guards who alternately revolutionize and infuriate the NBA. His game is built around a foundation that combines his con���dence, jumper and speed, all of which are necessities for the way his position is now played. The dribble-drive offense that arrived as a seedling from the college game has sunk strong roots into the NBA, which followed harder hand-checking rules on defenders. Together, with the current caliber of athletes playing, the de���nition of what it means to be a successful point guard has changed more than at any time since 6-9 Magic Johnson played the role. ���What we���re getting to in our league is if you���re good with the ball, and you are elite at one of two things ��� an Eric Bledsoe or Russell Westbrook type player, or you���re an elite level shooter ��� like a Kyrie Irving or Damian Lillard, Deron Williams ��� you can succeed at the point guard position in our league,��� says Portland general manager Neil Olshey. ���I don���t know if that would have 37 been necessarily true a decade ago.��� Lillard leans on this group���s success for his No. 6 pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, saying ���without them I don���t think I would have��� been selected as high as he was. Each of these ���new��� guards has stepped to the fore in his own way. Derrick Rose did it by carving his explosiveness out of the collective weight of Simeon High, John Calipari���s Lottery Factory reputation, and his hometown���s post-Jordan anxiety. Brandon Jennings did it by offering zero apologies for his shooting volume. Irving did it with a handle that backed up his No. 1 pick sta-