6x NBA All-Star Damian Lillard is very happy with the Portland Trail Blazers’ roster makeup this season.
(via Portland Trail Blazers):
“At the beginning of the season, it was just like, ‘Be aggressive and let’s figure out where things fall.’ But for me, I watch a lot of film. Even when I haven’t been playing, I watch the games. Even when I’m on the bench, I’m paying attention to the game. I’m in the huddle. I’m seeing what Chauncey [Billups] is saying and what he’s trying to position them to do. And for me, I always say, ‘I know how to be present, I know how to have an impact on the game, and I know how to be myself within whatever is going on.’ This is the first time we’ve had it this way, we’ve all had 40 points this season.
“So it just shows the ability that we have, and I think for me, it’s a luxury. It’s my job to embrace that and allow Ant [Simons] to roll, be aggressive and find spots, allow Jerami [Grant] to be aggressive and find spots. And then me as the experienced person, I’ve done it over and over, it makes no sense for me to overexert myself or do more than I have to. If we’re really going to win, it has to be collective. So it’s encouraging for me just to see it unfold that we really got pieces and we really got the ability to play that way.”
