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Portland Trail Blazers: Pat Beverley says Lillard is toughest player to guard

By Austin Carroll

PORTLAND, OR - MARCH 30: Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers looks to pass the ball while defended by Patrick Beverley #2 of the Houston Rockets on March 30, 2017 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - MARCH 30: Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers looks to pass the ball while defended by Patrick Beverley #2 of the Houston Rockets on March 30, 2017 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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In an interview back in April, Patrick Beverley was adamant on how Portland Trail Blazers’ star Damian Lillard is one of the toughest players to guard in the NBA.

Patrick Beverley has earned a reputation in the league for being one of the hardest workers and most hard-nosed defenders in basketball. So when he praises your offensive game, you must be doing something exceptionally right. But when can take over a game like Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers, it shouldn’t be that surprising when people start to take notice.

Beverley’s interview took place on the Knucklehead’s podcast, hosted by former NBA players Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles. He discussed several topics ranging from playing all over the world, how he earned his nick “Mr. 94 Feet”, and a debate on who the top five defensive players of all-time are. You can find the whole hour-long podcast here.

But instead of making you dig through the entire podcast for it, here’s Beverley’s take on Lillard.

"[Patrick Beverley] Damian Lillard, Kemba Walker, and Russell Westbrook are the hardest players to guard." from nba"

While Beverley does offer a few names here, it’s pretty telling that Dame is the first name to slip his tongue. In fact, he spends the majority of this portion discussing Lillard and his presence in Portland. He points out the fact that even though Dame warrants the defensive scheme’s attention and primary focus, Lillard still manages to excel.

However, Beverley does bring up an interesting point about how Lillard still might not be reaching his full potential on the court.

"“He’s cold in the offense they run. Like they don’t run — he got the ball and everything — but everything ain’t for him. Just give him the rock. Put Dame in Golden State. Put Dame in a Houston Rockets type offense. No disrespect to their coach or their system or anything, but I mean, I think people are only getting a little bit of a taste out of Dame.”"

Admittedly, Beverley does have a bit of a point here. Despite being a top ten player in the NBA and the de facto leader of the Portland Trail Blazers, Lillard still only had the 19th highest usage percentage of all qualified players in the league last year. Dame often defaulted to his teammates, seeing how CJ McCollum (34th) and Jusuf Nurkic (44th) both finished very high in usage percentage as well.

While demanding the ball more often could potentially boost Lillard’s statistics and make him appear even more dominant, I’d argue that’s not conducive to winning games (and I think Dame would agree).

Forcing more shot opportunities à la Russell Westbrook or Devin Booker would only hurt Portland. This shouldn’t be a point to discredit Lillard, but rather commend him for. By setting his teammates up for better opportunities, the Blazers become a much better team.

Next. Using math to determine Portland's MVP. dark

A rising tide raises all ships, and I’m sure Dame loves watching his teammates eat. That is, when he’s not lighting up players like Beverley on the court, of course.