grizfan22 said:
Griz1 said:
He reminds me of a Damian Lillard that can play defense. He may even be better athletically. The question will be how much more does he develop. I think he has a ton of upside and with continued growth and barring injury could very likely be the next NBA player from the University of Montana. I am hoping so and that I am not being too optimistic about his potential.
I would agree about his upside and his defensive prowess but be careful when comparing players. Michael is really good and has amazing athleticism. In my opinion his defense along with his scoring ability is what separates him from past guards at UM. But making it into the NBA is difficult enough but you are comparing him to a top 5 NBA point guard right now. Damian is an extremely talented young man, he and McCullum are single-handedly carrying the Trailblazers right now. I love your optimism, and I believe we stole Micheal from top schools but he has miles to go to be mentioned in the same category as Damien Lillard.
You made valid points grizfan22. However, I wasn't intending to compare him to a current NBA player. I was intending to compare him as a Big Sky freshman to Lillard when he was a Big Sky freshman. A lot can happen during 4 years of college ball.
I am not sure many people who saw Damian play his freshman year would have thought he would be a star in the NBA, I think starting his junior season people thought he would play NBA ball but I don't think anyone thought he was good as he has shown himself to be in the NBA. I really think there was more buzz around Harvey from Eastern earlier in his college career and his potential than there was about Damian.
I remember saying that Lillard would be a better NBA player than college player because of the system he played in at Weber. He was the definition of a "team" player and he made great effort to make people around him better players. When he had to take over a college game, and Rahe gave him the "go-ahead" he could and he did take the game over. Even in those circumstances he was reluctant to leave the "team" aspects of the game. That to me speaks volumes about him and his character and is one reason I am a strong Lillard fan.
