Catching Up With Damian Lillard

February 23 His freshman year, he made first team all conference honors and was part of a Big Sky championship. His sophomore year, he led the Wildcats to a regular season Big Sky title and earned the Big Sky MVP award and made AP all-american honorable mention. This, his junior year, promised to be something special for Damian Lillard. Lillard's non-conference play indicated as much. He was one of the nation's top scorers, and several sports websites had him projected to be a potential NBA first-round draft pick. On

December 16th, on the road at Tulsa, all that changed for Lillard. In the game Lillard broke his foot so badly that he would need surgery and would have to sit out the remainder of the season. Without their leader, the Wildcats struggled to find an identity at first, losing five of their next nine games, and starting Big Sky play with a 3-4 record. Since then, the 'Cats have turned things around are currently on a seven game winning streak in league play. While he has to watch his team from the sidelines with a foot in a boot and crutches under his arms, Lillard does not hang his head or get down on himself. He continues to lead his team vocally and through his example of hard work. When Scott Bamforth hit the game-winning buzzer beater against UNC, Lillard was one of the first people on the court, hobbling to congratulate his teammate. If you haven't seen the video yet, check it out on WeberHoops.com's home page. Luckily, it appears the NCAA will be giving Lillard his junior year back, and from all indications, his foot will be completely healed in time to make another run at a Big Sky title and an NCAA tournament berth. Below is a Q&A with Lillard, in which he discusses how he has coped with the injury, his thoughts on this year's team, and his hopes for next season. WeberHoops: How's the foot? Damian Lillard: My foot is doing well. The doctors have said it's healing ahead of schedule, and it's been pretty smooth this far. WH: How has having to sit out the season and watch your team play without you affected your approach to basketball? DL: Being out definitely changed my approach. First of all I love the game more now because it has been taken away from me. Also, being able to watch and see what makes us successful, unsuccessful, what coaches see that players don't, and I realize how important it is for guys to hold themselves accountable. WH: With the injured foot, are you still able to work on certain aspects of your game? DL: Right after I broke my foot me and the coaching staff sat down and came up with ways that I could still be getting better. I have been lifting five days a week for about two months now. I started shooting on the gun from a chair to get my release up, and doing ball handling from a chair as well. I've also watched every game of my freshman and sophomore year to learn from watching myself. I have taken note of so many things I have gotten better at and still can improve on. I have been doing cardio as well. Being a leader off the court is something I have worked on as well given the fact that I can't play. I think this will help my leadership on the floor and in practice next year. WH: How is school going for you? What's your major? DL: My major is technical sales, which is pretty simple but it's one of the more successful degrees you can have at this university. At first I wasn't sure about it, but now that I have learned so much in this field and all the opportunities available with this major, I am satisfied with it. I have had a lot of time to work at being a better student, not that I was a bad one but I've had more time for it missing a few road trips. WH: On your Facebook, you recently mentioned how Darin Mahoney changes games without even taking shots. Can you elaborate? DL: The post about Darin Mahoney was just for recognition on his part. I feel like he does so much for us without scoring points. People give me so much credit for stats, but I feel like he's as valuable to our team as anyone. He makes mistakes and the coaches get on him and he never complains, not even once. I've played two and a half seasons with him and that has been consistent. How calm he is calms us as a team when adversity hits us. We have so many guys out there who are in situations that they weren't before, and I feel like they see Moe just calm as usual and we follow him. His energy he brings by making small plays that lead to our bigger plays. I want people to know that he is a big part of us being successful. And he's a great guy and teammate. WH: In the last six games or so, I've noticed a change in the team's defensive intensity. What or who do you think is the catalyst for this? DL: The last six games our defensive effort has been great. I think our coaches have consistently emphasized defense is going to make us successful. He demands it from us and we respond to him. Before the UNC game I did talk to the team, just letting them know what we were capable of and that it was time. I told them we can beat anybody and we have to get back to being the Weber State that we have been the last three years. WH:. What's it going to take for the Wildcats to win the Big Sky Tournament this year? DL: The way we have been playing is how we can win the tournament. We have played great defense and really have been sharing the ball on offense. Togetherness is going to make us successful. We have to be on the same page on both ends of the floor, we have been, so that has helped us win seven straight. If we can continue this, then we have a chance. WH: Looking forward to next year, I keep thinking about how good the team will be. Kbull and Mahoney will return as seniors, Bamforth has emerged as a great player, the freshmen on the team keep looking better and better, and I've heard great things about Frank Otis. What kind of potential do you think you guys have next year? DL: Thinking about next year's team gets me very excited because everyone will be a year older and more experienced. With me not playing, I think it helped some guys really get better and more confident. With that and me coming back we can be a very strong team. Next year's team has an extreme amount of potential, but potential is just potential. We have to continue to get better because we could come out and not be what were suppose to be, or we can handle our business and reach that high ceiling. We will be deep, athletic, and young but experienced