Damian Lillard has become one of the most audacious deep 3-point artists in the game, but it took a while to convince a mainstream coach like Terry Stotts to fully buy into his deep bucket antics.

The Portland Trail Blazers star started working on considerably expanding his range after a first-round sweep at the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans, working with his longtime trainer Phil Beckner, placing a piece of tape where an imaginary deep 3 line would be. Lillard shot it deeper from different motions.

“We worked on deep ones in so many different ways,” Damian Lillard told ESPN's Kirk Goldsberry. “Shooting it off the bounce, shooting them without jumping, shooting them with no momentum, shooting them from a deep squat and raise up and shoot it,” he said. “You know, just uncomfortable positions but still trying to shoot an accurate shot.”

Shooting it from further out is more than just the legs and the wrist strength to get a deep follow-through, as Lillard explains.

“If you keep your core tight and your body strong, then the ball flies out stronger,” he said. “If your body is weak, you come up not as strong and the ball will waver when you're that far out.”

The deeper the shot, the tougher it gets to keep the flight of the ball in a straight path and the arc consistent.

“The ball can go left or right,” Lillard said. “You can air-ball. It's far out, so there's more room for error.”

Ultimately, Lillard was taking and making so many deep threes that the evidence was simply overwhelming for Stotts to ignore, finally giving in to his wish.

“He sees how often I work on it, and how detailed it is when I shoot them off the dribble or off the catch — dipping, holding, no-jump, stuff like that,” Damian Lillard said. “And in games, he sees that it's going in at a higher clip year after year. So it's got to the point now where he accepts it.”

The Blazers guard shoots a whisker short of four deep 3-pointers per game, making them at a standout rate — enough to get the nod from his coach and the recognition of many for taking deep-range artillery to the next level.