Why did the Blazers draft Meyers Leonard 11th????

I get its going to happen but what I'm against us looking at college numbers are saying they are close talent wise because of it. The two aren't close talent wise coming out of college but I fully expect Leonard to have a better nba career.

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The only reason I mentioned Oden was the OP's previous thread was titled: "Oden set to come back and dominate the NBA!!!!!!!!!!!!" And, that wasn't from 5 years ago. it was from a week and a half ago.

So, either the OP believes in including one "!" for every knee surgery Oden has had, or he's a troll.

And yes, Leonard is a center drafted by the Blazers, so he will be compared (in some way or another) to Oden, Walton, Sabonis, Bowie, etc. Given how little Oden actually played (limited by injuries, and limited by foul trouble when healthy), I hope Leonard ends up having a much better, much longer NBA career than Greg Oden.

BNM

 

Their college numbers weren't that far apart, but I'm not claiming Meyers Leonard has the same potential Greg Oden once had. Just asking the OP why he considered (and STILL) considers Greg Oden a once a generation center and Meyers Leonard a big white stiff with bust written all over him. There is a WHOLE lot of middle ground between future HOFer and future NBDLer. Yet those are the ridiculously extreme positions posted by the troll, errr... OP. I'm just asking him to provide some basis (other than blatant trolling) for the huge discrepancy in his two very extreme "opinions".

BNM

 

Rep'd.

 

AND he's not even on an NBA roster. 5 years out of college and he doesn even have a contract. THAT's depressing.

 

Meyers goes to church every Sunday.

Greg tossed his blind beagle off a high-rise balcony in L.A.

/thread

 

Who gives a fuck about going to church. Not even going to go there though. Yeah greg tossed his beagle off a balcony, I hate people like you. That's not even funny.

 

Maybe. I doubt it.

 

It's not funny.

Codes are very strict and there is no way a dog, even that small, could wiggle his way off a balcony.

Fuck Greg and his carelessness.

 

You're sick dude. Can't believe you think Greg would do that. Fuck you.

 

I'm not buying his story.

My opinion.

Maybe his blind beagle could hop like a cat and that's how he fell off? Yeah, that's it.

IIRC gaps can't be more than 4-6" apart.

Again, fuck Greg and his carelessness.

 

Are beagles about as big as a cairn terrier? If so I could believe his story, my parents Cairn Terrier can squeeze through 4 inch cracks. Regardless, it sucks that a bit of short sightedness caused the death of his dog however it happened.

 

Depending on which breed of beagle (yes there are 2 sizes and don't ask me why I know this) it most certainly could have happened.

Beagles are hounds and once they get a scent, they follow it and can get lost EASILY.

http://www.24petwatch.com/petinsurance/beagle.asp

 

I liked Meyers Leonard well before the draft. In fact, a couple months before the draft I stated on here that Lillard and Leonard were the guys I wanted.

I think Leonard can be a Tyson Chandler type player with more of an ability to run the floor and a better shooting touch. 5 years from now he'll be one of the best white Centers in the recent past.

 

It's not what you say, Sparky, it's how you say it, and why you say it.

 

This is kind of a tough one for me. Back end of the lottery centers have not had really any success to speak of. I like Leonard though. He is easy to root for ans kind of goofy. In all honesty, I think it depends on what you view as the best strategy for lottery picks. If you think you should draft for position in the late lottery then it was a good pick. If you think you should draft someone who can be a solid rotation player then it was a good pick. If you think you should swing for the fences and try to strike gold, it wasn't a good pick. EVERYONE knows my views on American born white centers, but I really hope Leonard proves me wrong in a couple of years

 

Actually, centers taken after the 3rd or 4th pick are a big gamble, regardless of skin color. In fact, if you go back and look at the last 15 or 20 NBA drafts, you will see plenty of serviceable centers, not stars, but solid starters with long careers (guys like Dale Davis and Kurt Thomas come to mind, there are many others), taken in the 10 - 14 range. You also see an occasional diamond in the rough (Andrew Bynum) taken in this range.

If you look at those same drafts, you will see a LOT more centers that were total busts taken in the 5 - 9 range (Rafael Araujo and Patrick O'Bryant come to mind) than 10 - 14. There are even plenty of busts, of all skin colors and countries of origin, taken top 3 (Kwame, Olowokandi, Darko, Oden, etc.). Why? Because you can't teach height, center is the hardest position to fill, and teams will always be desperate enough to take a chance on a 7-footer with potential. Hell, it's hard enough to get an average starting center, let alone a game changer.

As long as the expectations for Leonard aren't ridiculous, I think he'll do just fine and justify his draft position, both compared to others taken in this range in past drafts and the players taken after him in this draft. Does that mean he'll be better than everyone taken after him? Most likely not. Most drafts have at least one Michael Redd or Monta Ellis that makes all the GMs that passed on them look foolish. But that's what the draft is, a big gamble. You do your homework, pick the guys you think will pan out and hope for the best.

Who was the last American born white center that possessed Leonard's combination of size an athleticism? Rather than skin color and birth country, wouldn't it be better to compare Leonard to other players of similar physical characteristics, skill level and experience? Also, by all accounts (so far), Leonard is a hard worker and seems to be coachable. Hopefully, that will allow him to take maximum advantage of his rare combination of size and athleticism.

BNM