I don't think they have been 'showcasing' Meyers. I think their stats guru looked at Robinson's first 20+ games, the coaches looked at Meyers' progress in practice, and they decided to give Meyers some court time so they would have something to compare. So far, Meyers is selling himself, IMO.
Yeah, I'd be in favor of rotating them at 10-game intervals. Perhaps sending whoever is "out" to the D-League so they can keep playing and not lose any rhythm they gained during their 10-game stint.
Is it just a coincidence, or my imagination, or did Meyers crack the rotation immediately after he threw that one dude down hard on that road trip, after he took exception to some physical play on the other end?
I know, that may just be the coolest use of the internet ever. For a basketball junkie like me, it's the equivalent of online porn to a horny teenager. Huge props to nba.com for stepping up. They have made HUGE improvements to their web site this season. First it was their sortable player stats, including shot charts, and now this. I used to skip nba.com for advanced stats, relying on basketball-reference.com, 82games.com and hoopsstats.com, but now I can add nba.com to the mix. Awesome! BNM
Solid post. Completely agree. The biggest difference is on the defensive side of the ball. The defensive rating number is a huge tell.... But you could also watch the game and see 3 different times that T-Rob had no-clue where is defensive assignment was during the 5-minutes he played. He had no idea who he was supposed to be guarding. Meyers isn't great, but he is improving.
Bingo! Imagine that, the guys who get paid for their basketball knowledge made a decision and it turns out they were right, in spite of the contrary opinions of some of the posters on this board. When I think of all the boneheaded moves our GMs and coaches have made in the past, I'm glad we finally have the right people making these decisions. Right now, our GM deserves to win executive of the year and our coach deserves to win COY. Olshey's moves over the summer were masterful, yet many criticized him for not hitting a home run (I commented at the time he may not have hit any home runs, but was leading the league in ground rule doubles). He knew exactly what this team needed and went out and got it, without sacrificing a single important piece, without mortgaging our future (in fact, he acquired young lottery level talent for pennies on the dollar) all while preserving future flexibility by not taking on any bad contracts. And, as much criticism as the Stotts hire received, he has shown us what it's like to have a head coach that understands Xs and Os. He has created an offense that leads the league in scoring and Offensive efficiency that is fun to watch and takes advantage of his players strengths. The players have completely bought into his system and after years of one-dimensional, boring Nate ball, seeing so much player and ball movement is a thing of beauty. So, when these guys decided to give Leonard some burn, I'm not at all surprised it's turned out to be the right decision. And, if at some point, they decide it's time for Meyer's to go back to the end of the bench, I'm sure that will be the right decision, too. I don't blindly accept every decision they make, but when their decisions are logical and the results positive, it's hard to criticize what they're doing. BNM
And, hopefully this demotion will motivate Robinson to work on improving his weaknesses. The guy is just overflowing with potential, but is very weak fundamentally (same things that were said about Leonard when he was drafted). But, he's seen guys like Freeland and now Leonard get minutes by improving their fundamentals. So, hopefully he will focus on doing the same and eventually start to realize some of that untapped potential. BNM
I'm really happy to see that Robinson is cheering from the sidelines, and excited for his teammates, rather than pouting about his demotion. It makes me think he has the right mentality to use the demotion positively. Regarding his fundamentals, I think he actually has pretty solid individual fundamentals - he knows how to dribble, pass, rebound, defend, etc. He just doesn't know how to apply those fundamentals in a team-oriented setting - he doesn't have team fundamentals.
What a great feature that is, thanks. I had 8 of Leonard's rebounds coming to him and 4 of Robinson's 5, so I stand corrected. they each had the same % come to them. however, both really seemed to be in great position and did well boxing out
Yeah, but did you actually watch those shots? On both of those plays, the ball clearly wanted to go into the hoop before Leo even shot it. He was just lucky to be in the right place at the right time.
Likewise, and it's why I hold the theory that this was part of Stotts plan from the beginning. Give Robinson some consistent burn to get his confidence up and then switch to Meyers after his comfort level has been established. Both need development badly and both have oodles of potential.
What's becoming apparent as Leonard, Freeland, and TRob have all improved this year is that the Blazers have actually gone from having zero depth at the 4/5 position (last year) to having guys who can play and belong in this league. One of the most exciting developments to me is that the Blazers now look to be built for a long haul as a contending team. Three solid big guys on the bench, CJ, Williams and Wright as other solid bench guys, looks pretty good to me. I, for one, did not see that coming at all at the start of the season. I've come to the position that I hope Olshey doesn't make any roster moves before the deadline. I want to see how far these guys can go in the playoffs as they are and then be able to take the summer to decide if any changes need to be made.
I think it's amazing that this team has the best record in the Western Conference and we still have THREE lottery picks on our bench that have barely scratched the surface of their potential. Those Whitsitt teams were always at their best when they had young guys like Jermaine and Bonzi hungry for minutes and pushing the starters in practice. Those teams self-imploded when Whitsitt replaced some of that youth with older players that were hungry in other ways (Shawn Kemp) and all felt entitled to play starters minutes. BNM
The fact that they've all demonstrably improved their games from the start of the season would seem to be pretty good evidence that there's still more improvement to come.
Based on size and athleticism and flashes they have shown. There's a reason all three were lottery picks. People who get paid good money to evaluate talent, and are much better at it than me or you, all thought they had potential to be excellent NBA players. If not, they would not have been lottery picks. Leonard has a rare combination of size and athleticism. Guys who are 7'1" and can walk without tripping over their own feet are rare. He lacks many fundamental skills, but is working on those and showing improvement. He can still get a LOT better. Thomas Robinson is an athletic freak. He used his superior athletic gifts to dominate in college, but needs to adapt his game to the NBA. There is a reason he was picked 5th in the draft - that reason was his potential. And C.J. McCollum was a prolific scorer in college who shot excellent percentages. But, will his game translate to the NBA? Don't know. That's why it's called potential. Do you really think all three of these very young players have come close to reaching their full potential? That what we see today is as good as they are ever going to get? BNM
I, like you, have no idea. There have been a shit load of lottery picks that didn't pan out. Big white American born centers at the forefront of that. Robinson is on his 3rd team in less than 2 years, traded by people that get paid good money to evaluate talent. McCollum hasn't played a second of professional basketball, and broke the same foot he broke in college. I think they all could get better, but how much???? I have no clue. Anyone that says differently is fooling themselves, IMO. Hope you are right though
