Watching the Blazers play the Floppers last night I had this nagging feeling something just wasn't right. This wasn't the finely balanced offensive juggernaut I was used to watching. Then I realized what was missing... Chris Kaman's presence is not going to make up for the loss of Lillard's go-to weapon against LA's bigs. Stotts will need to find a new secret weapon, before Wednesday.
I'm a fan of Leonard and hope we re-sign him at a reasonable contract. Yes, he has gaps in his skill set that are frustrating to watch. Being an athletic 7 footer, he 'should' be a better defender and rim protector. But he's not. What he is though is a good shooter (58.1 TS% compared to CJ 54.0 TS%), and a sold defender on non-athletic Bigs. I also like it that he's a good teammate. Unselfish (sometimes to a fault) and spaces the floor well - making the game easier for the other players on the floor. He may not be a starter in this league, but I certainly think he is a valuable role player and would have helped us quite a bit in this series versus the Clippers.
Any time "Leonard" is the answer, you may want to rephrase the question. Not that ANY of our bigs covered themselves in glory.
Considering how well Meyers played in Jan and the remarkable Feb games, including shooting 77% of swish3s in one game, he is the major missing element in my opinion. The court spacing, passing, hands high defense, rim defending, and hot shooting are all likely to be back, and can be even better, for next year. But for now, they are missing. Although not the same, aggressive play by Chief, Allen, Hendo, Ed, and Chris that includes persistent defense might be put together for 4 wins against the Clipper Floppers. This best chance thought assumes that we can see equity and consistency in the fouls called (not 6 versus 19 inequity), particularly in the first 2 quarters.
I was not impressed with Plumlee and wished Meyers,was healthy. Then again it was one game and a nerves playoff game at that.
Kaman and Leonard are the same thing, except that Kaman sacrifices his body, with resultant constant injuries. Another couple of years of coaching will coerce Leonard to play like Kaman, so that Leonard, too, can miss most of each season.
Leonard has his downside but I think people are looking at him on this board a lot like Batum was looked at. He has all the physical skills to succeed but he doesn't' put them all together at the same time so no matter what he is good at all anyone can think of is what he could be not what he actually is. Leonard is a center that can shoot 3's, is a good passer and occasionally remembers he can move his feet on D. Not great in a lot of systems but for us his ability to stretch the floor opens up driving lanes towards the basket which will either result in easy layups or the D collapsing for one of our guards to hit an open 3 shooter.
We already have the personnel to give the Clipps, at least, a good run for their money. Sure we could use a better big - but, our winning percentage for the second half of the season is testament to the talent we have - but to take it to the next level you also need great offensive and defensive schemes. What's missing is a good coach, with great schemes. Stotts' schemes look varsity level sometimes.
Rivers just outcoached Stotts, his players knew Exactly what the Blazers wanted to do in most plays. They have much more offensive talent in the front court as well.
The twitter feed was a bit quieter this season than it was last season...unless you count Cliff Alexanders conversations with the ladies of Twitter. Meyers has been one of the few Blazers players still active on twitter during the post-season. I think these guys are determined by the process of the playoffs, they all realize how important it is to really learn from this experience and apply those lessons to next season. It's a very encouraging sign.
I think this is our biggest weakness. A freelance system will do you fine - if you have the personnel - in the regular season. But you can't get away with a freelance system in the Playoffs. The few sets we run are known throughout the league and won't work for an entire game, let alone a 7-game series. Stotts is a fine regular season coach, but he doesn't have the Xs/Os and discipline to cut it in the Playoffs. Hoping I have to eat these words after tomorrow night!
Listen to Courtside from yesterday. Jay Triano was on and mentioned how they deliberated over how many new sets to add before the playoffs and decided on two. They did not want to overwhelm the players. But he also mentioned how eager and ready the players are now after game 1 to fix these issues and they're putting more in now. Have to feel like this much youth on the roster is causing these coaches to be handcuffed.
Good point. Stotts can only work with the talent he has and the willingness they have to work on the problems at hand.
