When Portland went from 41 wins in 2007 to 54 wins in 2008, it probably wasn't a coincidence we went from -84 Total Rebounding Differential for the year to leading the league at +444. You look over the list of teams that rebound best, and not all of them are great. But nearly all the ones that are bad at it are terrible. Incidentally, Westbrook got the scoring title last year while his team lead the league last year in boards (by a massive margin). With so many other scoring title candidates adding mouths to feed (Paul George, Melo, CP3) Dame has to be a contender for that title. We have to have somebody at PF vacuuming up the misses.
IF, he can reliably stretch the defense on O and gobble up rebounds on D he's worth keeping around. So true. Kind of like the line in football , owning the boards in basketball is huge.
Absolutely. Fond memories of Duckworth blocking out the other team while Drexler and Kersey averaged like 7 RPG each, with us dominating the boards nightly.
He works hard every summer. Why the fuck did it take him so long to hire a trainer? How come he hasn't ponied up summa that dough for an Olajuwon camp? WTF ever. I've lost all hope.
So this summer it's all different? What happened the last 5 or 6? Don't get me wrong, it would be a pretty amazing turnaround if he finally put something together (finally), but nothing that's been said by him is all that much different from any other year. There's no credit to give until it actually shows up and does something. Talk is cheap.
If I were to point to one major difference this year, it's that nobody is talking about him possibly starting or playing major minutes at the 4. He's entering the season with one clearly defined goal--sop up as many of the 18 or so minutes that Nurkic doesn't play as he can. Even that is no gimme--Swanigan and Ed Davis both probably see themselves as 30mpg players, and I'd probably put my money on Collins over him when the chips are down too, just from a mental strength standpoint. This is the first October in a long time where Leonard's going to have to fight just to see the court in a really limited role. Good luck, Meyers. You'll need it.
https://ripcityproject.com/2017/09/23/meyers-leonard-improved-game-confidence-offseaon/ Despite working with future All-Stars, Hanlen labelled Leonard’s progress as remarkable – different from his past players. Meyers lacked confidence following the previous season’s difficulties. Before workouts started with Drew Hanlen, he ranked his confidence level at 30 (out of 100). Now, with a month until the first game, his confidence level is in the 80s. Watching old film and focusing on his weaknesses is what’s boosting that confidence. Hanlen altered Leonard’s shooting form. With that, he improved pick-and-roll rotations. Meyers notoriously floated out to the perimeter after setting screens, allowing the defense to easily focus on C.J. McCollum or Damian Lillard. Now, he has a midrange pick-and-pop game – a fluent playstyle for Portland (see: Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge). Additionally, Leonard cut weight at Hanlen’s request. His reasoning: “Today in the NBA, thin is in. You not only move better, you recover quicker.” He now weighs 257.5 pounds, opposed to 265 pounds during last season. The time and effort Leonard dedicates was noticed during the infamous Los Angeles summer pickup games. Hanlen reports, “I was getting compliments from NBA players like ‘Meyers is a beast…I don’t know why Portland is not using him.’”
Hmmmm, I'm thinking it's more of a "time heals all wounds" thing going on. Meyers' confidence was last wounded in April and he's had 5ish months to recover. We'll see, I suppose...
This quote still baffles me. He always had a mid range pick and pop. It was up to Stotts to make sure he utilized it.
Is this actually amazing news, or is this just a 28 year old guy (Hanlen) trying to get his business going? Honestly, I can't tell. History suggests it's the latter, but we'll see. I don't think rival GMs are burning up the Blazer phone lines trying to get him because of Hanlen's report.
Sounds to me like Hanlen already had a pretty decent resume and reputation prior to working with Meyers. And in all reality, none of the reports of Meyers' progress will do Hanlen any good if he doesn't show out on the court, so I don't see the value to him in overselling his progress this summer.
I think we too often underestimate people in here, as in assuming Hanlen is propping up a mediocre player to jump start his business. Hanlen already has a repertoire of much better players as testimonial to his services. He actually has more to lose by overstating the development of a player and being wrong than he stands to gain.
I reserve judgment until I see him play. I think he was stunted last season by going into practice hurt and missing some of the season. He's got a real opportunity to even be the starting PF, with Vonleh out. He's got to show he belongs, though.
The problem with ML is that it is the same story 5th year in a row. Not saying I hate him (I most certainly do not) or want him to fail (most certainly do not), heck, I hope he has a great year - it would make me very happy to see it happen, but at this point in time - it's prove me wrong. This is 100% on Meyers. He proves it - great, but I find it hard to believe given his history in the NBA so far.
You keep saying this, but I wholeheartedly disagree. IMO, he's too big and slow to play the 4. If he "shows he belongs" (which I agree he must do), he will belong as Nurkic's backup, and if he can fill that spot effectively, that will be great for us.
Teams play twin towers, still. The thing about Leonard is that the scouting report on him is that he's big but fast and agile, not too big and too slow. I think he's best suited at C, though. http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Meyers-Leonard-5756/ As we've mentioned before, Leonard's intrigue starts with his excellent physical profile, as he possesses the ideal traits for a prototypical NBA center. Standing 7-feet tall with a long wingspan and a developing frame that should continue to fill out nicely in time, Leonard moves very fluidly for a player his size, running the floor well and showing solid explosiveness, vertically and laterally. ... As we've mentioned before, Leonard's physical tools make him a rare and very intriguing prospect defensively, especially as his frame continues to fill out. He did a better job denying deep post position this season and generally displayed a good effort level, which combined with his size and length, makes him an effective one-on-one defender on the interior, as players have trouble scoring over the top of him. His excellent agility for a player his size should also help him defending pick-and-roll sets, giving him the ability to hedge and recover quickly. A big key for him defensively will likely the mental side of things and how well he can focus and bring consistent energy on each possession and pick up on team defensive concepts.
Yeah...a scouting report from 5 years ago doesn't really do much for me. We have 5 years' worth of data to reference. His "agility" is overstated in terms of defending the PF position effectively. He can't do it; we've seen that--predraft scouting report notwithstanding.
Come on, you don't need a draftexpress report from 6 years ago. The guy can't move laterally. That should be clear by now. Leonard is strictly a center. IMO but also a fact.
