An exclusive with Meyers Leonard: Farewell, Portland

We still lost.

Best thing in the last 7 years was the day he got off our team. Let another team have the false hope he will ever be consistently good.

 

He had many, many chances here.

 

Meyers prime will be around 40 years old. The ultimate project

 

Why couldnt He have been born Leonard Meyers? Then it would all makes sense and his trajectory not in reverse.

 

We self-destructively--not unintentionally--forgot to feed Meyers, and consequently lost the game. We did not utilize Meyers to anything near the optimum, and certainly not the fullest. In WCF Game 4, and incisively in Games 1 and 2, we should have relied on Meyers for 6 swish3 attempts per half, and we could have won the WCF this year. Let's improve Blazer coaching to recognize and feed the hot hand, rather than squandering scoring resources, and improve to challenging for the NBA Championship!

 

Meyers better have a good season this year. Because if he doesn't, you are going to be the subject of severe ridicule.

 

You don’t learn instincts. You either have them or you don’t. Leonard was a miserable NBA player. He never picked up a single post move in seven years. His game reminded me of Martell Webster, another guy who never seemed to change or adapt his game in any way.

 

https://ripcityproject.com/2019/07/19/looking-fans-attachment-former-portland-trail-blazers/

Why are Portland Trail Blazers fans so encaptured by former Portland Trail Blazers?

It is no secret that the state of Oregon love their Portland Trail Blazers. Since the first year of the franchise in 1970, the team’s championships in 1977, the Clyde Drexlerera Blazers from the early 1990’s, the Jail Blazers, the Brandon Roy/LaMarcus Aldridge teams, and now the time of Damian Lillard, fans have had an almost unconditional love for the organization.

For most fans, the love of players usually extends only to the impactful players. This is not the case in Portland. Everyone, from the first man on the roster to the last, receives an inordinate amount of support from fans, whether they make an tangible impact on the court or not. It is why so many athletes love the city of Portland and the Blazers fanbase.

A clear and recent example of this is the outpouring of support for now former center Meyers Leonard. Previously one of the more infamous players on the team during his seven year tenure in Portland, his trade to Miami brought out an abundance of well wishes from fans. Although I had no problem with the positive regards, I found it interesting that after bashing Leonard to almost an unrivaled degree, some of those same fans seemed the most disappointed to see him go.

As I put a little more thought into this, I realized this is an all too common pattern in Portland. Pat Connaughton was a fringe rotation player for the Blazers, and fans acted like a family member had died when they heard he was not coming back to Portland (only a slight exaggeration). Same goes for players such as Joel Freeland, Will Barton, Patty Mills, and Rudy Fernandez. The list could go on for a while.

Portland has such a deep connection to the Blazers. As the only Big 3 professional sports team in the state, there is not much else for people to pay attention to (sports wise). Because of this, the Blazers become like family. And whether you like them or not, it sucks when family have to go. That is why Portland has such an emotional connection to former players and why they always try to bring them back, whether or not it is a good idea.

Whether you agree with it or not, this is what makes Blazer fans some of the best in the NBA.

 

Good grief , this is something I'll never understand that another person can't understand. THEY'RE NOT THE SAME PEOPLE! THE PEOPLE THAT BOOED MEYERS LEONARD ARE NOT SENDING HIM FLOWERS OR SAD THAT HE'S GONE! THEY ARE HAPPY! Sorry for the caps.

 

I wasn't the biggest fan of Meyers Leonard the player but anyone who watches that video has to be a fan of Meyers Leonard the person.

 

This. Dont mind the person at all.

But he was herr 7 years too long. Litetally did nothing unless the series was already decided. Mainly cause you couldnt trust him at any other time.

 

The destructive blind bias of the stubborn anti-Meyers members of this forum is being revealed here. That kind of thinking has a major effect on holding back Blazer chances for the Championship and needs to be replaced with the kind of confidence-building fan comments that optimize player performance. What Blazer fans need if we are to see success is a willingness to recognize and promote efficient talent where it can be found, and to move past the time of degenerate statements that conflict with the facts.

Since game 52 on Jan 30 when Meyers led the Blazers to the 132-105 beating of the Jazz that had embarrassed us twice (by 30 points Dec 21 and 21 points Dec 25), a few determined to stubbornly ignore Meyers accomplishments failed to give him earned credit. And for the outstanding scoring efficiency of WCF Game 4 first half by Meyers that was on the way to possibly winning that game, comments like Strenuus disrespectful Meyers hatred are glaring rejections of reality.

For WCF Game 4, Meyers led the Blazers with a TS% of 88.9 and had an ORtg of 145, and in that game as in the game 52 win, set the best screens and made some of the best assist passes of any Blazer. Meyers played the high post well, provided spacing, and brought scoring power that strongly contributed. Denying that he provided excellent play simply hides from the facts.

In the 7 seasons as a Blazer, Meyers was held back by Terry and the stridently biased comments of Strenuus and other anti-Meyers members of this forum. The opportunity has been lost to win the Championship with Meyers as a top NBA shooting efficiency player. But for the future, the measure of being a Blazer fan should be the recognition and encouragement of shooting talent that is necessary for wins in a talented NBA where scoring 15+ swish3s and 130+ points per game should be targets. Let's encourage, not deny, our most talented scoring Blazers!

 

Today I learned Strenuus is responsible for Meyers not fulfilling his potential. Fuck you @Strenuus

 

After he got hot, they started guarding him.

 

Theres this thing thats called "being guarded" that makes this "swish3" thing more difficult.

 

https://clutchpoints.com/blazers-news-meyers-leonard-retires-own-portland-jersey/

Meyers Leonard commemorates his time with the Portland Trail Blazers by raising his own jersey into the rafters of his own house.

Leonard, who was traded to the Miami Heat as part of a four-team trade for Jimmy Butler, took it to social media to show that he retired his Blazers jersey. He captioned the post “all good things must come to an end.” The 27-year-old power forward retired his own No. 11 jersey while Darude’s “Sandstorm” played on nearby speakers.

 

I am not a huge Meyers fan, but this is a little embellished. The guy may not have a lot of defensive instincts, but he still has some offensive instincts. He rarely made mental mistakes on offense. He can shoot, pass, and set a decent screen. Again not sorry to see him go, but he is far from a "miserable NBA player".

 

Im glad the words he never read made such a difference! In fact, given your scenario, he MADE money because of me.

 

Meyers basically had two playoff series that defined his time in Portland: Memphis and this year against Golden State. Memphis had no answer for him, and Gasol was definitely trying to guard him. Golden State was basically a one-game explosion, and I'm on the fence whether defense or offense cooled him off in the second half.

When Meyers is hot, he's pretty tough to defend.

Keep Kim Hughes around, and Meyers not dealing with depression and medication up till 2 years ago, and I believe the period between those two series would be viewed much more fondly.