Who's Our Backup Center......Joel Freeland

what about pekovic? he's straight old school.

 

How are we going to land Jordan after the deadline?

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Leonard just needs to focus on working on the game that lacks for a big man. He needs to stop thinking he's a guard and work on being a center. I don't care how good his shot is; he needs to be in the paint!

 

Stotts is now one step closer to being fired.

Instead of losing games we will now be putting Leonard's development on hold while losing games.

 

Well according to Olshey the Blazers and Clippers had discussions about it during the last trade deadline. Discussions can usually come back into play.

 

I've been saying this for quite awhile. Meyers Leonard is not a center. They need to stop trying to force him to be a defensive presence inside. This is like trying to force Channing Frye to play center. Meyers is a 7-1 stretch 4. He might be a better backup 4 than Thomas Robinson if the let him compete for that position.

 

Mathews and Leonard for Jordan baby!!

 

Not sure I am following your logic. You say he is a stretch 4, then you say he might be a better power forward than Robinson.....given the chance. So I guess you are saying you
prefer a stretch 4 who has no defensive ability to be our back up 4. Personally I would not want that.

 

This imo wont last long. I think by late November Leonard will be the clear cut back-up. However, if he isn't... It's seriously time to start trying to shop him.

I wonder if we could acquire Spencer Hawes if we dangled Leonard and someone else in front of the 76ers. He would be a great backup to Lopez.

 

The defensive responsibilities of a center and PF are a lot different. You won't see Thomas Robinson blocking shots either. But PFs who can hit a lot of jumpshots do have value, it's a tough thing to defend.

 

As much shit as I give Leonard in this forum, I'm only hoping he gets it. He has the physique to be a quality center. He just needs direction. I've read in here that we desperately need a big man coach. I 100% agree. I don't think Leonard refuses to learn how to be a center. I think he just doesn't have the direction.

Once Leonard develops blocking out, setting good picks, rebounding and a couple low post moves; he will be a force to be reckon with.

 

Good points Brian. I think it's important for Leonard to know that this only means that he just needs to work on what centers need to work on.

It was really disappointing for me when I learned he was really working on his three point shot. Although having range is nice, is it really as important than boxing out, rebounding and defending the paint?

 

Here's my take:
Leonard: Helps the team's offense a bit, Destroys the team defense.
Freeland: Stays out of the way on offense, Doesn't hurt the team defense too much.

Not a tough decision by the coach based on playing ability and team needs. However, it generally doesn't help a coach's career to leave their lottery picks out of the rotation, where it's the right thing or not. It's a big positive about our organization that this type of thing can happen.