Another telling sign. During garbage time, 3 reserves weren't playing. Kaman, Blake...and MyLe. If he puts together a few more strong performances, I may have to retire that nickname.
It's not just that he finally knows where he's supposed to go, he knows where everybody else goes as well. If you watch Leonard closely, you'll see him pointing out defensive assignments at times in transition, and he's generally right. He clears out when a post play gets called, he sets picks and back picks mostly when and where he's supposed to, and he generally doesn't fuck up the offense (which is all we really need from him on that end). Leonard is really playing mistake-free basketball much of the time lately. I was quite shocked to see Robinson get minutes early in this game. At this point there's not much Trob does better than Meyers. Rebounding used to be his big calling card, but the way Meyers occupies space even when he doesn't get the board gives him the edge IMO. He's just so big and he does a good job of boxing people out--must be all that time watching Rolo. I think he has a lot of potential to be a quality big in this league. I can see why we extended him. Somebody compared him to Travis Outlaw, and I don't find that comparison terribly fitting. Outlaw was never really coachable--they taught him to do the two dribble-jump-shoot move, and he never learned anything else. Leonard has learned how to position for rebounds, clear out of the way on offensive sets (while also diving in when the shot is about to go up), shoot three pointers, use verticality in man defense, help defense (without losing your own man)....he's actually proven quite teachable. He just had so much to learn to start with that you wondered how long it would take him to put it together, if indeed he ever would. The question in my mind now is if he can continue to make progress at the same rate he has over this season, and for how much longer. I'd love to see him move beyond rotation player and into a guy who can challenge for Kaman's job (and ideally Rolo's job). You never know where a guy this young and raw has his ceiling.
i brought up Outlaw, and it wasn't because I thought they were the same, it was because when Travis was here, he was a non-defense-playing, not-terribly-interested-in-rebounding, corner-3 shooting guy who didn't do much except make jumpers--but many people loved him. Which is fine. But the same things people said about Travis ("wait until he learns the system"/"he can rebound when he needs to"/"he has the length to play good D if he wanted"/"he'll grow out of the dumb mistakes") weren't being applied to Leonard. So I asked the question: why not? Is it because he's 7'1" and white and we think he should be Przy or Lopez? What if we just said "we have a low-BBIQ long-range shooting stretch PF who is raw but we think can improve"? And I think we're getting there.
I'm guilty of it but I forget how young he is, the best center in the NBA (Marc Gasol) didn't really develop until he was 24-25 I believe.
Yep, and these weren't garbage time rebounds. They were contested rebounds against the big boys - although admittedly, the Lakers and Heat aren't exactly formidable rebounding teams. Still, good to see. BNM
Last 2 seasons he has averaged 11.3 and 12.6 rebounds per 36, pretty incredible who has no rebounding ability or understanding, just wait till he figures out how to rebound then he will average like 30 rebounds per 36. #sarcasm
Meyers is a strong rebounder. I think those one-handed rebounds are a little too "style over substance" - but I like 'em anyway! He's snaring them with strength, and until he starts losing them I won't complain about him showing some flashiness on the court. I also really liked his defensive awareness when he came and doubled Wade on the blindside - even though he got called for a foul, it showed that he's learning how, when, and where to defend. I didn't expect to see growth from him this soon, but he could very well be on the verge of having a breakout season in the same way Freeland did last year.
Seriously now. Teammates have said Meyers has the highest BBIQ on the team, understands the playbook better than most and understands opponents playbooks well too. But like many younger players learning a position he was thinking rather than just doing. The last couple games what I see is him going to where he should go. Ive even noticed several times on the defensive end where he has been directing some traffic as he sees a play developing... And doing so properly. Last night he was going straight up on D which he wasn't the game before, so he is learning and getting it.
Also Terry actually went to Meyers down the stretch instead of Kaman... And Meyers is playing well, as a center not a PF.
I went back and watched last nights game, and he was never out of position on defense and was constantly communicating with teammates. Did a very good job boxing out as well.
Im not going to read this whole thread so sorry if its been discussed before, but has anyone else noticed Meyers shoulders? Damn kid has been hitting the gym, I want to see him stand next to DHo now for a real comparison.
If you go back and read all the Meyers Leonard haters over the past 2+ years, you will see them claim he will never get it, that the things he lacks cannot be taught, no amount of coaching will ever make him into a decent NBA player. I told them then, that instincts can't be taught, but proper positioning and technique can. So glad to see Meyers proving them wrong. He's a good kid, a hard worker, and every bit he improves helps this team both now and in the future. BNM
