http://www.blazersedge.com/2016/11/...eonard-noah-vonleh-frontcourt-rotation-stotts This story is mostly about why not to start Leonard and has some good video showing why. But he says this about Vonleh and has some (meager) stats to back it up. "The point is, I don't think it's crazy to say that Vonleh deserves more minutes right now because he's the best defensive option on the Blazers' bench, given the challenges presented in the modern NBA."
Duh! And again, I'm not even a huge fan of Volneh, but starting him couldn't possibly make us worse than we already are, and has the potential to pay positive dividends either immediately or in the long term. How much longer before Tater Totts stumbles upon this?
Backup PF until further notice. Forget Leonard and pray someone will trade for him. Btw let's not turn this into another Meyers hate thread. We have enough of those. Let's talk about how Vonleh needs to be developed.
He should be getting way more time than he has been getting for the last two months. We are playing players with little to no upside at power forward while giving scrub minutes to a #9 pick from two years ago who has shown glimpses of potential, and still losing a lot of games. This needs to stop. Meyers for example should never get more minutes than him.
There have been plenty of #9 and better picks who didn't end up doing diddly in the league. For a team desperate for quality front court play, Vonleh's glimpses of potential in his 3rd year in the league have been few and far between. If the Blazer's season turns out how it's headed he's going to get more PT to develop down the stretch, but it sure would be nice if he was earning those opportunities today forcing Stotts to play him more... but he's not. STOMP
Yeah there has been #1 pick who was playing the same position and turned out to be absolutely terrible but nonetheless, our options at power forward have been poor so it's perhaps time to consider our youngest power forward who might have more upside.
His numbers weren't great but he was the best defensive player on the floor last night for the Blazers. 2 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block don't nearly tell the story of the many little things he did for the 14 minutes he was on the floor. Since the Blazers switch almost everything, he kept finding himself on the perimeter against a wing or a guard and time after time, did not let that player score. He also battled Griffin very well in the times the were match up. He created loose balls. challenged shots, rotated well on defense and used his strength to move people. Ed Davis got an offensive rebound on one play because Noah boxed out his man and moved him about 3' away from the basket given Davis a lane to crash the boards. Best 2/4/1/1 production I've see in some time. It gave the Blazers a little toughness.
We need rebounding. Vonleh rebounds. We need defense. Vonleh plays defense. We need low post scoring. Vonleh has a post game. Leonard must be getting showcased because there is absolutely no other reason why Vonleh shouldn't be playing. He needs not only more time, but more freedom, especially offensively because right now his role when he does play is pretty much "get out of the way." He's barely 21 years old! He's going to make mistakes, but dammit, let him play through them!!
I feel like Meyers is Neil's guy. After seeing one of his other prized picks in Will Barton blow up after a trade, Neil will be even more reluctant to trade him. You can just tell by Terry's body language when Meyers is out there how much he hates the guy. I don't blame him. He's worse now than he was as a rookie nearly 5 years ago. How is that even possible? That one swat at Blake's face he had was just pathetic. I can't wait to see him off this team. Great guy who's been through a lot, but he can't play ball.
The "get out of the way" role drives me crazy. So many times he (or another big) will set a pick and then be wide open (and completely ignored) while one of our two guards dribbles around looking for a triple team to attack. They are very good offensively so sometimes that works but it is still a very difficult shot while a teammate has no one within 10' of them.
Truu or how about after Meyers fouls a guy and then looks around for someone to explain to what he was doing. Drives me nuts. Look at his college tape. Completely different player. Wasn't scared. Actually blocked shots. Now he just puts his arms up, closes his eyes, and prays he doesn't get called for a foul. As for Neil, he's never been scared to trade his guys, going back to his clipper days. I think it was more of not wanting to lose his players for nothing. We'll find out soon enough though.
This is my line of reasoning for starting Vonleh. We don't have any other PFs with untapped potential. Aminu is a fine defensive, if under-sized, PF but sucks at offense, thinking, and decision making...and really should not be starting anywhere in the league. Davis sucks at pretty much everything other than being Dame's buddy, and an occasional good defensive/rebounding game. Meyers is a C, not a PF. Plumlee could be a fine PF, but we need him at C because we don't have anyone else who can play the position. Also, unless Vonleh pans out we'll have given away Nic for nothing.
Perhaps, but in a SHOCKING development that no one could have predicted, after having a very solid year in his contract season, he has declined quite a bit after his big signing. Batum --- Pts - Rebs - Asts -- FG% -- 3pt% - FT% 2015/16...14.9...6.1.....5.8.... .426... .348... .849 2016/17...13.4...7.8.....5.3.... .384... .338... .774 So outside of rebounding, he is lower in every category and his shooting % has plummeted. Who could have seen that coming?
Still wouldn't mind having those reduced numbers* on our roster, though I'm quite happy with Harkless at this point. But that's really not my point - we could have gotten a MUCH better return had we waited to trade Nic. Neil jumped the gun and got hosed. *Compare Nic's "bad year" to Aminu - who we got to replace Nic. I suspect these percentages are career lows for Nic, and also suspect that they aren't too far off from Aminu's career highs.
Jumped the gun? Waited to trade? What are you talking about? He was in his contract year. Or do you actually believe a possible rental players value is higher at the deadline in February? What? Btw I always get a good laugh when some fan, who has no idea what conversations actually take place between NBA executives, comments something like "we could've gotten more."
I've been pro Meyers since day one. And I really like the kid. But I don't see how anyone can justify him playing in front of Vonleh at this point. It's simple - Vonleh has the ability to improve some of our glaring weaknesses. Meyers does not. End of story.
Crazy part about all this the one valuable trait Meyers had was his 3 point shooting. He can't even do that anymore
