The scary/nervous part about how the Blazers improve

Meyers Leonard is the MS-DOS of the NBA.

I'm not sure how many of you geek boys are old enough to remember MS-DOS, for those that aren't, MS-DOS was a single tasking operating system. What that meant was you could only have one application open on your computer at a time. If your were editing a document in WordPerfect and wanted to look up some data in your Lotus 123 spreadsheet, you had to save your work, close Wordperfect, open Lotus 123, look up your data, close Lotus 123, re-open Wordperfect and continue editing your document. There was no point and clicking, there was no drag and dropping. There wasn't even anything to click with (i.e. - no mouse). You could only do one thing at a time.

And, that's exactly Meyers Leonard's problem. He has multiple skills, but he just can't seem to put it all together. I once referred to him as too coachable, because he seems to focus on the latest thing his coach told him to do at the total exclusion of all other basketball related activities. He's a single tasking operator in a multitasking world.

In spite of playing limited minutes his rookie year, he had 53 dunks and blocked 38 shots as a 20-year old rookie. He hasn't come close to either total since. His second year at Illinois, he led the Big 10 in blocked shots. The Big 10 is a major college conference. Leading the Big 10 in blocked shots is not an insignificant accomplishment. Guys who lead the Big 10 in blocked hots rarely suck. But, after his rookie year, he completely stopped using his athleticism.

During his second season, he greatly improved his rebounding. While others here failed to notice the improvement (because he was dunking less and blocking fewer shots), I noted at the time the big leap in his TRB%. And, let's face it, rebounding is a VERY important skill in a big man. His 16.8 % TRB% his second season is not elite, but it is above average for an NBA center. But, like his dunking and shot blocking, his rebounding has declined since that second year peak.

So, rookie year - dunking, blocking shots, running the floor and using his athleticism.

2nd season - boxing out and rebounding.

3rd season, he added the 3-point shot and had a rare 50/40/90 season. He also had a great series against MEM where he posted a PER = 19.6 and shot .769 3FG%.

At this point in his career, he had demonstrated all the skills necessary to be a great NBA big man - just never more than one skill at a time. I really thought he was poised for a breakout year prior to his 4th season. I thought that would be the year he started putting it all together.

I was wrong. After that 50/40/90 season and that series against MEM, he was recast as a 7'1" stretch-4. He completely abandoned all other areas of the game to do nothing but stand at the 3-point line and wait for a WIDE OPEN shot. He completely forgot he can post up smaller players and actually dunk the basketball. His rebounding continued to decline at both ends of the court.

Sure, he occasionally has a solid game banging in the low post against a Boogie Cousins or a Marc Gasol, but those games are few and very, very far between.

He's even worse than a single tasking operating system. In his case, you don't need to just exit one application to start another, it's like you have a reboot the whole goddamn system every time you want to do something else.

At this point, I've given up on him ever putting it all together. He has all the skills and the size and athleticism to be an excellent NBA big man. He seems to lack the mindset to put those skills together. Maybe some day, it will all come together, but if it does, I think it will be much later in his career, when he no longer possesses his current athleticism. I think the best case is his mind will eventually catch up with his body, but only because his body is declining at the same rate his mind is improving.

BNM

 

Nice to see him actually roll on the pick and roll and not just set a pick and step out to the 3-point line.

He actually sets good picks, and when that forces a switch and he ends up with a smaller man on him, he needs to recognize that and immediately roll to the basket EVERY time.

BNM

 

Naw, mason is a lot better. Miles is nowhere near the playmaker mason is. I'm expecting Mason to get at least 16-17m per, but probably more.

 

Can we trade Meyers yet?

 

It's not hard to tell, miles used to be a starter getting 25 minutes a night when he was in Phoenix. There's enough of a sample size there.

 

Here's a guy who makes much the same argument as the OP.
http://www.blazersedge.com/2017/1/24/14363738/portland-trail-blazers-2017-nba-draft-lottery-tank

 

Meyers is incosistant because his playing time is incosistant. He had good numbers against the Celtics but if he has a subpar game he would get no minutes the next game. Need to give him a consistant role for him to improve. His defense is his biggest weakness but his offensive game is the best we have outside of Dame and CJ and he makes us look like a complete team and not just a 2-man show.
The other players are getting much less criticism but what do they do? None of them is talented offensively and we have maybe the worst defense in the league as a team.
Time to unleash the Meyers. Give him a real chance and consistent playing time

 

"Right now, Portland is in the thick of the hunt for nothing more than the last remaining seed in the playoffs—which is a lot like sitting through one of those eight-hour-long timeshare sales pitches where you get a free trip to Alpena, Michigan. Sure, you get to take a free trip but was it REALLY worth it?"

Couldn't agree more. I don't know about objectively tanking but play Meyers, Vonleh and Layman a lot more minutes to see what you have. As a team, you are at a .400 winning percentage so it's not like trying something else is going to hurt that much. You find out what you have and if you happen to make the Playoffs in doing so with such a poor record, so be it.

Instead of wasting time continuing to do the same thing that has brought you to this place, find out what you really have with consistent, regular minutes with players run for these players and then go from there. Don't just stick Vonleh on the court and have him set 38 screens and run back on defense. Same with Meyers. When he gets a mismatch, order him down into the post and let him learn. Because he can hit tons of wide-open '3's in practice does nothing for me. Get him some reps in the post to augment his outside shooting and don't just stop after he misses his first shot.

 

Again, I go back to his rookie year when Meyers played more like a "real" center. His average FG distance was 8.2 ft., compared to 18.8 feet this year. His rookie year, nearly half his FGA were from 0 - 3 feet from the basket and he shot .696 FG% on those shots. That's a low post scoring threat. He did that as a clueless 20-year old rookie. Why can't he do that now? This year, he is shooting .708 FG% from 0 - 3 feet. The problem is, unlike his rookie season where nearly 1/2 of his shots were in that 0 - 3 feet range, now 1/9 are.

His rookie year, he earned the reputation for having a soft shooting touch IN THE LOW POST. Just because he has extended his range out to the 3-point line doesn't mean he should totally abandon the rest of his game.

BNM

 

Part of this is on Stotts. History shows he wants '3's and coaches to a perimeter oriented game.

 

Then part of it is also on Olshey for not filling our roster with better 3-point shooters. His big off season acquisitions the last two summers: Al-Faroug Aminu, Ed Davis, Mason Plumlee, and Evan Turner. Not a decent 3-point shooter among them.

I get that we also need bigs on the roster, but because he has not done a good job acquiring decent 3-point shooters, he has forced Stotts to convert the biggest player on our roster into a spot up 3-point shooting specialist.

Again, go back and look at Meyers Leonard's rookie stats. In spite of increased playing time, Meyers has not come close to matching his rookie BLK and dunk numbers. As a rookie he shot 48.7% of his shots within 3-feet of the basket and only 2.5% of them from 3-point range. Now he shoots 11% of his shots from within 3 feet and 56.9% of them from 3-point range. He also shot over twice as many FTs as a rookie as he has in any season since - because low post players get fouled more than 3-point specialists.

The lack of other 3-point shooters on this roster has forced Meyers Leonard's game to move further and further from the basket. It's ironic that that our biggest needs are now rim protection, low post scoring and rebounding when we had the makings of that in a 20-year old rookie and chose to piss it away to make up for the poor 3-point shooting of the rest of our roster.

BNM

 

He's actually inconsistent, because he's only trying to do one thing when he's on the court -- launch three point shots. As for his "offensive game" it isn't even remotely the best we have outside of Damian and CJ. His 2pt % is a frigid 39% and his 3pt % is a paltry 35% (which are both terrible considering it's the only thing he can do on the court). Add in his utter inability to defend the pick and roll and you have a player who gets the number of DNP-CDs he probably deserves.

Dan's a smart guy. I wish he still posted here.

I agree it would be awesome to see our bigs doing more than just setting screens and/or launching perimter shots, but see @TBpup below

I think Stotts really does want to reinvent what Dallas did a few years ago and he's trying to do it with a roster that just isn't up to the task. This is where the average coaches get separated from the great coaches; designing systems that cater to their players' strength(s). Obviously things have been built around Damian and CJ taking the lion's share of the shots and maybe there's just nobody showing enough skill and consistency to earn larger roles on offense, but it's only exacerbated by Damian and CJ tending to call their own number because of that lack of trust -- which is understandable, but unsustainable to success.

 

Not sure if he's trying to replicate what he built in DAL, but he definitely builds his offense around the strengths of his best players. Nothing wrong with that, per se. I think the real problem is we just don't have a solid third scoring option after Dame and C.J. I think we'd see them both pass more and force up fewer shots if we actually had solid, dependable third and fourth scoring threats.

That DAL team had Dirk and Kidd, but also had MUCH better role players than we do. Jason Terry and Caron Butler both averaged > 15 ppg for that team and then they also had Shawn Marion and Tyson Chandler who were both great defenders and very efficient scorers. Outside of our top 2, and perhaps Plumlee, who is a decent, but limited role player, no one on our current roster would have seen significant minutes playing for that DAL team.

BNM

 

ML play the low post in college and his rookie year. But Stotts try to make the next Dirk. I really blame Stotts how he turn out. Yes it nice to have the 3 point part of your game but he needs to get him down on the low post have him work there first.

 

His defense is still very weak but it's not like the other players are doing a great job, and he at least has some skills, can throw it down or make a 3, gives us some other tools than the boring give-Dame-or-CJ-the-ball offense we're usually playing.
He sets very good picks, can roll or pop, he gives us options

 

This all objectively and provably false. Hell, he also fails the subjective "eye test." It's jut not there.

When a player is in year five, one good game out of twenty does not make him anything other than a colossal tease.

 

I agree in seeing progress from Vonleh and Meyers in the last few games. I was at the game a couple weeks ago vs Magic, where ML passed on a 6 ft trot to the rim and opted for a missed little jumper instead. No defender in sight. Boo's reigned down on him! Since then, he has given more effort to go to the rim with authority. I'm pleased.

Vonleh also has been more forceful with his finishes and rebounding. It's been much improved.

I want to see Lillard and McCollum stay at guards. I like improvement and potential of Harkless, but think Layman could provide same given equal time at SF. I hope to see Vonleh earn residence at PF.

Lillard - McCollum - MH or JL - NV - ??

I'd like to see some of the rest turned into Vucevic or another guy who can rebound and score a little.
Ideally, Aminu is your b/u forward, Plumlee is your b/u PF/C, and Turner is your b/u guard. So, that leaves Crabbe (who I really like too), Davis, Leonard, Harkless or Layman to turn into another player (Vucevic or similar). Unlikely!