yeah, I think we need to slow the roll of praise for Meyers, especially for his defense * last season, with Ed Davis as backup C the Blazers ranked 8th in the NBA in defensive rating at 106.4 points/100-possessions. Portland also ranked 13th in opponent FG% in the 3'-10' zone at .383 * this season, with Meyers (and occasionally Zach) as backup C Blazers rank 19th at 110.3 points. Basically a 4 point regression. They also have fallen to 23rd in opponent FG% in the 3'-10' zone at .414 now, not all of this defensive regression is on Meyers. Harkless has been injured and he's one of Portland's best defenders. And of course, Olshey exchanged Napier and Connaughton for Curry and Stauskas. That was a bad trade in terms of defense
Meyers is brutal defensively. Not sure the % but I would put it at around 75% of his fouls come because he is out of position or *thinks* he is in the right spot to make a play and cant/doesn't. Hes late to almost everything. He cannot guard anyone on the perimeter (which is fine, he's 7 ft tall) but then cannot effectively guard anyone in the paint enough of the time. If the NBA allowed straight Syracuse-type 2-3 zone, he might be helpful. None of this is a lack of effort or desire. He simply does not have the sense or BBIQ if you will to figure it out. I do not think coaching is a factor either. Meyers is Meyers. He has helped offensively at times, he can space the floor, and seems to be a great teammate. That's all.
Also, for all the "But he makes $10m!" people - if Meyers played the exact same offense AND played good defense he'd be getting a WHOLE lot more money. His age, his size, athleticism? If he shot like this, just decent, and could defend the rim?
LOL...in other words, if Meyers was a different player than what he is he'd be worth more money I like this alternate reality...in it I don't have 2 ex-wives, I'm not losing my hair, and I bought lots of Apple and Amazon stock in 1998. I'm enjoying life on my private island and it's way more than big enough for the airstrip and my private jet...wait, I have two jets, one green, one blue.
What are you talking about. My point is people piss and moan about him making $10m. They want him to defend better, pass better, not foul, block more shots. Well that'd be great. He would be making $25M. He does not get $25M. He gets 10.
do you really think there's anything persuasive about that argument??? you're essentially saying if Meyers was Nikola Jokic or Joel Embiid or Rudy Gobert or Steven Adams, he'd be getting 25M a year. But he's not any of those guys and that strange logic isn't going to convince anyone to cut Meyers any slack about his contract. He is what he is and that's overpaid last season Meyers ranked 126th in salary, but 296th in winshares. He may very well do better this season, but he's already raked in half of his 41M dollar deal and Portland has been robbed; and the season ain't over
What I am writing is that bitching about Meyers not doing all the things he cannot do is not only getting old and pointless, but this is who he is, and if he WAS doing all the things people wanted him to do, he would be a near max player. its like bitching that Nik Stauskas doesn't do this or that. No shit. Its Nik Stauskas. Meyers makes $10M. he makes what Terence Ross, Jon Leuer, Tony Snell, Jared Dudley, Dellavedova and Norman Powell make. He does not make Jokic money. Its asinine to bitch that Meyers does not do this/that/etc. Of course he doesn't. He isn't a great player. It's like if the Willamette University basketball coach bitched about his big kid who couldn't run/dribble/dunk over people. Yeah no shit, if he could do those things he would not be at Willamette he'd be at Duke. Meyers is a role playing bench guy who makes 10M - sure it would be great if it was less. It isn't. And there are plenty of other guys in this league getting money like that.
Two wrongs don’t make a right though. But I agree, he is who he is. As someone who’s trashed him plenty, it’s gotten boring. Be thankful that we may be able to trade him. Couldn’t say that a couple months ago.
Meyers is more than earning his paycheck THIS SEASON. And, right now, that's all that matters. I posted earlier in one of the other Meyer bashfests how he is actually significantly underpaid compared to what other back up centers got in the summer of 2016 (and that was only the healthy ones, Mozgov, Biyombo, Mahinmi, Mile Plumlee, etc. not the old, injured guys like Joakim Noah). Of course, his game is flawed. That's not news to anyone. The fact that he seems to have realized his limitations and is focused on doing what he does well (setting screens, rebounding, knocking down open 3-pointers and dunking) makes him a solid back up center who is not, and should not be starting. The reality is, that's worth $10 million a year in today's NBA. Would I trade him? Fuck yes, but given our lack of depth up front, I'd want a back up power forward who can provide comparable production so we can move Zach Collins to back up center, which seems to be his best position. BNM
well..... he's definitely playing better but to say his defense is respectable for a 7-1 athletic powerful big is completely inaccurate he is OK at screens he is terrible at boxing out terrible at blocks terrible at reading the court he's better. but with his physical assets he should be murdering the boards n being super active n getting a couple of blocks a game. he has no timing.
No he's not, Centers don't get paid like forwards. Highest paid back up 5's are BB, Mozgov, Mahinmi, Plumlee's, Nards. How many of these players are worth 17-10 mil a year? Especially when back up Centers are available and taking minimum contracts to be on a team. Nards makes 500k less than Nurk.
This is a quality post! I agree that Meyers staying under the rim on defense is a problem, as he forces Zach to play out on the perimeter, that's a very solid observation. But I like both Turner and Meyers this year, they're not our problem. Our biggest problem, and that's not a popular opinion here, is Lillard's non existant defensive game. He plays 40 minutes per game and throughout this time we're effectively playing 4 on 5 on defense
35.2 MPG, but who's counting? Nobody in the NBA plays 40 MPG. Anthony Davis leads the league at 36.8 MPG. BNM
wut? Meyers makes 10.6M and "today's market" paid Nurkic only 500K more than Meyers. Today's market paid Julius Randle 8.6M. It paid Javale McGee 2.4M. It paid Ed Davis 4.4M. It paid Derrick Rose 2.2M. It paid Aaron Baynes 5.5M. It paid Rudy Gay 10M. It paid Kyle O'Quinn 4.5M. It paid Brook Lopez 3.4M. It paid Luc Mbah a Moute 4.3M. And Wayne Ellington 6.2M. And Nemanja Mjelica 6.5M. And Montrezl Harrel 6M. And Noah Vonleh 1.6M. And Greg Monroe 2.2M. And Devin Harris 2.4M. And Rodney Hood 3.4M stop me when I mention a player that isn't better than Meyers or who plays less than 13 minutes a game. Those were players signed this summer who actually represent today's market it's true that Meyers is playing better this season...but even with that, he's still overpaid
the reason is not a popular opinion is that nobody else is 'out there' enough to think Dame is Portland "biggest problem" Dame's defense is not good, but..... defensive rating: Jake Layman 110 Evan Turner 110 Damian Lillard 112 CJ McCollum 113 Nik Stauskas 114 Seth Curry 116 defensive box plus/minus: Damian Lillard -1.0 Seth Curry -1.5 Nik Stauskas -1.9 CJ McCollum -2.0 DRPM: Seth Curry -0.32 Damian Lillard -1.74 CJ McCollum -2.11 Nik Stauskas -2.85 considering Dame spends most of his time matched up against other starting NBA PG's, he's not nearly as bad as the legend. Dame's defensive problem is that the GM refuses to add a solid defensive guard to help Dame out. Instead, he seems to find just the opposite. The glaring defensive weakness in Portland's starting unit is not at PG, it's at SG
Interesting to compare to Markkanen this year. http://bkref.com/tiny/NRtM4 Leonard's WS and WS/48 are higher, but Orating and Drating are worse. What does that mean?
Dude, Markkanen has played 4 games and is working his way back from an injury. It means nothing. Edit: When I click on your link it gives career stats but you specifically said "compare to Markkanen this year" in your post.
