And... we've come to the point of summer where we're now discussing the plus and minus value of Meyers Leonard's ability who hasn't played for us in 5 years. Yay
Did Meyers efficiency come before or after he was standing around and didn't know what to do? (I noticed those highlighted shooting percentages are based on very low minutes and 2-4 shots per game)
Seems to me Meyers short spurt of almost looking like an NBA big cost the Blazers a mere 55 million...and he still didn't learn to open his eyes under the basket or dunk over a 6' guard in the paint. Great passer, 3pt shooter and free throw shooter...didn't foul much until he went public with video game hate speech..
Meyers always looked like he was in slow motion when he was shooting. Like he was an old man playing in the 1950's. And considering he used an old man slur, it kinda makes sense. But he did make neato videos with his wife where he could flex his muscles and go shirtless and mean mug.
Don't forget the wicked Pit Viper sunglasses, or that month he decided that carrying around a hammer everywhere like Thor was a good idea.
Meyers was a very good FT shooter. But I'm looking at those stats, and seeing 1 FTA per game. If only Leonard could have taken the ball up strong more often. Setting picks and lofting the occasional 3 ball, the slow tromps off the P&R with no intent of anyone passing him the ball, because there's no way he would catch it. Meyers had the body type to become a very helpful Center. Olshey gave him a big contract to work on becoming a good NBA Center. Was it the Stotts system? Was big man fundamentals coaching an issue? Was Meyers just a 7ft hulking brain fart? ... perhaps a combination of all 3
I have always thought and will continue to think (because it can't really be proven one way or the other) that the firing of Kim Hughes in the summer of 2015 ruined any chance of Meyers being the center we needed him to be. Now of course, the notion that one assistant coach would have that much of an impact on a player's development (or lack thereof) says a lot about that player's mental fragility, but that isn't something we don't already know.
Meyers finished his time in Portland with a team-high 30 points and game-high 12 rebounds in game 4 of the conference finals. He put the game into overtime with his block of Steph Curry under the hoop. Then he was traded to Miami. Cued up to Meyers' block on Curry that put the game into overtime.
I say B....he's been a brain fart elsewhere since..he played about zero minutes in the playoffs with the Bucks...that tells you something. He just hesitates and overthinks everything and makes decisions with the ball in slow motion.
