Ma...Son...Plum...Lee... Clap! Clap! ClapClapClap!

Yes but Vlade had a nice hook shot from the block and could step out and hit the 15-18' jumper. Plumlee's best shot is that little push floater or a dunk. Big difference in terms of being an offensive threat. Plums doesn't have to score a lot but if he could develop anything close to that type of range he would be a real triple-threat.

 

In his 3 playoff games, he's averaging 12 rebs, 9pts and 5 assists in 28mpg. He's been an absolute stud in this series, going up against the best defensive center in the game.

 

No doubt that he's got to add at least 8 more feet of range to his game. Hope he figures it out.

 

We are lucky to have several big guys who can actually finish a full court fast break..Plumlee is a smart player and just needs a bit more consistency offensively.

 

Ah, but you're also forgetting to mention, when was the last time Meyers grabbed 20+ rebounds?

His career high is 13.... against Memphis..... a year ago.

 

I think that's a little misleading: Jordan's job is actually not much to do with guarding the other team's center - he's guarding the rim. So the fact that Plumlee is not a threat from outside helps Jordan with his job, because he can stay around the hoop and swat every layup attempt. Ironically Leonard would be more helpful here.

Not to say that Plumlee hasn't been great, because he has. But he actually gets more free rein because Jordan cheats off him to guard everybody else. That said, Plumlee's rebounding numbers are genuinely impressive.

 

Overall, Mason's game hasn't show a lot of change from his game last year with Brooklyn. With one key area of improvement:
- His pt/36 dropped a bit from 14.8 to 12.9.
- His rb/36 is about level from 10.6 to 10.8.
- His blk/36 are about level from 1.3 to 1.5
* His assist-to-turnover ratio improved from 0.682 to 1.44 (averaging 2.8 apg). Impressive.

With that being said, here's a bit of perspective:
- Draymond Green has an a/t ratio of 2.33 in 2016 (averaging 7.4 apg).
- Al Horford has an a/t ratio of 2.46 in 2016 (averaging 3.2 apg).
- Joakim Noah has an a/t ratio of 2.11 in 2016 (averaging 3.8 apg).
- Tim Duncan has an a/t ratio of 1.80 in 2016 (averaging 2.7 apg).
- Pau Gasol has an a/t ratio of 1.78 in 2016 (averaging 4.1 apg).
- Marc Gasol has an a/t ratio of 1.65 in 2016 (averaging 3.8 apg).
- Bill Walton had an a/t ratio of 1.39 in 1978 (averaging 5.0 apg).

Plum's handles are certainly a welcome surprise to the weapons on this team.

 

That's a legit point.

Assuming Leonard actually hits shots and doesn't completely fuck up, yes. I don't think either of us are 100% confident of that. I'll take what Plumlee has given us over what Leonard might have given us.

 

First, that hasn't been his job. How is he going to do that when his role is to spend most of his time on offense around the three point line?

Second, before yesterday, when was the last time Plumlee grabbed 20+ rebounds?

Third, rebounding had absolutely nothing to do with my post or my point. I didn't forget to mention it; it's a completely different subject.

 

And those are his averages. I didn't look up his first game stats, but he looked pretty terrible, so I'd guess just looking at the last two it would be even more amazing. Plums performance in the last two games has been studly. More please!

 

Sorry, I was thinking that shooting is a skill that can be learned, while passing and rebounding tend to be skills that are much harder to develop. Plums is a solid passer and rebounder, while Leonard is really just a shooter.

 

No argument there.

 

No way man. Show me one big in the league who got thinner as his career when on?/ Plums will slowly but surely put on the meat with his work ethic. I also feel confident he can get to be a 70% ft shooter and a 45% from 10-12....in 3-5 years.

 

Usually if a big can pass as well as he does, they have the potential to shoot well (Both require a good touch and good feel). See Al Horford, the Gasol Brothers, even Meyers to a lesser extent. The problem is is if you have atrocious form, you won't make shit. That's the case with Joakim Noah and Plumlee.

The problem with Plumlee is he has his wrist at a perfect 90 degree anthem when he starts his follow through (which is good). Then he flattens his wrist out and locks it there early in his follow through, then finally flings his wrist forward once his flow through is already complete. If you can get him to follow through in one efficient motion, I think he'd had an efficient 15+ foot jumper and would be a 75%+ Free Throw shooter.

 

I'm take a guy that goes 100% every possession over skill any day. Lock plums and harkless in this summer.

 

Plumlee needs to work on his 10-15 foot floater. Dame and CJ could certainly help him with that. Would give him a scoring weapon to use when he dribbles the ball upcourt.

 

Well, come on, before last night, when was the last time PLUMLEE grabbed 20+ rebounds?

 

I like the floater idea it's a different motion and does not appear to be as broken.

 

Not sure why this turned into a Mason vs. Meyers debate. They are actually complimentary players and after the way Meyers performed in the playoffs last year, I suspect Olshey specifically targeted Plumlee to pair with Meyers, not to replace him.

Last year in the playoffs, Meyers did a great job spreading the floor on offense and manning up on Marc Gasol on the defensive end. Sure, Gasol got his numbers, but he did it against single teams and Meyers did a better job defensively on Gasol than Robin Lopez did. In fact, bodying up and frustrating large, traditional low post centers, seems to be the one thing Meyers does well on the defensive end. And, he also rebounds well on the defensive end when he's in that role.

So, let Meyers play the stretch 4 role in Stotts' offensive scheme, but then have him guard the other team's center on defense. Pair him with Plumlee playing from the high post in on offense and guarding PFs on the defensive end. Of course, their roles can be tweaked depending on matchups, but I really think that was the pairing Olshey and Stotts envisioned when they signed Plumlee. It was also our starting front court at the beginning of the season until Meyers got hurt the first time.

I also think Meyers biggest problem may be that he's too coachable. I never thought I'd say that until I watched Meyers play this year. He seems to focus almost 100% on doing the thing he thinks the coach wants him to do, but he seems to be very single minded in his thought process. His rookie season, he was much more of a traditional low post center. Granted he often had that deer in the headlights look many rookie big men have as they try to adapt to the speed of the NBA game, but he was a much more aggressive shot blocker his rookie year - which also led to a lot more fouls.

Then he worked on mimicking the Joel Freeland straight up verticality approach to defense and his blocks and fouls went way down. Then he was told he was going to be a stretch 4 and that's all he seemed to focus on - especially at the beginning of this season after his success in that role against MEM in the playoffs. Unfortunately, he started the season shooting the ball poorly and that was ALL he was contributing. After returning from his first injury, he gradually got his shot back, and then Stotts started using him defensively against low post centers like DeMarcus Cousins and he performed admirably in that role.

I think he still tends to over think things and sees himself in a specific role based on what the coaches ask him to focus on. What he still needs to learn is that even though he is focused on one area, that does not mean he should not do other things to help the team, too. In other words, he still hasn't put it all together, but I still think he has the ability to do so and be useful on both ends of the court at the same time. Like Plumlee, Meyers is a very good passer for a big man. He is also a good defensive rebounder. When playing the stretch 4 role on offense, he gets very few offensive rebounds, but that's OK as long as he's paired with Plumlee or Ed Davis - two high energy, scrappy bigs that get after it on the offensive glass.

Who knows if the Blazers will resign Meyers, but I do think the pairing of Plumlee and Leonard has potential to work. Both are still young, both pass the ball well. Meyers shoots the ball well and Miles has a great motor. Yeah, it would be great if you could put Plumlee's motor and brain into Meyer body, or transplant Meyers shooting touch into Mason's body, but since you can't it makes sense to go Meyers at the 4 on offense, with Mason at the 5 and then switch up on the defensive end.

I think that would have worked very well in this series. Meyers could body up better on DeAndre, foul him hard and frustrate him on one end and then draw him (or Blake) out of the paint on the other end. Anytime Meyers is in the game and camped out at the 3-point line, it helps open up the lane for Dame and C.J. to penetrate. Having Plumlee running the offense from the high post in Game 3 was a great move by Stotts. Think how much more open the lane would be if DeAndre had to guard Mason in the high post and Meyers was drawing Blake out to the 3-point line. Right now, the Clippers aren't even bothering to guard Aminu more than 10 feet from the basket. They are daring him to take the wide open shots and it's working for them. They would not be able to leave Meyers that wide open without paying for it.

Both players still need to improve for this to work. As noted, Mason need to work on his shooting to become more of a threat on offense to keep opposing defenses honest. Both players need to improve their pick and roll defense - especially Meyers. This is a big weakness for him. Against certain teams that don't have a low post center, it would make more sense to have Plumlee guard the 5, or better still, pair Meyers with Ed Davis in certain situations (or Mason with Vonleh - especially if Vonleh can improve his 3-point shooting). Ed is our best big at defending the pick and roll.

Or maybe, we let Meyers walk and sign Al Horford...

BNM

 

Great post, BNM.