WTF are you talking about here? Kudos for playing through an injury, but that injury isn't a valid excuse for not performing well because he's got a guaranteed contract? His play is hurting the team because there are exactly what other options at center? Vonleh and Aminu trying to cover both PF and Center in a two man rotation? Yeah, that's a viable solution. Leonard is a very limited player, and injured he's a lot less than that. But he's doing his best and playing through pain because he wants to try to do what he can to get his team into the playoffs. If management can't get the team some help, that's on them. But the constant bitching about Leonard around here, just because some people are so fricking pathetic that they have to have a scapegoat to blame everything on, is MY FUCKING TRIGGER.
Regardless of his talent or lack of........he is not shooting well from deep. So after the Utah game where playing on the perimeter might help against Gobert, lets at least see what he can do 18 feet and in.
Firstly....has it even been confirmed that he is indeed injured? I keep hearing this rumor, but there seems to be little subsistence to it. Secondly....I'm sorry, but when you play like shit for 5 years with no improvement, people kind of get tired of rooting for you and hoping for the best. In this case, if he is injured, it's kind of like "the boy who cried wolf". Except instead of crying "wolf", he's crying "injured". Well....the village is tired of running to the boy. And we're tired of holding out hope for him.
Even when scans show bulging discs or other disc changes it maybe something else. When back pain is combined with pain in the buttocks/hip area, it “could be” due to a sprain or damage to a muscle or connecting tissues that tighten and cause the pain and disc bulge. Or it could be a combination of things, such as poor posture and an injury to a muscle. I’m sure Meyers is getting the best treatment possible. Just concerned about what the real problem is, and why it is taking so long to fix. Just my guess, FWIW I'm not a doctor.
He's had an MRI and he's got 2 herniated discs and hip issues: http://www.blazersedge.com/2017/3/2...eyers-leonard-hip-and-back-injury-jason-quick To me there are four separate issues relative to Meyers Leonard: 1. Does he have sufficient talent to be on the Blazers roster going forward? While I was on the "big men take time and he's got size and a nice shooting stroke" bandwagon for quite awhile, this year and his lack of any progress was a deal-breaker for me. I'm now in the "hoping we can find a trade to move him before next season" camp. Good dude, but not a good enough player. 2. Is his already limited play being impacted by injuries? That seems to be clearly the case when you watch him trying to play recently. He can't jump and it's affecting both his shot and his already-limited ability to play defense. 3. Are his injuries significant enough that his health is at risk by trying to play through his injuries? I'm going to have to rely on the Blazers' medical staff here and say that their opinion that it won't hurt him long term is valid. 4. Do the Blazers have better options at this point than playing Meyers? If they do, somebody please point them out to me. We've got a too-young PF and an undersized PF/SF to try to play against the likes of Rudy Gobert, KAT, Anthony Davis, and DeMarcus Cousins. I'm not seeing any viable options here.
You sir are mistaken. It would be a 100% valid excuse if he was out. However Nards is playing. Meaning he's expected to produce on the court. Which he isn't doing. Nor was he doing it healthy. So maybe come down for a moment, because it certainly seems like your upset for no reason. Maybe I wasn't clear. First off, Meyers Leonard is always injured. He missed from March on last year, due to the shoulder injury he had coming into the season. This guy for the better part of 2 years has been "limited by injury". Five years in the NBA for a big who was drafted as a project. He's spent his career playing limited minutes, and yet he's managed to be hurt for the better part of 2 years. I'd say that's always injured. I put parenthesis on "especially when you're an NBA player with a guaranteed contact".Simply because regardless if he plays through injury or sits because of it. He's going to get paid, not everyone has that luxury in this world. Meaning he should get zero sympathy, play through the injury and produce, or sit. I'm sure thats exactly what the organization/teammates expect of him. Production. Kudos for him being there on the court and wanting to be like the rest of the world. Who performs their job while not being 100%. But you still must produce, showing up isn't enough. Now... You asked a question, and I answered it by saying. It triggers me when people say to other people. "You don't know what it's like to go to work injured and have a physical job". Which is what you said here. I simply responded with that's a giant trigger for me(Which is far nicer than what I wanted to say. But what I wanted to say would've been edited by a mod.) I would like to add that I'm not constantly bitching on here about Nards. If you were to go read any game thread I've posted in this season. You would see when Nards does something good, I'm one of the only people to mention it. So if you would please don't act like I'm always bitching about Nards and using him as a scapegoat to blame everything on because I'm pathetic and have no life.(Who do you think you are, Hillary?) Funny that Lillard was never allowed to use this excuse by the forum earlier in the season. It was just a bunch of "omfg he sucks trade trade". Had no one saying, "his ankle is injured and he's playing through it, give him credit!". Spoiler have a nice day, i'm not going to spend another 40minutes drawing a picture for you. Accept that I was nice with the first post or don't idgaf
I think people should have cut Dame slack because of his injuries... just as I think people should cut Turner slack because he's coming back from an injury, and I believed that Afflalo should have been given slack for playing with an injured shoulder two years ago. It's pretty absurd to not factor in an injury when judging someone's performance/output.
Sorry, no. Just because someone is playing through an injury doesn't mean they should be expected to produce at the level they do when they are healthy. That's ridiculous.
So many hilarious parts to this post. Nards wasn't producing when healthy. But now all of a sudden because he has an injury and he's not producing, it's okay. Gotcha. Good job Nards for playing through the injury. You're the definition of Blazer basketball, man what a baller. (notice how I'm not attacking Nards personally) Nards wasn't producing pre-injury and he wasn't cut slack. Why post-injury does he get a pass for playing like he has all season? Portland has no one else is not a valid reason. Especially realizing Aminu doesn't do any worse at stopping these Centers coming up. Sans-Nurk there were two legit options on offense for this Blazer team. After that the rest of the Blazer roster is filled with below-average to average NBA players. I didn't see a reason to cut Lillard slack. As who else outside of Lillard & CJ was going to score? Crabbe/Aminu/Nards were hot garbage without plays being ran for him. Harkless seems like quite a diva, which effected his play on both ends. Plumlee has the same rules as DJ applied to him. I gave Turner slack early in the year for one reason. He's an NBA vet whos shown he can produce in the league. Frankly to toot my own(and one or two others) horn. Giving Turner slack was the right call. He was playing damn good before he broke his hand. Dre used to start real slow to start the season in Portland too. I believe it was some former mod who said early January. "Man I wish I took into consideration Dre is a vet and plays himself into shape. I have to remember this for next year."(something like that) I don't hold Afflalo accountable for the Blazers leader tearing his ACL, and being forced into a situation he was never meant to be in. Cool he played though the injury. But the trade was made for him to be a bench player. Not integrate with at the time the best starting 5 in the league.
I hope it happens too river, but he's shown nothing in 5 seasons that he's going to magically turn it around.
The thing that I find to be hilarious is that you assume that the bolded part is what anybody is saying..that somehow he gets a pass for the rest of the season because he's hurt now and trying to play through it. He's all the team has in the center department. He's had a crappy year even by the relatively low standard of the rest of his career. He doesn't get a pass. But when you look down the roster that remains on the active list, he's the only center left semi-standing. To expect him to play well when he's injured, when he hasn't played well all season, is pretty absurd. Some have been venting on him pretty hard because of his low production. It's like yelling at the rain coming out of the clouds. It just is what it is. Your comments about his salary and how other people show up to work when they're hurt is just a total red herring. That's the NBA and every player operates under the same contractual rules. I would love to hear, though, how showing up with a bad back to a desk job compares to showing up to play in an NBA game and getting hit by KAT or Cousins. I'd be willing to bet that Meyers wouldn't mind taking a few games off and would if there were any other big men available.
I am absolutely not a Biebs fan, but several people have said that he has "Not Produced" in 5 years, and I don't think that's correct: http://www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/6605/meyers-leonard In 15-16, the only season he's averaged over 20 MPG (21.9), he went: .448 FG% .337 3FG% .761 FT% 5.1 RPG 8.4 PPG Basketball-Reference has him at a 11.3 PER that year, but 14.8 (basically average NBA player, and would be 1st on the team this year outside of the big 3) the year before. My problem with Leonard: the stats don't tell the whole story. So, please go back to your Meyers Leonard Daisies and Rainbows so I can go back to beating him up!
Sly, I know we have a regular forum and an OT forum. Can we get a special division for "threads with the most depressing titles?"
One thing that can be said that is 100% fact- Butters is not our starting center. At least not for this game....
