Meyers was picked as raw talent that could be taught and molded, shown how to get better and become something useful. Sure would be nice if someone saw the potential for growth in .....
Didn't say he didn't. But it seemed as if most of the board (you, perhaps?) was against Noel (who had a bigger wingspan/reach, better stats, higher weight at draft time) as a C because he would get manhandled in the paint, and yet "Henson's more of a C than Leonard". I submit that Henson is nothing close to a C. He's a rebounding PF. Not even a big shotblocker (he had 42 last year, Leonard had 38).
I don't get all this stretch 4 talk. Being able to put the ball in the basket from more places is a good thing. It doesn't mean he's suddenly going to stop working on defense and rebounding, which he has acknowledge very publicly are his biggest weaknesses. Man, I remember back when Sabas would suddenly jack a trey on a catch and shoot after being the fifth man up the court. Not a bad weapon to have. Finally, and here's the homer in me, I wouldn't rule out Leonard becoming a stud defensive C. Tyson Chandler is actually an interesting comparison, as he wasn't considered a stud anchor until his late 20s. Their size and athleticism are similar, and Chandler's D is ultimately more about awareness and IQ than it is about blocks and rebounding. His numbers are pretty middling, actually.
Idk if this is directed at me But the main reason I didn't want Noel is because he shredded his knee. I did think he was overrated, though. No knee problems I easily take him over Leonard.
Players with longer wingspan than Henson Ndiaya Riek Ajnca Sene Olowokandi Chris Marcus Boban Marjanovic Jason Jennings Hassan Whiteside Eddy Fobbs Eddy Curry DeSagna Diop Garret Siler Aziz N'Diaye Roy Rogers James Lang Hasheem Thabeet I could go on and on with this, Im not close to out of names.
I say "stretch 4" because that's more of the skillset he has. Not that that's good or bad. Even at Illinois he wasn't lighting up the rebounding or blocks stats. But the dude shot almost 60% from the field in college, and has shown that his jumper might be the most advanced skill he has. If we drafted him thinking he'd be Reggie Evans or Kenneth Faried, then that's a poor talent evaluation. If we drafted him because he was a 7'1 guy who could put in useful minutes on the court and project to be something much better in the next 3-7 years than he is now--I think he's doing ok so far.
See you later folks, Just finished up at work and heading home. I'[ll pick this back up later. Meyers will be much better than Henson BYE
Other than rebounding %, what stats are you looking at Henson to have done in his 9 starts and 13 mpg? I mean, he is a useful player, but he played as much as Babbitt did and went for 6/4.8 (compared to Leonard's 5.5/3.7). He had 4 more blocks than Leonard all season. He had a 103 ORtg/102 DRtg (compared to Leonard's 115/110). He shot 48% and 53% from the line (compared to Leonard's 54%/43%/81%).
I like that he actually rebounds and can protect the rim a little bit. Leonard doesn't do these things. And if you notice in your averages you provided, he averaged more pts and rebounds than Leonard while averaging 4 less minutes per game, and play 400 minutes less on the season (this is the reason why he only has 4 more blks than Leonard).
So now we're at Henson, who plays PF, over Leonard. Well, at least the Drummond strawman has been eliminated. So why again does a post game matter, or defense? Because Henson has neither at this point, and doesn't even play center. Henson's -0.1 PER in the playoffs was awesome, too.
