You know what, I’m not going to shit on him anymore. He is what he is, there’s max another season left. If he contributes great, if he doesn’t play, even better.
I generally agree, but I’ve seen decent growth out of the player. I’d like to see him do well and continue to grow.
I have hated on Meyers in the past. I like what I have seen from him this season, and even a lot of last season, when he actually managed to play. Not hating with this thread. Just wanted a dance party.
It was good to see him get that out of the way, but I agree. He's actually been pretty solid this year. A couple stupid things here and there but that's to be expected from someone who hasn't played that much. The cake is baking..
Mmmm... cake... In addition to already blocking more shots in 95 minutes this season than he did in 254 minutes last season, Meyers is getting to the FT line a LOT more. His FTr of .542 highest on the team (Zack is 2nd at .442 and Nurk is 3rd at .391) and 3.8x what it was last year. He's shot 13 FTs already this season (and made all 13) compared to only 11 all of last season. His TRB% of 18.0 is well above average, the highest of his career and 3rd on the team trailing only Biggie (22.0) and Nurk (19.9). Look at Meyers out there doing actual big man things! BNM
Thanks for the stats, BNM. They confirm what my eye-test has been telling me. I did think it was a bit too bad last night that Meyers got his block, goes down to the other end and nails a three, and then Stotts immediately yanks him and puts Nurk back in. I mean, give the guy a couple more possessions just to let the success soak in a bit. (OTOH, Stotts got him out before he screwed anything up after his success, so maybe that was wise?)
The fact that he left him out there despite the clippers going small was a step for Stotts. I respect him for not making subs based on what the other team was doing for once, no matter what I think of Meyers.
That's been a pet peeve of mine with Stotts for a while - letting the opposing coach dictate the match ups and style of play. It's like waiving a white flag and flat out playing to your opponents's strengths rather than using your strengths against them. Stotts totally blew the December game against HOU last year. The Blazers had a 14-point lead going into the 4th quarter. HOU went small and Terry immediately followed suit. HOU outscored POR 40-19 and we lost a game we should have won. You can't out small ball a D'Antoni coached team. You need to punish them in the paint and on the glass. You need to make them pay for trying to go small, not reward them by giving them what they want. I was very pleased to see Terry go big against HOU in our first match up this season. D'Antoni tried to go small and Terry countered by punishing them with Nurk. HOU had absolutely no answer for Nurk. So, instead of giving up a big lead by going small, we pulled away by going big. I've been saying it for a while, if the other team insists on going small, FEED THE BEAST. Nurk is at his absolute best when he has a smaller defender on him in the low post. He either scores or gets fouled (7-10 FG and 8-10 FT against HOU). That's a HUGE advantage (literally), use it! His use of Nurk against HOU and his use of Meyers last night shows progress. He has enough good players on this team, with various strengths and skill sets, he should be the one dictating the match ups, not the other way around. Glad to see him realizing that. BNM
