Newly named- Potential Upside Podcast - Ep 1 is now up- now with less Danforth!

Considering the name wasn't good to begin with, we settled an an actual name for the podcast- Potential Upside Podcast, or the PUP. It's meant as a nod towards both the analytics and potential in players, but also the place this Blazers team is in now- with, you guessed it, a lot of potential upside.

Danforth is out sick so it's just Andy Bunker and myself this time- taking a long look at Meyers Leonard. Take a listen and let me know what you think! (also available on iTunes- search Rip City Mornings and look for the Potential Upside Podcast)

http://ripcityradio.iheart.com/onair/rip-city-mornings-56071/potential-upside-podcast-ep02-14297565/

Take a listen and as always- let me know what you think!

 

Was just listening to this. All this talk of Meyers being a good rim protector is over blown.

http://nyloncalculus.com/stats/rim-protection/

Plums is trash at rim protection, no doubt. He's letting guys shoot 57% at the rim and contests 41% of the attempts. But Meyers is not that much better: 54% opp FG% and contesting 28% of the shots. Playing him at 5 and letting him go against post ups might not be all that great of an option anyway. Guy to keep an eye on for rim protection is Noah.

Meyers brings one skill to the court: 3pt shooting. And he doesn't shoot 40% as you say (that was with a smaller sample size last year), but it's rather 35%. And his hesitation and lack of confidence takes away from that paltry skill he has. Ship him out. I'm done.

 

I go into that further- I referenced the numbers from last year and again a small sample size and brought up that he has actually struggled this year. However, his numbers are down- in my opinion because he's not at the rim all that often. I in no way think that Meyers is the end all be all of rim protection- however, he is the best option on this roster. I can cut and paste plenty of examples where he succeeds, but that's cherry picking at best. It's hard to walk that line of advocating for someone and clarifying an observation. With Meyers, that's made infinitely harder b/c of his inconsistencies.

Noah's numbers have gone down and down over the last few years- there's a number of factors at play there, but we're not getting the All-Defense version of Noah at this point in his career.

 

I meant Noah Vonleh. He might be our best rim protector.

Not Joakim Noah.

 

Hmmm... I haven't seen enough of him to make a good call on that one. Interesting thought though, that's for sure. He has the tools to be successful on that end of the court... but there haven't been any markers to really indicate otherwise. He may or may not end up being that guy, but his college numbers don't project him as much of a shot blocker- he actually blocked a smaller percentage of shots than Meyers. Blocks and rebounds are typically skills that transition pretty well to the NBA- so it'll be fun to watch and see if he develops those skills.

 

Leonard doesn't play under the basket because his coach doesn't put him there. He doesn't 'float' out to the perimeter as some say, his coach puts him there. I watched Meyers last night do a good job of boxing out and of grabbing rebounds (he finished with 10 in under 20 minutes). He had a couple of plays where he affected shots. I like him underneath and around the basket, and I wish his coach would have him spend a little more time there. Maybe next year if he's still here and if we were to trade one or two front court players.

 

I know you know that shot blocking is not the greatest indicator of rim protection. It's more about the way he uses his body, and how he contests shots His wingspan is actually an inch longer than Meyers' and he's got more lower body strength, and from what I see on the court, far better defensive instincts. And the early stats indicate that he and Ed Davis are our best rim protectors.

Of all the things you can focus on to claim Leonard needs more PT, you picked the wrong one with defense.

It's just baffling to me that some of you guys still have hope for this guy.

 

How can you get better at something if your not actively trying to do it on a regular basis?

 

On another note, I like me some Noah Vonleh. (He certainly is polarizing, some say give him more minutes and others think he's a waste of space, LOL.) I really like his potential. I like that the team seems to be bringing him along, not necessarily 'slowly', but one step/skill at a time. That's the way to do it with a young raw player like Noah.

 

Exactly.

 

So what do you do with Davis and Plumlee? I've seen this idea floated around about how Leonard needs to play at C exclusively. Where do you put Mase and Ed then? They are far more valuable in every aspect of the game outside of offensive spacing.

 

Oh Vonleh has condor wings for arms- and I didn't mean to insinuate that blocks were the end all, or that you believed they were- and yes he easily moves better than Meyers and he has the Shawn Kemp ass (which is actually a thing...) I just haven't seen him use his physicality enough or consistently to determine whether or not he'll be any more of a defensive stopper than he is today. That's not to say he can't be, he's ridiculously you and he has plenty of time to grow. However, my point on Meyers and more PT is about showing or not showing that he can handle things on both ends of the court- that's really the final point. I feel the Blazers have to, one way or another, come to a conclusion on his skill set and contribution b/c his contract is a linch pin for the team going forward.

 

I honestly don't mind the Ed/Leonard pairing- and I think for the most part Ed moves his feet well enough to be able to stick with a good amount of 4's. Mason to me is a career back up big who is what he is. That's not a negative, it's just you know what he's going to give you and hoping/expecting for anything else outside that bubble puts him in a position where he's not as successful.

 

Another thing that I have a serious contention with: Meyers Leonard being a "elite" shooter.

When did 35% 3pt shooting become elite? And given how many of these looks are WIDE OPEN, I don't think he's all that great of a shooter either.

/hater

 

I know. Unless one of them is included in a trade, how does Meyers even get a chance to play around the basket? Because they certainly can't play away from it. (Other than PlumDog's high post passing.) And then there is the need to develop Vonleh. So in the end, the only position left for Meyers is tip-toeing around the three point line, setting high screens and popping out for three pointers?

 

So at his current rate of improvement Meyers should be shooting 52% from three in February. Anything less will be a total fail!

 

He's trending upward, that's for sure.

I was wondering about this earlier, but he shoots WIDE OPEN shots. Defenses pay such little attention to him, that I feel like his impact due to spacing is completely overestimated. I wish those gravity stats would be made public. It would also be interesting to see how his shooting % on contested shots compare with others like Aminu/Hark/non-blazers.