It seems like Noah has been "21" forever... I just looked, and he had his 22nd birthday about a month ago.
I think you are wrong here. Meyers can pass the ball very well as he has demonstrated many times. And if he is shooting well they could very well work together.
Well, you may not consider it a gift, but when somebody hands a player with no track record of success an extremely rare opportunity to be one of 30 starting NBA power forwards, it sure wan't earned. Is donation a better term? Roll of the dice? Call it what you want. It's the same reason Telfair, Webster, Outlaw, and a bunch of other worthless young guys got starting jobs on the Blazers. Youth with a lack of talent ahead of them. When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose. It's certainly nothing like Damian Lillard getting the starting job his rookie year, where everybody could see he was a better than average starting NBA player on day one.
His nickname should be Forever 21. His offense is about as soft and cheaply made as the clothing that store sells!
The best fit next to Nurkic theoretically is Collins. Can space the court offensively and has the feet to be left on the perimeter defensively.
No I don't agree that it's about matchups. There isn't a power forward in the league Leonard can defend.
I saw the Bulls play Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler those kinds of minutes. Both right out of high school. They started Curry at C and Chandler came off the bench (and finished games). I see Vonleh getting PT like Curry did. I'm perfectly fine with it. Though at some point, Vonleh has to earn more than Q1 development minutes. https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CHI/2002.html That's how you develop really young players.
Sure. I think Caleb gets his PT at C, no? Vonleh isn't in his way at all. Swanigan? I think he's going to earn PT pretty quick. I trust Stotts will play his best players.
I think a lot of people are underestimating just how NBA ready he is. People see seven feet, skinny and a lot of shot blocking and assume he's a center who needs a couple years to fill out so he can be another Nurkic. I see a guy who has probably 10-15 pounds and 4 inches on Aminu (who has played lots of undersized PF for us) and is a better help defender. He's leaner than Vonleh, but brawn isn't everything at PF. Porzingas is 7-3 240. Theo Ratliff was definitely pretty skinny but was a force in the middle for several years. LaMarcus was basically an inch shorter and the same weight when we drafted him. If we had the chance to play a less offensively gifted rookie LaMarcus right now over any of the other options, I think we would. Which is why I think Portland will settle on Zach Collins fairly quickly.
If Meyers "popped" (and that is a completely subjective thing to quantify so I'll let you apply it as you see fit), would you think/feel differently about NO? Watching the CJ interview from today's media session and it occurred to me that if Meyers popped that draft would be really impressive. CJ is yoked and turned in to a full grown ass man. Just thinking, if Meyers did the same, NO crushed it
...I liked how Dame was trying to stay PC when they specifically asked him what he noticed from Meyers so far in camp -- basically saying that from a basketball skill perspective nothing has changed, but from a mental standpoint he could tell the Meyers is in a better place and definitely playing like he has something to prove and playing A LOT more physical (saying he would have fouled out of every pickup game so far LOL)
Meyers oh Meyers... I bought you a corsage and romanced you on our date. You left me alone and crying.. "oh great!" But my love for you is fierce and undying SO I just gotta keep on trying Ill give you one last chance. Dont leave me with some ankle pants im already down on my knees begging you please TO JUST BE FUCKING GOOD!!!!
Maybe. He has tools. He just hasn't had the basketball smarts or the confidence to use them. For Meyers this summer was about gaining some semblance of basketball smarts and the confidence to put them to good use. If he's playing hard and physical, and with confidence, then he shouldn't suck. Fingers crossed.