He's worth so much more, and we won't get a second chance. Only a severely clueless individual would entertain the thought of letting him slip through our grasp.
Riverman playing a tune. Good call. If our second unit were to develop like that we could become a really dangerous squad.
So did Jason Jennings, Martin Gortat and Andrew Bogut (they had higher verticals than Leonard), and I don't hear anyone calling them "super athletes". BTW, Meyer's standing reach is only 9ft., Deandre's is 9'6". 9 flat is about the standing reach of guys that are ~6'10. That's why Meyer's height is misleading. He's 7-1 so people think he should be a center, but in basketball terms, he's really more the size of a PF.
BTW, the center with the best overall combine measurements was Miles Plumlee, with a 40.5 inch vertical, and a 10.6 agility. That's better than many point guards.
What do all those guys have in common? They are all White and white players in the NBA are hardly ever called elite athletes. Meyers is very athletic and you can see that by just watching him, when he actually gets time. I won't say he is a smooth athlete because sometimes it looks like his body is doing one thing and his mind is telling it to do something else.
Meyers Leonard looks athletic when he has a running start and just runs and jumps. That's it. When he has to move his feet side to side or change directions he looks no better than Przybilla. His footwork is truly awful. He's a dreadful basketball player with 0 redeeming qualities for a center and shouldn't be in the NBA
I'd like to think that the Blazers' coaching staff have a pretty good idea as to whether Meyers has the goods to become a decent center in the NBA. I'll trust their judgement and I'm betting they give him the extension.
I'm just glad Meyers is working out right now with Joel and the assistant coaches. This upcoming season will tell if he is a keeper or trade fodder. He's better at this point than Greg Oden or Hasheem Thabeet. The tone seems to be judging him now as a back up center but he's a 3rd string big now. He would have to beat TRob and Joel to be a backup anything. When Lopez or TRob or Joel have foul trouble, it's good to have his 5 fouls and freethrow shooting. People had doubts about DeAndre Jordan and Serge Ibaka their first couple years in the league. Now they're glad they were patient. I agree with Sly that the staff knows what improvements he's made. Joel Freeland said Meyers has a high IQ but lack of confidence and tendency to overthink the game. Yeah, he's not Steven Adams. If I were Olshey, I'd keep him around for the time being.
I have obviously been one of Leonar_'s biggest detractors, but I heard during the playoffs he was scout team Dwight Howard and killed everyone. That being said, I hope he embraces his success at that.....I don't think he will though
Just goes to show you sometimes have to coach 7' players. Rolo is the best thing that could happen for the kid. Sarcasm usually does mean nothing, just didn't use the green font
I predict he gets extended and more minutes. The Blazers aren't about developing several young guys at once through playing time. Even the Euro guys paid some bench time dues before getting rotation minutes. In Chicago, Leonard would have gotten 12-24 minutes with Thibs hollering at him to get in the right position and head in the game. It worked for Asik, who I think is clumsy and one dimensional. Leonard is much better talent to start from. Imo
and he apparently learned nothing from Robin in a full season of him being here, another reason I want to see him gone
exactly, we certainly agree on this, he must have the "slowest twitch" muscles I have ever seen and he has no anticipation whatsoever where a rebound might go
I don't buy into this by any stretch. We don't see the workouts at practice and if you revisit his exit interview, he was very focused on what needs work. The staff and team would disagree with you here about his progress and I trust their judgement. Meyers didn't play enough to show what progress he's made. He has a lot to work on but again, he's the first to admit it. I give the kid some credit. Rolo said the same when asked about him. To not like a player is one thing but to ignore any objectivity about his progress is just personal bias
