The only reason this sounds like a good idea is because Noah Vonleh is a scrub and any alternative sounds terrific. Now I do agree Vonleh has nice defense and is only 20 but the dude is clearly out there Bc he's this organization's golden boy right now for whatever reason. Vonleh hardly shows any help on offense and is a complete and utter liability on that front. Why he can't have an occasional say 12 point game every BLUE MOON shows me really no hope for him ANYTIME SOON. Now could he be better later in his career? Absolutely, but I'll tell ya right now it's NOT GOING TO BE ANYTIME SOON. People love to say "well he's only 20!" I hate that excuse look at Julius Randall he missed the whole season last year and plays for a dysfunctional organization and nobody uses the age factor for him. In half his games the kid has double double so stop using that excuse. Now we know why CHA dumped this kid..
Vonleh is the future at PF but he's clearly not ready. Give him his usual 12 minutes but he really shouldn't be starting. Watch Aminu last year in Dallas - they primarily played him at PF and he was solid. I'd look in this direction instead.
Originally Stotts started Plumlee and Leonard. The reasons were obvious at the time. Even more so now. I did some real looking at the stats and pulling the last 20 games it becomes very obvious the Vonleh is way over his head and Meyers has been playing not only good but borderline very good. His 3 pt shot is up to 37% for the season and that is with his shoulder injury that pretty much destroyed his percentage for the year. In the last 20 games he is over 45%. His mid range shot is about 60%. I watched him make 4 passes last night that included an inbound pass that maybe a handful of players in the league could make. He sets monster picks over and over again that get dame quality looks. Way better at picks than Plumlee or Davis. Harkless and Vonleh can't even dream of setting those picks. Even more so when he sets them immediately he is a threat on the pop to score. He shoots close to 80% from the line and we don't have a guy over 6-8 that can even begin to touch that. Vonleh is shooting 23% from 3 and Harkless is about 28%. Neither can hit a free throw and their mid range is only approaching 30-35%. Respectively. Now lets talk about rebounds. Leonard's per 36 on rebounds has been steadily rising and he is now above 8.4. This was again down to about 7 until the last 20 games where he is becoming a double figure threat every night. Look i don't care if you don't like the way the guy looks. Every player makes mistakes but it seems most simply wait for the guy to do something wrong and then blow a gasket. The guy is playing very well for the last 2 months. Look at the numbers if you don't believe me.
Vonleh IMHO will never make it on this team. He suffers from extreme bonehead-itis. Simply speaking he lacks basic intelligence. Constantly doing the same thing wrong and doesn't have the chops to correct it. Vonleh is worse than TRob was. Maybe as bad as Barton. Neither can make it in this offense. Aminu has become exactly what got him what he got in Dallas. Aminu is not the answer.
The problem is not his offense it is him not be able to guard the power foward position. He goes in with Davis now where he can the 4 spots and Myers can guard the 5. That why his Rb been up.
There is a reason Dame is getting the open looks and drives to the basket. It is because Meyers is a threat to score after the pick. Dame has four options and that is a luxury he will not want to lose. He can drive because Leonard demands a guy to cover him where neither Plumlee or Davis do not. He can pass back to Meyers if they double him or he can pass to CJ or another open wing like Henderson or he can drive to the open lane. There is a reason Dame is getting so many 30 point games and that reason is Meyers Leonard. Picking Meyers Defense apart is just plain wrong. He makes guys shoot around or over him. He is stopping some of the biggest baddest MOFO's in the game. He burns them just as much as they get him and he is no way a threat in the post yet. I say yet because that is exactly what he is working on. Post moves. You add one to two moves a year! In 2 more years he will have 3-4 solid post moves. I see this happening easily.
They did this very same thing with Aldridge. LMA was a scorer and when he had to work on defense his numbers went down like all players. Leonard will have to play with another rim defender no question because he is being asked to do different things.
It's fuuny there is another thread that is all about getting Boogie Cousins to the Blazers and that is exactly what the Blazers do not need. You can't spell trouble any faster than bringing Cousins to the Blazers.
I think you have made some good points. He does do a lot of stuff good, and when he is facing the basket he is really smooth making his shots. He (and we) should probably forget about him ever posting up; we were harshly reminded of this last night. I would be so much happier though if when he got a rebound under the basket and there is no giant shot-blocker around him, that he would just go right back up. I would really appreciate it if when he avoids a rushout on the threepoint line and drives for the basket and the only defender is in the restricted area, that he finish the play. And if he actually has backed a smaller guy completely under the basket, that he simply reaches up and puts the ball in the basket. Maybe this is just my personal hangup, but this stuff really bothers me. However, as pointed out in this thread, he can really only guard the center position, so Stotts wisely now has him limited to that. The problem is. that means he can only play with Ed Davis, he cannot start with Plumlee, because Plumlee also cannot guard PF's. Now, I guess Ed Davis and Leonard could be the starters? I think that Stotts feels like the offense generally works smoother with Plumlee in there though. If the team wasn't so damned focused on making the playoffs, maybe there could be some more experimentation.
There are those who are outspoken about it being no but the majority are starting to see that Quick is right.
Just hold onto that thought. I can respect that but you too will become a believer in "The Legend" that is Meyers Leonard....
