I don't give a tinker's damn what rotations look like with this roster. The only thing that matters is getting a long look at each and every guy to see how they respond to being thrust into a prominent role. You don't want to kill some of the younger guys' confidence by overexposing them (Vonleh in particular seems like he needs to be brought along slowly), but the goal of chasing wins should be secondary or tertiary to player development and experimentation. Hopefully Stotts and Olshey (and Allen) are on the same page about what the goals of this season are.
This. It's been 3 games. To pull the plug after 3 seems like a sure way to shit on a guys confidence. The Blazers aren't making the playoffs this year. People need to come to grips with the fact that development is an absolute priority this season, not wins.
I think Meyers should be given more time. If he were hitting his threes the way everyone knows he can, would we be having this conversation? IF they were to make a change, I agree with those who have suggested starting Meyers at center and Davis at PF, and bringing in Plumlee and Vonleh off the bench. Meyer's has played mostly decent front court defense, and IMO Meyers + Davis would make a pretty good tandem. There is no way you can start Davis with Plumlee as Stotts requires a shooter at one of those positions. I also prefer the small ball lineup as the game dictates, rather than a starting lineup.
Meyers shouldn't be guarding stretch fours. He doesn't have the footspeed to close out on shooters. Reminds me of Robin Lopez trying to contest shooters - he just doesn't do it. Call him a four, call him a five, call him what you want, but have him guard the post player and have Davis or Plumlee defend the stretch guys. I think the fear is we won't have as much rim protection if Davis or Plumlee are out chasing shooters instead of staying in the paint, but that's just something we're going to have to deal with. I think there's a better chance Meyers develops into somewhat of a rim protector than for him to suddenly gain the footspeed to guard shooters.
But that's really the issue... I don't think he's a power forward. He's not built like a power forward. He's too big and lumbering to realistically play that position. He's built like a center, but he plays on the perimeter. Well the issue with that is that I don't think Plumlee is quick enough to guard the stretch fours. I think Meyers is a center and he needs to be paired with a guy who can defend the four spot. Maybe that's Davis.
I absolutely agree with the player development argument. There is, however, something that people keep overlooking. Plumlee has LESS NBA experience than Leonard - but in BBIQ terms he is a grad student to Leonard being in special ed! At some point you just need to be cold blooded and focus on the kids who might have a future.
I'm just really not on the Leonard bandwagon.... especially since people are throwing out terms like "max money." I like Vonleh because he's more of a stereotypical power forward. I think once he gains some confidence he's going to be something special. Plus, he's capable of stretching the floor, much like Leonard. I like Plumlee and I like Davis. I would be completely content with those two guys as our centers going forward.
I'm not saying play Leonard because "all he needs is time." Personally I'm not too confident in him ever being anything more than a gimmick player - he's got an outside chance of a Mehmet Okur ceiling IMO. But I do believe in a long leash because it's do or die time with respect to contract stuff. If he surprises me and flourishes, then awesome, if he can't hack it, then it makes a lot easier to cut bait this summer without worrying about giving up too soon.
Also, Plumlee has been given more of a chance to play than Meyers, and is two years older. It shouldn't be surprising that he's a lot better at this point. This will be Meyers' first real shot at being a rotation player. It's sink or swim time! If he sinks, we don't sign him (or sign him for peanuts) AND we improve our lotto odds.
Meyers is not slow and lumbering. What the hell are you guys talking about? He is very athletic. He's much quicker than Aldridge, and then most of the PFs in the league. His issue is not athletisism, but court awareness and reaction time.
He might be quick for his size. But I'm not so sure he's quick compared to players that are smaller power forwards. 6"9ish. But he does lack instincts, I agree.
I think he's slow and clumsy unless he's just running straight. He has very poor lateral quickness. I don't think he's as quick as Aldridge at all..
Agreed. I watch the kid and I just don't get where this rep as a great athlete comes from. He looks pretty average to me.
I'm fully on board with the idea of pairing Davis/Leonard and Vonleh/Plumlee. We've seen Leonard starting at the 4 (albeit only for 4 games); I'd like to see if he's more effective if we him start at the 5. Not necessarily immediately, but relatively soon.
He is a good athlete in terms of jumping for dunks or full speed running. He's not athletic at all in terms of quickness, foot speed, or reaction time.
15/9 with a 16 PER --> 98.8 DRtg <-- his defense has been awesome. He's been Draymond Green w/o the passing. A total steal for the contract he signed. Hope he can keep up this production.
