the move forward is to leave him on the bench until he does what the coach expects of him in order to get more minutes. i have no idea how and where you think this improvement to 18pts a game is coming from? the times he has scored has been mostly on the perimeter and there seems to be zero interest from Stotts in having that in the game to the degree that you think we need it, i mean we only have dame, cj, crabbe, aminu, and henderson shooting out there, right? might as well have our tallest SG our there as well huh? If he really doesnt want to be a PF and can't work on his post game and own the paint, then he really has no place on this team. bring on offseason, i cant wait to see what free agency holds for him lol. sad part for him is, if he focused on being an athletic C with a good passing game and tough active D, he would be playing in much more lucrative waters in the off-season. but as he said, he has 'starter level' so maybe some D-League/International team needs a new starting SG? Just to clarify as to why I can't stand this version of Meyers is that I feel he could have been this athletic C for us, but a couple of seasons of ok outside shooting just skewed him into a new mindset which is in direct opposition to his skill set, size and potential. just a waste.
So question for you Swish3. Lets say right now the coaches aren't doing their job, by giving Nards the green light to shoot/make plays when he's got the opportunity. Lets say they start doing their job from the next game on, giving Nards the green light to shoot/make plays when he's got the opportunity. What then do the coaches do if they're mandating Nards does these things... & reminding him to do these things on the bench/in timeouts... But instead Nards continues to pass up shots his teammates worked to get him or the coaches called plays to get him is position to take.
Today you saw the answer, and 17 of the 18 points that I think Meyers should be averaging per game. This was a successful strategy that is on the right pathway! When he has the green light to take the shots, he can be an offensive force. It is not that he needs to be reminded, just given the assignment to get open and score. And today I saw a lot of good defense, with boxing out under the rim, keeping the bigs out of their spots, and thwarting shots by reaching up high. When Meyers was in the game the Blazers played very well. I am glad that the coaches are rewarding his success with more minutes and my perception is that they are encouraging him to free flowing shooting. I hope to see him take at least 10 FGA in coming games.
@swish3 he always has the green light. This is ridiculous that you think a grown man has to be told to shoot to begin with. If he doesn't shoot those open shots he gets pulled and for good reason. I like Meyers. I want to see him do well. Sometimes he gets his act together and other times he struggles. That is a inexperienced player for you. They are inconsistent in nature. I think he will figure it out but by that point it will be a new season.
In the 1970s when college English departments assigned students many pro-drug books to read, an author named Carlos Castaneda wrote several best-selling books. His theme was that we should shut off the conscious mind and stop over-thinking. The Mayan philosophy was similar to that of Buddhism. In the Reagan years, colleges stopped teaching stuff like that. Too bad Leonard was born too late.
I have a couple of new angles to contribute to this debate. We lost to the Rockets because they adjusted and found a way to defend/disrupt Dame’s & CJ’s game, especially their 3 pt shooting. Between them they only made 5 of 17 three pt shots, well below their average. What we needed in that game was another good 3 pt shooter to help spread the floor to take some of the pressure off of Dame & CJ. The next best 3 pt shooter on the team is Leonard. Maybe that is why Leonard played twice as many minutes in the two games we just won, than he played in the Rockets game. Forcing the Bulls & Pacers to defend a third 3 pt scoring threat. Now that the other teams have seen how to defend our dynamic duo, playing Leonard more makes sense against the better wing defending teams. We keep talking about player development. But what is seldom, if ever mentioned is coach development. Coaches develop too. Maybe coach Stotts has found an answer to a new problem. There will be times Leonard is the best answer against good wing defending teams.
Good theory. With the success the Rockets had putting taller quickish players in front of Dame and CJ, I was certain other teams would follow suit. Perhaps Stotts anticipated as much and made the counter move ahead of the game, so to speak.
Some seem to think that all NBA players will take nearly all shot opportunities, but that is not true. There is a balance being made between shooting and ball movement to enhance the quality of the shot. Effective team offense improves when this balance is optimized. Many big players seem to limit their FGA per game. It appears that Meyers is limiting his number of FGA to 8, as he did in the Pacers game, and as I remember him saying once in an interview last year. Meyers is a humble team-oriented player who has consistently said that he is focused on improving and is working on team chemistry through increasing trust. He follows instructions and works hard. In my view, he is making significant progress. Instead of just assuming that he will take more shots, Blazer coaches should increase his assigned number to 10 (or more when he is hot) FGA. This green light for more shooting can open his chances for 6 swish3s per game, and improve the free flow of the offense. Adding the lob dunk assisted by CJ (or Dame or others) adds exciting punctuation. Meyers can contribute more than 20 points per game. The Blazers are fun to watch when he is adding 1 point per minute! It is important to team chemistry to reward the humble work ethic. Surely his performance against the Pacers should bring him more FGA and increased minutes.
Yeah I'd ignore and talk around the question to if I were you too. Nards has improved and nobody says he hasn't. Even when he fell out of the rotation due to his on the court play. But you're starting to remind me of a lady on the previous forums. She was all over this french player the Blazers had. We all know how that turned out.
Not if he's allowing 25, or turning the ball over 7 times in the process. I assume that if the coaching staff believed he could do so within the flow of the offense without harming the team in other ways, he'd have that opportunity. I trust their evaluation of him significantly more than yours.
They aren't assigned a certain number of shots per game, they just play basketball... They tell Meyers to shoot man. Everything you say they need to do they do, and there's still times where Meyers will pass up some shots and not be in the right place offensively.
Good post. Yeah Meyers has value; if the offense is bogged down or it's a slower game. Many games offense isn't a problem but it certainly was against Houston in the second half. Meyers is not the third best shooter; Crabbe is a superior shooter. But Meyers is much better than Harkless which I think was more your point. In general I prefer Harkless on the court. Meyers has a useful role though; same as Matt Bonner.
Coaches never had to harp on Dame, CJ, Hendo, Crabbe, Kaman, Wes, Rolo, LMA to shoot open shots. Those players just made the correct decision from day 1. Meyers has some Batum confidence issues where he won't be assertive. That's on him not the staff. It's very odd to see at the NBA level.
Granted, he's only had 2 years to develop his mindset as a shooter. He never shot 3s in college or probably even high school. That could be part of it
To develop the mindset that results in free-flowing 80% shooting, the planned encouragement can help. This is a transition for a young and developing player who is showing a lot of talent, both offensively and defensively. What we saw in the Pacers game was excellent scoring that could be even more strongly developed with more shots and more minutes. Meyers net effectiveness balance is far more favorable than 17 points with failed defense (allowing 25 points and 7 turnovers). What we saw instead is allowing 6 points and no turnovers, together with some excellent boxing out under the rim. Meyers must be credited furthermore with holding Cousins to 2 of 12 shooting. The 8 other Blazers that Draco named took a lot of shots, but some of them were poor choices, rather than being correct. Meyers seems pretty conservative. Both offensively and defensively, I see a lot of reason to give him the minutes and the mindset to shoot at least 10 FGA per game. That Meyers does not have the mindset that Strennus sees as an obvious given for the majority of players does seem apparent. If we agree that Meyers humble, work ethic approach might benefit from strong, earned encouragement by the mandate to shoot 10+ FGA per game, this may be the time to try it and find out.
