Is it just me or did Meyers look unusually mobile on defense last night? Like his body was moving and reacting without his brain having to tell it what to do. He played well I thought overall. Then he was caught looking when he should have been in the key going for a rebound, and he was promptly subbed out. Overall, BBert abides.
Here is something i watched. With about 3 mins left in the third. Meyers received the ball out on the arc. There was a foul called away from the ball. Meyers pulled up and effortlessly shot a unthinking three pointer. His shot looked like a normal smooth shot. It absolutely looked nothing like that slow windup overthinking three pointer that he seems to shoot during games. I just could not figure out why his shot looked so normal? Why on earth doesn't he just let fly like that during games?
It's been observed of many players that they shoot completely differently during practice/warmups than they do during games. Back in Plumlee's Blazer days, I advocated passionately for him to play at the high post and be given a green light to shoot free-throw range jumpers because I watched him nail several effortlessly with flawless form during warmups before a Hornets game a few years back. During games, however, that form and skill abandoned him. Somehow, for many players, the mental impact of gametime massively changes their behavior and ability. If Meyers could somehow eliminate that mental block, I have no doubt that he'd be a very effective player. Unfortunately, I don't know if that's possible.
I made the comment several years ago that Meyers seems like he's actually too coachable. By that I meant he seems to have a one track mind where he can only focus on doing one thing at a time - to the complete exclusion of all other tasks/activities. I first made this observation early in the season after the MEM series. Meyers shot so well from distance in that series, the coaches decided to try to turn him into a stretch-4. It completely fucked up his development. He stopped rebounding, stopped passing, stopped trying to block shots and just hung out at the 3-point line waiting for an open look. This year, and maybe last, he finally seems to be able to do more than one thing at a time. He's still not the greatest at multi-tasking and has the occasional brain fart, but he's the closest we've ever seen to an actual basketball player who scores, rebounds, plays defense, sets screens, makes passes, etc. He's not perfect at any of these things, but the fact that he doesn't simultaneously suck at 4 of the 5 is definite progress. BNM
He did against the shot clock with a defender flying out at him the other day, and it was nothing but net. I think his overly focused shot is from either perfectionism, or fear of failure, or both.
Actually it was Pat Con giving him pressure. Funny... Calabro actually said "Well... I bet he has seen that plenty of times."
Coaches only decided to let him be perimeter oriented after his second season. He wasn’t scoring in the paint, wasn’t blocking shots, and averaged nearly 8 fouls a game/36 in his second season. He was getting WORKED in the paint. The coaches didn’t force him into anything. It was Meyers himself who mentioned he was more comfortable on the perimeter. The coaches took notice of his abilities as a shooter and knew they had better post players in Lopez, Kaman, and Freeland. A coaches job is to get the best out of a players skillset, not to try and make them into something they’re not. I mean think about it, the guy grew up as a guard. This quote is from 2014; "That's what he is," All-Star point guard Damian Lillard said. "He's a guy that can really shoot the ball. I think we should accept the fact that Meyers is a guy that can shoot the ball, a guy who can really jump, who can really run the floor, and has good hands. I think that's what he's really good at. I don't think you should force him to get in the paint and dunk every time and stuff like that. If that's not who you are, that's not who you are. He's really good at a lot of things and the sooner he can get comfortable and be confident in being who he is, I think that's when he'll be really good for us.”
His rookie year he was definitely blocking shots and dunking. He had 38 BLKs and 53 dunks as a rookie. Something he hasn't come close to since. His natural instincts as a rookie were to block shots and dunk the ball. I'm not really sure what happened Meyer's second season. He was rebounding and passing better but he seemed to lose all confidence in his shooting ability. And let's face it, a Meyers who can't shoot is beyond useless. So, his minutes were cut to basically garbage time. And no, the coaches didn't force him into anything. That wasn't my point. Prior to his 4th season, he'd played almost exclusively at center: Even in the MEM series, when he shot 10-13 from 3-point range, he was still playing center. It wasn't until after the MEM series, and after Aldridge left that the coaches started playing him at PF. Go back and look at the game logs for the beginning of his fourth season. He was starting at PF with Plumlee starting at center. He was HORRIBLE in that role. Couldn't shoot for shit and wasn't doing anything else of value. Again, my point was that Meyers doesn't multitask well. Make him a stretch 4/spot up shooter and he seems to forget about doing anything else. Move him back to center and he starts doing center things. Yeah the blocks are still weak, but I like what we are getting from him this year. His TS% was great last year in limited minutes and continues to be outstanding, but his biggest improvements have come on defense and rebounding. His TRB% and ORB% are both at career highs (and actually above average for an NBA big man). His DWS/48 and DBPM are both positive and career highs. He lacks the instincts to be a great defender, but as long as he's not a negative defender, which he has not been so far this season, it doesn't kill you to have him on the floor, especially given his passing and shooting ability at the other end. Again, my whole point wasn't about what Meyers wanted or the coaches forcing him to do certain things. My point was that Meyers has struggled to multi-task in the past, but is doing a much better job contributing in multiple ways this season. BNM
I can tell you what happened. It was a shoulder injury. One that eventually pretty much had him playing timid for a full season. People forget he basically lost a year.
This is what happened to Meyers blocking shots. https://www.nbcsports.com/northwest...leonard-will-have-surgery-shoulder-out-season
Except that was 2016. He stopped blocking shots (for all practical purposes) in 2013-14 and actually had his highest block total since his rookie season in 2016-17, the year after his season ending shoulder injury in March of 2016. The injury definitely impacted his play temporarily, but he recovered just fine and blocked 28 shots the following season, compared to 0 last year. BNM
IIRC, he injured it, came back, and injured again. He was clearly worried about getting hurt a third time. Before that, he was routinely wrestling guys to the floor and taking shots to the head, LOL.
He’s just never had any defensive instincts, at least not from what I can remember. But this is more about his offense, and I never saw anything that would’ve led me to believe he could develop into a post presence. Rookie season he seemed like a good rim runner, but as far as half court? Naw, coaches made the right decision. And I don’t think anyone is doubting his ability to shoot set shots. Even his biggest haters should be able to admit the guy can shoot. Out of everything, it’s the one thing he can do well, so I’m not going to hold it against the coaches for trying to maximize that.
I was actually happy when he entered the game last night. But then Doc countered by taking out Boban. Regardless he is rebounding better and he also does well at batting some offensive rebounds back. I know some fans hate when he does that, but I hate it when opposing players do it against us.
We can agree that Meyers is best used in the center position, and playing together with Zach and Jake (or Nik) at forwards, poses a high scoring potency. His defense is greatly improved this year, and he is setting effective screens and getting some excellent assists. What I would like to see are at least 6 swish3 attempts by this talented player who can shoot 50, 60, or even 70% of the 3 point goals per game. The additional 9-15 points that he can be scoring each game will be enough to get the Blazers to the WCF, and maybe the NBA Championship. Nurk seems to be at his optimum when he plays 22-24 min per game. Meyers can add the powerful swish3 scoring alternating with Nurk if Meyers is playing 18-22 min. Keeping the defense active and determined, and adding the 3 point scoring accuracy do improve this team. The Blazer bench can be the winning factor if we keep this development going.
No I don't think that is wise. Let him focus on other things. Putting him out there to shoot a high volume of 3's is what screwed him up in the past. He needs confidence and if that confidence is only based on 3 point shooting you are setting him up for failure....in the eyes of the fans. Let him get warmed up when he comes off the bench. Take a shot close to the hoop, then maybe a mid range shot..... and then maybe a couple of 3's.
So far this season, Meyers has made exactly the same number of dunk2s as swish3s. I think that is a good ratio and would like to see it maintained. Hopefully that will be sufficient to get the Blazers to the WCF, and maybe the NBA Championship. BNM
