Because I bought his Jersey dammit!!! Close thread.... Honestly I expected more. Not necessarily better play, but more confident play. He sure looks unsure out there.
He has a first name for a last name and a last name for a first name. He's a 7ft player who can't play near the basketball. He's been cursed from birth to always be the opposite of what he should be.
He's playing like crap because he's a big sissy. The guy has a huge payday on the horizon if he proves that he's worth the risk, but his lack of cojones is keeping him from earning it and he knows it. The only way this guy can perform is if nobody expects anything out of him, especially himself . . .
He looks completely unsure of himself right now. It could be a few factors. He could be pressing because of the contract thing. He could be feeling the aftereffects of Kim Hughes being fired. I honestly don't know, but right now he's not producing at all.
On a serious note, there will always be players who try to make the jump from college to the NBA and suddenly feel as if the game is being played on fast forward. We have 3+ years of evidence that Leonard just doesn't have very good instincts for the game.
You guys are overthinking this, much like Meyers is right now with his shot. When outside shooters (especially young players) miss a few, it gets in their head. Hopefully it won't last too long but at some point he will get his confidence back and his 3's will level off at around 40%. His slow release is not a factor.
if i had to pick something, i'd say its a mix of adjusting to being a starter, the pressures that entails + pressure to hit the deep open shot + still be a def force + trying to sort your contract. I think once the team finds itself, he'll fine
It can be when it is a departure from the way he has shot the ball all of his life. A quicker release is totally new for him and will take some time.
I never said his quicker release wasn't a factor, just that his slow release wasn't. Seriously though are you saying he changed his shooting form. It looked the same to me last night. He just looked cold.
His average shot release is much quicker than last season. Last year was much more of a slow wind up that took forever but was fine because no one was coming out on him. In the Memphis series, by the end some people were running at him and he had to get a couple off more quickly but he already had a rhythm by then and was in the groove. He's not getting much of a chance to get into that groove and isn't used to the quicker release quite yet.
I said the other day that if Meyers Leanard didn't have his shot he'd be a garbage player. And that's putting it nice.
And I'll also say that he'll be out of the NBA in 5 years, then go on to win a bronze medal in Olympic 2 man sand volleyball.
Starting a player at forward who's as tall as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won't work unless the player is tops at all PF skills, not just one, shooting, the least needed skill at PF. This is why thousands of years ago, someone invented the word "gimmick." As Honest Abe (I voted against him) said, you can fool all the league for your rookie year, and you can fool some of the league for 3 games in the playoffs, but you can't fool the whole league for your whole career. As I said in the game thread last night, Lillard passed to Leonard in that situation at least twice that I saw. Both times, Leonard wasn't ready for the pass. He's an aircraft carrier when he tries to turn to receive then shoot. He wasn't aware of what Lillard was doing only 8 feet from him anyway, but even if he had been, when he realized he was getting a pass he couldn't turn to receive it and caused a turnover possession both times. The guy is a center, and he'll have to learn how to be a center, even if it takes him 10 years. Maybe he should jump to the Spurs so he'll get a real coach who yells and demands and doesn't put up with the Aldridges who won't play their natural position.
