People saying it's about time Meyers showed up, conveniently ignore that he's been very efficient the past two years. He just hardly ever gets in the game and is only used as a safety valve. This was the first time I can remember since the Memphis series that he was used as a primary weapon. Once again, Meyers plays his best basketball in the playoffs. Most teams would die for a player of that description, yet Portland fans can't wait to run him out of town. It must be the black athlete hatred in Oregon that Sheed and Rider were talking about...
Agreed. For whatever reason, it seems like Stotts has a double standard going on with Meyers. Stotts will blow a fuse over something Meyers does, but will not blink an eye if Dame, CJ, Chief, etc makes the exact same mistake.
The problem with Meyers is his defense and rebounding. Offensively, he is really good, and when he is confident, he's downright scary. But between his shaky mindset and poor defense, he can get lost in the shuffle. Terry is clueless at times though. What he has done to Layman is yet another double standard.
He's match-up dependent, for sure. He bangs and rebounds well against certain players, and looks lost chasing around others. We have enough bigs to play to the strengths of each one on a game-by-game basis ... but that would take a less rigid coaching approach.
i cannot believe that for someone that shined throughout the regular season and a factor in our success during that time, was never played in the playoffs. that just dumbfounds me. him and Turner were great together.
Meyers had 3 great games this year, which are all that he started, Jan 30 win over Jazz, last game win over SAC, and WCF Game 4. Meyers was 5 of 6 swish3s, 10 of 12 FGA, and 12 rebounds in this game. That is 83% shooting and a double double. He holds the NBA Playoff record for 10+ swish3s with 10 of 13, and might have been on the way to improving that to 10 of 12 and getting us the win if Blazer coaches had been on the ball. You won't find anyone else in the NBA who does better than that. The goal here should be to recognize Meyers, not apologize, as he enjoys fan respect, but does not ask to revisit the past. Blazer fans recognize what he has accomplished!
He shined for a bout a third of the season, the rest of the time he disappeared. Some just remember the good times and not all the times he is attacked on defense or his 0fer games. Once the league had film of him he disappeared.
I watched all 82 games. He disappeared because he wasn't on the court enough to be noticed. Check out his per game minutes and dnp’s. His defense, though far from elite, has dramatically improved over the years, especially this year.
I sure as hell don't owe him an apology, but he deserves credit for his first half performance. If he can work on his defense and post up game, he'd be more impactful going forward.
Completely agree. Nards is an NBA role player and has shown he deserves a 3rd contract for the majority of 2 seasons now. It's on Stotts to get him the minutes and to put him in a position to succeed. It's no longer on Nards to put in the work. If Nards doesn't have a bigger role next year I will lose my shit. I don't care if Kanter/Nurk are both healthy and on the roster. Give this man minutes. (Nurk is considerably better than both Kanter & Nards) If Philly still had Roco I'd try to strike a deal with them for him. As Philly needs a back up Center badly. Nards > Boban
Meyers played great for a few games. The warriors defense was a joke, allowing 4 on 3 every play. Meyers took advantage of that whereas Aminu and Harklesz were worthless. I'm fine if we trade Meyers now at a sell high time, fine if he comes back as a backup until Nurk is healthy, or fine if he gets DNP and is an expiring contract. His defense wasnt great against the warriors. He was great on offense. If he plays with confidence and takes shots he could have value. That warriors series was so fluky with their injuries, no bench, crazy defense. Was good to see Meyers have some big games but I don't think this means he will have value in most games in the future. Turner was a key to winning game 7, I'd still prefer he is not on the team next year. Playoffs mean a lot but a couple big games doesn't outweigh months and years of crap play.
