Blazers have 10 wins in 13 games!

[swish3]

OK Sarni. It should say 1 more win. Please strike the "at least."

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

You know what, if the biggest criticism is he doesn't shoot enough, I'll take that. In fact, I noticed during the sky box game, the ONLY time people were all over Meyers' shit was when he turned down an open 3-pointer. Sure. I'd be happy to see him knock down one or two extra swish3s per game, but if he's not comfortable shooting it, he shouldn't shoot it. That's one reason his percentages are as good as they are, he only shots when he's 100% confident he's going to make it.

The other thing I noticed at the sky box game was even when Meyers doesn't shoot the open 3, he's creating space. Teams have caught on that they can't leave him fucking wide open all damn day at the 3-point line. So, when he catches the ball beyond the arc and mentally debates whether to shoot it, or not, his man is actually closing out hard on him. Which creates lanes and spacing for his teammates. At that point, rather than launch a shot with a defender flying at him, I'm fine with him passing off. It's had the desired effect.

I'm also fine with his minutes. As his minutes have increased from the 8 - 9 MPG he was averaging earlier in the season to the 6 - 18 MPG he's been getting lately, his production has remained good and his overall contributions have remained a net positive. Any minute he's on the floor and not hurting the team is a minute Nurk is resting and not picking up fouls. It may not seem like much, but over the course of an 82-game schedule, those minutes take a toll on a person as big as Nurk. I'd rather have Nurk rested and ready for the stretch run and the playoffs than playing big minutes in November and December.

His OWS, DWS, OBPM and DBPM are all positive. He's rebounding, drawing fouls, making the right pass and knocking down the occasional wide open 3-pointer. I'll take that from my back up center any day - even at $10 million a year. I'll even go so far as to say, for the first time since the ink dried on his contract, Meyers is actually earning his paycheck. A back up center who does all those things in 16 - 18 MPG with a PER = 16.4 making $10 million per season, is not overpaid by current NBA standards. The onus is on Meyers to continue to produce at this rate, but if he does, hats off to him and his biggest fan @swish3.

BNM

My problem was the post made it sound like they need to encourage ML to shoot more. He can obviiusly shoot the ball, but theyve been encouraging him to just shoot and not think for a couple years now. Not sure what else they can do. Meyers at least looks like a decent back up center this year, Im not knocking that..

 

[H.C.]

My problem was the post made it sound like they need to encourage ML to shoot more. He can obviiusly shoot the ball, but theyve been encouraging him to just shoot and not think for a couple years now. Not sure what else they can do. Meyers at least looks like a decent back up center this year, Im not knocking that..

Swish3 is a meme account.
Treat it like KS, HCP, Maris, etc.

 

[Shaboid]

Swish3 is a meme account.
Treat it like KS, HCP, Maris, etc.

Nah man. I'm about to change my moniker to slypokerswish3

 

[swish3]

The MIN game Nov 16 is the exemplary game to illustrate the Blazer weakness that I think is the barrier holding us back from wins. This was again a failure to observe and recognize who was the hot hand and where the strongest scoring threat could be found. On a night when the Blazers record holding swish3 percentage shooter was 2 of 2 and playing well, and knowing that he contributed well also in the Nov 4 MIN game, the coaches did not have Meyers on the court and looking for him to shoot at least 6 swish3s. Dame, CJ, Chief, Jake, and Nik were cold from the arc, but Meyers was red hot!

Nurk had a good game (13 points and 11 rebounds in 23 min), and CJ had 18 points in 31 min, but Meyers had 10 points and 5 rebounds in only 14 min. When Dame missed 3 consecutive swish3s, he should have stopped shooting them and instead looked for Meyers, who should have been on the floor for at least 22 min based on his productivity. The failure to substitute also contributed to the poor defense by the Blazers in the 2nd half. When Chief, Jake, Evan, and Nik are not scoring, but Meyers is, he should be in the game. Meyers can be in the game simultaneously with Nurk ( or Zach) giving a strong defense and enhanced scoring threat.

To get back to the 70% win record that we crave, it is important that the Blazers be opportunistic about scoring, and play and feed the Blazers with the hot hands. In this MIN game, that was Meyers, Zach, and Gary. The Blazers need to be open minded about scoring and ready to substitute to keep up the determined defensive intensity that allowed the early 10 of 13 wins record.