Game Thread GAME# 35: LAKERS @ BLAZERS - JANUARY 5, 2015 - MONDAY, 7:00 PM (PST), KGW

[Scalma]

And Beasley is a pothead.

 

[THE HCP]

So I've finally had enough. After reading post after post of bullshit, I'm finally going to block a poster on here. Sabonis or whatever his name is actually ruins my time here lately.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

So I've finally had enough. After reading post after post of bullshit, I'm finally going to block a poster on here. Sabonis or whatever his name is actually ruins my time here lately.

Welcome to the club. On the new forum software, you'll be treated to a bullshit-free existence. You'll never see that the person even posted or started a thread.

 

[THE HCP]

I clicked on the IGNORE. Will that do the trick. I mean I don't even want to see him being quoted by other people. It's one thing to have an educated opinion, it's another to constantly spew absolutely moronic horseshit post after post.

 

[MARIS61]

Who'd have thought Meyers Leonard would ever be the best Blazer big man for one night?

I resemble that remark.

 

[THE HCP]

Not all the time

 

[Blazersfan161]

Matthews OK? Looked bad.. Amazed he came back in

 

[illmatic99]

LA is shooting less than 46% from the field this year. His shot selection is deplorable. You don't need 10 heavily contested 18' jump shots every game. The fact that he and this team think this is one of our better scoring options is baffling to me. It looks bad to nitpick when we're 27-8, I know. But this is becoming an increasingly glaring issue-- it's reflected in our offensive efficiency dropping this season.

Either this is a deliberate attempt to save his body for the playoffs and not take a beating while going inside, or he's become soft again and is on his decline.

 

[BBert]

Kaman should NEVER start. Even if it means rolling the dice with Meyers. At least Meyers won't take two-thirds of the starters shots in the first quarter, nor will he constantly try to do too much. Kaman is like a 50/50 player. One good play, one disaster. Kaman dialed back his shots a bit in the second half but still. Let him be the designated gunner against the other team's second stringers. Start anyone else.

And way to go Meyers!

As I said early in the game: Meyers > Kaman. The only thing Kaman has over Meyers is some vet savvy. That's not enough.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Why that? Michael Beasley is in china. Trob is the defensive version of Michael Beasley.

The key word is defensive. As long as TRob plays D and rebounds....he will find a spot on a NBA roster. I guess he could wind up in China after a while if they offered him a lot of cash, but he will still have offers in the Association. You make it sound like he sucks. That is hardly the case.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

I clicked on the IGNORE. Will that do the trick. I mean I don't even want to see him being quoted by other people. It's one thing to have an educated opinion, it's another to constantly spew absolutely moronic horseshit post after post.

Unlike the old forum software, on the new you don't see any quoted material from an ignored poster or even evidence that they posted at all.

 

[BBert]

Man that hit TRob put on Price needed 11 stitches. Major bummer. It was brave of Price to try to take the charge. Sometimes there's a thin line between brave and stupid.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Liking Leonard in the spencer hawes role

Me too; he can do as much for us as Spencer does now with some more coaching.

 

[illmatic99]

Leonard has 2 blocks in 15 games this year.

He had 5 in 40 games last year.

smh watching him swipe at guys is frustrating as hell

 

[BlazerBeav]

That was tough last night - on his first two fouls, Meyers did a very nice job of moving his feet and jumping up vertically to avoid a foul - only to be unable to resist swiping down at the ball. Progress though.

 

[Pinwheel1]

That was tough last night - on his first two fouls, Meyers did a very nice job of moving his feet and jumping up vertically to avoid a foul - only to be unable to resist swiping down at the ball. Progress though.

His last one was questionable. He went straight up and Lin did a good job of leaning in with his head to draw the foul. I think Robin would have gotten the benefit of the doubt on that one.

 

[BrianFromWA]

At the risk of sounding like Eric...it's not Hawes you should be comparing him to, it's another defensively-challenged PF with range to the 3pt line who can make open 3s all day and then somehow end up with a grip of rebounds. Except Leonar_'s on a winning team and owning his role.

12 points on 5 shots won't happen every night. But 6 points on 5 shots (or 10 on 8) would an efficiency that is higher than Dame and LMA (obviously on less volume) and open it up for CJ/Robinson/Crabbe/Kaman to do their work

 

[riverman]

So I've finally had enough. After reading post after post of bullshit, I'm finally going to block a poster on here. Sabonis or whatever his name is actually ruins my time here lately.

Welcome to the club! The board cleans up nicely and what I really like is that now when you ignore someone, even replies to their posts disappear. Much better game thread experience without all that negative affirmation BS

 

[riverman]

At the risk of sounding like Eric...it's not Hawes you should be comparing him to, it's another defensively-challenged PF with range to the 3pt line who can make open 3s all day and then somehow end up with a grip of rebounds. Except Leonar_'s on a winning team and owning his role.

12 points on 5 shots won't happen every night. But 6 points on 5 shots (or 10 on 8) would an efficiency that is higher than Dame and LMA (obviously on less volume) and open it up for CJ/Robinson/Crabbe/Kaman to do their work

Was this a KLove comparison?

 

[BrianFromWA]

Was this a KLove comparison?

omg, You saw it too?

 

[BrianFromWA]

In all seriousness, last night I told someone that if they stopped thinking of Leonard as supposed be the next RoLo and instead thought of him as Outlaw shoved into a stretched-out Beiber's body, it would make sense and he could be useful.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

At the risk of sounding like Eric...it's not Hawes you should be comparing him to, it's another defensively-challenged PF with range to the 3pt line who can make open 3s all day and then somehow end up with a grip of rebounds. Except Leonar_'s on a winning team and owning his role.

12 points on 5 shots won't happen every night. But 6 points on 5 shots (or 10 on 8) would an efficiency that is higher than Dame and LMA (obviously on less volume) and open it up for CJ/Robinson/Crabbe/Kaman to do their work

You know what I liked about Meyers's performance last night? He didn't force ANYTHING offensively, and only one thing defensively (that stupid lunge at Nick Young to end the game). He shoots well this season because he only takes shots he's pretty sure he'll make. I like that.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

In all seriousness, last night I told someone that if they stopped thinking of Leonard as supposed be the next RoLo and instead thought of him as Outlaw shoved into a stretched-out Beiber's body, it would make sense and he could be useful.

Vanilla Trout is a good (but not tasty... yuck) way of looking at him.

 

[BBert]

Just don't call him "Rainbow" Trout. There is a certain Kansas Congregation that might picket the Blazers.

Oops. Too late. We already have the Rainbroz.

That explains it!

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Just don't call him "Rainbow" Trout. There is a certain Kansas Congregation that might picket the Blazers.

Oops. Too late. We already have the Rainbroz.

That explains it!

Meyers is Cousin Leo in the Rainbroz family!

 

[THE HCP]

Man that hit TRob put on Price needed 11 stitches. Major bummer. It was brave of Price to try to take the charge. Sometimes there's a thin line between brave and stupid.

See Denny, Sly and Mags!

 

[MarAzul]

So I've finally had enough. After reading post after post of bullshit, I'm finally going to block a poster on here. Sabonis or whatever his name is actually ruins my time here lately.

Be careful! Reading homers only may result in an erection lasting more than four hours.
You know what that means!

 

[Boob-No-More]

Leonard has 2 blocks in 15 games this year.

He had 5 in 40 games last year.

smh watching him swipe at guys is frustrating as hell

Was it also frustrating watching him put up 12 and 12 in less than 19 minutes 0n .800 FG%, .750 3FG%, 1.000 FT% and 0 TOVs?

Here's something that all the Leonard haters are going to hate to admit, but it's true: We do not win that game last night without Meyers Leonard.

The guy is young and inexperienced. He's a work in progress, but at least he's making progress. Last year, he improved one of his major weaknesses - rebounding. His TRB% went from 12.3 to 16.8 and is up to 17.9 this season - a VERY respectable number.

I'm more concerned about him being in proper defensive position and going straight up than blocking shots. The blocked shots will come later. It's obvious Leonard has been working on it - trying to learn what Freeland learned last season. Leonard and Freeland were rookies together, and in spite of being 5 years older and having 6 years of experience playing professionally in Europe, Freeland looked every but as lost as Leonard as rookies. Then Freeland worked hard in the off season to improve his defensive fundamentals. Last year, Freeland became very good at getting good defensive position and going straight up and became a solid NBA backup big man. Now that he has the positioning down, Freeland is challenging and blocking more shots (from 0.8 to 1.1 to 1.3 BLK/36). The younger, less experienced Leonard is learning the same lessons Freeland learned, but is a year or two behind.

You know what is REALLY frustrating? The complete lack of improvement of Thomas Robinson. Like Freeland and Leonard, Robinson is in his third season and he has shown ZERO progress on improving his weaknesses or acquiring a single NBA level skill. He continues to rely 100% on his athleticism. He still makes rookie mistakes, including, stupid, unforced turnovers and blown defensive assignments and can't make FT to save his life. In fact, he's actually getting worse. I don't know if it's a lack of work ethic or a lack of intelligence, but this guy is looking more and more like a lost cause. When the Blazers decided to decline his 4th year option, I thought it was 100% for financial reasons - after all, the guy makes more money than Damian Lillard, but now, I'm thinking the coaching staff has realized Robinson is never going to develop the skills to take advantage of his incredible athleticism - that Leonard was both cheaper and had a greater chance of developing into a decent NBA big man.

Right now, the ONLY things Robinson does significantly better than Leonard are get steals and make a spectacular block once or twice a year. And, it's not like he's a good defender, or even a good shot blocker. He has 4 blocks in 228 minutes (BLK% = 1.2) compared to 2 BLK in 140 minutes for Leonard (BLK% = 1.0). Rebounding is also practically a draw (TRB% 18.9 vs. 17.9 for Leonard) and in EVERY other aspect of the game, Robinson is a liability and worse than Meyers Leonard. Think about that. When you're worse that Meyers Leonard and not showing ANY improvement, you probably don't belong on an NBA roster.

And then there are the stupid, unforced TOVs. Robinson has 50% more TOVs (23) than AST, BLK and STL combined (15). His AST/TOV ratio is an abysmal 4/23 = .174 and his TOV% of 24.9 is embarrassing. By comparison. Leonard's AST/TOV is 4/4 = 1.0 and his TOV% is an excellent 8.0.

And then there is the FT shooting. Robinson is 15/37 for a FT% of .405. Somewhere, Shaq and Chris Dudley are laughing at Thomas Robinson. Of course, you could argue that Robinson draws a lot more fouls than Leonard, but he draws them for the wrong reason. Teams intentionally foul him for possession when he's in the game. Leonard isn't going to draw a lot of fouls as a jump shooter, but with a career FT% of .803, he's also not going to be the target of Hack-a-Leonard.

All this adds up to a PER = 15.6 for Leonard vs. 7.8 for TRob, .199 WS/48 for Leonard vs. .015 WS/48 for Robinson and VORP = +0.1 for Leonard vs. -0.6 for Robinson.

I think the target of your frustration is misplaced. Is Leonard great? No, but he continues to show improvement. Robinson has flat out sucked and isn't getting any better. He's played more minutes than both Leonard and Wright, but based on his production and net contributions, he hasn't deserved those minutes. With Rolo and Freeland out, I'd rather continue to see Leonard get more minutes than Robinson. Not only is Leonard more productive, but the extra PT will accelerate his improvement.

BNM

P.S. Sorry, probably not fair to single you out as you are far from the most vociferous of the Leonard bashers. Your quote about being frustrated with Leonard, after the game he had last night, was just a convenient jumping off point for my tirade.

 

[Pinwheel1]

The funny part from last night was that after watching Leonard miss his first 3 pt attempt, the Laker announcers proceeded to joke a little during his next 3 attempts......right as they all went in.

 

[Boob-No-More]

You know what I liked about Meyers's performance last night? He didn't force ANYTHING offensively, and only one thing defensively (that stupid lunge at Nick Young to end the game). He shoots well this season because he only takes shots he's pretty sure he'll make. I like that.

Yep, he certainly can't be accused of poor shot selection. He only shoots when he's open and feeling it. His TS% of .618 is now best on the team. We don't need him jacking up a ton of shots. Were far better of with him taking a few GOOD shots when the defense slacks off him.

BNM