Is Joel Freeland becoming my favorite player?

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he is quickly becoming one of the players that I prefer to see on the court, because he won't do stupid things and makes smart and high quality basketball plays.
 
well Meyers doesn't play, so it's Joel by default

STOMP
 
Not if you discover he's actually American and has been faking that accent.
 
I saw him lined up with Demarcus on a few possessions, and he looked to be the exact same height/width. Perhaps he should start??? I like his offensive game a lot more than I do Robin's.
 
Hmm. He plays center and he's white...seems kinda unlikely MM.
 
have to root for a guy who was lost last yr and worked very hard and it is paying off, really like what I see so far

This does give me pause to have some hope for Meyers, if he can't learn some good positives from Rolo and Joel then that will tell the story
 
He's a smart, hard-working, dedicated over-achiever. What's not to like?
 
yuyuza1 said:
I saw him lined up with Demarcus on a few possessions, and he looked to be the exact same height/width.
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I noticed that too, and was surprised. Well, the height part. Cousins has the Dwight Howard "ridiculously broad shoulders" syndrome.
 
Fans love players that work hard. He's definitely a poster child for that mold. His contract, that I used to think was albatross, is now becoming a steal. I hope he keeps it up!
 
magnifier661 said:
Fans love players that work hard. He's definitely a poster child for that mold. His contract, that I used to think was albatross, is now becoming a steal. I hope he keeps it up!
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Plus he's not a jerk face. ;)
 
BlazerCaravan said:
Not American, not from Syracuse. MM's allowed to love English Joel.
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So, if we can get some nice English family to adopt Meyers Leonard, maybe get him to speak with a Cockney accent, he'd have a chance to earn MM's approval?
 
He was so terrible last year, but it showing something on defense this year, I hope he continues to get better....last year he was a 3 million dollar boat anchor, but this year he's earning his paycheck.
 
Well, last night was just one game, but Joel certainly seemed to always be in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. That 2-handed denial of the Travis Outlaw dunk was just one of the momentum changing plays Freeland made last night. Outlaw was going up for another Rodney-Carney-posterize-you-and-embarrass-your-whole-family dunk that would have brought the Sacramento bench to their feet, but Joel's timing and technique were perfect as he totally denied Outlaw. The offensive rebound of his own miss and kick out for the open 3 was another momentum changing play. It combined both great hustle and great court awareness. The rebound was very Hickson-like, but Hickson would not have even considered looking or an open teammate at the 3-point line. He would have tried to force it back up and likely been blocked. Hustle, hard work and making smart plays, what's not to like?

Ever since the first preseason game, I have been impressed with Freeland's improvement, and his attitude. He was my Cult Hero pick during the preseason and I was the only one who mentioned him in that thread. He has certainly embraced his Nick Collison like role and it's paying off in terms of both results and increased playing time.

Freeland is too limited to ever be a star in this league, and will never be a starter on a contending team. But, that's OK. Every good team needs good role players. Collison is now in is 10th year in the league. When many lottery picks have long since flamed out, Collison is still there, playing for the team that drafted him, excelling at all the little things that coaches love and helps his team win (Collison always seems to kill the Blazers with a timely play when the game is on the line). Freeland has the potential to be exactly that same type of player. He also has the proper mind set and has worked on those things during the off season. The transformation is remarkable, but it shows you what hard work, focus and the right attitude can do. Good for him!

BNM
 
I think once he gets into his first fight or escalated scuffle with an opposing player, his legend in this city will be sowed. Especially if there's blood.

The Collison benchmark is fine, but I think we really want to see him replicate what the first Joel brought. Toughness, intimidation. On offense, there was a brief moment in time, where Joel and Van Exel worked a beautiful two man game where Joel really showed good touch and instincts around the hoop. If Freeland can discover that aspect of his game with Lillard, that would probably buoy his popularity, too.
 
Boob-No-More said:
Freeland is too limited to ever be a star in this league, and will never be a starter on a contending team. But, that's OK. Every good team needs good role players.
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I disagree that he could never start on a contending team. Freeland could improve into an acceptable rotational big man. I agree he'll never be a star but teams don't need 5 stars on the court at once. Would the Heat have won with an improved Freeland as their center last year? What about Boston when KG first got there, or Jordan's Bulls? I think its unlikely Freeland ever becomes a starter but if he continues to make small improvements and becomes a valuable rotational player his ceiling isn't necessarily just Nick Collisons role.
 
I'm as gobsmacked as anyone at the transformation. He even looks more athletic. Last year he looked positively slug-like, and was forever futilely flailing at other players as they dunked all over him. I would never have thought it possible that he could block a Travis Outlaw dunk! Is jumping straight up all it takes? He now looks like the player he was for Unicaja.

There is precedence: he looked pretty useless early on in his Spanish career, but made a big leap there. Obviously he's got a steady learning curve. Which is good, given how late he started.
 
Rastapopoulos said:
I'm as gobsmacked as anyone at the transformation. He even looks more athletic. Last year he looked positively slug-like, and was forever futilely flailing at other players as they dunked all over him. I would never have thought it possible that he could block a Travis Outlaw dunk! Is jumping straight up all it takes? He now looks like the player he was for Unicaja.

There is precedence: he looked pretty useless early on in his Spanish career, but made a big leap there. Obviously he's got a steady learning curve. Which is good, given how late he started.
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He looks leaner and stronger, must have done a lot of good conditioning work which is helping his limited hops.
 
I blame it on roids!

Oh wait, wrong sport...
 
He's 26, has experience, and is learning to use his body. I'm not sure why anyone should be shocked that he's a serviceable NBA bench player. He's athletic, has a good touch, and just needed to learn the game more in order to not have to think before reacting.

Sounds a lot like what could happen with a certain 21 year-old center who is on the Blazer roster.
 
Joel needs to not shave all season. Get the scary man-beast look going and he'll be a king among fans!
 
Drttimmy said:
I think once he gets into his first fight or escalated scuffle with an opposing player, his legend in this city will be sowed. Especially if there's blood.

The Collison benchmark is fine, but I think we really want to see him replicate what the first Joel brought. Toughness, intimidation. On offense, there was a brief moment in time, where Joel and Van Exel worked a beautiful two man game where Joel really showed good touch and instincts around the hoop. If Freeland can discover that aspect of his game with Lillard, that would probably buoy his popularity, too.
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Joel had that with Sergio as well
 
julius said:
Joel needs to not shave all season. Get the scary man-beast look going and he'll be a king among fans!
Click to expand...

He's got kind of a weird head anyway. If you stuck it on a little person it'd look about right.

I think if he grew a serious beard he'd look a lot like Chewbacca. Which is actually a pretty good look for him.
 
Freeland improved from a 0 to a 2 out of 10, but this board is way too impressed about it.
 
Joel is not a very good player. That being said...

I and many other blazers fans like players who know their role, know what they can do, and more importantly know what they can't do. Frankly, before summer league this was Thomas Robinson's problem and is still (arguably) Meyers Leonard's problem and why he is so polarizing on this board.
 
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