Leading Blazer Playoff scorer

[swish3]

Basketball-reference statistics show that the leading Blazer scoring in the 2019 Playoffs is Meyers, with 14 of 33 (42.4%) swish3s, 34 of 65 (52.3%) FG, and an eFG% of 63.1%. In the first half of WCF Game 4, Meyers was 5 of 6 swish3s and 10 of 12 FG, a shooting % of 83.3 that has not been achieved by any other Blazer. Has there ever been a better shooting performance by a Blazer in the Playoffs?

What bothers me is the failure of some of the posters on this forum to recognize these accomplishments, and the out of touch criticism that stems from negative prejudice, rather than celebrating the positives. The influence of negative comments on players who must rely on confidence is definitely felt, as Meyers exit interview comments revealed. We have a major NBA Playoff record talent on this team who can make strong contributions in scoring and getting open shots for teammates that deserves to be recognized by Blazer fans. Meyers and all of the Blazers play better when they feel support of the fans. If the posters who disrespect Meyers, and Dame, and CJ, and Evan, could let go of the unthinking degrading (and sometimes in the game threads outright hate) comments, Blazer confidence and performance, i.e., wins, will improve.

Let's recognize, appreciate, and rely on Blazer talent where we have it and allow the Champion Blazers to emerge next season!

 

[H.C.]

You should start another thread talking about this.
In fact. two more.
Hurry.

 

[GDiama]

Seriously what is the deal with Meyers and this guy?

 

[swish3]

Seriously what is the deal with Meyers and this guy?

This guy is a Meyers fan! You should be too! Just read the statistics and find another NBA player who can score Playoff swish3s with 75%+ efficiency. Meyers has done it twice.

 

[GDiama]

This guy is a Meyers fan! You should be too! Just read the statistics and find another NBA player who can score Playoff swish3s with 75%+ efficiency. Meyers has done it twice.

Yes ok, but I'm seriously asking.

 

[H.C.]

@swish3

You do realize most people on this forum realize that Nard's has turned himself into an NBA role player right?
He did this far before games 3 & 4 took place.
Even the people like myself who wanted to glue his ass to the bench. Admit he's turned himself into a solid contributor the past 2 seasons.
We don't have to say it every day for it to be true.

The people who still 'hate' on Nards are those who have a blind hatred towards the GWH.
Quote those posters like I have been doing and tell them their wrong with your stats.

 

[Strenuus]

This guy is a Meyers fan! You should be too! Just read the statistics and find another NBA player who can score Playoff swish3s with 75%+ efficiency. Meyers has done it twice.

We will miss you when he is finally off this team like he should have been 4 years ago.

Hes not good enough. Never Will be. Just because hes good for games when were already down 0-3... Hes one of the worst re-signings weve ever had.

 

[dviss1]

Seriously what is the deal with Meyers and this guy?

This guy is Meyers on a burner account.

@swish3 It's ok bro... We love Meyers now...

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

I have an odd take on ML. I appreciate that he's never been a bad locker room guy. I think he's a "nice" guy.
I think he's one of the worst team defenders I've ever seen. I think he's a great shooter, and when he's confident to just shoot the ball he's a valuable role player. It was nice that the fans gave him some love, I think he's worked hard.

I think you can tell he's worked to be better. His contract, well if NO is willing to give you a contract then sign it and who cares if people don't like it...

 

[Minstrel]

Leonard has some talent, but not all that much of it. Talent is shown in consistency--nearly any NBA player has the ability to erupt once every so often (or have one lifetime performance, like Tony Delk's 50 point game). The random big game is not what defines a player's ability, it's what they're capable of doing the majority of the time. The majority of the time, Leonard is an okay post defender, awful defender in space and inconsistent shooter. He has a place in the NBA as an end of the bench reserve, but he's significantly overpaid for that role.

 

[swish3]

Notice that Meyers in WCF Game 4 in the 1st half scored 25 points with 83.3% shooting, and that was the same as Steph Curry at his best, and better than other GSW or Blazer players. Meyers did this in the Jan 30 Jazz win, and holds the NBA Playoff record with 10 of 13. Meyers has scored swish3s with 40%+ efficiency in several seasons. He is a rare shooting talent who would be scoring 30+ points per game if Blazer coaches would better recognize and more fully utilize his rare talent with game plans to rely on his offensive potential.

 

[GDiama]

Notice that Meyers in WCF Game 4 in the 1st half scored 25 points with 83.3% shooting, and that was the same as Steph Curry at his best, and better than other GSW or Blazer players. Meyers did this in the Jan 30 Jazz win, and holds the NBA Playoff record with 10 of 13. Meyers has scored swish3s with 40%+ efficiency in several seasons. He is a rare shooting talent who would be scoring 30+ points per game if Blazer coaches would better recognize and more fully utilize his rare talent with game plans to rely on his offensive potential.

He is a lucky guy. The only person in the NBA that would pay him after the first 4 disastrous years happens to be the GM of this team. This is the only team in the NBA where Meyers would play 14.4 minutes per game. If he gets traded he will be out of the league in a few months. Unfortunately I can see Olshey extending him. Meyers seems a good lockerroom guy but that's it. He doesn't offer anything else as in game the cons are way more than the pros.

 

[tlongII]

Meyers has developed into a useful player. I applaud him for that. He can stay here as long as he's under contract as far as I'm concerned. I would not want to give him a new deal anywhere close to his current one though.

 

[swish3]

He is a lucky guy. The only person in the NBA that would pay him after the first 4 disastrous years happens to be the GM of this team. This is the only team in the NBA where Meyers would play 14.4 minutes per game. If he gets traded he will be out of the league in a few months. Unfortunately I can see Olshey extending him. Meyers seems a good lockerroom guy but that's it. He doesn't offer anything else as in game the cons are way more than the pros.

How unfortunate that you look at the facts and continue to deny excellent performance that is not bested even by the best in the NBA! Meyers has not had 4 bad years--in fact just 1--and has been badly treated by comments of some mean-spirited posters on this forum. If Meyers had received even a fraction of the optimism shown for Zach on this forum, he very likely would have played even better. It is time to put your disrespectful negative comments in the past, and look at the facts, and think forward to the increased wins that are ahead for us.

 

[dviss1]

I have an odd take on ML. I appreciate that he's never been a bad locker room guy. I think he's a "nice" guy.
I think he's one of the worst team defenders I've ever seen. I think he's a great shooter, and when he's confident to just shoot the ball he's a valuable role player. It was nice that the fans gave him some love, I think he's worked hard.

I think you can tell he's worked to be better. His contract, well if NO is willing to give you a contract then sign it and who cares if people don't like it...

I'd take this Meyers Leonard at 5 Mil per.

NO shoulda lowballed his ass...

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

I'd take this Meyers Leonard at 5 Mil per.

NO shoulda lowballed his ass...

I think some of the hate ML’s gotten is crazy if Im being honest. Im not a ML fan / apologist, but people act like he’s the entire problem on the roster at times. 5m a year actually seems about right...

 

[dviss1]

I think some of the hate ML’s gotten is crazy if Im being honest. Im not a ML fan / apologist, but people act like he’s the entire problem on the roster at times. 5m a year actually seems about right...

I don't. I was part of it.

I was tired of seeing him clueless on D and lost on O.

He has all that physical presence but was softer than this guy:



Then he started shooting threes.... I used to be at the game yelling "MEYERS PATRICK LEONARD YOU STOP SHOOTING THOSE THREES!!!"

That's when he went from 56 dunks in his rookie season to 53 dunks the NEXT 3 YEARS.

The "hate" was deserved especially when it came to that check he was getting.

 

[swish3]

NBA players are more motivated by opportunities to excel and win than by annual salaries, and thus the player contract discussion seems out of the realm of normal fan discussion. Given that the most consistent criticism of Meyers has been his salary, but noting that there are many NBA players paid much, even much more, than him, I think fans should focus on basketball and not contract negotiations. What matters to Meyers, Nurk, Mo, Chief, Zach, Rodney, Jake, Skal, and others is the team winning with cohesiveness and poise while playing to help each other to optimize use of Blazer talent. To get to the Championship, I think we should focus on Blazer coaching that includes game plans to maximize scoring while providing highly determined consistent defense. That maintained energy level will come by active substitutions that are noticeably improving in these Playoffs and which need to continue to progress. When we include enough min and swish3 attempts for Meyers in these highly contested Playoff games, we are improving and on the way to the Championship.

 

[tlongII]

NBA players are more motivated by opportunities to excel and win than by annual salaries, and thus the player contract discussion seems out of the realm of normal fan discussion. Given that the most consistent criticism of Meyers has been his salary, but noting that there are many NBA players paid much, even much more, than him, I think fans should focus on basketball and not contract negotiations. What matters to Meyers, Nurk, Mo, Chief, Zach, Rodney, Jake, Skal, and others is the team winning with cohesiveness and poise while playing to help each other to optimize use of Blazer talent. To get to the Championship, I think we should focus on Blazer coaching that includes game plans to maximize scoring while providing highly determined consistent defense. That maintained energy level will come by active substitutions that are noticeably improving in these Playoffs and which need to continue to progress. When we include enough min and swish3 attempts for Meyers in these highly contested Playoff games, we are improving and on the way to the Championship.

Contracts are part of normal fan discussion because the more Meyers gets, the less we have to spend on other players. I'm sure you understand this.

 

[MARIS61]

For 7 seasons ML has shined nearly every time he has been in the rotation, which is more than you can say for several forwards who get big minutes. GS clearly had no clue how to defend or score against him and had Stotts been using him all year we’d likely have beaten GS. He’s easily our best defender in the post to start next season, and our most efficient scorer out of all our bigs. An absolute steal at his salary.

 

[swish3]

I don't. I was part of it.

I was tired of seeing him clueless on D and lost on O.

He has all that physical presence but was softer than this guy:

View attachment 26264

Then he started shooting threes.... I used to be at the game yelling "MEYERS PATRICK LEONARD YOU STOP SHOOTING THOSE THREES!!!"

That's when he went from 56 dunks in his rookie season to 53 dunks the NEXT 3 YEARS.

The "hate" was deserved especially when it came to that check he was getting.

Dviss1, this does not make sense to me. When you have the exceptional talent to repeatedly score more than 75% of swish3s, that is right there with Steph and Kyle Korver for the best of the NBA, and have the NBA Playoff record for swish3 % scoring, yelling not to shoot swish3s is rooting against the Blazers.

Meyers scores with hammer dunks, gets shots for teammates, and hustles to make major contributions, but you must recognize has excellent talent to score swish3s that secured us 15 points on 5 of 6 shooting in WCF Game 4, and in previous games and his NBA Playoff record. The dunks are welcome, and should be included in game plans along with emphasizing him in the high post to get open shots for teammates as well as to score 12-15 points per half from the arc. The only reason not to have the advantage of 30 point per game scoring from Meyers is not running an offense that relies on his powerful scoring combination of swish3s and dunk2s.

And Meyers is becoming increasingly effective on defense, with steals and dunks as well as bothering the shots of Dray, Looney, Steph, and others. He is certainly not "clueless," which is a prejudiced disrespectful comment. Meyers is working hard to improve, hustles to stay with his man, rebounds, boxes out, screens, and contributed effective defense in the Playoffs. He does hear and respond to fans, and will help win Blazer games more with fan cheers than with jeers. Let's focus on the positive and move on to win the Championship!

 

[swish3]

Contracts are part of normal fan discussion because the more Meyers gets, the less we have to spend on other players. I'm sure you understand this.

Yes, I do understand. But the contract decisions are entirely under the authority of the GM, and really unlikely to be influenced by fan opinions expressed here or anywhere. While you may enjoy the Walter Mittey thoughts of how you would distribute the salary cap, it does not influence the GM and my point is that belonging to a Championship team is the important motivator for players, rather than current salary. These players are always focused on winning and the future. What we can do is to encourage them to be their best, and the coaches to recognize and rely on the best.

 

[trailblazer18]

I love @swish3 . He is the best kind of "personality" account on this board. The takes are always put a smile on my face.

 

[dviss1]

Dviss1, this does not make sense to me. When you have the exceptional talent to repeatedly score more than 75% of swish3s, that is right there with Steph and Kyle Korver for the best of the NBA, and have the NBA Playoff record for swish3 % scoring, yelling not to shoot swish3s is rooting against the Blazers.

Meyers scores with hammer dunks, gets shots for teammates, and hustles to make major contributions, but you must recognize has excellent talent to score swish3s that secured us 15 points on 5 of 6 shooting in WCF Game 4, and in previous games and his NBA Playoff record. The dunks are welcome, and should be included in game plans along with emphasizing him in the high post to get open shots for teammates as well as to score 12-15 points per half from the arc. The only reason not to have the advantage of 30 point per game scoring from Meyers is not running an offense that relies on his powerful scoring combination of swish3s and dunk2s.

And Meyers is becoming increasingly effective on defense, with steals and dunks as well as bother the shots of Dray, Looney, Steph, and others. He is certainly not "clueless," which is a prejudiced disrespectful comment. Meyers is working hard to improve, hustles to stay with his man, rebounds, boxes out, screens, and contributed effective defense in the Playoffs. He does hear and respond to fans, and will help win Blazer games more with fan cheers than with jeers. Let's focus on the positive and move on to win the Championship!

You're exactly right. I was wrong about Meyers. I will place my faith in his swish3 capabilities from here on out.

Just maybe at 5 mil a year tho...

 

[bodyman5000 and 1]

I don't. I was part of it.

I was tired of seeing him clueless on D and lost on O.

He has all that physical presence but was softer than this guy:

View attachment 26264

Then he started shooting threes.... I used to be at the game yelling "MEYERS PATRICK LEONARD YOU STOP SHOOTING THOSE THREES!!!"

That's when he went from 56 dunks in his rookie season to 53 dunks the NEXT 3 YEARS.

The "hate" was deserved especially when it came to that check he was getting.

Meyers is exhibit L or P or somewhere in that vicinity of what bothers me about Stotts.

Meyers isn't what he should be at this point in his career. A rebounding shot blocker who can hit an open 17 footer and catch lobs for dunks all day long.

 

[dviss1]

He’s easily our best defender in the post to start next season

No... He is not a better post defender than Zach.

 

[wizenheimer]

"Leading blazer Playoff Scorer"

Damian Lillard 430
CJ McCollum 395
Enes Kanter 182
Rodney Hood 158
Maurice Harkless 134
Al-Farouq Aminu 118
Zach Collins 109
Seth Curry 90
Meyers Leonard 85
Evan Turner 43

minutes/game:

Damian Lillard 40.6
CJ McCollum 39.7
Enes Kanter 28.8
Al-Farouq Aminu 24.9
Maurice Harkless 24.3
Rodney Hood 23.3
Seth Curry 20.4
Zach Collins 17.2
Meyers Leonard 15.5
Evan Turner 15.3

assisted FG Rate:

Meyers - 94.1%
Harkless - 73.1%
Kanter 54.7%
Hood - 51.9%
CJ - 33.8%
Dame - 21.0%

context actually has some meaning

assisted FG Rate:

Dame: regular season 28.6%....playoffs 21.0%
CJ: regular season 46.6%....playoffs 33.8%

might be that Stotts needs to mitigate his reliance on iso and develop some more dependable offense

 

[swish3]

The point is the scoring efficiency, which is shown here ranked by eFG%, where Meyers has 63.1 that is well above his teammates. Meyers also led the WS/48 with 0.154, and TS% of 61.6, despite his limited number of min and number of shots.

<PRE>
Rk FG% 3P 3PA 3P% 2P 2PA 2P% eFG%
1 Meyers Leonard .523 14 33 .424 20 32 .625 .631
2 Rodney Hood .468 18 51 .353 34 60 .567 .550
3 Zach Collins .506 7 21 .333 34 60 .567 .549
4 Enes Kanter .514 1 4 .250 74 142 .521 .517
5 Maurice Harkless .477 7 28 .250 45 81 .556 .509
6 Damian Lillard .418 59 158 .373 79 172 .459 .508
7 CJ McCollum .440 46 117 .393 108 233 .464 .506
8 Seth Curry .366 21 52 .404 9 30 .300 .494
9 Al-Farouq Aminu .349 15 51 .294 23 58 .397 .417
10 Evan Turner .326 1 1 1.000 14 45 .311 .337
11 Skal Labissiere .250 0 2 .000 1 2 .500 .250
12 Jake Layman .143 0 5 .000 1 2 .500 .143
13 Anfernee Simons .000 0 2 .000 0 5 .000 .000
</PRE>
Provided by <a href="https://www.sports-reference.com/sh...irect&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool">Basketball-Reference.com</a>: <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.co...=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool#playoffs_totals">View Original Table</a><br>Generated 5/22/2019.

 

[BoomChakaLaka]

All good. Nards can stay!

 

[wizenheimer]

The point is the scoring efficiency, which is shown here ranked by eFG%, where Meyers has 63.1 that is well above his teammates. .

c'mon man. of course Meyers is going to have high efficiency. His role is to stand in one area set screens and occasionally shoot if he has a ton of space because of his slow shot wind-up. A player with a 94% assisted FG rate is naturally going to have high efficiency. Basketball 101

Meyers also led the WS/48 with 0.154, and TS% of 61.6, despite his limited number of min and number of shots.

.

you got that backwards. Meyers didn't have those numbers "despite" limited opportunity. He had those numbers because of limited opportunity. The defense never accounted for him and his teammates created all his offense

but that's the story on Meyers. He got "better" when Stotts started to regulate and throttle down his minutes. In his 4th and 5th seasons, Meyers played 1333 & 1222 minutes. His TS% in those two seasons was around .540 and his winshare/48 was around .075. Over the next two seasons he only played 11oo minutes total, less than half the minutes of those previous years. His TS% was .675 and his winshare/48 was around .175. But Meyers only played in 94 games those two years, a little more than half of the games

Leonard's efficiency jumped because Stotts made him a part-time member of the rotation and only played him when a situation wasn't a disadvantage. That's what he has been the last two years: a part time member of the rotation that averages less than 15 minutes. That's not a situation where stats mean much. Meyers gets credit for improved BBIQ and limiting his offensive mistakes. But he's still a straight-line slow-twitch basketball player with bad defensive instincts and no ability to create his own offense.