Not sure why this turned into a Mason vs. Meyers debate. They are actually complimentary players and after the way Meyers performed in the playoffs last year, I suspect Olshey specifically targeted Plumlee to pair with Meyers, not to replace him.
Last year in the playoffs, Meyers did a great job spreading the floor on offense and manning up on Marc Gasol on the defensive end. Sure, Gasol got his numbers, but he did it against single teams and Meyers did a better job defensively on Gasol than Robin Lopez did. In fact, bodying up and frustrating large, traditional low post centers, seems to be the one thing Meyers does well on the defensive end. And, he also rebounds well on the defensive end when he's in that role.
So, let Meyers play the stretch 4 role in Stotts' offensive scheme, but then have him guard the other team's center on defense. Pair him with Plumlee playing from the high post in on offense and guarding PFs on the defensive end. Of course, their roles can be tweaked depending on matchups, but I really think that was the pairing Olshey and Stotts envisioned when they signed Plumlee. It was also our starting front court at the beginning of the season until Meyers got hurt the first time.
I also think Meyers biggest problem may be that he's too coachable. I never thought I'd say that until I watched Meyers play this year. He seems to focus almost 100% on doing the thing he thinks the coach wants him to do, but he seems to be very single minded in his thought process. His rookie season, he was much more of a traditional low post center. Granted he often had that deer in the headlights look many rookie big men have as they try to adapt to the speed of the NBA game, but he was a much more aggressive shot blocker his rookie year - which also led to a lot more fouls.
Then he worked on mimicking the Joel Freeland straight up verticality approach to defense and his blocks and fouls went way down. Then he was told he was going to be a stretch 4 and that's all he seemed to focus on - especially at the beginning of this season after his success in that role against MEM in the playoffs. Unfortunately, he started the season shooting the ball poorly and that was ALL he was contributing. After returning from his first injury, he gradually got his shot back, and then Stotts started using him defensively against low post centers like DeMarcus Cousins and he performed admirably in that role.
I think he still tends to over think things and sees himself in a specific role based on what the coaches ask him to focus on. What he still needs to learn is that even though he is focused on one area, that does not mean he should not do other things to help the team, too. In other words, he still hasn't put it all together, but I still think he has the ability to do so and be useful on both ends of the court at the same time. Like Plumlee, Meyers is a very good passer for a big man. He is also a good defensive rebounder. When playing the stretch 4 role on offense, he gets very few offensive rebounds, but that's OK as long as he's paired with Plumlee or Ed Davis - two high energy, scrappy bigs that get after it on the offensive glass.
Who knows if the Blazers will resign Meyers, but I do think the pairing of Plumlee and Leonard has potential to work. Both are still young, both pass the ball well. Meyers shoots the ball well and Miles has a great motor. Yeah, it would be great if you could put Plumlee's motor and brain into Meyer body, or transplant Meyers shooting touch into Mason's body, but since you can't it makes sense to go Meyers at the 4 on offense, with Mason at the 5 and then switch up on the defensive end.
I think that would have worked very well in this series. Meyers could body up better on DeAndre, foul him hard and frustrate him on one end and then draw him (or Blake) out of the paint on the other end. Anytime Meyers is in the game and camped out at the 3-point line, it helps open up the lane for Dame and C.J. to penetrate. Having Plumlee running the offense from the high post in Game 3 was a great move by Stotts. Think how much more open the lane would be if DeAndre had to guard Mason in the high post and Meyers was drawing Blake out to the 3-point line. Right now, the Clippers aren't even bothering to guard Aminu more than 10 feet from the basket. They are daring him to take the wide open shots and it's working for them. They would not be able to leave Meyers that wide open without paying for it.
Both players still need to improve for this to work. As noted, Mason need to work on his shooting to become more of a threat on offense to keep opposing defenses honest. Both players need to improve their pick and roll defense - especially Meyers. This is a big weakness for him. Against certain teams that don't have a low post center, it would make more sense to have Plumlee guard the 5, or better still, pair Meyers with Ed Davis in certain situations (or Mason with Vonleh - especially if Vonleh can improve his 3-point shooting). Ed is our best big at defending the pick and roll.
Or maybe, we let Meyers walk and sign Al Horford...
BNM
