Meyers Leonard as a rim protector?

[B-Roy]

Saw this tweeted a few days ago. Now this is as of November 13th so it's been awhile, but as of November 13th Meyers has defended the third highest number of shots at the rim and opponents shoot 6‰ less against him at the rim. Now I'm sure a lot of this is offset by his high foul rate, but I'm surprised at how favorably he compares to a lot of supposed rim protectors. (DeAndre allows a higher percentage at the rim)

Obviously the sample size is tiny, but I think Meyers long term position is center. He's been out awhile so well see how he compares once he comes back.

 

[riverman]

Great thread...Meyers man to man defense has improved a lot...his help defense is a work in progress. His last game he bottled up Lamarcus and frustrated him which I was impressed by.

 

[BonesJones]

People bag on his defense but he's a solid defender with potential to be really good.. I think Aminu at PF and Meyers at C might be our future frontcourt. I think it could be good defensively and offensively it would be a matchup problem for every other team, especially with the way both could run the court.

 

[Strenuus]

People bag on his defense but he's a solid defender with potential to be really good.. I think Aminu at PF and Meyers at C might be our future frontcourt. I think it could be good defensively and offensively it would be a matchup problem for every other team, especially with the way both could run the court.

If aminu can stop being stupid with the ball, then okay.

He's driving me nuts right now. lol. He makes shots, but then he drives the lane on 4 people and still takes the shot.

CJ does it too... and Dame to a certain extent.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Meyers is not that bad when you play him at center (as in the Memphis series). But they're trying to turn him into a PF, and he's too slow of foot for that. Play him alongside Ed Davis (in fact, start both of them) say I.

 

[Draco]

The problem with Meyers defensively is foot speed on the perimeter. At PF in the modern NBA that's a huge part of the game.

 

[BonesJones]

If aminu can stop being stupid with the ball, then okay.

He's driving me nuts right now. lol. He makes shots, but then he drives the lane on 4 people and still takes the shot.

CJ does it too... and Dame to a certain extent.

I said frontcourt of the future because I think he'll learn to be more in control

 

[PCmor7]

Meyers is 7-1 and has pretty good hops. If you are close to the hoop but haven't forced him completely under the basket, he's going to be tough to shoot over just based on those factors alone.

 

[Draco]

Where is Roy Hibbert?

He had great individual numbers when playing with a team of good defenders.

Defensive stats are very hard to isolate to one player of the five on the court.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

The problem with Meyers defensively is foot speed on the perimeter. At PF in the modern NBA that's a huge part of the game.

It's not his fault he's being played at PF instead of C. He's a fucking Stretch 5, not a Stretch 4.

 

[Draco]

It's not his fault he's being played at PF instead of C. He's a fucking Stretch 5, not a Stretch 4.

But will he have these rim protection stats as the only interior defensive big man? Or does the team bench both Plumlee and Davis who are playing among our top5 players?

He may be best as a center and not a PF. If so the Blazers have 3 backup centers which I don't know what we're supposed to do with.

 

[WillG]

I still contend that Meyers and Plums should play more often seperate; so that we have passing within both our starting, and back-up units.

Meyers would start. Has height/size we need inside - decent defender, and can spread defenses with the three (Davis is great at offensive rebounding)

Plumlee would bring much needed help for CJ, in that he can help facilitate some offense with his passing skills - for the secondary unit whilst Dame is resting.
NO reduction in minutes for Plumlee, perhaps some more minutes for Davis who's only getting 20mins a game. Starter or not - it's just a label, and Terry should just play the tandems that work best.

Perhaps:
C - Meyers, Plumlee, Alexander
PF - Davis, Vonleh, Alexander

 

[Blazer4ever]

James Harden is on this list, Robin Lopez isn't, enough said.

Oh, and Meyers being 3rd in the NBA according to this statistic is an even better proof for why it doesn't work.
Not trying to hate on Meyers but defending the interior is his biggest weakness, if he was even just OK in doing what a big is supposed to do on defense, he'd be a great talent. Right now this hole in his game makes him a fun player to watch, a nice guy you want to root for, but still not a major basketball player like he would be if he could figure this out

 

[BonesJones]

James Harden is on this list, Robin Lopez isn't, enough said.

Oh, and Meyers being 3rd in the NBA according to this statistic is an even better proof for why it doesn't work.
Not trying to hate on Meyers but defending the interior is his biggest weakness, if he was even just OK in doing what a big is supposed to do on defense, he'd be a great talent. Right now this hole in his game makes him a fun player to watch, a nice guy you want to root for, but still not a major basketball player like he would be if he could figure this out

You said him being 3rd is proof the stat doesnt work, but then you don't give a reason why, other than the basic rhetoric that everyone seems to believe in..

 

[B-Roy]

James Harden is on this list, Robin Lopez isn't, enough said.

Oh, and Meyers being 3rd in the NBA according to this statistic is an even better proof for why it doesn't work.
Not trying to hate on Meyers but defending the interior is his biggest weakness, if he was even just OK in doing what a big is supposed to do on defense, he'd be a great talent. Right now this hole in his game makes him a fun player to watch, a nice guy you want to root for, but still not a major basketball player like he would be if he could figure this out

It's sorted by number of shots defended, that's why Lopez wasn't on the list. You could say Meyers being 3rd on the list is an indicator of guys thinking they can attack him, or it could also be because our perimeter defense is pretty pourous. Either way, you can't deny that he allows guys to shoot a lower percentage when he does challenge their shots.

 

[BigGameDamian]

Meyers Leonard/Larry Bird. Discuss?

 

[B-Roy]

Meyers Leonard/Larry Bird. Discuss?

What could you possibly think you're adding to the discussion with this post?

 

[riverman]

What could you possibly think you're adding to the discussion with this post?

I would guess since Larry Bird is the GM of the Pacers that he's thinking of a trade?

 

[BlazerCaravan]

But will he have these rim protection stats as the only interior defensive big man? Or does the team bench both Plumlee and Davis who are playing among our top5 players?

He may be best as a center and not a PF. If so the Blazers have 3 backup centers which I don't know what we're supposed to do with.

When we play plums and Davis together they arent both playing center! Just let Meyers be the center with them in the game.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

I still contend that Meyers and Plums should play more often seperate; so that we have passing within both our starting, and back-up units.

Meyers would start. Has height/size we need inside - decent defender, and can spread defenses with the three (Davis is great at offensive rebounding)

Plumlee would bring much needed help for CJ, in that he can help facilitate some offense with his passing skills - for the secondary unit whilst Dame is resting.
NO reduction in minutes for Plumlee, perhaps some more minutes for Davis who's only getting 20mins a game. Starter or not - it's just a label, and Terry should just play the tandems that work best.

Perhaps:
C - Meyers, Plumlee, Alexander
PF - Davis, Vonleh, Alexander

You tell 'em Steve Dave!

 

[theprunetang]

Meyers Leonard/Larry Bird. Discuss?

I like turtles!

 

[BBert]

Meyers Leonard/Larry Bird. Discuss?

Meyers Leonard divided by Larry Bird? About 0.42.