Out on a Limb: Bold Prediction

[Schilly]

I've recently had this hunch that I'm actually borderline embarrassed to share... but here goes.

Meyers Leonard is going to have a breakout season.... There I said it, now let me tell you why. If you look backat his stats over his career he was progressing and showing to be a decent backup caliber center... Note that I said "Center". He has a centers body at 7'1" and 255lbs. Meyers was on course until Lamarcus left and Stotts decided to switch Meyers to be a stretch 4. He is a very effective shooter around the paint, but rarely shoots there in the current offense, we can talk about that at length in a different thread if we need to.

The main though I am having is Meyers this season is really in a position to succeed for the 1st time in a while. There has been pressure for him to start early on as a center then as the PF. I think all that has changed now. With Vonleh, Swanigan, Davis, Aminu and even Collins there is zero need for Meyers to play PF. With Nurkic, Meyers won't sniff starting at the 5, both of those aspects were an issue even this past year until Nurkic came along and Vonleh solidified the PF as his spot to lose. So back to now, Meyers can focus on being the backup C, he has good hands and passes well, rebounds well and defensively does better than most give him credit for, WHEN he's at the 5 guarding centers. He will have very little pressure in terms of expectations of starting, instead he can settle into a role that is good for him. Come off the Bench and be utilized the same way as Nurkic is.

So yeah there it is my bold prediction for the season is Meyers has a breakout season.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

but for what team?

It could happen, but.... So could Swanigan, so could Collins, so could Aminu, so could Vonleh.

That being said, I hope you're right. I just worry that he'll take minutes from Swanigan and Collins and not "break out".

 

[Schilly]

That being said, I hope you're right. I just worry that he'll take minutes from Swanigan and Collins and not "break out".

I don't think that would be the case because I don't think Collins is remotely ready to play the 5, nor do I see him as a 5 ever really. And Swanigan and Vonleh will be the primary rotation at the 4.

 

[barfo]

This would be a major, major problem. A team needs a solid rotation at every position.

If Myers moves to backup center, that leaves a big hole. Who is going to play scapegoat?

barfo

 

[craigehlo]

 

[Minstrel]

Meyers has played center at times over the past couple of years. The "Boogie stopper" memes and all came from him playing center. He's looked just as lost at center as he has at power forward. He's not a good positional defender at center but he's relatively better banging with a big man than being taken out onto the perimeter by a modern "power wing." Of course, teams will still exploit him on the perimeter by putting his man into a pick-and-roll, forcing him to make decisions in space, which he's poor at. He's also not a shot-blocker, which more and more is becoming a must at the 5.

If by "break out," you mean he won't look like he belongs out of the NBA altogether, I could imagine that. If you mean he'll look like a good player, or even a good reserve, I think you're being wildly optimistic. He doesn't really have any skills except rebounding (if he's allowed to play near the hoop) and shooting, and even his shot was nothing special last year. If the team gave him 10 minutes per game against immobile centers and told him to focus completely on rebounding, he might not kill the team. That's as far as I'd go, personally.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Meyers has played center at times over the past couple of years. The "Boogie stopper" memes and all came from him playing center. He's looked just as lost at center as he has at power forward. He's not a good positional defender at center but he's relatively better banging with a big man than being taken out onto the perimeter by a modern "power wing." Of course, teams will still exploit him on the perimeter by putting his man into a pick-and-roll, forcing him to make decisions in space, which he's poor at. He's also not a shot-blocker, which more and more is becoming a must at the 5.

If by "break out," you mean he won't look like he belongs out of the NBA altogether, I could imagine that. If you mean he'll look like a good player, or even a good reserve, I think you're being wildly optimistic. He doesn't really have any skills except rebounding (if he's allowed to play near the hoop) and shooting, and even his shot was nothing special last year. If the team gave him 10 minutes per game against immobile centers and told him to focus completely on rebounding, he might not kill the team. That's as far as I'd go, personally.

He's also a very good passer, and a good communicator on the offensive end (an underrated and often invisible contribution).

I also don't expect him to "break out", but I don't think it's beyond reason to think that he could reach average backup/not-a-liability status.

 

[BBert]

I've recently had this hunch that I'm actually borderline embarrassed to share... but here goes.

Meyers Leonard is going to have a breakout season.... There I said it, now let me tell you why. If you look backat his stats over his career he was progressing and showing to be a decent backup caliber center... Note that I said "Center". He has a centers body at 7'1" and 255lbs. Meyers was on course until Lamarcus left and Stotts decided to switch Meyers to be a stretch 4. He is a very effective shooter around the paint, but rarely shoots there in the current offense, we can talk about that at length in a different thread if we need to.

The main though I am having is Meyers this season is really in a position to succeed for the 1st time in a while. There has been pressure for him to start early on as a center then as the PF. I think all that has changed now. With Vonleh, Swanigan, Davis, Aminu and even Collins there is zero need for Meyers to play PF. With Nurkic, Meyers won't sniff starting at the 5, both of those aspects were an issue even this past year until Nurkic came along and Vonleh solidified the PF as his spot to lose. So back to now, Meyers can focus on being the backup C, he has good hands and passes well, rebounds well and defensively does better than most give him credit for, WHEN he's at the 5 guarding centers. He will have very little pressure in terms of expectations of starting, instead he can settle into a role that is good for him. Come off the Bench and be utilized the same way as Nurkic is.

So yeah there it is my bold prediction for the season is Meyers has a breakout season.

I concur.

 

[BBert]

I don't think that would be the case because I don't think Collins is remotely ready to play the 5, nor do I see him as a 5 ever really. And Swanigan and Vonleh will be the primary rotation at the 4.

I concur.

 

[Denny Crane]

It would be an opportune time for him to step up his game and give us all hope he'll get even better with age.

He's not the young kid with p-p-p-potential anymore. But I agree with a lot of what @Schilly wrote. He was improving year over year at C and declined at PF. He's been bit by injuries enough to harm his growth as a player, but not enough to cripple him.

I think he's in good health. Let's see him for real this time.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

I don't think that would be the case because I don't think Collins is remotely ready to play the 5, nor do I see him as a 5 ever really. And Swanigan and Vonleh will be the primary rotation at the 4.

I concur.

I do not.

 

[dviss1]

If Butters averages 10PPG he will be "breaking out".

 

[Cippy91]

Very bold. However, I am completely over Meyers and don't believe in him at all. Want him out

 

[dviss1]

He fooled me. I thought he was a dunker in his rookie season.

 

[Minstrel]

He's also a very good passer, and a good communicator on the offensive end (an underrated and often invisible contribution).

A very good passer? I think that's a pretty large overstatement. He's not a black hole, but I don't think he's anything more than average as a passer. As far as him being a good communicator on the offensive end--I haven't really noticed him getting guys set up or into an offensive set, but I will admit that I haven't really been looking for that when watching, so I may have missed it.

 

[dviss1]

Very bold. However, I want to believe that butters will up his trade value because I want him out.

FTFY.

 

[dviss1]

He's a solid passer. Doesn't make too many mistakes with the ball.

 

[Cippy91]

I mean if this bold prediction is right, i welcome it but god damn no other NBA player I can recall has been this terrible and gotten this many opportunities to show otherwise. He gets the minutes, I just never see dude improve.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Who is going to play scapegoat?

Hillary's emails.

Or Aldridge. Isn't Aldridge still our scapegoat?

 

[Rastapopoulos]

My bold prediction is that Schilly will regret his bold prediction.

 

[Blazers Roy]

This is going to be a great year.
Meyers is going to have a breakout season, i'll finally get to bang Kate Upton and Kim Jong-un is going to win the Nobel peace prize.

 

[JDC]

Yeah, I have trouble agreeing with the breakout label, but he should be better than last year and hopefully be a playable back-up center option. Basically pretty much what he was the 2 years prior.

More than anything though, I just hope the coaching staff can find some positive bench combinations this year and I have a good feeling they will. Along with Meyers, I think Aminu, Turner and Ed Davis are all fairly safe positive regression candidates and Collins and Swanigan will provide different looks up front.

And I'm not worried about filling Crabbe's minutes. Aminu will play more 3 and if Layman can shoot 35-36% from 3 he has a chance to be a viable 10th man in the rotation for 12-15 mpg.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

My bold prediction is that Schilly will regret his bold prediction.

Don't underestimate the power of the highly-overoptimistic side...

 

[SlyPokerDog]

I've recently had this hunch that I'm actually borderline embarrassed to share... but here goes.

Meyers Leonard is going to have a breakout season.... There I said it, now let me tell you why. If you look backat his stats over his career he was progressing and showing to be a decent backup caliber center... Note that I said "Center". He has a centers body at 7'1" and 255lbs. Meyers was on course until Lamarcus left and Stotts decided to switch Meyers to be a stretch 4. He is a very effective shooter around the paint, but rarely shoots there in the current offense, we can talk about that at length in a different thread if we need to.

The main though I am having is Meyers this season is really in a position to succeed for the 1st time in a while. There has been pressure for him to start early on as a center then as the PF. I think all that has changed now. With Vonleh, Swanigan, Davis, Aminu and even Collins there is zero need for Meyers to play PF. With Nurkic, Meyers won't sniff starting at the 5, both of those aspects were an issue even this past year until Nurkic came along and Vonleh solidified the PF as his spot to lose. So back to now, Meyers can focus on being the backup C, he has good hands and passes well, rebounds well and defensively does better than most give him credit for, WHEN he's at the 5 guarding centers. He will have very little pressure in terms of expectations of starting, instead he can settle into a role that is good for him. Come off the Bench and be utilized the same way as Nurkic is.

So yeah there it is my bold prediction for the season is Meyers has a breakout season.

I remember the first time I smoked pot.

 

[H.C.]

The only way I'd see Nards having a breakout year is because this is the first season in 2 or 3 years he's been healthy in the off-season.
We'll see I guess. Rumor was he had nerve damage which limited him late last season/post season. But that rumor fell through? who knows.
To me this is Nard's last chance to prove he can contribute for the Blazers.

 

[Orion Bailey]

I remember the first time I smoked pot.

Isnt that damn near a physical/chemical impossibility?

I mean in smoking pot, shouldn't it alter you to forget about the first time smoking pot? Unless it was also your last time?

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Isnt that damn near a physical/chemical impossibility?

I mean in smoking pot, shouldn't it alter you to forget about the first time smoking pot? Unless it was also your last time?

I very clearly remember my first pot smoking incident.

Prior to that day, I never knew that you could burn ramen if you let it boil dry, but that pot was burned beyond recovery.

 

[Blazer4ever]

I've recently had this hunch that I'm actually borderline embarrassed to share... but here goes.

Meyers Leonard is going to have a breakout season.... There I said it, now let me tell you why. If you look backat his stats over his career he was progressing and showing to be a decent backup caliber center... Note that I said "Center". He has a centers body at 7'1" and 255lbs. Meyers was on course until Lamarcus left and Stotts decided to switch Meyers to be a stretch 4. He is a very effective shooter around the paint, but rarely shoots there in the current offense, we can talk about that at length in a different thread if we need to.

The main though I am having is Meyers this season is really in a position to succeed for the 1st time in a while. There has been pressure for him to start early on as a center then as the PF. I think all that has changed now. With Vonleh, Swanigan, Davis, Aminu and even Collins there is zero need for Meyers to play PF. With Nurkic, Meyers won't sniff starting at the 5, both of those aspects were an issue even this past year until Nurkic came along and Vonleh solidified the PF as his spot to lose. So back to now, Meyers can focus on being the backup C, he has good hands and passes well, rebounds well and defensively does better than most give him credit for, WHEN he's at the 5 guarding centers. He will have very little pressure in terms of expectations of starting, instead he can settle into a role that is good for him. Come off the Bench and be utilized the same way as Nurkic is.

So yeah there it is my bold prediction for the season is Meyers has a breakout season.

The challenge with Meyers is figuring out how to use him on defense. He has two issues: poor defensive IQ and not being strong enough mentally.
When he has confidence like before the injury he can be great, last year he just didn't find his place from start to finish.
But I think if he can regain his confidence and imroves his team defense or plays in the right lineup to optimize his ability, that he could be a very productive player for us

 

[PtldPlatypus]

I've often felt like Meyers' biggest problem--on both sides of the court, but particularly on defense--is overthinking. Nothing is instinctive for him. He's too busy trying to remember the proper positioning of himself on the court, or his hands based on the ball's location, trying to make the correct fundamental choice, that he's constantly late in his reaction to what's going on around him.

I also wonder if he suffers from tunnel vision on defense; being so focused on either "his man" or on the ball-handler that he fails to see how the entire offensive play is developing, thereby preventing him from being able to properly recognize angles and flow and anticipate where he needs to be. Honestly, I think the pattern-recognition aspect of defense is underrated, and is a lot of what some posters (I'm thinking... @Minstrel in particular?) refer to when discussing defense as more a skill-set rather than simply a result of effort and athleticism.

 

[Denny Crane]

It's not that hard for a guy his size to play defense. Just stand there and be tall.

That's what Thibs and PJax said about getting their bigs to play D.