Portlands front court

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BBert said:
I suspect the Blazers are planning to include Meyers in their game plan. At least, to start the season. The question I'm anxious to find out is how they are going to use him. Outside screener and three point specialist, as they have in the past? Or backup center, occasionally pulling his defender out to cover his mid range game? One thing many of us may have forgotten about Meyers, he used to be able to shoot and score with ease from just about anywhere. Then Stotts happened.
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I sincerely hope we're not pushing a narrative that Meyers would be good if it weren't for Stotts are we?
 
dviss1 said:
I sincerely hope we're not pushing a narrative that Meyers would be good if it weren't for Stotts are we?
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All I know is Meyers was a fluid shooter from all kinds of spots on the floor. Then he was relegated to the three point line for screens and the occasional wide open shot. I don't know how he would have progressed or succeeded if he'd been coached and assigned to play closer to the basket. But I don't think it would have been worse.
 
dviss1 said:
I sincerely hope we're not pushing a narrative that Meyers would be good if it weren't for Stotts are we?
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Not really what I’m going for but I think he may play better in a different situation it’s more than just coaching, but it seems like a lot of factors have just destroyed whatever confidence he once had on a basketball court. I think Stotts has had an effect on that, but it’s not all on him.
Just seems like “if” Leonard’s ever even going to be an average bench player in the NBA it’s going to be somewhere else where he can get a fresh start.
 
blazerkor said:
Cut Stauskas?!? We just had a news conference introducing the guy and you're talking about cutting him. Get real. The front court rotation is going to be Nurk, Chief and Zack. Biggie and Meyers will get spot minutes but I expect Collins' minutes to go way up to make up for losing Ed.
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Zach
 
BBert said:
All I know is Meyers was a fluid shooter from all kinds of spots on the floor. Then he was relegated to the three point line for screens and the occasional wide open shot. I don't know how he would have progressed or succeeded if he'd been coached and assigned to play closer to the basket. But I don't think it would have been worse.
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Fluid is not an adjective is use to describe Meyers shot.

Slow, hesitant, reticent are words I'd use.

Do you really think he's been coached to stay away from the basket?

I don't think so. He's always been soft.
 
TorturedBlazerFan said:
Not really what I’m going for but I think he may play better in a different situation it’s more than just coaching, but it seems like a lot of factors have just destroyed whatever confidence he once had on a basketball court. I think Stotts has had an effect on that, but it’s not all on him.
Just seems like “if” Leonard’s ever even going to be an average bench player in the NBA it’s going to be somewhere else where he can get a fresh start.
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How do you destroy confidence that was never had? Do y'all remember his draft express scouting video? Mental toughness was one of his weaknesses.
 
dviss1 said:
How do you destroy confidence that was never had? Do y'all remember his draft express scouting video? Mental toughness was one of his weaknesses.
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I admit he was always mentally fragile, but it seemed like the few months before Hughes got fired, he was playing with confidence, and starting to play the way he should’ve. Was he a world beater? No. It just seems like the last few years he’s got nothing left in terms of confidence, not that, it was a high bar to begin with I admit.
 
TorturedBlazerFan said:
I admit he was always mentally fragile, but it seemed like the few months before Hughes got fired, he was playing with confidence, and starting to play the way he should’ve. Was he a world beater? No. It just seems like the last few years he’s got nothing left in terms of confidence, not that, it was a high bar to begin with I admit.
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Sounds like that's Neil's fault. He's the one who fired Hughes. Not sure why folks are blaming Stotts for Meyers being a little pony.
 
dviss1 said:
Sounds like that's Neil's fault. He's the one who fired Hughes. Not sure why folks are blaming Stotts for Meyers being a little pony.
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Well like I said my intent wasn’t to say it was all on Stotts though, I think a coach can instill or at least massage it some but overall I believe a restart button for ML could be good for him and obviously we would all rejoice if he moved too...
 
TorturedBlazerFan said:
Well like I said my intent wasn’t to say it was all on Stotts though, I think a coach can instill or at least massage it some but overall I believe a restart button for ML could be good for him and obviously we would all rejoice if he moved too...
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It wasn't you. @BBert hinted above that Stotts was the reason for butters being soft. I disagree completely. You'd think someone who grew up like Meyers did would have more mental toughness.
 
dviss1 said:
It wasn't you. @BBert hinted above that Stotts was the reason for butters being soft. I disagree completely. You'd think someone who grew up like Meyers did would have more mental toughness.
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Classic nature vs nurture argument. Perhaps he was just born soft, and no amount of toughness training could correct it.
 
dviss1 said:
How do you destroy confidence that was never had? Do y'all remember his draft express scouting video? Mental toughness was one of his weaknesses.
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I think you nailed it. He picked up late and never really developed a mental toughness to compete against pro type low post players. Im thinking the only reason he got into round ball was because of his height and potential payday. He doesn't strike me as having the grit/passion needed as a youngster to spring board into an NBA caliber player.
He's doing his development now over the last 6 years.
 
Binx said:
And that tells you all you need to know about how good we will be this year.
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We’re pretty much praying one of Bieber or Biggie work out. Great strategy for a team with playoff aspirations
 
I'm just going to say it... I don't think Meyers is that terrible of an option to play back up minutes at either post position. Sure he's clueless on D but he stretches the floor and keeps people honest on O. Biggie didn't impress me or anyone else in Summer League but that is what it is. SL is rarely indicative of the regular season or playoffs. I'm sure Swanigan can give us ten to fifteen minutes a game grinding on the block. I'm not saying that these two are world beaters, I'm saying that our front court isn't weak. We have a Western Conference Playoff caliber front court. Don't sleep on the three man rotation of Nurk, Zach and Chief.
 
Scalma said:
Nurkic
Collins
Aminu
Swanigan
Leonard

Nurkic is strictly a center. Aminu is more of a small forward playing power forward. Swanigan can not be left on the perimeter. Leonard can not be left on the court.

I didn’t forget Moe. He just graded out so bad at PF that he shouldn’t even be considered.

The season hasn’t even started, yet I already see issues in the front court. We need to add another big, but the roster is full. Our only options are two way guys, and/ or dumping someone like Layman or Stauskas and taking the hit.

There are available players that could help, but I don’t sense any urgency. Olshey probably thinks Biggie is going to carve out a rotational spot. And that’d be ok if he didn’t also spend the majority of the offseason talking about making the next step in the playoffs.

But to keep this from becoming another anti Olshey post, would you cut a Stauskas to bring in another big? What would the hit be financially to a move like that? What available bigs interest you?
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I thought they did get rid of Stauskas.
 
blazerkor said:
I'm just going to say it... I don't think Meyers is that terrible of an option to play back up minutes at either post position. Sure he's clueless on D but he stretches the floor and keeps people honest on O. Biggie didn't impress me or anyone else in Summer League but that is what it is. SL is rarely indicative of the regular season or playoffs. I'm sure Swanigan can give us ten to fifteen minutes a game grinding on the block. I'm not saying that these two are world beaters, I'm saying that our front court isn't weak. We have a Western Conference Playoff caliber front court. Don't sleep on the three man rotation of Nurk, Zach and Chief.
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LOL. The rest of the NBA besides NO disagrees with you.

Even Stotts.
 
BigGameDamian said:
http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=yamw87ee
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I'm pretty sure trading two of our bigs for a soft, overpaid, injury prone stretch-4 who plays ZERO defense isn't going to help our lack of depth up front.

Anderson isn't even a good scorer anymore. His scoring the last 3 years has gone from 17.0 to 13.6 to 9.3 ppg. The guy has Chris Paul and James Harden setting him up and he can't even average 10 ppg (when he's actually healthy enough to play).

You know who else averaged 9.3 ppg last season? Al-Farouq Aminu, that's who. And, Aminu actually plays defense, too. Honestly, I wouldn't trade Aminu straight up for Ryan Anderson - even if they made the same salary. They don't. Anderson makes $21 million a year. Aminu makes $7 million.

Dumb trade.

BNM
 
Boob-No-More said:
I'm pretty sure trading two of our bigs for a soft, overpaid, injury prone stretch-4 who plays ZERO defense isn't going to help our lack of depth up front.

Anderson isn't even a good scorer anymore. His scoring the last 3 years has gone from 17.0 to 13.6 to 9.3 ppg. The guy has Chris Paul and James Harden setting him up and he can't even average 10 ppg (when he's actually healthy enough to play).

You know who else averaged 9.3 ppg last season? Al-Farouq Aminu, that's who. And, Aminu actually plays defense, too. Honestly, I wouldn't trade Aminu straight up for Ryan Anderson - even if they made the same salary. They don't. Anderson makes $21 million a year. Aminu makes $7 million.

Dumb trade.

BNM
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Anderson averages are down because his attempts are down. His shooting efficiency this year were actually a career best. He’s a better player than Aminu in a vacuum. Way more efficient offensively, and not as much of a liability on defense as some assume. His win shares the last two seasons have been 5.2 and 4.8. Aminus 1.9 and 4.2. Anderson also fits what Stotts wants to do offensively a lot better than Aminu.

The contract is whatever since we’d have to match salaries anyway, and turns into an expiring after this season.

That being said, I’d still pass.
 
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Scalma said:
Anderson averages are down because his attempts are down. His shooting efficiency this year were actually a career best. He’s a better player than Aminu in a vacuum. Way more efficient offensively, and not as much of a liability on defense as some assume. His win shares the last two seasons have been 5.2 and 4.8. Aminus 1.9 and 4.2. Anderson also fits what Stotts wants to do offensively a lot better than Aminu.

The contract is whatever since we’d have to match salaries anyway, and turns into an expiring after this season.

That being said, I’d still pass.
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For a player over 30, I'm not really concerned about what he did two years ago (other that for spotting the inevitable downward trends). Last year, Aminu came close to Anderson in total WS. Aminu is still under 30 and trending up. Anderson is over 30 and trending down.

And yes, Anderson is a negative defender. He has been his entire career. Aminu is a positive defender, and has been his entire career.

We've already added a lot of 3-point shooting to the roster. I'd prefer to keep Aminu and his cheap, expiring contract, over Anderson with two years and $42 million left on his deal. The proposed trade would have us taking on and extra $3 million in salary this year and an extra $10 million next year - plus nearly 3x that amount in tax penalties. That's a lot of money for a lateral (at best) move. We have other players who can shoot the 3 (and frankly, Aminu wasn't that far behind Anderson last year), but we don't have a lot of guys who can guard the 3 and 4 spots as well as Aminu can.

BNM
 
Boob-No-More said:
For a player over 30, I'm not really concerned about what he did two years ago (other that for spotting the inevitable downward trends). Last year, Aminu came close to Anderson in total WS. Aminu is still under 30 and trending up. Anderson is over 30 and trending down.

BNM
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What are you talking about two years ago? I just said Anderson is coming off his most efficient shooting season. Your proof of a downward trend was to bring up his PPG average, which is about as basic as it gets.

Anderson isnt over 30 either.

A better argument would be his durability. But to say hes getting worse as a scorer/shooter just isnt backed up by anything meaningful.
 
Scalma said:
What are you talking about two years ago? I just said Anderson is coming off his most efficient shooting season. Your proof of a downward trend was to bring up his PPG average, which is about as basic as it gets.
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I was referring to your comment comparing Anderson's WS to Aminu's WS over the last two seasons:

Scalma said:
His win shares the last two seasons have been 5.2 and 4.8. Aminus 1.9 and 4.2.
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Scalma said:
Anderson isnt over 30 either.
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Really? How hard is it to look this stuff up?

Born:May 6, 1988 (Age: 30-095d)

Scalma said:
A better argument would be his durability.
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You mean like I did in my original reply?

Boob-No-More said:
I'm pretty sure trading two of our bigs for a soft, overpaid, injury prone stretch-4 who plays ZERO defense isn't going to help our lack of depth up front.
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BNM
 
tester551 said:
I'd only be willing to trade Turner for Anderson. We take on about $2M more in salary - but we get someone who is a better fit for Terry's coaching style.
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Given the title of this thread, this makes a LOT more sense than @BigGameDamian's trade of Aminu and Leonard for Anderson. I'm not an Anderson fan, but it better balances the roster and Anderson and Turner both have two years left on their current deals.

Not sure why HOU would do it though. Turner seems like an even worse fit in D'Antoni's system (42.3 FGA/G) than he does in Stotts' system (28.1 3FGA/G).

BNM
 
Boob-No-More said:
I was referring to your comment comparing Anderson's WS to Aminu's WS over the last two seasons:





Really? How hard is it to look this stuff up?

Born:May 6, 1988 (Age: 30-095d)
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Thank you for proving that he’s not over 30. Good job.

He’ll be 31 in the final year of his contract. Age is hardly an issue, especially when his numbers don’t show a drop as you’ve poorly attempted to suggest.

Only issue I’d have are the injuries, but that was hardly the basis of your argument.
 
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