What a difference - Bear Nurkic making a BIG impression

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That drop step is just an advanced post move. It took Aldridge like 4 yrs to master that. And he can drive right or left. And he just uproots guys on the first dribble backing down. And he clearly studied Mason's plays so he knows where the cutters are.

Haven't been this excited about a big man prospect since Aldridge.

I have to keep reminding myself that he's only a year older than Noah, and look how far behind Vonleh is in comparison.
 
ripcityboy said:
The only thing that worries me is our lack of depth at that position. Given his lack of conditioning and newness to Stott's system, how long can we use him? It really puts in perspective how screwed we are with Meyers out there. If we'd picked up one of the Philly bigs as well coming off the bench.... Fuck, playoffs here we come!
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Stotts will obviously have to shift the team's offensive approach to take advantage of Nurkic's skill set. In the interest of continuity, I would like to see Stotts utilize Meyers off the bench in the same manner as Nurkic, instead of parking Meyers at the three point line as only a pick and pop player. That might be something though that has to wait until next season's training camp to implement.
 
TBpup said:
Whatever the reason, it is a waste of his height and physical abilities. When he first came to Portland, he actually spent some time on the block with solid results. He has just faded farther and farther away from the basket to where now he is something like a league leader in percentage of perimeter shots taken.

Is that all Meyers....or partially Stotts offensive philosophy? Since it was much better at the beginning and has declined every year since, it seems like some of both.
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It may be Meyers' preference, but I think the execution of it is ALL Stotts. Meyers' job is to stay at the three point line and set screens, and be ready to catch the ball for a three point shot. That's it. And we thought Travis Outlaw was only given a limited number of things to do in the offense.
 
tlongII said:
I'm not sure we need Meyers to be playing on the low block. I like the idea of using him at PF while Nurk is playing C. Having Meyers floating around the 3-pt line while Nurk is posting up would work imo. The question is "can Meyers guard power forwards?" It will be interesting to see, but I think we should be a great defensive rebounding team.
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That's a decent idea. Stotts has to try it. What have we got to lose?
 
ripcityboy said:
I don't think it's possible. Meyers is afraid of contact. I was listening to a podcast from an old Blazers announcer (not Mike and Mike) and he said he'd never seen a player shy away from contract like Leonard. He isn't going to bang down low because he has no desire too. That's why he sticks to the 3s. Maybe it's the injuries he's had. I've no idea.
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That's bollocks. He's not afraid of contact. He's just not very good at contacting effectively.

Which is a vast improvement for him.
 
Meyers shoots threes, he doesn't make them. And more than half the time, he doesn't have a defender within five feet of him. He does nothing to actually space the floor-- this is one of the biggest myths propagated by our announcers and some in here.

I'd rather have Nurk shooting 15-20 footers than Meyers playing at all.
 
BBert said:
That's a decent idea. Stotts has to try it. What have we got to lose?
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I expect we'll see some of that once Aminu returns and Davis is able to shift back to backup center. I'm not usually a fan of twin towers basketball, but Meyers' ability to play on the perimeter makes is something that would be interesting for short periods.
 
yuyuza1 said:
Meyers shoots threes, he doesn't make them. And more than half the time, he doesn't have a defender within five feet of him. He does nothing to actually space the floor-- this is one of the biggest myths propagated by our announcers and some in here.

I'd rather have Nurk shooting 15-20 footers than Meyers playing at all.
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Personally, I don't think Biebs shoots enough 3s. He's been indecisive all season and it has hurt his 3 pointer.
 
TBpup said:
He has very quick feet for how little athleticism he has. His quickness belies his lack of speed or vertical leap.
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I just realized who Nurk reminds me of: Boris Diaw. A bigger, interior-oriented version. I know, I know, we're not supposed to compare players across racial lines, but at least I compared Euros.

Diaw has always been a match-up nightmare, and a deceptively good defender because of his strength and mobility. Guys like that are worth building a scheme around.

ripcityboy said:
One of the things I love is his low center of gravity. Sabonis had that as well.
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Not in the NBA he didn't... Old Sabas moved like he was on stilts. Going across the lane for those baby hooks, he was way easier to ride off the shot than a guy that size should be.

ripcityboy said:
I don't think it's possible. Meyers is afraid of contact. I was listening to a podcast from an old Blazers announcer (not Mike and Mike) and he said he'd never seen a player shy away from contract like Leonard. He isn't going to bang down low because he has no desire too. That's why he sticks to the 3s. Maybe it's the injuries he's had. I've no idea.
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Meyers Leonard, the anti-contract year player! Which is ironic, because we got him resigned much cheaper than everyone feared, and he's still viewed as over-paid.

Leonard might be bipolar or something. When he's beasting, like he did in the Memphis series, or in any Gasol/DMC match-up he inexplicably loves, he's as physical as anyone on the court.
 
SlyPokerDog said:
Fuck starting Meyers. He has done nothing to earn a starting role. Nurk pushed him out of the starting lineup after ONE game. And now we want to put him back in it?!?
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Meyers isn't the only one who doesn't deserve to start. And, that's the problem. We need a starting quality PF to put next to our new center. Vonleh seems to get a pass because he's still very young, but if anything, he's a bigger disappointment than Meyers.

He's a year and a day younger than Nurk and has been playing organized basketball much longer, was drafted the same year, but his "development" is light years behind Nurk. Of course, we didn't draft him, but we gave up something of value to get him. CHO gave up on him after one year, and he's been worse here than there. He was handed a starting role for much of last season (56 starts) and was recently handed it again.

You're right about Meyers. He doesn't deserve to start, but neither does Noah. Meyers has started a total of 17 games the last two seasons. Vonleh has started 72. So, its mot like Meyers has been a fixture in our starting line up. Vonleh is, and if anything, he's been worse than Meyers. They have the exact same PER (8.3), but Vonleh's TS% of .463 is atrocious for a big man and the worst of the players in our 10-man rotation. The fact that his TS% is that low and nearly 1/4 of his made FGs are dunks just underscores what a terrible shooter he is. Excluding dunks, his 2FG% is .328. How can a player whose average FG distance is 8.9 feet shoot the ball that horribly - and still be an NBA starter?

Vonleh was picked higher in a much deeper draft than Meyers. So, if Meyers is such a huge bust and should never be starting, why isn't the same said about Vonleh? I get that he's younger than Meyers, but he's nearing the end of his third NBA season, has started 72 games and played over 2000 minutes. He's actually been given more opportunity to improve during his first three seasons than Meyers did - and he hasn't, not one single bit. He put up better numbers as a 19-year old rookie in CHO than he has with the Blazers.

He has the lowest PTS/100 possessions on the team and if you go to 82games.com, you will see that as a team we get outscored by 11.2 PTS/48 while he's on the court (exactly twice as bad as Meyers, in this regard). I'm not even sure how that is even possible, given that he gets to play most of his minutes with Dame and C.J.

OK, enough Vonleh ranting, but this just proves we need a MAJOR upgrade at the PF position. You can't be starting a guy there with a PER of 8.3 (be it Meyers or Noah) and expect to win.

BNM
 
Last night was the first time since last Halloween that Jusuf Nurkic has played more than 30 minutes in a game.

It was also his first double:double since before Thanksgiving and only the second time since before Thanksgiving that he's had at least 12 FGA in a game.

No wonder he's happy to be here!

It was only the third time all season he's played more than 29 minutes in a game, but in those 3 games, he's averaging 13 PTS, 14.7 REB, 3.3 AST, 1.3 STL and 3.0 BLK.

Free the Nurk! Feed the Beast!!!

BNM
 
Excellent post, Boob. Unless a bright light illuminates for Noah in the next month, PF is our new No. 1 priority this off season, IMO. No one is pinning our future on Meyers; but a lot of us, including me, have been pinning our hopes on Vonleh. A lot of posters seem to have recently given up on Noah ever being a starter, and I'm getting close. I have though pretty much given up on him being a starter any time soon.

:cheers:
 
Not to defend Noah (because he hasn't been great) but I think a lot of people have a problem with Meyers and not Noah due to the contract. Of course that is more on Olshey but Meyers deserves some of the blame for not working on certain parts of his game to live up to it.
 
Also, if you go to 82games.com, you'll see that the Blazers outscore their opponents by 40.6 PTS/48 when Nurk is on the court. That's just through the UTA game, so ridiculously small sample size, but a rather amusing number.

At this point, I'll just be happy if that number remains above zero for the remainder of the season. For comparison, Plulee and Aminu are the only rotation players than have a positive on court margin for the season. Plumlee was at +0.7 PTS/48 amd Aminu is at +1.2 PTS/48.

BNM
 
KeepOnRollin said:
Not to defend Noah (because he hasn't been great) but i think a lot of people have a problem with Meyers and not him due to the contract. Of course that is more on Olshey but Meyers deserves some of the blame for not working on certain parts of his game to live up to it.
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Meyers was bashed mercilessly for the first four years of his career, even when he was making less than Noah is now. The new contract has made Meyers an easy target, but he's always been a target regardless of his pay grade.

BNM
 
I know it's still very early in Nurk's Blazers career - and thus my Nurk Watching career - but I'd like to revise my previous Sabas/Duck hybrid comparison and go for an even more outlandish hybrid comp: Sabas/Shaq!

The reason I bring up Shaq is because of his combination of size and agility. Shaq has surprising quickness, and those spin moves that Nurk is doing reminds me of both the power and quickness that Shaq displayed mid-career. Shaq was also a pretty good passer, and I think Nurk's passing is more in keeping with Shaq's abilities rather than Sabas: God of Passing.

Nurk isn't as powerful as Shaq - but he's also not allowed to use/abuse his power the was Shaq was. I'd be interested to see what he'd be able to do if he were allowed the freedom Shaq had!
 
Those Demarcus cousins comps don't sound as crazy now. Really, their skill sets are very similar. Cousins isn't an explosive athlete, but he still has good feet, just like Nurkic. Both are bullies in the post, can pass, and can also knock down jumpers if need be. Defensively, just their mere presence makes a difference.
 
Way to keep things in perspective.
 
KeepOnRollin said:
... I think a lot of people have a problem with Meyers and not Noah due to the contract.
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Respectfully disagree. Most people have hated Meyers since he was first drafted - or at least well before he got his current contract.
 
blue9 said:
Respectfully disagree. Most people have hated Meyers since he was first drafted - or at least well before he got his current contract.
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Bottom line is both to me have shown little and are simply not productive players and I would like them gone, Meyers gets more dislike because of the contract he signed last summer that many of us can't believe was offered.
 
I admit I got frustrated with the Euro draft picks and catering to their whining over playing time. I hated that they had options to stay in Europe. But PA biggest mistake was getting rid of his international scouts. Nurkic drafted at 16th, Jokic at 41? Forget about the Euro guards, just focus on the Euro bigs. They have size and skills. Just another example of how drafting smart can offset the need to tank in order to draft high.
 
Boob-No-More said:
Last night was the first time since last Halloween that Jusuf Nurkic has played more than 30 minutes in a game.

It was also his first double:double since before Thanksgiving and only the second time since before Thanksgiving that he's had at least 12 FGA in a game.

No wonder he's happy to be here!

It was only the third time all season he's played more than 29 minutes in a game, but in those 3 games, he's averaging 13 PTS, 14.7 REB, 3.3 AST, 1.3 STL and 3.0 BLK.

Free the Nurk! Feed the Beast!!!

BNM
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Nurk fan club like stats

 
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