Meyers Leonard 50/40/~90 shooting (yes I know, small sample size....)

[Dame Lizard]

Small sample size, I know...... but after all the criticism he's copped (largely from us Portland fans), I felt he deserved a complimentary shout-out for all the extremely hard work he puts in (he stays in the gym after a lot of games to keep working). It's also a surprise, as this 7'1 guy did not get drafted on his floor-spacing ability (he was more of a raw young, big and athletic, high risk high reward prospect).

And yes, his defense is really quite bad (although better than his rookie year). I don't ever expect him to be a good defender, but a lot of Portland fans are projecting him as a Spencer Hawes kind of player in the future (if he keeps developing), which can definitely be handy for a championship bench.

I know he's only averaging 5.7 ppg over 23 games, but 3 PT% is generally the most arguable "but is it sustainable?" statistic, however his volume over this period has been reasonable. Don't get me wrong, I'm expecting his 3PT% to go down a bit as the defenses starts respecting his range a bit more, but he could be a very handy player to have on the bench in the future if he keeps developing.

51.6% FG (2.1/4.0)
44.2% 3PT (0.8/1.9)
89.5% FT (0.7/0.8)

Like I said, a very small sample size, but that 3 PT percentage (on semi-reasonable volume) and FT% is very impressive for a 22 year old 7'1 guy who didn't have any reputation as being a floor spacer in the 2012 draft. Now If he can just quadruple his volume, he'll be prime Dirk

[LameR]

As a Blazers fan it's rough to see this thread on the GB. These are the kind of things people get tired of real quick, this is more of a PTB board thread.

All that said, he's doing well, and it's nice to see him playing with more confidence than ever. We need that right now!

[Freefloater]

I like his game ... houston fan here...

[laploutocratie]

I liked him as a prospect and still do. But can anyone tell me why the Blazers took a guy with such size and athleticism and turned him into a 3PT shooter? His only shot attempts were from three last game...

[NBAfan3024]

Amazing for a 7 footer really

[Dame Lizard]

I liked him as a prospect and still do. But can anyone tell me why the Blazers took a guy with such size and athleticism and turned him into a 3PT shooter? His only shot attempts were from three last game...

Unfortuantely he doesn't have any kind of footwork or dribbling ability, but he has fantastic shooting form, so it makes a fair bit of sense. Also, he kinda did it to himself. After probably one of the worst defensive rookie seasons you'll see in a long time, instead of working on defense and rebounding, he started shooting 3 pointers in his post-rookie off-season, to which we all just shook our head in a very clueless/frustrated fashion! Turns out it had some merit afterall!

I'm as surprised as you are, when we drafted a guy with great size and athleticism, I was hoping for some dunks, rebounds and blocked shots, instead we got some dunks but mainly long-range jumpers

As a Blazers fan it's rough to see this thread on the GB. These are the kind of things people get tired of real quick, this is more of a PTB board thread.

All that said, he's doing well, and it's nice to see him playing with more confidence than ever. We need that right now!

I get what you mean, but he's a player I (and a lot of others) had basically written off, and he really does have a unique skillset.

Especially with the modern-day basketball, you get centres who can occasionally shoot the 3 (like Olynyk), but Leonard's range just came from nowhere.

Not to worry though, I'm sure it'll fade to the 2nd page shortly enough............. :lol.

[GimmeDat]

It's great that he's finally finding a niche for himself after looking abysmal early on in his career, but ultimately, it seems like a waste of his physical attributes to be playing out on the perimeter as much as he does.

If he keeps shooting the ball this well, great, but he needs to continue to try and develop his skill-set in a way that maximizes his size and athleticism as a big to reach his potential as a player.

[Village Idiot]

It's great that he's finally finding a niche for himself after looking abysmal early on in his career, but ultimately, it seems like a waste of his physical attributes to be playing out on the perimeter as much as he does.

If he keeps shooting the ball this well, great, but he needs to continue to try and develop his skill-set in a way that maximizes his size and athleticism as a big to reach his potential as a player.

I actually think his ability to play at the 3 pt line is fantastic because that means the opposing center of power forward will be drawn away from the basket where they won't be able to to contest drives or shots or double team Aldridge.

[Johnlac1]

It's always irritating to see a player with such impressive physical gifts not use them to his best advantage. I've seen Leonard since his college days at Illinois. Contrary to what some might think, he had a nice jump hook and can score inside. It's the will that's missing. I've heard him quoted as saying he doesn't want to be a center...he wants to be a stretch four. If I had that kind of size and athleticism I'd be trying to destroy guys inside.

[Mogul]

Luke Babbit and Meyers Leonard looking like they can play all the sudden? What's next, Yi coming back to the league and dropping 17 and 7?

[Golabki]

Guys his size (over 7ft with a good wingspan and strength) who can move as well as he can are rare. Guys that can also consistently hit 3 are REALLY rare.

He's still just 22 and has to be pretty interesting as a potential stretch 5. Potentially allowing you to space the floor like you're playing a wing at center, but also giving you size. That's super valuable if he can become just an average defender.

The negatives are... on a team that's been straved for bigs off the bench the last few years, he hasn't been able to to find a role. And is block shot numbers are shockingly low for a guy of his size (career 0.9 blk/36).

[Golabki]

Luke Babbit and Meyers Leonard looking like they can play all the sudden? What's next, Yi coming back to the league and dropping 17 and 7?

If you think Luke Babbit can play the Lakers would like to trade you Wes Johnson.

[Wizenheimer]

everybody keeps saying that Meyers has great "athleticism", but I seriously question if that's the case

he has good speed running in a straight line, but he has bad lateral speed. And his first step is glacially slow. Also, he's never displayed quick reaction time. In fact, his reaction time over his first two seasons was about the slowest I've seen. To me, lateral mobility and reaction time are integral components of athleticism.

On the other hand, over his first two seasons he was comedy gold. He was a steady stream of brain-farts and BBIQ lowlights. And when he wasn't making incomprehensibly dumb plays, he was busy slamming his face into people's arm parts. His nose was an elbow magnet and he always had the same stunned, eye-blinking expression of surprise afterward

all that out of the way, over the last 10-12 games he's shown massive improvement. The brain-farts are way down and he's kept his face elbow-free. He's turned into a good rebounder, especially on the defensive end where he's learned to use his size to occupy space. He's not a good defender, especially away from the paint, but he doesn't embarrass himself anymore and has the length to compensate for some mistakes. On offense, he has almost no post game and his normal floor positions result in him being a really weak offensive rebounder. But he's a pretty deadly at the catch & shoot and the unorthodox nature of his game is making him a decent Blazer weapon.

One thing about his shooting percentages though, I was checking NBA.com and looked at the distance from nearest opponent on his shots....compared him to Aldridge. It was crazy. Leonard took a high percentage of his FGA's with a bunch of space between him and the nearest opponent. Opposing teams have been really surprised that Leonard not only shoots from the 3 point line, but actually converts at a high rate. It will be interesting to see how Leonard's percentages hold up as NBA scouting catches up to his game

[Mogul]

If you think Luke Babbit can play the Lakers would like to trade you Wes Johnson.

Yeah, I apologize. To be honest, I only saw his name on a list of 3pt FG% and assumed he was having a decent year. I didn't realize how horribly inefficient he's been and that he isn't even hitting a lot of threes.

[deanwoof]

White guys that can shoot the three are a dime a dozen. I remember watching mike Penberthy shoting pre game against portland once,p. He hit about 10-12 threes in a row.

Lemons is terrible at defense and anything else not involving him hovering around the three point line.

[Golabki]

White guys that can shoot the three are a dime a dozen. I remember watching mike Penberthy shoting pre game against portland once,p. He hit about 10-12 threes in a row.

Lemons is terrible at defense and anything else not involving him hovering around the three point line.

Penberthy was a 6'3" PG, not a 7'1" center.

[PDX MM]

Doesn't matter to this hater I still want him gone. Hopefully this good run will raise his trade value.

[ManualRam]

he looks athletic but he has to gather to explode. he also has soft touch around the paint area with his jump hooks and push shots, but he's not strong enough to hold his position in the post. physically, he looks chiseled, but its his lower body strength that's lacking. i think he's good for quick duck ins and flashes in the paint area. he also sets wide screens and is a pretty deft passer as well. i could see him being used in pinch post situations because he can hit that mid as well.
his major prob is and maybe always will be defensively. his awareness has improved but still poor and he doesn't have good reflexes.