Haynes: Assistant Coach Kim Hughes Says Meyers Leonard Has "Struggled A Little Bit"

Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com reports Portland Trail Blazers assistant coach Kim Hughes' breakdown of rookie center Meyers Leonard after the first week of training camp.

"He's struggled a little bit in training camp, he admits it," Hughes said. "And he's gotten down a few times and I try to fight that with him in saying that, 'You're tired, it's a battle out here. It's a war and you have to just fight through the fatigue, the stress of learning a new offense and just learning a different game.'

"He needs to set picks and he needs to roll," Hughes said. "A lot of times if he's standing on the weak side, that means he's making a mistake. If he makes a move on the low block without conviction, it's wrong. He should probably throw it out and set a pick. And he can garner that information pretty quickly."

"Defensively, he has to be a lot more active, he's got to vocalize what's going on. If he sees it, it has to say it," Hughes said. "So for instance, if his man sets a pick, he has to tell the guard the pick and the location of the pick and that's been hard for him. He's not a vocal kid that way."

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter