Why not Kawhi on Kobe the whole game?

[Wildcat67]

I was getting really pissed at Pop this game for not putting Kawhi on Kobe. The only thing that slows Kobe down is length. Staying in front of him is worthless. Kawhi was wasted the entire game guarding their worst offensive player. I realize that if he guarded Kobe then Artest would have a size advantage unless we put Jackson in as well, but I'll take Artest in the post over Kobe getting whatever shot he wants.

Finally the last 2 minutes he wises up and put Kawhi on Kobe and he didn't score again and Kawhi completely stopped their final play on his own by denying Kobe. I just don't understand how these obvious things are apparently not obvious to Pop.

[Malik Hairston]

Completely agree, as I said in the game thread..

Leonard is an overrated defender, but as you said, the only way to contain an early season Kobe is putting length on him..Manu stayed with him, but he doesn't have the physical attributes to bother Kobe..Green is a good defensive player against smaller players, but he can't defend a player with Kobe's attributes..

Even Jackson would have been a better option..

Kawhi's ball denial was a key to the failure of LA's final shot..

[HI-FI]

I wanted it too but figured Kawhi would pick up dumb fouls since all it takes is to breathe on Kobe. least we put him on kobrick at the most crucial moment, but I'm definitely curious why it took Pop so long.

[timvp]

I was calling for it too but it worked out because Kobe didn't know what to do with Kawhi down the stretch.

[hooperflash]

Kobe loves getting Kawhi in foul trouble.

[emanueldavidginobili]

Because Kobe probably would have got a good feel on KL if he played on him the whole game good move by POP when it counted.

[IknowU]

Patience is what Pop had, only used Kawhi on Kobe when it mattered.

[jmard5]

I think that was Pop's plan all along.

[letmk]

KB had a hot hand tonight, but he didn't beat Green's defense per se many times. Plus, Green did not commit silly fouls and give KB cheap fts, which to me is no.1 priority when guarding KB. A hot-hand KB with no fts will not kill the Spurs.

[Darius McCrary]

You have to think in terms of time and strategy.

[Darius McCrary]

Young padawans, lol

[dbestpro]

Watch the replay and you will see Kobe actually got open on the cut but Gasol just didn't pass the ball.

[Obstructed_View]

Watch the replay and you will see Kobe actually got open on the cut but Gasol just didn't pass the ball.

It was too late by that point, and "open" is relative when you've got 11 feet of Tim Duncan in your face.

[Wildcat67]

Watch the replay and you will see Kobe actually got open on the cut but Gasol just didn't pass the ball.

So, Kawhi denies Kobe the ball, and you also expect him to not allow Kobe even a tiny sliver of daylight on a cut (which it was, a sliver)? Even if Pau made an amazing pass to get it to Kobe Kawhi was still right on his hip and Kobe would of had to shoot over him.

Some people are just nitpickers.

[mrjap2x]

Maybe he saw that mwp on green is a bad matchup

[Wildcat67]

Maybe he saw that mwp on green is a bad matchup

I mentioned that, still rather let MWP beat us.

[Obstructed_View]

Watch the replay and you will see Kobe actually got open on the cut but Gasol just didn't pass the ball.

Also, I just watched the replay and Splitter rotated right to Kobe. He was by no definition "open".

[Darius McCrary]

IMO Pop is counting on Kawhi becoming a consistent scorer. By starting him Kawhi on Artest (Who is completely worthless in every discernible aspect of the game of basketball), Pop would allow Kawhi to conserve energy for further use on the offensive end. Unfortunately, the payoff never happened because Kawhi got early foul trouble. However, I always felt like Pop would put either SJax or Kawhi on Kobe in crunch time.
I think quite a few here knew that Danny would not get the Kobe assignment in crunch time, it was just a matter of what "crunch time" is. I thought Pop would change assignments the entire 4th quarter. I'm glad I was wrong.

[Obstructed_View]

KL's going to be expected to play the role of shut-down defender against the best swingmen in the league soon enough. It worked out right. Also, I don't know that the Spurs win by 10 automatically. They likely have more free throw attempts if KL's on Kobe the whole quarter. Could have been the difference in the game.

[Whisky Dog]

Leonard picked up 2 fouls early in the 1st. Didn't want him on Kobe to get more fouls in the 1st half as well.

[gee]

It was intentional. It was good.

[mrjap2x]

Leonard picked up 2 fouls early in the 1st. Didn't want him on Kobe to get more fouls in the 1st half as well.
Nice observation:toast

[Chinook]

I think Green is actually a pretty good defender. He didn't really have much success last night, but I felt he did better on Kobe last year than Leonard did. I love Kawahi's evolution, but he isn't there as a man defender yet. He gets a ton of steals from his long arms, so he is good at ball denial. But he also finds himself in foul trouble or gets out of position because of his aggressiveness. I think Green is much improved at staying with his man, and he recovered well tonight. There will be some match ups where he guards the opponent's best perimeter player, and some where Kawhi guards them. That's just what happens when you have one of the best pairs of young defensive wings in the NBA.

[Em-City]

it had to be kawhi.. jax would have been burned by speed. he can't stay in front of faster guys anymore

[YoMamaIsCallin]

Obviously Popovich knows that Leonard is probably the best defender they have for Kobe. Then it becomes a matter of coaching strategy exactly WHEN to pull that trigger. Doing it in crunch time is a very good option IMO. It doesn't give the Lakers time to get used to it and adjust.

It reminds me of how Popovich used to regularly beat the Suns in the playoffs with D'Antoni, Amare, and Nash. They'd let Amare roll with only help defense and big man recovery on pick and rolls for 3 quarters plus. Then they'd switch up the rotations and cover up Amare, and hedge hard on Nash or put Bruce on him, and see who could beat them otherwise. Answer was usually a W. In the box score you'd say "Wow, Amare really torched the Spurs with 40 points. He is an all-NBA player. And look at Nash, he got 13 assists, wow, best point guard in the NBA." And the Spurs walked away with the series win.

[Please_dont_ban_me]

My theory: Pop doesn't want Kobe to figure Kawhi out. Not that he would...but the more Kobe sees a great defender, the more he's able to figure what works and what doesn't. Maybe Pop wants to save Kawhi for later in the year on Kobe?

[CGD]

I'm ok with Kobe chucking and disrupting the flow of the Laker offense. Pop then threw a curve ball anyway at the end by making the switch.

[letmk]

A KB like last night is not that detrimental to the Spurs. On the contrary, a KB with 10-30 FG, 14-15 FT is very dangerous even though statistically he is more efficient in last night's mode.