Kawhi Sent to Austin for Rehab

[ace3g]

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA (https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA) After missing a month with quad tendinitis, the Spurs sent Kawhi Leonard to Austin of the D-League for a rehab assignment.

[DesignatedT]

Good. I guess that means he could play Friday..?

[FromWayDowntown]

Good news.

[loveforthegame]

Finally some good news. Hope he's ready for Friday.

[monkeypunk]

The Toros don't play again until Friday so he's not making it back to us by Friday unless he's just practicing there. Which doesn't really make sense if he could just practice with the Spurs to begin with.

Edit - on second thought, the Spurs probably aren't running a practice between Friday and today due to their fatigue level?

I don't know. I'm just excited to see him on the road to coming back into the lineup.

[timvp]

Hmmm ... interesting. I wonder if he'll just practice with the Toros today and tomorrow and then return to the Spurs on Friday. That would make sense if Pop is going to give his players two full days off. I guess even if he's given them one day off (today), that Kawhi can practice with the Toros today, practice with the Spurs tomorrow and then play against New Orleans on Friday.

The other option is to keep him on the Toros and let him play in Austin on Friday and Saturday. At that point, the Spurs and Kawhi can judge whether his knee is healthy enough for the NBA.

It's a bit worrisome that Kawhi has been out for twice as long as the Spurs originally announced, especially since his condition has a wide range of possible outcomes. This news is definitely good, though, because it means concrete progress is being made.

[timvp]

The Toros don't play again until Friday so he's not making it back to us by Friday unless he's just training there. Which doesn't really make sense if he could just train with the Spurs to begin with.

The Spurs have the day off while the Toros are practicing at the Spurs practice facility today. Leonard couldn't participate in the practice unless he was officially assigned to the Toros.

[monkeypunk]

The Spurs have the day off while the Toros are practicing at the Spurs practice facility today. Leonard couldn't participate in the practice unless he was officially assigned to the Toros.

:toast

[DPG21920]

There are a lot of scary things going on right now with the Spurs - the losing, the extended minutes, the lack of consistency with rotations, injuries...getting Kawhi back (if he's fully healthy) will go a long way to hopefully getting answers to many of these questions/issues.

[TDMVPDPOY]

lol so u have to assign players even for practice with the dleague team?

[JRHernandez88]

Good news! Thanks for the update.

[hooperflash]

I hope he'll be back Friday too, imma go to the game.

[spurs10]

Thanks for the word!

[Beaverfuzz]

he'll be playing on Friday, Go Kawhi Go!

[CitizenDwayne]

There are a lot of scary things going on right now with the Spurs - the losing, the extended minutes, the lack of consistency with rotations, injuries...getting Kawhi back (if he's fully healthy) will go a long way to hopefully getting answers to many of these questions/issues.

This.

A lot of us didn't really appreciate Kawhi's impact until now. Great to see he's coming back soon.

[slick'81]

glad to have him back

[DapDaGenius]

This.

A lot of us didn't really appreciate Kawhi's impact until now. Great to see he's coming back soon.

I'm surprised at people who didn't appreciate Kawhi...how could you not appreciate someone like him.

[benefactor]

There are a lot of scary things going on right now with the Spurs - the losing, the extended minutes, the lack of consistency with rotations, injuries...getting Kawhi back (if he's fully healthy) will go a long way to hopefully getting answers to many of these questions/issues.
DPG with the stirring up already emotionally compromised greys goods.

[ace3g]

Toros were in SA today to practice, video link:

http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/121219_leonard_rehab

[HI-FI]

There are a lot of scary things going on right now with the Spurs - the losing, the extended minutes, the lack of consistency with rotations, injuries...getting Kawhi back (if he's fully healthy) will go a long way to hopefully getting answers to many of these questions/issues.
i agree, but i see it as more of a domino effect. Pop was already mixing and matching things, which I think is good. But two constants of the equation that were established were Kawhi and Jax, and with them both being out, it caused all kinds of changes that have been exposed. The worst part about these losses is the extra strain it put on the parts that were working (Timmy). To see him beast and it go to waste is what sucks the most.

as for Kawhi, he's been my favorite Spur outside of Duncan and Gino. I don't take him for granted. Even if his shot is off, you can depend on him to get some crucial rebounds or steals. I probably overrate or expect too much from him, but even with his game still growing, he's shown how much we really need him. All i can say is I really hope he gets healthy and stays that way.

[timvp]

Toros were in SA today to practice, video link:

http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/121219_leonard_rehab

Good stuff :tu

Kawhi didn't practice with any type of wrap on his knee ... which is encouraging since when Sean Elliott struggled with the same condition, he had two wear a giant rubber sleeve.

It looked like Kawhi was moving pretty well from the couple clips. I expect that the Spurs will "recall" Kawhi from the Toros tomorrow morning so that he can practice with the Spurs (assuming Pop is planning to practice).

[maverick1948]

Kawhi practices with the Toros. If he looks ok he comes to the Spurs on Friday night. If not, he gets minutes in the Toros game with CJ. If he looks ok in game mode, then maybe comes to the Spurs on Sunday against Dallas. If not, he can get another game mode workout with CJ on Saturday night. He can still practice with the Toros until Monday after the Dallas game, then be recalled to practice with the Spurs. The reason for pointing out CJ is they have practiced and played to gather at the big level. I think bringing Kawhi back for the Toronto game is the best move.

[DesignatedT]

Toros were in SA today to practice, video link:

http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/121219_leonard_rehab

I think I saw Duncan in the background watching Kawhi practice :lol.

[racm]

The Knicks did the same with Amar'e a couple of days ago. Teams have been using their D-League affiliates more (and if you ask me, sending CoJo down to Austin has been good for him since he could play rather than rot on the bench as the sixth guard).

[Bruno]

Good news. :tu

I'm curious to see how the Parker/Green/Leonard/Splitter/Duncan starting lineup will do. Defensively, it should be a very strong lineup but I don't know how well they will do offensively. Lack of spacing could be a big issue.

[racm]

Good news. :tu

I'm curious to see how the Parker/Green/Leonard/Splitter/Duncan starting lineup will do. Defensively, it should be a very strong lineup but I don't know how well they will do offensively. Lack of spacing could be a big issue.

Green's the best long distance shooter in that lineup but for some reason I'm not feeling Timmy's midrange shot right now. If Kawhi can hit midrange shots he's good.

[Strategic]

I'm curious to see how the Parker/Green/Leonard/Splitter/Duncan starting lineup will do.

When Leonard and Jackson are back full strength at the three position and thus giving the Spurs more size, I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't see the TD/TS front court starting.

[lefty]

Thread title is misleading

[Floyd Pacquiao]

:tu Cool, so pop made the toros come to SA to practice with kawhi just so he wouldn't have travel to austin...nice

[siraulo23]

it'd be great if he can pickup where he left off, taking and hitting mid range js with confidence

he looked legit right before the injury tbh

[ace3g]

The only thing that has been off a bit this season is his 3 point shooting. Hopefully he is working on that whether it be mental and/or mechanics.

[Floyd Pacquiao]

The only thing that has been off a bit this season is his 3 point shooting. Hopefully he is working on that whether it be mental and/or mechanics.

that and his one man fast breaks imo

[Stabula]

Good news. :tu I'm curious to see how the Parker/Green/Leonard/Splitter/Duncan starting lineup will do. Defensively, it should be a very strong lineup but I don't know how well they will do offensively. Lack of spacing could be a big issue. If you do that then the two bigs off the bench would be Diaw and Blair or Bonner which sounds to me like a nightmare.

[Bruno]

When Leonard and Jackson are back full strength at the three position and thus giving the Spurs more size, I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't see the TD/TS front court starting.

Pop could, and maybe should, go back with Parker/Green/Leonard/Diaw/Duncan lineup that has worked so well during last playoffs. Diaw hasn't been good this season but it would allow Spurs to have a more balanced rotation.


If you do that then the two bigs off the bench would be Diaw and Blair or Bonner which sounds to me like a nightmare.

Pop is trying to play with a 3 bigs rotation of Duncan, Splitter and Diaw.

[DrSteffo]

If you do that then the two bigs off the bench would be Diaw and Blair or Bonner which sounds to me like a nightmare.

Sub Splitter early and then sub him back in again when Duncan sits, problem solved. It's not exactly rocket science and gives our best players more minutes and our not so good players less minutes. It seems that Pop finally has figured out that Splitter can play.

[ace3g]

Eric Messersmith ‏@eric1250espn (https://twitter.com/eric1250espn) #Spurs (https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Spurs&src=hash) have recalled Kawhi Leonard from Austin after a one day rehab assignment.

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Not surprising, and Spurs must have liked what they saw from the practice.

[benefactor]

Nice. Hopefully we see him back tonight.

[Fireball]

Nice. Hopefully we see him back tonight.

you mean tomorow night ...

[benefactor]

Yeah, something like that. Worked too many hours this week already.

[capek]

Eric Messersmith ‏@eric1250espn (https://twitter.com/eric1250espn) #Spurs (https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Spurs&src=hash) have recalled Kawhi Leonard from Austin after a one day rehab assignment.

--

Not surprising, and Spurs must have liked what they saw from the practice.

Thank you for posting that update here. Man, the Spurs being on this little losing streak has got me all discombobulated. Seeing our young stud out there next game would really mellow me out.

[loveforthegame]

Thanks for the update. Good news. Though I'm trying to curb my hope that he plays tomorrow until I actually see him on the court.

[ace3g]

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA (https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA) After missing 5 weeks, Spurs plan to activate Kawhi Leonard for Friday's game vs Hornets, sources tell Y! Leonard working out w/ team today.

[loveforthegame]

Thank goodness. :tu