Downward trend of Kawhi's 3 point shooting

[freetiago]

as his inside game is getting leaps and bounds greater his outside the arc game has declined fast
over the last 5 games hes averages 15 points but only shot 18% from 3
in the month of February when he really started getting better outside he only shot 33% for the month

its nice to see his game improving
9 pts per month in November December and January to 15 in February and March but when TP is back his primary role will most likely be floor spacer and SA needs to get back to 40% to be effective
if Kawhi isnt hitting his and Danny pulls his disappearing act then Spurs are done in the playoffs

[xellos88330]

Teams now know that he can hit the 3 at a high clip so the adjustments by other teams are starting to run him off the three point line, or starting to contest the shot because they are paying him attention. It has forced Leonard to show that he is much more than just a three point threat. This is a good thing for Leonard because now he is starting to score inside as well as a three point threat. Soon teams will have to start spacing him better because they are learning that he can get to the rim or knock down mid range jumpers. When teams start doing this, Leonard will get better looks at the 3. This is the main reason why I am so high on Leonards' offensive development. His defense is already solid and is looking much more consistent this season, and he is showing much more variety in his offensive game.

[Russ]

as his inside game is getting leaps and bounds greater his outside the arc game has declined fast
over the last 5 games hes averages 15 points but only shot 18% from 3
in the month of February when he really started getting better outside he only shot 33% for the month

its nice to see his game improving
9 pts per month in November December and January to 15 in February and March but when TP is back his primary role will most likely be floor spacer and SA needs to get back to 40% to be effective
if Kawhi isnt hitting his and Danny pulls his disappearing act then Spurs are done in the playoffs

I'm glad to see Kawhi going to the hole more. We Spurs fans see him as another Bowen and that sets expectations.

But his upside is higher than Bowen's and for the Spurs to succeed against the more athletic teams in the playoffs, Kawhi's moves to the basket will be critical. Even in the Spurs' current slump, his offensive agressiveness is a silver lining.

[exstatic]

Still shooting 37%, and that's over the league average. Players go through ebbs and flows in their shooting. It's not like ANY player hits their average, spot on, every night.

[Seventyniner]

as his inside game is getting leaps and bounds greater his outside the arc game has declined fast
over the last 5 games hes averages 15 points but only shot 18% from 3
in the month of February when he really started getting better outside he only shot 33% for the month

It's friggin' 2 of 11. Yeah it's 18% but the sample size is so small that you can't glean anything from it.

[jestersmash]

Still shooting 37%, and that's over the league average. Players go through ebbs and flows in their shooting. It's not like ANY player hits their average, spot on, every night.


It's friggin' 2 of 11. Yeah it's 18% but the sample size is so small that you can't glean anything from it.

</thread>

[Floyd Pacquiao]

he's shooting more midrange and driving to the hole now. he's just not standing in the corner any more

[spurtech09]

Teams now know that he can hit the 3 at a high clip so the adjustments by other teams are starting to run him off the three point line, or starting to contest the shot because they are paying him attention. It has forced Leonard to show that he is much more than just a three point threat. This is a good thing for Leonard because now he is starting to score inside as well as a three point threat. Soon teams will have to start spacing him better because they are learning that he can get to the rim or knock down mid range jumpers. When teams start doing this, Leonard will get better looks at the 3. This is the main reason why I am so high on Leonards' offensive development. His defense is already solid and is looking much more consistent this season, and he is showing much more variety in his offensive game.+1

[freetiago]

lol at how sensitive spurfan are
just giving an observation ive noticed since Leonard has started increasing his role that we should keep an eye on
or should i be making more spurs are done threads that litter the frontpage

and in the past 30 days Leonard has been bad from everywhere except the right corner
http://vorped.com/bball/index.php/player/shotchart/1290
and hes not a great 3 point shooter
a solid corner one but hes been horrible all season and last season anywhere not a corner

last season he shot 30% on 3s that werent in the corner
this season hes shooting 19% on 3s that arent in the corners

[xellos88330]

Do those percentages factor in the time left on the clock/shot clock? I have noticed that Leonard will rarely take a 3 outside the corner unless he is WIDE open or is against the shot clock.

[Man In Black]

If he shot 2-11 and the Spurs were still wreckin' shop, then no one would complain. This site goes BAMA whenever the Spurs look vulnerable. They play the same way everytime, even keel and a high level, but...there are times when a high level by itself is not enough. It's rare, but performances like that jut past the Spurs high level and that's when the team could get the L. It's happened the other way as well, like when the Spurs were down to a strong Maverick team and then Steve Kerr just went bananas.

It happens.

[spurraider21]

lol didn't kobe have a 1-34 stretch or something crazy like that?

[sasffl]

He's driving to the lane much than before

[racm]

He's 2-11 because he's taking more non-corner 3s (mostly because Parker's absence forces him to shoot more above the break) and he's utter trash on non-corner 3s.

Duh?

[Brunodf]

He's 2-11 because he's taking more non-corner 3s (mostly because Parker's absence forces him to shoot more above the break) and he's utter trash on non-corner 3s.

Duh?

You are right:tu.
Without Parker, the bigs(TD/TS) are the "playmakers" in the starting 5, the bigs post up and kick out to non corner 3s...

[Chinook]

Leonard is not taking as many good threes as he used to. Part of that is that he is forcing the issue more on offense, and part of it is that he's no longer getting the looks he used to get with Parker running the show. Players like Green and Bonner will pass out of bad attempts in the majority of cases. Someone needs to make something happen on offense, and Kawhi is trying to step up.

But as I've been saying for a while now, fans are overrating Kawhi on both sides of the floor. He's not nearly as good on offense right now than many folks on this site pretend he is. Some people think that the problem with the Spurs' offense is that Leonard doesn't get the ball enough. While I agree (and have been asserting for a while) that he should get touches in the post, overall he doesn't need more touches than he's getting now. He needs to return to his previous efficiency before his workload is increased.

[racm]

Leonard is not taking as many good threes as he used to. Part of that is that he is forcing the issue more on offense, and part of it is that he's no longer getting the looks he used to get with Parker running the show. Players like Green and Bonner will pass out of bad attempts in the majority of cases. Someone needs to make something happen on offense, and Kawhi is trying to step up.

But as I've been saying for a while now, fans are overrating Kawhi on both sides of the floor. He's not nearly as good on offense right now than many folks on this site pretend he is. Some people think that the problem with the Spurs' offense is that Leonard doesn't get the ball enough. While I agree (and have been asserting for a while) that he should get touches in the post, overall he doesn't need more touches than he's getting now. He needs to return to his previous efficiency before his workload is increased.

The Spurs offense has been humming along even in Parker's absence. They haven't failed to reach the century mark.

The thing that had issues was the defense, and even then the Spurs held the Kings, Pistons, and Bulls to great defensive numbers until the Blazers went nuts outside the paint.

[Raven]

he's forcing too much, with both him and green you know if they'll score right after the shot has been taken, they simply don't score well off the balance which is completely fine, they only need to be patient instead of taking the contested shot

[exstatic]

he's forcing too much, with both him and green you know if they'll score right after the shot has been taken, they simply don't score well off the balance which is completely fine, they only need to be patient instead of taking the contested shot

It's not "the balance", it's "the bounce", as in, you bounce the ball a couple of times after you are run off whatever jump shot you were taking,and then you shoot it. Kawhi is MUCH better than Green when forced to improvise. If he's doing it more this year, it's because teams have scouted him and know he can rail that corner three ball and aren't letting him have it much any more.

[JRHernandez88]

he's shooting more midrange and driving to the hole now. he's just not standing in the corner any more
Yup, he's definitely getting his turn with the ball a lot more lately. It's about dam time too. I love seeing him make plays, his confidence looks like its growing by the game.

[Shifty]

http://uppix.net/c/5/2/075610e60ddccdf92494360bdf75a.gif

I can look at that GIF forever. When watching live, I first thought he would give it to Danny (oh no!), then I though he was going to get too deep underneath the basket with one more dribble and have his layup/dunk contested but he took off one step before. Beauty.

[freetiago]

time to re-evaluate this tbh...

[look_at_g_shred]

It's all mental. Just like Timmy's jumper.

[Buddy Mignon]

It's all mental. Just like Timmy's jumper.


So you agree with me in saying he's a retard?

[Raven]

It's all mental. Just like Timmy's jumper.

i doubt it, the shot is a little too flat and he's not getting very good looks imho.

[Mikeanaro]

Kid is retarded needs medication

[cd021]

25% 3pt teams are gonna start sagging off

[wildchild]

Leonard hasn't had the start to the season I thought he would but don't worry about Kawhi, he'll be fine in next games.

[freetiago]

His shot was always a known problem along with his handles tbh
hes been struggling for about 1 season now with his shot
maybe he was just shooting well when he first got here and now were seeing his actual shot tbh

also should mention his free throws
he was horrible in the playoffs and he never seems to hit 2 consecutive ones anymore

[wildchild]

also should mention his free throws
he was horrible in the playoffs and he never seems to hit 2 consecutive ones anymore

Bruce was a really bad free throw shooter, too.

[wildchild]

I know. Bruce was a great 3's shooter. Damn miss the guy.

[racm]

I know. Bruce was a great 3's shooter. Damn miss the guy.

mostly from the corners

[tmtcsc]

Leonard may be going through a mini slump. His game was off against Houston. His defense was poor as was his shot selection and execution. As hard as he works, he'll be fine.

[DMC]

It's funny to see people say Kawhi will be fine as if there's empirical data to show he's always returned from shooting slumps in the NBA.

The truth is that, if the Spurs work with him enough, his 3pt shooting will improve. Like golf players, shooters have form issues that they need trainers to address and correct. Even Tiger has people adjust his form time to time. So it can happen that his shooting improves, however you have a limited amount of training time now that the season has begun, and you have an assortment of issues to address with the entire team. The Spurs have to decide if his shooting is really an issue or if they'd prefer he concentrate on defense and take what comes to him on the offensive end. Tony used to shoot a lot of threes as well, but his shot was about the same as Leonard's and he eventually worked with Chip to become a better mid range shooter. Kawhi is a great mid range shooter and he can rise above others and get it off at will most of the time. I think the Spurs should focus on getting him more of those looks.

[Chomag]

He was a better player last year imo, I'm very disappointed in his improvement this year but it's still early so im hoping he gets that one game that lifts up his confidence again so he can get his shot back. His development just seems at a stalemate right now.

He needs minutes to do all of this though, he is not going to be an all-star player with his current low minute average. Pop has him playing roll-player minutes so it's hard for him to not be anything but I guess.

[Spurs da champs]

It's funny to see people say Kawhi will be fine as if there's empirical data to show he's always returned from shooting slumps in the NBA.

The truth is that, if the Spurs work with him enough, his 3pt shooting will improve. Like golf players, shooters have form issues that they need trainers to address and correct. Even Tiger has people adjust his form time to time. So it can happen that his shooting improves, however you have a limited amount of training time now that the season has begun, and you have an assortment of issues to address with the entire team. The Spurs have to decide if his shooting is really an issue or if they'd prefer he concentrate on defense and take what comes to him on the offensive end. Tony used to shoot a lot of threes as well, but his shot was about the same as Leonard's and he eventually worked with Chip to become a better mid range shooter. Kawhi is a great mid range shooter and he can rise above others and get it off at will most of the time. I think the Spurs should focus on getting him more of those looks.

I'd hesitate to put Kawhi and great (having anything to do with offense, except rebounding) in the same sentence. He needs to get to the basket early and often because his shooting is far too sporadic to be counted on.

His offense is just terrible; whoever stated he could be Paul George on the right team , looks worse and worse by the day.

[Southwest Texas Fan]

What's funny is that he looked great against the Thunder for the first three quarters and then fizzled out

[DMC]

I'd hesitate to put Kawhi and great (having anything to do with offense, except rebounding) in the same sentence. He needs to get to the basket early and often because his shooting is far too sporadic to be counted on.

His offense is just terrible; whoever stated he could be Paul George on the right team , looks worse and worse by the day.

He's shooting 60% from 2. Stephen Curry is shooting 47% Monta Ellis 49%. Tony Parker 51%. Duncan's best season was 55% from 2pt range.

Who would you call a great shooter from mid range? I think a lot of you guys just see a game or a box score and you don't know the truth about the player's efficiency.

[Tuddy]

Obviously practicing his moves a lot more than his spot up shooting which is all he would have done when he first came in to fit spurs system

[Tuddy]

He is already a good mid range shooter. He needs time, he's not like other players who were guns in college, he was completely raw offensively when he came in

[freetiago]

Kawhi Leonard has regressed to a monkeyballer this season
all his offense is off cuts to the basket or dunks in fastbreak after he gets a steal
wont be long til teams start completely disregarding him now and he gets the Tony Allen treatment

[HarlemHeat37]

Kawhi Leonard has regressed to a monkeyballer this season
all his offense is off cuts to the basket or dunks in fastbreak after he gets a steal
wont be long til teams start completely disregarding him now and he gets the Tony Allen treatment

There's nothing else he can really do since most of his minutes are played with Parker and Duncan, tbh..

A lineup that includes Parker/Leonard/Duncan/Splitter provides minimal spacing, and Leonard can't shoot from outside to take advantage of Parker's penetration..his only option is scoring in the ways you mentioned, along with the off the dribble mid-range..

[freetiago]

He gets plenty of opportunity to get to the basket
we all know his handles are horrible
but no one really mentions his footwork either which holds him back more then his handles
he just doesnt have that natural rhythm when he drives that guys like Manu/Tony have where they can slice a defense
he always takes 1 or 2 clunky steps then shoots some awkward 1 handed floater after having the ball get knocked around while he tries to go up

then you have the 1/2 dribble pullups which is also a characteristic of his bad footwork
he doesnt know how to take more then 2 steps and dribble a ball tbh..

people definitely overrate spacing
its important but Spurs move so well off the ball its not like they can constantly clog the lane or double team or just isolate and let teams get in prime defensive position
have no idea but Danny/Kawhi were working on in the offseason but it hasn't translated at all to the regular season
I know Danny was working on his 1 dribble pullups which he hit at the beginning of the season but its abandoned him already

[Mikeanaro]

He gets plenty of opportunity to get to the basket
we all know his handles are horrible
but no one really mentions his footwork either which holds him back more then his handles
he just doesnt have that natural rhythm when he drives that guys like Manu/Tony have where they can slice a defense
he always takes 1 or 2 clunky steps then shoots some awkward 1 handed floater after having the ball get knocked around while he tries to go up

then you have the 1/2 dribble pullups which is also a characteristic of his bad footwork
he doesnt know how to take more then 2 steps and dribble a ball tbh..

people definitely overrate spacing
its important but Spurs move so well off the ball its not like they can constantly clog the lane or double team or just isolate and let teams get in prime defensive position
have no idea but Danny/Kawhi were working on in the offseason but it hasn't translated at all to the regular season
I know Danny was working on his 1 dribble pullups which he hit at the beginning of the season but its abandoned him already
I agree, 1 or 2 clunky steps then some hesitation and voila, an incredible awkward brick going to nowhere.

[Tuddy]

Agree he looks clunky, reminds me of Artest when he was younger, but he also looks like he's thinking too much and rushing. But from all reports, he will continue to work his ass off on his handles and footwork over the next few years and won't die wondering.

[SpurSwag]

the problem for a guy like Kawhi, who isn't a natural shooter at all, is that when he gets in a funk it hits really hard because he doubts himself more than normal. Same thing for Timmy.

However, his midrange game has still looked pretty solid and Kawhi does have a knack for hitting big 3's (or at least I feel like he does, stats might prove me wrong).

He's been just about what I expected so far this season, I think he'll hit his stride later in the season. I really think he could use a night where the big 3 sit so he could dominate the offense and get as many touches as he wants. That's the best way to work out of a funk and it should establish his confidence

[Spurs da champs]

He's shooting 60% from 2. Stephen Curry is shooting 47% Monta Ellis 49%. Tony Parker 51%. Duncan's best season was 55% from 2pt range.

Who would you call a great shooter from mid range? I think a lot of you guys just see a game or a box score and you don't know the truth about the player's efficiency.
Do not complain about what you perceive to be some just looking at the "at the box score", as you're using a statistic that in all truth is very likely to be inflated due to Leonard taking few shots in comparison to those you listed. Tho, he isn't a 3 point shooter & that should be clear to Pop & the coaching staff.

[PlayNando]

I think Kawhi's inability to hit the three is really hurting the first unit and destroying the spacing. Tbh, you really only have one guy on the first unit that can hit a shot from beyond the arc with some reliability (Danny Green) and he's so streaky that he's unreliable at times!!!

[ElNono]

Not worried, IMO

[DMC]

Do not complain about what you perceive to be some just looking at the "at the box score", as you're using a statistic that in all truth is very likely to be inflated due to Leonard taking few shots in comparison to those you listed. Tho, he isn't a 3 point shooter & that should be clear to Pop & the coaching staff.

Leonard is 10 for 44 from 3 so far, but 78 for 134 from 2.

Those aren't even in the ballpark of Tony's numbers, but if we are saying he's not a 3pt shooter because he's 10 for 44, then you cannot turn around and say he's not a 2pt shooter by ignoring that he's 78 for 134 from 2.

You cannot have it both ways. Just because you want to think there are other factors that stats don't take into account doesn't mean you can cherry pick the stats to suit your argument.

[Spurs da champs]

Leonard is 10 for 44 from 3 so far, but 78 for 134 from 2.

Those aren't even in the ballpark of Tony's numbers, but if we are saying he's not a 3pt shooter because he's 10 for 44, then you cannot turn around and say he's not a 2pt shooter by ignoring that he's 78 for 134 from 2.

You cannot have it both ways. Just because you want to think there are other factors that stats don't take into account doesn't mean you can cherry pick the stats to suit your argument.

I didn't "cherry pick" any stats for the benefit of my argument, my statement: regarding Leonard not being a 3pt shooter, had everything to do with the eye test of all of the previous season & this early part of the season. He is just not a 3pt shooter. The problem I have with your argument is your comparing a young role player's shooting percentage to either the best players or 2nd best players', that's a flawed argument; as those players must & usually take a lot of shots to give their team a chance.

Tho, I agree wholeheartedly with you that Kawhi should have more opportunities inside the arc, as the system doesn't really match his strengths.

[look_at_g_shred]

Make leonard a post up threat!!!! Let him get his confidence built up...then other shots will follow suit!