Pop has wasted Kawhi Leonard this season, tbh..

[HarlemHeat37]

He gets 1 or 2 plays called for him all game..

The rest of his shot attempts are either spot-up 3s or transition opportunities from steals..

What a shame, especially with Parker and Ginobili's broken bodies..

Pop is the best coach in the NBA, but he's very stubborn and afraid of change(I'm aware that the Spurs philosophy changed from defense-first, but it took years of failure for Pop to transition)..

[HarlemHeat37]

This isn't fucking Malik Hairston or Ian Mahinmi either, this is a guy that has proven he can score in a variety of ways..

[apalisoc_9]

I've been saying this the last couple of months. I'm not saying make him the the main threat, but at least build up some confidence with his game in the regular so he can earn respect from his teammates who obviously don't think to highly of Leonard offensively for some reason. It's one option pop can use if one of parker/Ginobili/TD is sucking major ass which is more than likely to happen.

I really don't think it's just an issue of kawhi not being aggressive. It's just a coach being reluctant to try new things.

Geez, Green run as much maybe even more pick and roll than kawhi..

[timtonymanu]

Definitely.

We should not be making Green/Neal the next options if Parker and Manu aren't playing well.

[Floyd Pacquiao]

i'm actually starting to dislike pop now tbh

[HarlemHeat37]

And before somebody mentions his shooting today, he took 3 shots from desperation in possessions under disarray, tbh..

[apalisoc_9]

i'm actually starting to dislike pop now tbh

I've noticed leonard ask for the ball on numerous situations only to be told to stand in the corner by De colo/Green/ neal. Good luck trying to make one-dimensional players as your third option pop

[Darius McCrary]

IMO, Pop told kawhi to take it easy this game, tone it down. Pop is scared crazy of losing Kawhi to injury. Pop tells him to be a little less aggressive. Kawhi, being a young player only knows on and off, and tonight he turned it off.

[HarlemHeat37]

Leonard has already shown that he's an aggressive player, he's not Boris Diaw, that's a shitty excuse..he doesn't have the green light..

Smh @ Gary Neal shooting whenever he wants..
:lol @ relying on Nando De Colo and Cory Joseph

[timvp]

Leonard has had plenty of FGAs lately. Obviously he needs as much as possible but tonight specifically I put the blame more on Kawhi than anyone/anything else. I mean, the Lakers switched off point guards on him and he wasn't attacking or going to the low block. Pop shouldn't have to call anything when Blake switches off onto him, tbh.

[Darius McCrary]

Not that i agree with Pop, he's been very stubborn and irrational this season overall.

[DarrinS]

Let me start out by saying I love Kawhi Leonard.

But you guys that think he's about to "break out" might be delusional. He's a great defender, makes the occasional steal with a dunk, hits the corner 3's, and has a decent mid-range game. He's a role player.

[apalisoc_9]

Let me start out by saying I love Kawhi Leonard.

But you guys that think he's about to "break out" might be delusional. He's a great defender, makes the occasional steal with a dunk, hits the corner 3's, and has a decent mid-range game. He's a role player.

He already broke out months ago. He's also averaging 17.5 the last month and half and 15.5 the last 30 games or so...

He can also drive to the basketball, create his own shot, post up. And all he really needs is the Green light,

[DarrinS]

He's going to get his minutes and you will find out what he is.

[dylankerouac]

I enjoyed the six straight points he scored.

[DarrinS]

I enjoyed the six straight points he scored.


I enjoyed nothing about this game

[TheGoldStandard]

Pop isn't as smart as people give him credit for. He falls in love with ideas too much and with stats but the players he supports usually don't pass the eyeball test. He gives the green light to Green and Neal who in turn wet the bed but Kawhi gets very little in terms of plays.

[TDfan2007]

Hard to get up shots/get touches when Neal is jacking up shot after shot. Green at least played somewhat under control, but all but 2 of Neal's shots were simply pathetic attempts.

I agree that the Spurs should call more plays for Kawhi though. He got aggressive to start the 2nd half, then once the fast break opportunities ceased, it was back to the same old dance.

[superjames1992]

Let me start out by saying I love Kawhi Leonard.

But you guys that think he's about to "break out" might be delusional. He's a great defender, makes the occasional steal with a dunk, hits the corner 3's, and has a decent mid-range game. He's a role player.
Half the posters on this board thing he's going to be a Superstar if only Pop would take his leash off. :lol

Of course, half the posters on this board thought Tiago Splitter was going to come in and DOMINATE right off the bat next to Timmy a few years ago and thought Baynes was going to be an integral part of the playoff rotation this year. :lol

I don't mean to demean Kawhi. He's a good player and probably the 4th-best player on the team, but he's not an All-Star, so lower your expectations. Maybe he'll be an All-Star in a few years, but not yet.

[Floyd Pacquiao]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXemx5E9t20&feature=youtube_gdata_player

i mean look at these skills...the rocker step pull up, baseline pullup, turnaround jumper, scoring on the best defenders out their deng and gibson...give this man the ball more tbh...

[siraulo23]

Leonard has had plenty of FGAs lately. Obviously he needs as much as possible but tonight specifically I put the blame more on Kawhi than anyone/anything else. I mean, the Lakers switched off point guards on him and he wasn't attacking or going to the low block. Pop shouldn't have to call anything when Blake switches off onto him, tbh.

he did post up steve blake the first time and never got the pass, yes kawhi needs to be more aggressive calling for the ball but team also has to recognize the mismatch

[boutons_deux]

Not Lebron, Neal doesn't have the strength to shoot 28 footers.

[freetiago]

Spurs were ignoring him tonight with Blake on him
also decided to let heroball and de shaky handles run the point instead of giving him any touches
World Peace actually has given Leonard lots of problems when theyve matched up
Pop usually had to sub Jack in for him to handle his physicality
but he had Blake on him and he did actually play with the bench
no idea why he was on the bench to close out the game
if he cared about his health so much he probably wouldnt have rode Duncan out for the same reasons

[Chinook]

Pop isn't as smart as people give him credit for. He falls in love with ideas too much and with stats but the players he supports usually don't pass the eyeball test. He gives the green light to Green and Neal who in turn wet the bed but Kawhi gets very little in terms of plays.

Pop gives Leonard and Green the same leeway. Green just gets more open looks and is better at converting them. What is a bigger issue is that Leonard needs to be less inclined to pass the ball when he gets it. I strongly doubt Pop is telling him to do that.

[DarrinS]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXemx5E9t20&feature=youtube_gdata_player

i mean look at these skills...the rocker step pull up, baseline pullup, turnaround jumper, scoring on the best defenders out their deng and gibson...give this man the ball more tbh...


8 pts tonight. Against a horrible D

[DarrinS]

Tonight is a night you really miss a certain player from Argentina

[TheGoldStandard]

Pop gives Leonard and Green the same leeway. Green just gets more open looks and is better at converting them. What is a bigger issue is that Leonard needs to be less inclined to pass the ball when he gets it. I strongly doubt Pop is telling him to do that.

The player to coach dynamic on the spurs is weird so I don't think he wants to rock the boat with the possibility of getting benched. All he needs to hear from Pop is shoot the shot, don't think just shoot but Pop is inclined to pat Danny and Gary on the back for shooting everything under the sun. Pop has encouraged Neal to be "aggressive" and shoot shitty shots.

[KaiRMD1]

I don't see Leonard staying in San Antonio at this rate.

[Chinook]

The problem with Leonard is not that his teammates aren't finding him. He gets the ball when it comes to him just like everyone else. It's not his teammates' fault he doesn't get open often.

Tonight, he had the Lakers' best perimeter defender on him. It just wouldn't have made sense to force the ball to him.

[ElNono]

Tonight is a night you really miss a certain player from Argentina

Ditto. And even a guys with balls like Jack, who could rebound the ball.

[Floyd Pacquiao]

8 pts tonight. Against a horrible D

give him the ball more instead of neal and he'll prob score more..he's much much more efficient

[DarrinS]

Ditto. And even a guys with balls like Jack, who could rebound the ball.

Yep

[Chinook]

The player to coach dynamic on the spurs is weird so I don't think he wants to rock the boat with the possibility of getting benched. All he needs to hear from Pop is shoot the shot, don't think just shoot but Pop is inclined to pat Danny and Gary on the back for shooting everything under the sun. Pop has encouraged Neal to be "aggressive" and shoot shitty shots.

I don't remember ever seeing Pop take Leonard out for taking a bad shot. He HAS done so to both Green and Neal on multiple occasions. There's no evidence that Green has more or a green light than Leonard. Neal does, though, because he's only out there for shooting and he can get his own shot. Gary just doesn't work as a spot-up shooter the way Green does (although Neal isn't working much at all right now).

Once again, Green gets his shots because he's open. Green is open so much because a) teams are more inclined to leave him than they are Leonard and b) Green works hard to get open. Leonard only ever really tries to get open on cuts to the basket. He doesn't try to give a clear passing lane for the player with the ball.

[DapDaGenius]

Who was the coach that we had for like 3 or 4 games, when Pop was gone for a bit?

[apalisoc_9]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXemx5E9t20&feature=youtube_gdata_player

i mean look at these skills...the rocker step pull up, baseline pullup, turnaround jumper, scoring on the best defenders out their deng and gibson...give this man the ball more tbh...

Chinook acutally think green has the same potential as leonard and deserves as much touches:lmao

[HarlemHeat37]

Green gets more shots because he's a system player that can't create his own shot and lives off Parker/Duncan, so I don't have a problem with him receiving as many shots as Leonard..

When Parker isn't on the floor, Leonard should run the offense, tbh..

[ElNono]

Green gets more shots because he's a system player that can't create his own shot and lives off Parker/Duncan, so I don't have a problem with him receiving as many shots as Leonard..

When Parker isn't on the floor, Leonard should run the offense, tbh..

:pop: wouldn't be fair to Gary Neal

[Chinook]

Chinook acutally think green has the same potential as leonard and deserves as much touches:lmao

Never even remotely said they had the same potential. I did say that there's a reason Green takes more shots, and it's because he's much more efficient than Leonard. The stats support that argument. If the Spurs want to win, forcing Leonard to take bad shots isn't the way to go.

Once again, you seem to not understand that this is basketball and not football. Leonard and Green aren't running backs who get a set number of touches each game. They're in a fluid situation in which their touches are dictated by their ability to get open and their efficiency. Leonard just isn't as good at getting his shots as Green is at getting his. And that's all mental for Leonard. If he forced the issue when his defender is late closing out, he'd get more points. Instead, Leonard becomes passive. That's no one's fault but his own.

[HarlemHeat37]

As I pointed out in a thread the other day, the Spurs rely heavily on Green and Neal's 3-point shooting to win games, which isn't going to work in the playoffs with a limited Parker(or even with a healthy Parker)..

I'm not a Pop basher like Fabbs and those niggas btw, but Leonard should be a bigger part of the system, especially with the injuries..

[Chinook]

Green gets more shots because he's a system player that can't create his own shot and lives off Parker/Duncan, so I don't have a problem with him receiving as many shots as Leonard..

When Parker isn't on the floor, Leonard should run the offense, tbh..

I agree. Green's biggest off-season priority needs to be working as much as he can to stop dribbling like a grade-schooler. Right now, though, he needs to take almost every shot he attempts. If he hesitates, it hurts the Spurs' offense. Some people think that Green is just chucking shots like Neal is. If Neal were as efficient as Green, the Spurs would be in much better shape.

And I'd love to see Leonard run the offense. It would force him to be more aggressive, and it could result in some interesting mismatches. I'd like to see him be both the ball-handler and the roll man on PnRs. Durant and James seem to do that with some success, and I believe Leonard could, too.

[OrEmuN]

Pop has never run any play for Bowen.
He has one alley-oop play for RJ
Basically the first thing he writes on his board is the number 3 at the corners and then continue to work from there..

[spurraider21]

Ditto. And even a guys with balls like Jack, who could rebound the ball.

Jax would have been a good matchup for guys like Jamison and Clark. Too often we had Blair on those guys, and he can't do much out on the perimeter

[spurraider21]

Kawhi's role wasn't to blame. He was passive with opportunities in the half court. The much more pressing issues tonight were clearly:
a) Parker's ineffectiveness. No explosion into the paint, constantly got stripped on the way there, mid range jumper woulnd't fall, and blew some bunnies in the lane
b) Splitter's offense. His defense on Pau was remarkable, and he rebounded pretty darn well. The issue was missing his shots at the rim he was making in his sleep for a vast majority of the season. Not sure if Dwight was in his head, but he was missing his typical reverse layups, and quite a few of them. In a game that came down to a couple of possessions, his 4+ easy misses were costly.
c) Lack of playmaking overall. We got very few easy "Spurs" buckets via backdoor cuts, open outside looks. Off-ball movement seemed OK, but the ball handlers were never able to suck the defense in. Parker had nothing going for him, as mentioned, but Nando/CoJo both faceplanted, and I'm not going to be angry at Neal for not being a playmaker. Its not his role on the team. This was a game Boris would have been very useful in, as well as Mr. Ginobili

kawhi's role is way down the list

[loveforthegame]

I can only hope Pop plans to use him more once the playoffs start.

Otherwise what's the point of using him as such in the summer league and games where the big 3 sat?

[hooperflash]

i'm actually starting to dislike pop now tbh

Yeah, he doesn't coach to win every game. He has taken ”strategy” to a whole new level, me no likey! :(

[coachmac87]

Honestly would like to see PnR with Kawhi. Just to see what happens.

[said7]

Everyone is scared to screw up. You screw up once and you hit the bench for the whole 4th quarter.
Pop has got to losen the reigns, have some trust in his guys.

[sananspursfan21]

Will almost always stand by pop but I absolutely agree. Kawhi has to be unleashed instead of just a long leash. He's unorthodox but dang his shot goes in

[ThaBigFundamental21]

Leonard has had plenty of FGAs lately. Obviously he needs as much as possible but tonight specifically I put the blame more on Kawhi than anyone/anything else. I mean, the Lakers switched off point guards on him and he wasn't attacking or going to the low block. Pop shouldn't have to call anything when Blake switches off onto him, tbh.

Honestly I sat there asking the question, why isn't Leonard playing more aggressively?

[ThaBigFundamental21]

I think Leonard should be the clear number 3 option at this point. Tim/Tony and Leonard. Manu will get his fair share of touches if and when he comes back. After Manu, the others can have what's left. I have to admit, I'm shocked at how bad we are right now. On paper, Tim, Tony, Leonard, Splitter, and Green are a pretty good 5. Splitter has be underwhelming and now Leonard to some extent. I really want Leonard to start doing more. If he is playing it safe, fine. But we aren't exactly winning right now.....

[bklynspursfan]

I think Leonard will get his touches come playoff time. Can't give away all the secrets :)

[jjktkk]

Is it up Leonard to figure out when to take over in games?

[jestersmash]

Honestly would like to see PnR with Kawhi. Just to see what happens.

He had success earlier in the season doing a pick and roll --> mid range jumper (which he hit efficiently). He did not pass to the rolling big, nor did he drive hard towards the rim. But, it's certainly a start, and I agree I'd like to see more of it.

[jestersmash]

I'm really curious to see if Kawhi has the handles to become a competent slasher/finisher around the rim out of pick and roll. This is a rare skill reserved generally for the top guards or "guard-like" (see: Lebron) players in the league, but i think Kawhi's huge hands might give him an advantage with controlling the ball.

Sean and Bill were talking about how Kawhi looks like he's almost grabbing the ball every time he dribbles it. I thought that was an interesting observation and I wonder if it will give him an advantage when he tries to attack the rim more off the dribble.

[024]

Meh, I think Pop is going at about the correct pace. Leonard is still a 2nd year player. Taking it a little slow should prepare him to fully take over as the 3rd option next year. Leonard isn't one of those extremely talented rookies like Duncan was who you can just throw into the fire as the first/second option. I'm content on letting him focus on defense first and then develop his offensive skills.

[phxspurfan]

The offense is very broken. I think it's because we lack so much continuity since everyone has been hurt all year. There's really only a small chance everyone comes back near 100%, we all gel and get last year's continuity back AND no one else gets hurt before the WCFs. And we may not make it there unless all those things above happen.

[KL2]

I enjoyed the six straight points he scored.

Kawhi actually had things going well for him at that point and looked like he was getting ready to explode, he put them up by 4, however after scoring his sixth straight point and playing 5 minutes in the 3rd he was immediately benched! Pop had a lineup of Blair, Neal, de colo, td and I think Cojo.

Idk WTF pop was thinking right there, by the time Kawhi came back in the 4th LA was up.

[Trill Clinton]

kawhi needs to be more aggresive. there were times where he was matched up with blake and he just stood in the corner instead of posting him up on the block. i know kawhi is reserved and laid back, but there comes a time where you need to speak up for yourself and demand the ball.

pop nees to also run more plays for him. i remember jefferson would have that lob pass play ran to him at least 3 times a game, why don't they run that play with kawhi?

[Old School 44]

Pop won't let potential stars truly shine until they're signed to their second contract.

[Brunodf]

Pop's too busy saying "well done"to Neal after every 35 foot jumper

[T Park]

:pop: wouldn't be fair to Gary Neal



Yeah pop hates Leonard. Not like he just cut a guy who bitched all year to clear room for him or anything.

[T Park]

kawhi needs to be more aggresive. there were times where he was matched up with blake and he just stood in the corner instead of posting him up on the block. i know kawhi is reserved and laid back, but there comes a time where you need to speak up for yourself and demand the ball.

pop nees to also run more plays for him. i remember jefferson would have that lob pass play ran to him at least 3 times a game, why don't they run that play with kawhi?



So he has to have his hand held? Awesome.

[MR-Clutch]

Is it up Leonard to figure out when to take over in games?

I read somewhere recently that Pop hasn't defined a role for Kawhi, that its up to Kawhi to figure his own role out, still I don't see why we cant run 2-3 plays for the kid.

[Wildcat67]

kawhi needs to be more aggresive. there were times where he was matched up with blake and he just stood in the corner instead of posting him up on the block. i know kawhi is reserved and laid back, but there comes a time where you need to speak up for yourself and demand the ball.

pop nees to also run more plays for him. i remember jefferson would have that lob pass play ran to him at least 3 times a game, why don't they run that play with kawhi?

As if Pop would be okay if Tony and Tim are trying to run the 100th pick and roll of the game, and Kawhi goes down to the block and get's in the way. So often he is open and his teammates don't find him. We run plays where we set screens for Neal, Green, Parker, and Duncan, but never for Kawhi.

[HarlemHeat37]

:lol smh at the doubters, tbh..

[Brunodf]

Pop's too busy saying "well done"to Neal after every 35 foot jumper
:rollin

[HI-FI]

Harlem been dropping lots of bball truth bombs all season, especially lately.

[apalisoc_9]

Let me start out by saying I love Kawhi Leonard.

But you guys that think he's about to "break out" might be delusional. He's a great defender, makes the occasional steal with a dunk, hits the corner 3's, and has a decent mid-range game. He's a role player.

Delusional? :lol

People are now calling him a bonafide star. A two-way star player.

And It's now crystal clear he should be a 2b or 3 option on the offensive end. Can't believe it took that long for people to realize this.

It sucks that it had to take 60 plus games of hardwork for kawhi to prove it. If pop wasnt such a stubborn ass ( Pop is the best coach in the nba though) who knows maybe we'd have one one of games 2 or 4. Too late though.


He's going to get his minutes and you will find out what he is.

Game 6-7

A guy that deserves the green light.


Spurs were ignoring him tonight with Blake on him
also decided to let heroball and de shaky handles run the point instead of giving him any touches
World Peace actually has given Leonard lots of problems when theyve matched up
Pop usually had to sub Jack in for him to handle his physicality
but he had Blake on him and he did actually play with the bench
no idea why he was on the bench to close out the game
if he cared about his health so much he probably wouldnt have rode Duncan out for the same reasons

They did the same shit in GS, and in the game 7 against the heat when he kept asking the ball against miller and chalmers. Parker when hero ball.


Pop gives Leonard and Green the same leeway. Green just gets more open looks and is better at converting them. What is a bigger issue is that Leonard needs to be less inclined to pass the ball when he gets it. I strongly doubt Pop is telling him to do that.

I agree. As a coach however he could have easily told him to be more aggressive. I strongly doubt he did that.


The problem with Leonard is not that his teammates aren't finding him. He gets the ball when it comes to him just like everyone else. It's not his teammates' fault he doesn't get open often.

Tonight, he had the Lakers' best perimeter defender on him. It just wouldn't have made sense to force the ball to him.

I love tony, but it's clear as daylight the dude doesnt like to run plays for him.

Go back to the GSW series, the only time kawhi got the chance to post jack or curry was when Manu was the one handling the ball. By my count, tony ignored that kawhi calling for post a post play all the time.


Meh, I think Pop is going at about the correct pace. Leonard is still a 2nd year player. Taking it a little slow should prepare him to fully take over as the 3rd option next year. Leonard isn't one of those extremely talented rookies like Duncan was who you can just throw into the fire as the first/second option. I'm content on letting him focus on defense first and then develop his offensive skills.

I think game 6-7 showed that as a player he was ready. Maybe his teamates we just not read for a new "star" or pop not ready to tweak his system a bit.

[jesterbobman]

It's a mix of things. Probably not enough leeway for Kawhi, and he was a bit passive on some occasions(A few times where he passed up decent 2 point looks with 3 seconds left on the clock to give to Splitter for long range post up moves, he has to shoot those). Wasn't an issue in games 6 & 7, but we don't know if that was him finally going "Fuck it, I'm going to dominate" or Pop finally giving him the light.

Has to change next season. Run post ups when other teams defend Parker with a Wing, have him run a few more pick and roll/pick and pop plays a game and he should have an extra 5 shots per 48.

[spurraider21]

:lol smh at the doubters, tbh..

i thought you're gone due to your ele tbh

[Chinook]

Leonard exceeded my expectations, and I'm very happy to see that. I don't know if his ceiling's as high as some people seem to think, but I have no problem thinking he's going to be a big part of the Spurs' offense next season. Actually, with his post moves, he might even move inside a lot more often.