Who Here in spurstalk, predicted Kawhi will be the player he is right now?

[apalisoc_9]

Post on this thread.

always believed he'll be one hell of a player.

[BatManu20]

No one. Especially not this quickly.

[Poolboy5623]

Love kawhi...I was wanting a little more offense out of him but a lot of that is on the team...next year he should be a #2 option at worst imo.. he HAS to gain some upperbody strength though!

[jesterbobman]

After College, No one. I saw him being really valuable, but primarily through defensive value, and his shooting/general offense being a bit of a weakness.

I thought he was #4 in the draft, behind Kyrie, Derrick Williams and Jonas. At the moment, I think he's in the top 2 and the race is close.

The Wins produced guys were probably the highest on him of anyone(http://wagesofwins.com/2011/06/23/a-note-and-the-goods-ranking-the-2011-draft-prospects/), and they projected a .112 WP48 player. He's far surpassed that.(.287 and .284). It's not the best rating system, and it probably over-rates Kawhi a little(Just as he's underrated by PER, the usage-Efficiency trade off is somewhere between the 2 approaches), but no one thought he'd be this good.

[ElNono]

The first time I thought he could be something special was watching the summer league last summer... but you still couldn't be sure because he was playing against borderline NBA talent for the most part.

Frankly, he's been amazing.

[MannyIsGod]

I predicted young ron artest so I feel I hit the nail on the head. I'm a Lobo though, so I watch a lot of MWC basketball and watched him play a lot.

[Robz4000]

He's pretty damn good tbh.

[baseline bum]

I figured he was going to be a way better player than Hill, but I had no idea his offensive game would ever be where it is now.

[HI-FI]

This guy. Search my history....just ignore my other posts that have bad jokes or political incorrectness. I've said before he is real special. He's like a Hendrix out there.

[Brunodf]

No one. Especially not this quickly.
Good one.


I have been saying for months that Kawhi CAN play the Ginobili role.
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6355957#post6355957
02-11-2013

[Floyd Pacquiao]

When I saw him take over that bulls game tbh. I knew he was gonna be sombody in this league. Now it's all up to Pop to increse his offensive role.

[The Reckoning]

pop said kawhi will get more touches

:lobt

[sexinthatsx]

I predicted young ron artest so I feel I hit the nail on the head. I'm a Lobo though, so I watch a lot of MWC basketball and watched him play a lot.

NOT even. Ron Artest is nowhere close athletic wise as Kawhi Leonard is / will be.

[apalisoc_9]

NOT even. Ron Artest is nowhere close athletic wise as Kawhi Leonard is / will be.

Artest was acutally very athletic in his younger days.

Kawhi's ceiling though is obviously so much better.

[sexinthatsx]

After College, No one. I saw him being really valuable, but primarily through defensive value, and his shooting/general offense being a bit of a weakness.

Kawhi's hangtime is amazing. It's almost Jordan-esque, the way he creates the contact and hangs in the air until the contact neutralizes to hit the layup is something I've only seen out of a couple players in the league today.

[siraulo23]

the only thing that could hold him back is his knee...

pop said he'll to talk to kawhi/doctors before deciding if he could participate in team usa camp, hopefully he's fine and we get to see him play more

[davidbowie]

me. im a genius.

[MannyIsGod]

NOT even. Ron Artest is nowhere close athletic wise as Kawhi Leonard is / will be.

LOL what in the fuck? Young Ron Artest was an athletic freak at small forward.

[HEBsteaks]

I can't say predicted, because I didn't know of him until he joined the Spurs, but after watching him play last year and then during this season, I thought he had good defense and needed a bigger offensive role. I saw the potential but he was limited and raw. Now after these playoffs, I think he can be star-superstar type player. The Heat were the biggest challenge he can face, his defense and effort never fell off and his rebounds and offense grew. He hasn't had much effect offensively this season, other than 3pters and effort/broken plays.

Game 7 and the title was on the line, Kawhi decides to try and be aggressive and shows the world what he could do. I feel either pop told him to be more aggressive(not likely or a little late) or he decided that he had to do something because it wasn't getting done. All around beast. Only his 2nd year... Add a few years of improvement to his shot, moves and overall game?? BEAST. He may never be that type of star/super star that drops 30 every game, but overall with rebounds and defense he can be. That status will be reached when his offensive potential is reached. He has time to work on it and we KNOW he will. With his work ethic, its only time.

Splitter and Baynes have a lot of potential, but the next player I feel can be special is Cory Joseph. If Green works on his dribbling and finishing at the rim, he can become something special too. Hard to cover a sharpshooter who can drive. We will see next year.

[sexinthatsx]

LOL what in the fuck? Young Ron Artest was an athletic freak at small forward.

Don't get me wrong, Ron Artest was a beast in his younger days, but I see Kawhi being even better

[MannyIsGod]

SMH you probably never even saw young Ron Artest play. How is some one going to say that Ron Artest wasn't athletic.

[capek]

I knew Kawhi could be this good right when he came out his first season with a fixed jump shot. Ya'll remember how many years it took Tony to fix his jump shot? That's not something just anyone does over a summer. That was a sign to me of the guy's motor, and couple that with his physical skill set, I had pretty high expectations for him from early on.

[palangi]

not me, I thought he would be more bruce bowen like. a lock down defender with a very limited offensive game. I am a utah fan so I got to see kawhi in person quite a few times.

I have always been a fan of his, and was very excited when we traded for him.

[TrainOfThought5]

when i saw how fast he learned the system... and overhauled his jumpshot, i knew he had the work ethic to surpass his base potential and really "overdevelop" very very rare for someone coming into the league so young im hoping Cojo can take the same steps.

[Skull-1]

All I can say is I had the same feeling about Leonard when I first saw him play as I did when I first saw Manu play....

[exstatic]

the only thing that could hold him back is his knee...

pop said he'll to talk to kawhi/doctors before deciding if he could participate in team usa camp, hopefully he's fine and we get to see him play more

It's not a knee problem, even though they call it "jumpers knee". It's tendinitis of the quad muscle on the front of the thigh. His knee is perfectly structurally sound.

I didn't know last year, other than he had a hellish work ethic to overhaul his jumper in a few months with only a few days with Chip before the lockout. He pretty much just spotted up.

I knew this year, though. It's been since Sean was healthy that we had a SF who could start at the arc, and dunk at the rim in the half court offense. He's disruptive on BOTH ends of the floor.

[hooperflash]

Ed Helicopter Jones

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

I predicted he'd be an all-star in his 3rd or 4th season. I'll dig up the posts if you like. ;)

[sexinthatsx]

SMH you probably never even saw young Ron Artest play. How is some one going to say that Ron Artest wasn't athletic.

I never said he wasn't...

[sexinthatsx]

Plus, Artest wasn't as athletic as he was crazy and intimidating to others tbh

[CitizenDwayne]

I predicted young ron artest so I feel I hit the nail on the head.

Pretty much. The "poor man's Bowen" predictions ended up being totally off-base.

[99 Problems]

On PTR when what the FO was going to do with Staks expiring contract was being discussed last year I recall calling for Stak to stay and help KL to be an All-Star. I had no doubt about the ability and like many people had Pippen in the back of the mind.

I've also said a number of times that Pop had not given him the green light in attack yet as there was no need. Seeing some of the things he did against the Heat being such a young man was pretty scary.

[exstatic]

Plus, Artest wasn't as athletic as he was crazy and intimidating to others tbh

You never saw him play in his prime. That much is obvious.

I've been watching the NBA for 30+ years and I have seen three absolutely off the end of the bell curve athletes in all that time: LeBron, DRob and Artest. People forgot about DRob by the end of his career, too.

[Aztec]

Spurs fans on this board for the most part underestimated Kawhi from the beginning (and I've been reading this board from the time Kawhi was drafted and traded). Most of you in the beginning strictly viewed him as a defensive player/rebounder. In college, Kawhi looked like a pro, period. At SDSU, he created shots in the paint. Watch the SDSU/UConn highlights from the 10/11 ncaa tourney.

The Spurs have made him pay his dues before they're going to spot him the ball. They're still doing it. They should've done it sooner.

[Agloco]

NOT even. Ron Artest is nowhere close athletic wise as Kawhi Leonard is / will be.

Yeah.....one can see that you haven't watched Artest pre-2009.

[timmy2003]

I expected him to be a good defender and rebounder but his offensive game surprised me.

[Buddy Holly]

Post on this thread.

always believed he'll be one hell of a player.

Days after he was drafted, I posted a link to Barkley saying Kawhi was a starter even before ever suiting up. I agreed with him and was excited as hell.

[Skull-1]

Again. My intuition on him was the same I had with Ginobili. Time will prove me right or wrong....

[sexinthatsx]

You never saw him play in his prime. That much is obvious.

I've been watching the NBA for 30+ years and I have seen three absolutely off the end of the bell curve athletes in all that time: LeBron, DRob and Artest. People forgot about DRob by the end of his career, too.

By in his prime, do you mean in his days with the Kings or the Pacers? Because during his days with the Kings I don't really see it...

[HI-FI]

This guy. Search my history....just ignore my other posts that have bad jokes or political incorrectness. I've said before he is real special. He's like a Hendrix out there.
:tu
I like your takes.

Hendrix or Prince, either way, he's special.