Leonard Was Pretty Damn Good Tonight

[Robz4000]

13 Pts (6-8) , 7 rebs, 2 assist (one pretty slick at that), and 4 steals. Played amazing D all night.

It's still a work in progress, but he's getting there :tu

[bklynspursfan]

Not to mention continuing his ownage of Klay Thompson

[Russo21]

And I hardly noticed him out there. Kawhi Leonard: Stealth Assassin

[Johnny RIngo]

Parker(aside from the missed FTs) and Leonard were the only Spurs that showed up tonight

[TheGoldStandard]

Getting more touches, needs to be more aggressive but overall a very good game.

[KL2]

He was wreaking havoc against everyone out there, I don't think Thompson scored a single point against him.

[freetiago]

Leonard had only played 24 minutes mid way in the fourth quarter
Duncan had 25 minutes...

[Mugen]

Needs more touches tbh.

[HarlemHeat37]

Leonard had only played 24 minutes mid way in the fourth quarter
Duncan had 25 minutes...

Regular season game without Curry, Pop isn't going to play them heavily, tbh..

Klay Thompson can't score against Leonard, we saw it in the playoffs where he was atrocious after Pop made the defensive switch..if the Spurs play them in the playoffs again, that's obviously a massive advantage..

[freetiago]

Leonard is 22 tbh...
should always have more minutes then Duncan
knee isnt bothering him anymore
this guy use to play Duncan 40 minutes a night earlier in his career
he can easily play Leonard 36 minutes a night now if he actually plans on making him a better player

[TheGreatYacht]

Regular season game without Curry, Pop isn't going to play them heavily, tbh..

Klay Thompson can't score against Leonard, we saw it in the playoffs where he was atrocious after Pop made the defensive switch..if the Spurs play them in the playoffs again, that's obviously a massive advantage.. :tu

[Johnny RIngo]

Leonard is 22 tbh...
should always have more minutes then Duncan
knee isnt bothering him anymore
this guy use to play Duncan 40 minutes a night earlier in his career
he can easily play Leonard 36 minutes a night now if he actually plans on making him a better player

Duncan was a superstar. Leonard doesn't have that kind of potential.

[freetiago]

what does being a superstar have to do with minutes played
Leonard also doesnt have a real backup
and they are trying to turn him into a legitimate #2/3 option by running more plays
cant do that if hes not on the floor

[NickiRasgo]

I dunno but what bothers me is that he hesitates too much esp. going to the basket. A lot of times he passed the ball after a few dribble without pressure defense (or it is just me that noticed that). Pop should experiment how to boost Leonard's confidence. But yeah Kawhi did great today.

[ElNono]

we're in the middle of a 5 games in 7 days stretch.... Pop managing minutes was not out of the question...

[cjw]

Duncan was a superstar. Leonard doesn't have that kind of potential.

I know he says he is over his tendinitis from last year, but there is no reason to overplay him now. Duncan back in the day had to play that much to stay competitive

[LongtimeSpursFan]

13 Pts (6-8) , 7 rebs, 2 assist (one pretty slick at that), and 4 steals. Played amazing D all night.

It's still a work in progress, but he's getting there :tu

Indubitably!

[freetiago]

Memphis - 30 minutes
LA -32 minutes
Portland- 26 minutes

that was before the stretch
hes actually somehow played him more during this 5 in 7 stretch then he did before

[JRHernandez88]

Not to mention continuing his ownage of Klay Thompson
:tu

[cd021]

what does being a superstar have to do with minutes played
Leonard also doesnt have a real backup
and they are trying to turn him into a legitimate #2/3 option by running more plays
cant do that if hes not on the floor

Very few players actually average 36 mpg. Most are are have been recent All-Stars (usually Pau Gasol, Deng, Kobe)

Its irrelevant that he doesn't have a backup. Manu/ Green/ Beli all fill in there.

He isn't a 2nd option, I highly doubt he is a 3rd at this point. The Spurs have a #1 and a #1A with Parker and Duncan.

On any given night any other Spur can have a big game whether its Green, Splitter, Diaw, Manu or Beli. He can emerge as a 3rd option but he has to show more aggression. At times its easy to forget he's on the floor.

[freetiago]

for small forwards alone 10 guys actually average about 36 mpg right now
Carmelo Anthony
Josh Smith
Lebron James
Paul George
Chandler Parsons
Andre Iguodala
Nicolas Batum
Kevin Durant
Trevor Ariza
Luol Deng

and Leonard is the youngest of that group easily

and it is pretty relevant that he doesnt have a backup since Green was exposed last season as a terrible SF replacement when Jackson/Leonard were both injured
he got lit up by every SF he had to guard
Manu/Marco also played the 2 their whole lifes and dont have the size to guard some of the freak SFs in the league now with who have a lot of length/athleticism

and thats the whole point
he has to stay on the floor and get more playing time and have more plays run for him to become a consistent scoring threat
players like Green/Splitter/Manu/Beli score almost all their baskets off assists at this point
Diaw and Leonard are the only 2 who can create for themselves out of that group

[skulls138]

I dunno but what bothers me is that he hesitates too much esp. going to the basket. A lot of times he passed the ball after a few dribble without pressure defense (or it is just me that noticed that). Pop should experiment how to boost Leonard's confidence. But yeah Kawhi did great today.I hear you. Even tonight he had the ball and seemed like he couldnt wait to get rid of it. I would definitely like to see him hold the dribble for awhile. Doesnt have to score, just be comfortable with it.

Having said that we get alot from Leonard and in the end thats the kind of all star he's going to be, a stat filler upper. I think people get antsy because Kawhi's position is usually meant to be a scorer and Kawhi's playing it like a power foward. Alot of his fame will come from stopping the other scorers than it will with him scoring.

[HI-FI]

for small forwards alone 10 guys actually average about 36 mpg right now
Carmelo Anthony
Josh Smith
Lebron James
Paul George
Chandler Parsons
Andre Iguodala
Nicolas Batum
Kevin Durant
Trevor Ariza
Luol Deng

and Leonard is the youngest of that group easily

and it is pretty relevant that he doesnt have a backup since Green was exposed last season as a terrible SF replacement when Jackson/Leonard were both injured
he got lit up by every SF he had to guard
Manu/Marco also played the 2 their whole lifes and dont have the size to guard some of the freak SFs in the league now with who have a lot of length/athleticism

and thats the whole point
he has to stay on the floor and get more playing time and have more plays run for him to become a consistent scoring threat
players like Green/Splitter/Manu/Beli score almost all their baskets off assists at this point
Diaw and Leonard are the only 2 who can create for themselves out of that group

so what is Pop's reasoning? you sure the knee is good to go? If so, I wonder why Kawhi is getting fewer minutes.

[Vash StampedE]

Still few touches given to him. Our offense is still Parker/Duncan dominant. I thought Pop wants to put less burden on the older guys but why is Kawhi one of the, if not the first player to be subbed? He is young (22, i think?) for crying out loud.

[Skull-1]

Knee prob?

[jesterbobman]

We would be a better team with Kawhi playing 40mpg, but he'll play those minutes in the playoffs. No point gunning hard out to win 65 games. 58 will do for a top 3 seed.

[testies]

what a player, I love his poker face too... very Spurs/Euroish

[Robz4000]

We would be a better team with Kawhi playing 40mpg, but he'll play those minutes in the playoffs. No point gunning hard out to win 65 games. 58 will do for a top 3 seed.

[Obstructed_View]

Didn't Kawhi surprise Duncan with a great pass? That would have been an assist instead of a konk on Duncan's noggin.

[wildchild]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_k3ibdltO4&feature=youtu.be

[exstatic]

Memphis - 30 minutes
LA -32 minutes
Portland- 26 minutes

that was before the stretch
hes actually somehow played him more during this 5 in 7 stretch then he did before

Pop was probably waiting to see how his quad reacted to game minutes.