Can Kawhi shutdown Westbrook?

[Pako]

I know that Green will be on him. But if kawhi can do better job, then just let durant get his own... I don't think durant can carry Okc by himself...

[Darius McCrary]

If it were possible it would make okc.one dimensional. Longer players work on guys like Parker but not Chuckbrook.

[superjames1992]

Kawhi will be on KD, period, tbqh, fwiw, imo.

[Splits]

http://weknowgifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/what-is-this-amateur-hour-gif.gif

[testies]

triple team KD and make Westbrook and Thabo beat us on jumpshots

[Chinook]

Leonard is probably a better player to guard Westbrook than Green is, actually. But there are two reasons he shouldn't get the assignment. First, Leonard is the best Durant defender in the league from a physical standpoint. If he can unleash his inner Tony Allen, he could almost shut KD out. Realistically, he'll probably do about as good of a job as Allen did, which is probably about as well as Green could hope to do. Second, I don't think the Spurs should focus on shutting down Westbrook. The goal of the Spurs' Russ defense needs to just be keeping him out of the paint. They don't need to use Green or Leonard to do that (although Danny will probably start on him). The bigger worry spot is going to be Duncan's poor PnR defense.

I will say, however, that the Spurs are uniquely equipped to guard OKC (which is why the Thunder are NOT a match-up problem for the Spurs [they're just more talented]). No other team in the league starts two young elite perimeter defenders. Not only should that help the Spurs defend Durant and Westbrook iso plays, but it should also allow them to effectively guard the 1/3 PnR, which OKC uses to cause favorable mismatches against most teams. If Danny and Kawhi play big minutes (basically meaning they avoid picking up cheap fouls), it's possible that for stretches, OKC's offense will look even worse than it did against Memphis.

[sook]

Why try and shut him down when he keeps taking shots away from Durant?

[KaiRMD1]

The problem with Kawhi guarding Durant:
http://fistsblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/wpid-96350482-19446_display_image.jpg

[look_at_g_shred]

Let Westbrook be Westbrook tbh...

[ElNono]

Leonard is probably a better player to guard Westbrook than Green is, actually. But there are two reasons he shouldn't get the assignment. First, Leonard is the best Durant defender in the league from a physical standpoint. If he can unleash his inner Tony Allen, he could almost shut KD out. Realistically, he'll probably do about as good of a job as Allen did, which is probably about as well as Green could hope to do. Second, I don't think the Spurs should focus on shutting down Westbrook. The goal of the Spurs' Russ defense needs to just be keeping him out of the paint. They don't need to use Green or Leonard to do that (although Danny will probably start on him). The bigger worry spot is going to be Duncan's poor PnR defense.

I will say, however, that the Spurs are uniquely equipped to guard OKC (which is why the Thunder are NOT a match-up problem for the Spurs [they're just more talented]). No other team in the league starts two young elite perimeter defenders. Not only should that help the Spurs defend Durant and Westbrook iso plays, but it should also allow them to effectively guard the 1/3 PnR, which OKC uses to cause favorable mismatches against most teams. If Danny and Kawhi play big minutes (basically meaning they avoid picking up cheap fouls), it's possible that for stretches, OKC's offense will look even worse than it did against Memphis.

Largely agree with most of this, solid post. I think the Spurs will largely play KD straight up, but whenever he's matched up with the bench, Pop might try to double, especially when they run KD's favorite high right elbow play. Clippers actually doubled with some success, and I think long term in this series the Spurs are going to want to know what the tendencies are going to be for potential double-teams. It's a difficult play for the Spurs to defend, since that's a spot on the floor where the Spurs would like every other shooter to shoot from, but in this case it's KD's favorite spot. On the other hand, Pop might just live with that shot, since it's just a 2 point play...

[therealtruth]

Stop giving Pop ideas.

How about backing off him like Lebron in the Finals?

[JohnnyMax]

Kawhi cannot guard Westbrook. He is too quick and strong. 6-4 with insane upper body strength not a chance in hell.

[emanueldavidginobili]

Nope

[Prime Time]

If Kawhi had trouble guarding Monta Ellis, I want him no where near Westbrook. Dude is like Ellis but with the athleticism of Derrick Rose. Thank goodness he has the IQ of Marbury, otherwise he would be hands-down the best PG in the league.

[dg7md]

Let Westbrook heave up every shot there is, we might lose a game or two, but as long as he feels like he's open he will continue to make their offense stagnant.

I'm mostly kidding of course, but Durant is the biggest issue of the team. Westbrook, well, you just have to contain him and ensure that he doesn't get the offense too involved.

I do like Westbrook's game a lot, he's the strongest PG in the game and I love his determination, but the guy just takes too many shots and that will be his downfall and hopefully our window of winning.

[Raven]

Kawhi cannot guard Westbrook. He is too quick and strong. 6-4 with insane upper body strength not a chance in hell.
Word. No chance may be a stretch though.. let's just say that on paper it's a dumb move

[Mal]

Nah, put smaller faster defender on him and let him shoot as many jumpers as he wants

[Brazil]

Why would you try to shut down when defense should focus on letting Westbrook chucking okc out of the game with 3s and long 2s ?

[EVAY]

I know that Green will be on him. But if kawhi can do better job, then just let durant get his own... I don't think durant can carry Okc by himself...

One of the big reasons he is MVP this year is that he did just that…"carried OKC by himself" while Westbrook was out earlier this year.(admittedly that was along with Ibaka)

I would do just the reverse…let Westbrook get his own, and try to limit KD. But when trying to limit KD OR Westbrook, I think we have to let them get their two pointers…if we try to stop their penetration we will just foul out while giving them 'and one's' during the entire game. Keep them from shooting threes, but let them have their two pointers, imo.

[wildbill2u]

Kwahi isn't fast enough to stay with Westbrook. Green is overrated as a defender, mostly because he sometimes appears uninterested in working hard. Parker and Mills will have to do the job and I think they can do it. Remember, Westbook has to defend someone also and they can wear him down.

[SpursFan86]

Westbrook was unusually efficient against the Clips...he's due for a regression to the mean tbh. As others have said, I'd rather shut down KD and make Westbrook be their main scorer.

[Jimcs50]

Can't shut down either guard. Let them get their points with their 40% shooting. It has always been the other players that have killed the Spurs. Got to contain Reggie, Thabo, Collison, Perk and Fisher. If Spurs can keep them all to below their averages, then Spurs will win in 4-5 games.

[Spurs9]

Stop giving Pop ideas.

How about backing off him like Lebron in the Finals?
I'm sure Pop browses spurstalk for game time planning.

[BC3]

Westbrook was unusually efficient against the Clips...he's due for a regression to the mean tbh. As others have said, I'd rather shut down KD and make Westbrook be their main scorer.
shutdown Durant? how is that possible?

[myhc]

Can't shut down either guard. Let them get their points with their 40% shooting. It has always been the other players that have killed the Spurs. Got to contain Reggie, Thabo, Collison, Perk and Fisher. If Spurs can keep them all to below their averages, then Spurs will win in 4-5 games.

THIS. It's the role players that will kill you in the end (see: Ibaka, Serge-game 5 of 2012 WCF playoffs; Fisher, Derek every time we see him in the playoffs). You don't stop Westbrook or Durant. They're too good and they will get their points. You try to keep it a priority to keep them out of the paint and concede long jumpers and if they're hitting them, there's nothing you can do. But the 2 alone won't win a 7 game series. They may win a game or 2 but not a whole series because if one of them is off, the game is there for the taking. They need that 3rd guy, Reggie Jackson, to help. I think Jackson is the key to this series. If he's going off and carving up our defense and scoring 15-20 per game, I think the Thunder take the series.

[mercos]

Nobody can shut down Russell Westbrook. He is too explosive, and he likes to shoot the midrange jumper a lot as well. He can get his shot whenever he wants. The best we can hope for is too slow him, and Danny Green is better equipped to do that. Westbrook takes a lot of bad shots, so we shouldn't be looking to get the ball out of his hands anyway. Let Westbrook get his, and try to limit Durant and the others as much as possible.

[LakerHater]

Im hopin Leonard is on westbrook but then who will Tony guard?

[testies]

Im hopin Leonard is on westbrook but then who will Tony guard?

thabo, caron etc

[Budkin]

Kawhi ain't shutting anyone down. He'll be fouling out every game by the 3rd.

[TampaDude]

Let KD and Westbrook get theirs, and shut down everyone else. Spurs in 5.

[Horry Hipcheck]

Stopping Durant and Westbrook is a fool's errand and will only result in foul trouble. The Spurs are better suited to cut off their other resources and force them to be the offense. Kawhi, on his own, is much better defending in space and disrupting passing lanes than he is as a lock down defender. He's never really shut KD down and he isn't going to start now. Pack the paint, stay at home on the role players, and let Kawhi do damage on the interior. Offensively, Parker needs to ram his drive-and-kick game down their throats.

[ElNono]

Even if Durant goes for 40 and Russ for 30 every game, there's still 30+ pts that will have to come from somewhere, namely Reggie + the 3 point shooters (Fish/Butler/Ostrichface) + some P&R finishes from Adams/Collison. The easiest way to get there will be the 3 point line, the Spurs cannot leave those guys open. Make them put the ball on the floor. There's no reason for this Spurs team not to put 100+ pts on the board with Abaka missing.

[Chinook]

I don't know why people keep thinking that "letting players get theirs" means not guarding them to the best of your abilities. Durant is going to get his regardless, but he'll get his in a less efficient manner if a good defender is on him. You don't let those guys fill up on points, because they absolutely can score 80 on you. You have to try to slow them down, and the Spurs are really well-equipped to do so while also not giving too much help, something the Clippers couldn't do.

You put Kawhi on Durant, and you use Green as the secondary defender and Ginobili as the tertiary defender. You cycle guards on Westbrook while the bigs commit to keeping Russ out of the paint. You put Green on Jackson as much as possible. You close out hard on shooters (you know, the "biting on every pump-fake" crap that people keep getting wrong) and force them to take long-twos and off-balance threes whenever they get the ball. You box out and secure the rebound. In short, you play good, honest defense. That's it. It's a simple plan to counter a simple offense. There's no reason to re-invent the wheel when you have the Spurs' defensive talent.

[Chomag]

let westchuck guard westchuck. He is by far his best defender imo.

[Pako]

Bump!!!!

[TheGreatYacht]

Yes, yes he can.

[UZER]

Westbrook stupidly expended way too much energy trying to prove a point d-ing up Parker.

He took himself out of the game as only Westbrook can.