With Kawhi Leonard, The Spurs Are In The Surest Possible Hands

[ace3g]

From fingertip to palm and pinky to thumb, Kawhi Leonard’s hands measure an astounding 9.8 x 11.3 inches; large enough to engulf a basketball plucked mid-bounce from the steadiest handles in the NBA. At 23 years old, approaching the playoffs as the reigning Finals MVP, the San Antonio Spurs forward figuratively has the league in the palm of his hand.

Frighteningly for the rest of the NBA, he’s just now learning to make a fist.

“You get to a point where your mind and body and everything kind of melds together and the game actually becomes pretty easy,” Houston Rockets head coach Kevin McHale told reporters prior to his team’s 98-110 loss to the Spurs. “You just feel that you know what guys are going to do. You’ve played them a lot of times. You make them take shots you want them to take. You take away stuff you want them to take away. You dictate to them when they have the ball. Normally, guys are dictating to you.”

Continue reading: http://bballbreakdown.com/2015/04/11/with-kawhi-leonard-the-spurs-are-in-the-surest-possible-hands/

[barakz21]

Awesome read. Thanks ace!

[Splits]

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[cd98]

Spurs need him to become a crunch time scorer. They are fine when they are clicking and winning games by 20 points, but the Spurs struggle in late game execution lacking that individual scorer that can't be stopped. Duncan and Ginobili have done that for years, but don't have it anymore. We need Kawhi to take that spot. Just remember how bad we looked on the possessions leading up to Duncan blocking Harden's shot.

[loveforthegame]

Lots of good articles on Leonard in recent weeks. :tu

[Cry Havoc]

Spurs need him to become a crunch time scorer. They are fine when they are clicking and winning games by 20 points, but the Spurs struggle in late game execution lacking that individual scorer that can't be stopped. Duncan and Ginobili have done that for years, but don't have it anymore. We need Kawhi to take that spot. Just remember how bad we looked on the possessions leading up to Duncan blocking Harden's shot.

OTOH, we have a TON of guys that can light you up for 20 on any given night.

Tim, Tony, Kawhi, Patty, Boris, Manu, Danny, if any of them are on or left alone they can all completely torch the D. There is no way to really focus on anyone on the Spurs if more than one person is hitting.

[Brazil]

One the best article I read on the Spurs in a while... Writer nailed it nicely... Solid

[Shastafarian]

Spurs need him to become a crunch time scorer. They are fine when they are clicking and winning games by 20 points, but the Spurs struggle in late game execution lacking that individual scorer that can't be stopped. Duncan and Ginobili have done that for years, but don't have it anymore. We need Kawhi to take that spot. Just remember how bad we looked on the possessions leading up to Duncan blocking Harden's shot.

I think like CH said, any one of tim, tony, manu (though he's losing steam), kawhi, or boris can be a ball dominant go-to player in crunch time. The execution did look spotty against Houston but you'd like to think in the playoffs, as they encounter closer games, their execution will improve.