ESPN has a KL MVP candidate thread

[$pursDynasty]

http://espn.go.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/12777928/kawhi-leonard-offense-not-defense-key-san-antonio-spurs-nba

ESPN has a cool article that is a good read about Kiwi. I am pro MVParker but I am pro all Spurs TBH. Go KL hopefully he will be acknowledged or debated as top 10 next year. Great for the future of the team and recruiting free agents.

[dabom]

someone post the article.

[$pursDynasty]

sorry dabom didn't realize it was an insider article, k'duh

[dabom]

sorry dabom didn't realize it was an insider article, k'duh

I'm glad you posted this. Now we one someone to post the article.

[apalisoc_9]

" I don't care, I'm not about to win season MVP this year so maybe we should talk more about team or something?"

Seriously, Kawhi will get MVP consideration next year assuming the spurs win 50+ games.

[dabom]

" I don't care, I'm not about to win season MVP this year so maybe we should talk more about team or something?"

Seriously, Kawhi will get MVP consideration next year assuming the spurs win 50+ games.

Im going to make a Kawhi MVP thread after the playoffs.

[cd98]

I don't really care about MVP for the season. I'd love for him to get MVP of the playoffs because that means the Spurs make the finals and win.

[Keepin' it real]

I don't really care about MVP for the season. I'd love for him to get MVP of the playoffs because that means the Spurs make the finals and win.

MVP of the playoffs??

[SpursFan86]

Leaving out a few paragraphs that were just describing specific plays...


But Leonard has been a monster for more than a month now. Beginning March 1, Leonard wrapped up the regular season by averaging 19.2 points per game on 53.9 percent shooting while converting 40.6 percent of his 3-pointers and 82.2 percent of his free throws. Here in the playoffs, he's averaging 24.8 points on 60 percent shooting while making 9 of 16 from deep and grabbing 6.5 rebounds per game.

It's no coincidence that the Spurs reverted to form this season once their 2011 draft pick returned from a hand injury around New Year's. For the first time in his career, he's been asked to be a go-to scorer in the Spurs' offense rather than a role player, and he has answered the call, becoming more efficient per touch than he was last season.

How much responsibility has coach Gregg Popovich put on his plate? Check this out: Leonard had the ball in his hands 40 percent more this regular season than in 2013-14, according to SportVU player-tracking technology. This regular season, Leonard's time of possession was 2.2 minutes per game, up from 2013-14's rate of 1.5 minutes per game. The postseason-to-postseason increase is even more substantial. Leonard possesses the ball 50 percent more so far this postseason than he did all of the last playoffs (2.4 minutes vs. 1.6 minutes).

We don't typically see that when players shoulder more of the offensive burden. Despite the increased reliance on Leonard to create, he has sharpened his scoring efficiency from .389 points per frontcourt touch in 2013-14 to .394 this season, according to SportVU player-tracking data. In the playoffs, that has soared all the way to .51 points per touch.

If you were wondering, Leonard is getting more touches on offense (48.5) than Tim Duncan does (44.8). That was not the case last postseason. In fact, the Spurs are feeding Leonard more often than the Blazers are feeding LaMarcus Aldridge (46.3) and the Bulls are feeding Pau Gasol (44.2).

...

This isn't the Leonard who won the Finals MVP. According to SportVU player-tracking data, Leonard possessed the ball on this play for exactly 5.3 seconds before making this shot. To wit, he's already made five shots immediately after possessing it for longer than five seconds in this series. In the 2014 Finals, he made two such shots in the breakout five-game series. Leonard keeps on breaking out.

Leonard's growth as a playmaker stands out. Just this past Sunday, Leonard dropped five dimes, the highest he has ever dished out in the postseason. To put that in perspective, the five assists in Game 4 is more than he had in the first four games of last season's postseason.

...

According to Synergy tracking, Leonard scored 94 points on 100 pick-and-roll plays as the ball handler in the regular season, giving him seventh-best efficiency (0.94) in the league on that play type (minimum 100 plays). He had 77 such plays all of last season.

The scary thing is that Leonard isn't showing the growing pains we'd expect from someone in his first season as the team's offensive cog. On Sunday, he had zero turnovers while creating five buckets for others and 19 field goal attempts of his own. In Game 3, he had one turnover to go with his 32 points on 13-of-18 shooting.

Popovich is giving him the ball, and Leonard is thriving. He leads the Spurs in usage rate (26 percent) after ranking sixth in San Antonio's pecking order last postseason. With Ginobili and Duncan reaching the end of their careers as go-to scorers, it seems Leonard is just starting his occupation in this domain.

With a freakish wingspan, Leonard can guard multiple positions, and he takes pleasure in bottling up the opponent's top scorer, regardless of position. But now he's translating that combination of versatility, athleticism and skills on the other end. If this production against the Los Angeles Clippers is a sign of things to come, Leonard isn't just the future of the Spurs. He's the prototype player for the future of the NBA.

[dabom]

Goosebumps ya. :wow

[TXstbobcat]

MVP of the playoffs??

Dude must mean finals MVP

[Seventyniner]

Even Haberstroh agrees, Kawhi already is the #1 option. Deservedly so.