Will Pop ever play Leonard like a 24-26 year old.

[apalisoc_9]

The most he's averaged per minute is 31 last season.

I don't get his MVP aspiration if he knows he won't get over that the 34 minutes mark.

Possible Pop made a promise of some sort.

[Cklbmk]

People who vote on MVP dumb.

Pop is actually doing Kawhi a favor artificially keeping his stats low until hes really good.

Now when Kawhi gets bumped to 36 or 40 for a season it'll look like he improved A LOT

atleast to the layman

[wildcardX]

It was Parker's idea. He told Pop that if he managed Leonard's minutes he would still be in his prime at age 40. Damn you Tony!

[exstatic]

Will Leonard stop missing ~20 games per season?

[313]

Will Leonard stop missing ~20 games per season?
I think OP missed your post, I'll quote him for you




I don't get his MVP aspiration if he knows he won't get over that the 34 minutes mark.

Possible Pop made a promise of some sort.

[N0 LyF3 ScRuB]

Leonard should play around 33 minutes per game this year. Originally I was leaning towards 30-31 due to his injury-prone symptoms. But with the depleted bench, we will need to have him playing a larger role.

[apalisoc_9]

Will Leonard stop missing ~20 games per season?

How do you miss 20 games in a lockout?

[TheGreatYacht]

System role player can't even handle 30MPG without pulling an injury excuse. Shit thread, should be pinked tbh

[dabom]

How do you miss 20 games in a lockout?

[Clipper Nation]

Will Leonard stop missing ~20 games per season?

Will you stop sucking ~20 cocks per day?

[Fireball]

I would also like to see Leonard playing 34 minutes a night ... but more important would be a season of 80 games played. Too often he missed a quarter of a season due to injury which hampers his All-Star aspirations as well. With our new lineup and potential rebounding issues with the bench unit he probably has to play a little more.

[apalisoc_9]

Will you stop sucking ~20 cocks per day?

:lmao

[Richie]

No need to put unnecessary minutes on his knees if we've got a stacked team. When Timmy and Manu retire we'll need him to play heavier minutes, there's no rush.

[Richie]

Also incredible to think that compared to Lebron, he's played 6000 fewer minutes in his first 4 years

[littlecoyotecoin]

Will Leonard stop missing ~20 games per season?

Yes. He'll miss more. If Pop bumps his minutes, his knees will be added to the injury list more frequently.

http://www.boneandjoint.org.uk/content/focus/patellar-tendinosis

Pop doing the right thing for the team and Kawhi, while low IQ player fan lobbying for more stats.

[K...]

Dang some kawhi fans are really being selfish here. All they want is a player to wear themselves out so the team fails so they can blame the pg like they did this year. Well, they can go root for a new team like the new look Lakers. Smh minutes based player fans.

[PingPong]

Kiwi already has a chronic rotten knee. What do you want?

[Yuixafun]

Pull a tooth before it's ready and you might make the root crooked.

[ChumpDumper]

Oh look, another player fan thread.

[Cklbmk]

Will Leonard stop missing ~20 games per season?


No thats an easy way to cut 600 minutes a year.

[daslicer]

Like someone said earlier Kawhi has shitty knees. You can't overplay him or otherwise he will miss games like he has done in the past due to knee pain.

[UNT Eagles 2016]

Like someone said earlier Kawhi has shitty knees. You can't overplay him or otherwise he will miss games like he has done in the past due to knee pain.
Tim had shitty knees in his early mid 20s in 2000 and he's still around in 2015 and playing at a high level, so there is some good evidence that minute managing is a good long-term strategy...

[DMC]

Business decisions. You don't put all your eggs in one basket. Spurs can win without giving one man all the minutes. Teams who can't often find themselves in dire straits when that one man goes down.

[Silver&Black]

Smh minutes based player fans.

[random21]

Word is Kawhi has been working on his post-game over the summer...

[YGWHI]

Like someone said earlier Kawhi has shitty knees. You can't overplay him or otherwise he will miss games like he has done in the past due to knee pain.

I wonder why you think he has a chronic issue. If a player has patellar tendonitis, he suffers pain every time, every game of the season.

Kawhi suffered knee pain one season, and since 2013 he had had two entire seasons without knees problems.

[YGWHI]

Tim had shitty knees in his early mid 20s in 2000 and he's still around in 2015 and playing at a high level, so there is some good evidence that minute managing is a good long-term strategy...

Well...Pop didn't manage Tim's minutes until his 8th season/29 years old, before that he played 38.9 mpg his first seven seasons.

Kawhi is five years younger than Tim when he averaged those minutes per game and I'd like to watch Kawhi play more minutes with the second unit if rebounding becomes a problem.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Kawhi has been injured every year of his career so far and when we're dealing with knee issues like Kawhi has had, there's no reason to be out there 40 MPG if you don't have to be. I don't blame Pop for trying to manage his playing time. The Spurs have managed to win a few games with him playing 31 minutes a night.

[Spurtacular]

Leonard should play around 33 minutes per game this year. Originally I was leaning towards 30-31 due to his injury-prone symptoms. But with the depleted bench, we will need to have him playing a larger role.

Depleted bench?

[apalisoc_9]

Didn't know kawhi was injured during his rookie year...did the team play 82 games?

[K...]

Didn't know kawhi was injured during his rookie year...did the team play 82 games?

Wow can't believe no one has said this before, it's literally the most important fact every to be raised concerning kawhi. I was previously a hater, but now I'm convinced Leonard is the goat because once kawhi played a whole year thanks to a lockout shortened season. My friend apo is a basketball genius who takes are like mana from God himself. I'm trembling in ecstasy right now.

[NameLess Scrub]

Imo, as long as the team is winning it's actually good that his minutes are managed, even if he wasn't injury prone.
A fresh team in the playoffs counts. IIRC, the Spurs ran Durant and WB to the ground in '14, and they are both young.

[littlecoyotecoin]

I wonder why you think he has a chronic issue. If a player has patellar tendonitis, he suffers pain every time, every game of the season.

Kawhi suffered knee pain one season, and since 2013 he had had two entire seasons without knees problems.

Because the team acknowledged it years ago, and that with proper therapy, conditioning, and attention (to include minute management), it was something they/he could overcome. I wonder why you think he doesn't have an issue?

[YGWHI]

I wonder why you think he doesn't have an issue?

I said he doesn't have a chronic issue. Why? Because he had knee pain, one season, but he didn't have the same issue in college or next NBA seasons.

If a player has a chronic knee issue, therapy can alleviate the pain, but the problem persists, his flexibility and mobility will never be the same. That's not the case with Kawhi.

[spurraider21]

well everyone says Anthony Davis' main weakness is his durability, so let's compare....

games played last 3 seasons

2014-2015

Kawhi: 64 on 32 mpg
Davis: 68 on 36 mpg


2013-2014

Kawhi: 66 on 29 mpg
Davis: 67 on 35 mpg


2012-2013

Kawhi: 58 on 31 mpg
Davis: 64 on 29 mpg

[Gladney to see you]

His hand hands are to big to play over 38

[dabom]

Never missed any playoff games. Lmao

[TheGreatYacht]

Never missed any playoff games. Lmao
Missed 2 last year

[dabom]

They should take 50 series off porker if that's the case. Lmao.

[spurraider21]

They should take 50 series off porker if that's the case. Lmao.
parker was one of the worst starters in the NBA last season... why do you keep comparing kawhi to him? you must think really lowly of leonard tbh, shame

[K...]

They should take 50 series off porker if that's the case. Lmao.

What does this mean? Tbh you have a problem with English.

[Mr Bones]

I see the worst poster on spurstalk is still the worst poster on spurstalk. Hadn't checked in a while.

[littlecoyotecoin]

I said he doesn't have a chronic issue. Why? Because he had knee pain, one season, but he didn't have the same issue in college or next NBA seasons.

If a player has a chronic knee issue, therapy can alleviate the pain, but the problem persists, his flexibility and mobility will never be the same. That's not the case with Kawhi.

And, if it is not chronic, it's in part due to the managing of the issue, including his minutes.

[YGWHI]

And, if it is not chronic, it's in part due to the managing of the issue, including his minutes.

Well, if it isn't chronic, he's fully recovered from that injury, and ready to play a few minutes more if it is necessary. I hope Kyle becomes into a good back-up but if it isn't the case, 34 mpg, three minutes more than last season, wouldn't kill Kawhi.