How Kawhi Leonard Has Led The Spurs To An All Time Great Defense

[Neurosis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX4ZKgQywOs

Not news to many of us, but some really great defensive sequences to see.

:toast

GSW offensive juggernaut vs Spurs defensive juggernaut.

[BillMc]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX4ZKgQywOs

Not news to many of us, but some really great defensive sequences to see.

:toast



Cool video. Thanks for posting. :bobo

[random21]

They train their guards to go around screens, while the bigs sink down... Love that..........

[RD2191]

:toast

[Solid D]

They train their guards to go around screens, while the bigs sink down... Love that..........

Not so much with 2-man game of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin...but yeah. Awesome rim protection this season.

[Mr Bones]

:bobo

[bic50]

:tu

[popdagreat]

great find

[Kawhitstorm]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX4ZKgQywOs



LoL @ analytics indicating D-West being a defensive juggernaut :lol

[YGWHI]

Nice video. Thanks!


GSW offensive juggernaut vs Spurs defensive juggernaut.

Well...I still trust in the oldest saying in sports, defense wins championships:flag:

[Neurosis]

The surprise to me was how close the Net Rating was to GSW. I didn't realise we were actually that close to them in our overall level of measurable play. 23-5 and 26-1 seems like a bigger difference than it really is when you factor in at least 3 of our losses have been just awful chokejobs. I could see us being 26-2 if we didn't have some of those awkward runs because we're still working out chemistry.

All things considered I'm loving how we're playing this year. If we lose to a GSW playing at an absolutely historic level I'll be disappointed but there's no shame losing to a great team with a star playing at literally never before seen levels. I'm sure if anyone is going to beat them though, it'll be the Spurs. :flag:

Also on D-West: yes he's undersized for the position we're playing him in but I think the effort he puts in on D does come up in the stats. He's capable of guarding position 3-5. He's more of a true 4 but the things he can contribute on D are still good. It could be also that he's an enforcer type guy and when he's on the floor he just gives the Spurs more grit. So not anything he does in terms of great defensive plays or shot-blocking, but his presence in the lineups makes us better for whatever reason.

[cutewizard]

:bobo

[cutewizard]

:flag:

[cutewizard]

http://bballbreakdown.com/13413/

[Box]

I'm really excited to see how Kawhi Leonard improves over his career and how the Spurs improve with him. I started following his progress as a player the day he was drafted. Read so much great stuff about him, especially his work ethic and defensive skillset. On social media I raved about him, thought he'd become a top 10 SF, DPOY, and All-Star. I'm still shocked he hasn't been an All-Star yet and how he surpassed my expectations of being a top 10 SF -- he's easily a top 10 player, if not top 5. I think the Spurs have benefited so much with his development, they'll both continue to improve too. I'm glad the Spurs are a great defensive team again.

[bic50]

I'm really excited to see how Kawhi Leonard improves over his career and how the Spurs improve with him. I started following his progress as a player the day he was drafted. Read so much great stuff about him, especially his work ethic and defensive skillset. On social media I raved about him, thought he'd become a top 10 SF, DPOY, and All-Star. I'm still shocked he hasn't been an All-Star yet and how he surpassed my expectations of being a top 10 SF -- he's easily a top 10 player, if not top 5. I think the Spurs have benefited so much with his development, they'll both continue to improve too. I'm glad the Spurs are a great defensive team again.

Yeah it been amazing considering how he was only really brought in to play defense and hit corner 3s ala Bruce bowen. Now he has a complete offensive game and is the teams leading scorer with no drop off on defense. It's a real testament to his work ethic and passion to become the best he can possibly be. There are so many players that I've seen throughout the years that had potential but never had the work ethic or desire to put in the work.

[Russo21]

Better than our much loved Bruce Bowen? He shoulda won a DPOY one year, hell so should TD, travesty! Bruce and Kawhi have different defensive techniques, Bruce would piss an individual player off, get under their feet on jumpshots and suffocate him to the point they'd need to see a psychologist after the games, whilst Kawhi just silently wreaks havoc everywhere on the court with his inspector gadget arms and baseball glove hands. I'll go with Kawhi as he is way scarier and more versatile on D (not mentioning offense in this comparison) but Bruce was amazing to. Helped us hold teams to something like 84ppg one year (2004? think there's been rule changes since then though.) Elliott, Bruce, now Kawhi, we've been blessed with some kickass SF's!

[random21]

Not so much with 2-man game of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin...but yeah. Awesome rim protection this season.

Agreed. When the other teams have a guy that can hit that midrange shot, then the Spurs defense is exposed. Example (Blake, A.Davis, Ibaka)

[Mr. Body]

Kashiwa is long enough to contest shots around screens, strong enough to guard the post decently on switches.

Aldridge provides a second shotblocking threat, is mobile enough to hedge picks. No longer can teams bring Duncan out on picks and leave the rim open. He's a great defensive rebounder, too, to end possessions.

West and Diaw are smart and seasoned enough to play great plug-in defense off the bench.

Mills is pesky enough to hound ball handlers. If only we can get McCollum going just in case.

[Mr Bones]

Nice video. Thanks!



Well...I still trust in the oldest saying in sports, defense wins championships:flag:


:toast

[tbdog]

The most productive defensive lineup is the starting lineup but Anderson instead of Leonard. That is weird. Obviously very small time to evaluate. But wtf is with green with a -7?