Aldridge

[UZER]

He's has been ok on the defensive end, for the must part. What the happened to his offense?

I defended the guy earlier in the season saying they don't really go to him, or they don't let him get in a rhythm offensively, but WTH!?

The guy really looks like he's completely forgotten how to score in the NBA. Those fadeaways from 18ft are lazy and show lack of confidence. When he gets the ball on the block against smaller guys, there in no excuse to be shooting fadeaways.

[DesignatedT]

He's not much offensively when his jumper is gone. I assume he's pretty much always been that type of player, but his shot seems to be a lot less consistent compared to when he was in Portland. Although I admittedly didn't watch a ton of him before he came here. I continue to be impressed though with his play defensively and on the glass, as well as, his willingness to do the "dirty work". The perception when he signed was he was not that type of player but he's shown that he's willing to do whatevers asked to win. Wish he hit that jumper more consistently, but it's hard for me to complain too much.

[Chinook]

A DesignatedT sighting?

[benefactor]

A DesignatedT sighting?

lol aggy

[MultiTroll]

Additional huge problem is when he is doing his 15 foot turnaround, ball movement usually completely stops as he has to do some dribbling then that doe-sy-doe stepping before he shoots. Thus opponent is in excellent position to get defensive rebound if he misses and beat the Spurs up court in transition. Or at least get a good jump start in transition.
Same thing with a lot of Pau set ups prior to shooting.

Just seems to kill ball movement. It's great in certain situations but to have it as a bread and butter play -very outdated.

[Dingle Barry]

He's a pussy. Been watching him since his UT days.

[bklynspursfan]

Saving his best for the playoffs... At least I hope lol

Def happy with his defense though.

[BillMc]

Guy's still our second best player even with the shooting slump. D has been tremendous. It can't be easy to go from the MAN in Portland to being a second banana when you're still in your prime. Props to him and his effort.

If he can dominate Draymond, Spurs may very well be NBA champions this year.

[coachmac87]

Kawhi Leonard's growth tbh.

He was brought here with the expectation that the Spurs were gonna be his team and Timmy would be passing him the torch. PATFO had those expectations as well and not only pitched it to him but believed it. Every new Spur takes time fitting in and finding themselves. But Kawhi made a jump in his game and threw a monke wrench in the whole deal and exceeded everyone's expectations. Kawhi regressed some in the playoffs last year..But LMA showed up and played his best ball...

Kawhi took even another step up in his game this year..he's DEMAMDED more on the offensive end..which will take away from LMA. LMA is a shooter...he can be one of the best in the league when he's on but as we've seen can be really disappointing. He's admitted himself he's accepted playing a "role" I believe he's referring to the offensive end when it comes to that statement..he's been asked to do less this year they're not forcing him into the system and trying to figure out his fit. He's a pick and pop big with a post up every 3-4 possessions these days and really is just taking what the defenses give him.


I do think his game will pick up in the PO though..he will get more touches once teams really focus on Kawhi and I also think we could see some PNR with Kawhi-LMA which would generate a lot of easy rhythm looks on the 'pop'. I'm not too worried about LMA because he's playing better defensively and Pau can help the offensive load as well..something the Spurs didn't have last year

[dabom]

Bill spitting some mad truth. And LMA shown with his whole capacity to not be a diva. I don't know where that came from.

[UZER]

I appreciate his D. But Kawhi is going to need help offensively in the playoffs. Shooting slumps are not an excuse from a big man that's the second best player in the team. He's got to find a way to be a threat on offense.

I hope he steps up when it counts.

[cd98]

Is this bc he got blocked by Vince Carter's corpse?

[ginobilized]

Overall, it looks to me that LA is turning into a Spur. He's starting to get locked-in defensively,
playing unselfishly on offense and getting out of the way of the 2nd coming of MJ. He's also missing
clutch free-throws. Truly Spursian.
His intensity and focus are there and that counts for something from him. He can score a lot and have little
impact on the games. I love seeing him scrapping, running the floor and finally in shape. It is to
his credit that he is deferring to Kawhi lately. It benefits everyone. He'll still have his scoring nights,
especially with TP on the court.

[SAGirl]

Still hope he improves offensively and that this is not the decline of his prime.

[kaji157]

I think he has embraced the role pop has given him to much. It's still a great compliment that he did. But as Manu said in some interview, with pop you have to fight your way out of the role that has been given fulfilling it and showing you can do even more. He seems to be struggling with the second part but is showing signs that he is in good path.
In the past he shown he can be a scorer on this team, this season he is clearly more locked in defensively, i think in the playoffs he will be a different player offensively again. Because his learning curve defensively will be over and finally embrace being a two way player.

[BatManu20]

Guy's still our second best player even with the shooting slump. D has been tremendous. It can't be easy to go from the MAN in Portland to being a second banana when you're still in your prime. Props to him and his effort.

If he can dominate Draymond, Spurs may very well be NBA champions this year.

Good , Billy.

[HarlemHeat37]

He's an all-NBA caliber defender, at this point..should seriously receive consideration for one of the 2 teams, but he won't, since he doesn't have the reputation(which is what those awards are based on, usually) of a top-tier defensive player..

It's disappointing that he isn't being aggressive on offense, though..I understand playing team basketball, but when he has size advantages and mismatches in the post(which happened several times, last night), he needs to look to score..Spurs need a star far more than they need another role player..

[TheGreatYacht]

All his shots should come from P&P or putbacks, tbh...

Aldridge postups and especially those fadeaways are terrible

[Nathan89]

If Aldridge dominates Draymond then Draymond should be taken out of the DPOY conversation tbh. The dude doesn't even dominate Ariza.

[Chews]

I wonder... the same way Kawhi had exerted his energy on D, prior to this season, left his offense struggling may be happening to LMA. The guy has been great, imo, on defense on the block. I've started to shift my expectations for him and as long as he can keep up the dirty work, getting boards and playing solid post defense, I'll be happy. I think a lot of people are wanting the 20+ppg LMA and the defense being extra... maybe Pop told him he would rather him be a defensive stopper of sorts and that is what LMA has been focused on?

[TD 21]

Guy's still our second best player even with the shooting slump. D has been tremendous. It can't be easy to go from the MAN in Portland to being a second banana when you're still in your prime. Props to him and his effort.

If he can dominate Draymond, Spurs may very well be NBA champions this year.

He's got to dominate Capela and Anderson first or they're probably not getting out of the WCSF.

On the plus side, he seems energized lately, like he's come to grips with "doing the little things" and not letting his offense dictate his energy level. On the negative side, he looks like he's lost confidence in his ability to create his own shot and is content to be a role player. Hopefully Parker stays on him about them needing him to be a star to go on a run.

I don't foresee an in between with him in the playoffs. Either he experiences serious progression to the mean, a la Green last season and resembles the top 15 player he was, which probably gets this team to the WCF and gives the Warriors a somewhat compe ive series or he continues to be whatever he is now, which probably gets this team a narrow loss to the Rockets in the WCSF.

[spurs10]

Guy's still our second best player even with the shooting slump. D has been tremendous. It can't be easy to go from the MAN in Portland to being a second banana when you're still in your prime. Props to him and his effort.

If he can dominate Draymond, Spurs may very well be NBA champions this year.

This and it echoes what Pop said about Kawhi. It's that defensive effort that goes missed by most unknowing fans. 'I wanna home run and a 3!!' Great post!

[Chris]

I'm convinced he's coasting as well. Sean mentioned something last game about wanting to see him post up more. We saw this pay off big time in last years playoffs. He needs to take it inside more and the the midrange game will come naturally. Right now he's going outside-in which is an effective strategy for a guard not a forward imo