Seems like his offense gets all the attention. Don't get me wrong, I'm really excited about his offensive potential too but I'm probably just as excited (if not more) about his defense. I'm seeing all-defense type stuff out there. His quickness allows him to cover so much ground and to get back into plays even when a defender gets a step on him. The way he and White were able to seamlessly switch on some possessions was beautiful to watch. Night and day from Belli.
Last edited by FkLA; 01-09-2020 at 10:00 AM.
Last edited by FkLA; 01-09-2020 at 10:05 AM.
Last edited by FkLA; 01-09-2020 at 10:06 AM.
He's nowhere near ready to replace Forbes as a starter.
Will one day be widely considered the best two-way player in the league, imo.
Just have to hope his knees hold up with how fast he's moving and how high he's jumping.
Is able to offer help in paint and still recover to 3pt line to contest shots. This ability alone has transformed the spurs defense.
Soon he’ll be shutting down entire sides of the floor like Kawhitter did.
Not to mention Spurs can switch on anyone and still putting a good body, most notably Lonnie on the Greek Freak.
Fixed the broken gif links. Focus on Lonnie the whole defensive possession. All-defense level defender.
prayingdog.gif for his knees and that he has a nice uncle
He has a dad that's not dead, so any uncle would be irrelevant.
Kawhi 2.0 with even faster feet and a higher vertical I think. He hone that defense, bad news coming for Harden. I think Lonnie should also be able to cover Kawhi. Lyle also has the potential to become an excellent defender with his mobile legs and length. If so, Spurs would have cover from 1 thru 5.
His recovery is tremendous, hes quick at changing direction which is huge with rotations and switching. He will be finishing plenty of games this year. I'm glad the tide is finally changing with Pop as far as playing time for Walker. Took long enough.
Just pray for his knees to hold up for a very long time.
The best part about his defense is how much it has improved over the course of the season. When he started getting minutes the first few games, he would often look lost on defensive sets, making bad plays and leaving his man wide open. At his worst, being passive on D, standing around ball-watching, and even hiding from defensive assignments, like that game against the Clippers.
But he's turned it around in less than 40 games, and is now a very solid defensive player. Some of the readings on the above gifs are very impressive, especially for a player so young, when usually they take a season or two to learn how to contribute defensively. The fact that he's ALSO got a complete offensive game with solid footwork and a solid jumper is insane. The sky and his own health are the only limits for Lonnie, definitely our most exciting prospects. Pop starting Forbes over him at this point is either a motivational tool (seems to be working so far) or a joke.
Players at any level notice when there are really athletic people on the court. It's in the back of your mind and always in your peripheral sight that they are there and looming. It's definitely Lonnie but not just Lonnie. I think people notice that DJ is long and lightning quick. They've also noticed too many times now that that White guy is sneaky athletic and has great timing. These teams pay attention and it's paying off for us now. The league is also seeing Jakob is no ordinary white boy center. That dude will block your if you're not careful.
Unfortunately they are also keenly aware when Forbes in on the court.
At that time it'll only be more laughable that the worst defensive player in league started over him.
I would go to town if I saw a coach was stupid enough to play two midgets and a fifty-year-old Italian against me while benching his star player.Unfortunately they are also keenly aware when Forbes in on the court.
People like to on the Spurs lately but they’ve done an amazing job developing Lonnie’s defense. He didn’t show anything close to this last year in Austin and as far as I know neither did he in college. He was drafted as a slasher.
He’s playing like a possessed man right now especially defensively. If he can keep this up consistently he’s going to be a genuine two-way terror. Really high upside.
Great post OP
Lonnie's athleticism display in these actions shows how much he improves the team's defense compared to the Forbes, Belinellis, etc.
It's about time he is inserted in the starting five. He's doing what he has to do and I'm sure coaches are noticing. I think Popovich is just trying to not skip steps with him so he jumps from the D-league to the high class in the team too fast. It has worked well with him so far, I keep trusting Pop on Walker's developement.
Limiting his minutes is probably helping on Lonnie being 100% focused any second he's on the court. It'll worth it if he developes those good habits. I don't think "preseason Walker" would had progressed this fast playing 15' from the first game of the season. If Walker's importance and participation continue growing during the season, then I'll give a lot of credit to Popovich and his staff. I expect Lonnie to end up the season playing 20' or more every game.
This is correct. His defense was atrocious last season. And uninspired, as you say even when he was where he was supposed to be.
Now I'm not happy Pop delayed him quite as long into the season as he did, there can be no doubt that coaching and slow playing him to start off this season, greatly impacted his motivational level this year.
It's night and day, and still not as good as he could be.
I've been critical of Pop's rotations this year, but he certainly ought to get credit for the Lonnie we are seeing today. It's only up from here.
I like him, White, an Patty off the bench. They're the spark an if he played with DeMar more an LaMarcus, he'd get lost in the offense.
I think bringing him off the bench makes it easier for him to score than when he's starting. He'd start to defend and shoot open 3s, but he can do a lot more offensively if he comes off the bench. Pop just gotta play him more minutes
It's funny all these posters overthinking it, trying to make sense out of nonsense.
It's not a hard formula: PLAY THE MAN! START THE MAN!
FFS
He's doing great
...
Not
I would be worried if I saw eye to eye with the village idiot, tbh.
He consistently gets outplayed by forbes. Sorry you always wrong
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