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i have a feeling kawhi leonard is going to be like a manu and tony type of player.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/s...=5-on-5-110706
ESPN's 5 on 5 segment mentioned Kawhi Leonard in their "Best Newbie for next season" section. 3 out of the 5 picked Leonard:
Jordan Heimer, ClipperBlog: Next season: Kawhi Leonard instantly solves the Spurs' Richard Jefferson problems in two ways -- Leonard is a combo forward the Spurs can use to match up against smaller, quicker lineups, and he provides significant rebounding from the 3 when the Spurs play big.
Career: I know it's hard to (A) give too much credit to a GM for making an obvious move, and (B) give any credit to Timberwolves GM David Kahn, ever. That being said, we will look back at this as the "Derrick Williams" draft.
Beckley Mason, HoopSpeak: Gregg Popovich hates rookies, but I'm thinking Kawhi Leonard has a chance to be an impact player next year for a team coming off a 60-win season. He fills a role that's been missing in San Antonio since Bruce Bowen retired. Don't overthink this: Kyrie Irving is the top talent in this class and should have a long, productive career.
Jonathan Santiago, Cowbell Kingdom: Kawhi Leonard gets my vote for Part 1. His hustling mentality will earn him minutes right off the bat for an aging yet still compe ive Spurs team. But long-term, I like Alec Burks. His scoring ability will translate well to the NBA level. And his spotty defense is just a question of effort, which can be fixed.
i have a feeling kawhi leonard is going to be like a manu and tony type of player.
???????
huh, i was thinking kobe
Barring a trade, I think Leonard will see spot minutes, primarily as a small ball four.
Looking at the wing rotation, the only one they'd like to move is Jefferson. Unfortunately, there's probably a good chance he won't be moved, for obvious reasons. So unless they put Anderson or Neal in a package for a starting PF, or Anderson is a massive disappointment in training camp/preseason, I don't see how Leonard cracks the rotation. Unless they utilize the backup wing minutes based on match-up, at least until or unless one of Anderson or Leonard clearly separates themselves from the other.
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I disagree, I think they will free up minutes for Leonard and Anderson by using Neal at the position he played prior to joining the Spurs, point guard. He showed he's more than capable to bring up the ball on occasion last year and even run the pick and roll fairly well. Having him split the duty with Manu for 12-15 minutes a game is not overwhelming for either player and it will allow the Spurs to field their 9-10 best players on the roster.
Considering the Spurs felt that Leonard was worthy enough to trade away one of the organization's favorite players; I agree with the ESPN article. Leonard will get his minutes and now Richard Jefferson can be on an even shorter leash if need be.
The less minutes that Manu has to play SF the better as well imo.
Spurs would be pretty stupid to not play Leonard because they feel they need a labeled point guard like Earl Watson to play back-up point guard-- which would then move most of Neal's minutes to SG and Anderson's to SF. It's all a domino effect for the PG-SG-SF positions.
If Spurs let Neal run the back-up point for 10-14 minutes a night then more time would free up for Leonard and Anderson at the SF and SG. That is what should happen IMO.
i agree. the spurs saw something they like from this guy. how are you going to trade your best young player?
The issue I see with Neal playing PG is not offensively, it's defensively. Even if he proves adequate at this, what happens when the Spurs inevitably suffer an injury to one of their three primary ball handlers, Parker, Ginobili or Neal? What if two go down at once? Just run the remaining one-two left into the ground? Play Joseph extensively? They need insurance at the point, even if it's someone who doesn't play much.
Ten man rotations are difficult for myriad reasons to begin with, but on this team, it would be especially difficult. Neal would not only have to play PG, but he'd have to do so with two mediocre ball handlers alongside him, in Anderson and Leonard.
Just because they gave up Hill for Leonard, that doesn't necessarily mean he'll play significant minutes next season. This is an organization that had arguably their most celebrated acquisition in 8 years outside of the rotation virtually all of last season, despite paying him in excess of $3 million dollars. They will not feel pressure to play someone for PR reasons or because of optics.
However, Buford did say that, though it would be up to Pop, he would expect that Leonard would be in the rotation next season. Perhaps a clue that a trade is in the offing.
I'm not saying the Spurs should not go after a cheap 3rd point guard (they should and they will), I'm saying when fully healthy, Spurs should use Neal at the back-up PG spot over the presumed low quality minimum point guard--which would give Leonard and Anderson more time.
Not necessarily, if Manu starts, he will come out of the game at the 7-6 minute mark just like he always does, and come back in the game at the 1-2 minute mark to be the primary ball-handler/creator (like he always is) when Parker goes to the bench (which would be with Leonard-SF and Neal-PG).
On the other hand, if Anderson shows significant improvement come training camp, then I can see him potentially starting, giving the Spurs rotation better balance with Manu coming off the bench with Neal and Leonard.
jeeze we're srsly overrating this guy.. why doesnt anyone consider him playing in a weak WAC conference for starters?
Where did GH3 play again?
I guess ESPN, Draft Express and basketball analysts everywhere are also seriously overrating this guy.
As to the earlier point, I don't see why the Spurs would need to fill out a third PG spot. If Gary Neal can indeed play it, then we've already got TP, Neal, Joseph and Quinn to back it up. If both Manu and Tony go down, then you might as well just prepare for a few rocky games and losing some spots in the standings because there's no third string point guards out there who are going to make up for that. I like the roster as is, excluding the disappointment and the great panini.
http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba...till-climbing/
i still get what you're saying bro but hill wasn't as bad as some ppl here make him out to be.. i'll just keep my wit about me and assume the spurs are not done with the backcourt situation because right now parker/joseph/quinn is a severe downgrade..None of that should have come as a surprise to onlookers or opponents, even if it did. Out of high school, Hill was recruited by a handful of big-time Division I programs, including Florida and Indiana. Nonetheless, he elected to stay as close to home as possible so that his family could come see him play and, more specifically, to be near his ailing great-grandfather.
Darko Milicic = the next Sabonis. Michael Olowokandi = the next Patrick Ewing.
Are they seriously overrating the guy... or are they overrating the Spurs ability to draft? Guess we will find out...
Two whiffs in a decade ain't bad.
I don't think he's going to be a star, but he will be very good. I'm thinking something like a young Shawn Marion, minus all of the butt hurt.
IMHO more like a Jordan, Chamberlain, Muhammad Ali type
Even better Pops Mensah-Bonsu type
Muhammad Ali was a of a point guard.
You're talking about Khawi Leonard, correct? And not Chris Singleton? I'm sorry I don't see that comparison at all tbh.
by next season do they mean 2012-13 ?
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