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There are a lot of players who have the tools. JR Smith has the tools, but he'll never be anything. A lot of young players suffer when being overhyped and can't live up to the false expectations.
i am not saying he is going to be a franchise player but this guy has the tools to be a beast if he improves his jump shot and he is only 19 years old.
There are a lot of players who have the tools. JR Smith has the tools, but he'll never be anything. A lot of young players suffer when being overhyped and can't live up to the false expectations.
Dude, he just said that he doesn't think he'll be a franchise-type player. How is saying that he's going to be a good, not all-star but good, player in this league over-hyping? What expectations are false about thinking that he can become one of the hundreds of non-star caliber players in this league? Which is exactly what JR Smith is. JR Smith is an ass but he has talent and he plays his role for his team... they can't all be hall of fame-rs man
I think he will see time. I see the rotation looking like this next year:
PG: Parker starting with Manu, Neal and Johnson backing up
SG: Manu may start, but Neal and Anderson will get the bulk of minutes at the 2.
SF: RJ w/ Leonard backing up w/ Anderson getting spot minutes
The mere fact that Pop is so in love with "small-ball" practically ensures that Leonard will get time. I can see it now. A second quarter frontline of Leonard, Splitter and Bonner. Leonard and Splitter doing the dirty work, while Bonner serves up his usual diet of missed, "clutch" 3's and helpless defense against any opposing player.
Bonner did hit 2 clutch 3's in the last minute of Game 1 in the playoffs. He was clutch city, baby...
....And gave up a layup seconds later.
Yep, I still remember yelling at my TV after that happned....And gave up a layup seconds later.
sup TimDunkem....And gave up a layup seconds later.
Laughing my face off
You think Singleton is a premier rebounder for a "three"? Marion and Leonard sure as are. Marion also didn't shoot well from distance when he got to the NBA, not over 30% until year three, actually.
I'll give you Leonard is the superior rebounder but keep in mind he also played in a significantly weaker division than Singleton.
I am more impressed with Singleton's ability to play above the rim contesting and blocking shots & also his 2+ steals a game than Leonard's ability to pull down 10 boards/gm in a division.
And especially for the spurs & Tim Duncan, a couple extra rebounds per game from the small forward position isn't going to help out much. I'm sure Tim Duncan would much rather get some weakside shotblocking help tbh.
Yeah, we get that you like Singleton better. That still doesn't explain your reaction to my Marion/Leonard comparson. It's not like Marion is a weakside shotblocker, either.
I guess I need to explain everything here...
Marion was a premier shotblocker in college and always averaged over one a game in the nba, and plays well above the rim (LIKE SINGLETON). His help defense from the 3 I thought was critical for the mavs during their championship run. His length and ability to contest shots in and around the paint was key in preventing many of those easy point blank layups that the spurs surrendered repeatedly in their series with the grizzlies. This is what the spurs most needed to address IMO, since Jefferson is slowing down (and never was that type of player to begin with anyway)
Whatever though. I guess you and all the other homers will be fapping yourselves to every stray rebound Leonard pulls down (out of Duncan & Blair's hands most likely). While the spurs paint defense continues to be complete .
Yeah, those Suns teams were airtight on defense. No one ever got a layup on their weakside.
If you think I'm a homer, I think you are the ultimate anti-homer, and that's not a compliment. You think the Spurs are complete , coached badly, and can't make a right move to save their lives. Doesn't that kind of make you a dumb for following them?
Thank you. I'll take it as a compliment, esp coming from a homer like yourself.Yeah, those Suns teams were airtight on defense. No one ever got a layup on their weakside.
If you think I'm a homer, I think you are the ultimate anti-homer, and that's not a compliment. You think the Spurs are complete , coached badly, and can't make a right move to save their lives. Doesn't that kind of make you a dumb for following them?
5 years of watching Pop fellate Bonner and vice versa (with another 3 more to go) tends to make one disgruntled and skeptical about things, especially considering the fact that it was at the cost of watching Tim Duncan finish out his career playing next to an all star caliber talent like Luis Scola. Add to that Pop's coaching continues to get more and more neurotic with each passing year and I think it's quite understandable why there is a growing number of "anti-homers" in this forum.
Last edited by TJastal; 07-09-2011 at 12:44 AM.
Lol, growing number.
Leonard and Singleton are pretty similar players and I like them both. What put Leonard above Singleton when it came to every teams draft board was his extreme work ethic & drive, and overall potential to be a better all around basketball player.. on both sides of the ball.
LMAO.
Singleton will be MUCH better defensively than Leonard can ever dream to be. Taller, stronger, faster, better vertical... it won't even be close.
Offensively it will depend on whether or not Leonard can learn to shoot from distance (where he's likely going to find himself in the spurs' offense), otherwise Singleton will have an edge there as well.
These writers are friggin' hilarious if they think Leonard is going to have the biggest impact of any rookie. On the spurs? Whose offense predicates the small forward setting up a tent in the corner and waiting for a kickout? LMAO.
Leonard is just a bad overall fit for the spurs IMO. Pop has had a great track record of drafting the past decade but this one is going to be a major bust. And considering that they surrendered Hill in order to draft this bust really makes it even more sad.
My guess is if Leonard doesn't learn to shoot an nba 3pt, he'll be riding alot of pine behind Jefferson next year. No chance he will crack the starting lineup. And on the off-chance that he does develop a respectable 3 pt shot, his one strength (rebounding), will be wasted in the spurs' system. Singleton would have been 5X better as a fit. Better transition player, better defensive player (by far), better shooter, ... .
Watching Hill, Manu & Singleton wreck other teams in the transition game would have been just electrifying to watch next year. Singleton would have been phenomenal in that lineup as a high flyer / dunker / finisher taking pass after pass and throwing em down from Manu & Hill on the fast breaks.
Instead we'll get to watch the poodle running more of his patented 1 man fast breaks and occassionally throwing a half-court lob pass to a declining RJ who probably won't even be able to finish them anymore. Can't wait.
IMO Leonard has a much higher ceiling than Singleton, Singleton is a good defender and all but that's pretty much it. Leonard can create his own shot, can rebound much better, he's a solid defender, great work ethic and motor, and he's actually a VERY good passer which Singleton isn't at all, and he can also handle the ball very well. Leonard has really great court vision, he created a lot of shots last year for SDSU.
Leonard has already changed his shot mechanics which used to be pretty horrible. Honestly if his shot were actually just decent he could've easily average over 20 PPG last year. He'd get to the basket at will/post up guys but would wind up missing easy ass jump shots from like 8 feet from the basket.
So in other words you don't really know if he'll ever learn to shoot the ball from 8 feet away (never mind a regulation 24 feet which will be one of his main jobs in the spurs starting lineup).
All you know is he dominated all the scrubs in the pathetic mountain west conference, wonderful. That should translate immediately to the nba.
I'm kind of curious how easy it'll be for him to get his own shot against real nba players and how many rebounds he'll collect standing out on the 3pt line keeping the driving lanes unclogged for the poodle's penetration.
The Spurs wont lose much by giving away Hill especially with Neal already showing he is capable of playing 20 minutes a night in the NBA... and Anderson who has a higher celing than Hill anyway. Plus, Hill had very average lateral quickness meaning he couldnt stay in front of PG's.. and he is too short to defend SG's. People constantly talked about his versatility on D but thats a bunch of BS stemming from the fact he couldnt adequately defend one position.
Hill has plenty of lateral quickness, what he has trouble with is getting through screens. Which is a learning process that takes time, and isn't helped by the fact that the spurs' bigs are all slower than molasses out on the perimeter and can't hedge worth a . Neal has the same exact problem (getting through picks) although it isn't as obvious since Hill always guarded the oppositions's best perimeter players.
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