Sometimes I think people argue with TJastal blindly without even considering his point. I've argued with him in the past, but on this point he's dead on.
Chris Singleton was hands down the best perimeter defender in this draft. Florida State had THE BEST defensive rating in college basketball (http://kenpom.com/stats.php?s=RankAdjDE) in spite of the fact they went up against powerhouse teams like Duke and UNC regularly playing in the ACC. I know SDSU had the 3rd highest defensive rating, but that's not nearly as much of a feat playing in the WAC.
Point being, I'm not sure how TJastal is being an anti-homer at all. Chris Singleton being better than Leonard defensively is something pretty much any draft expert, analyst or college commentator would agree with. Leonard is the better rebounder and is more similar to Marion in that respect, but if the Spurs were trying to find a guy to fill the void they've had since Bowen left, Singleton woulda been better.
Call me crazy: I thought the idea behind the draft was to get the best basketball player available. So maybe Singleton is a 9 on defense and Leonard is an 8.5 or an 8. Scouting reports had Leonard as a pretty good ballhandler and passer, something VERY suited to our system. Maybe Kawhi is a 7.5 on offense and Singleton is a 6, since all he can do is finish in transition and spot up.
Oh, and Kawhi is 19, Singleton 21.
Last edited by ChuckD; 07-09-2011 at 08:25 AM.
"Suited to our system"? What system have you been watching? Passing & rebounding skills from the 3 in the spurs' offense are useless.. Jefferson had all-time career lows in assists, rebounds and free throw totals last season. All of Leonard's supposed "strengths" are going to be useless. And if you think Pop is going to design set plays for a 19 year old when he won't do it for seasoned veteran, then you are way past crazy.
Skills that would have actually been useful in the spurs' system would have been perimeter defense, 3pt shooting, & finishing off transition dunks, which are all Singleton's strengths.
Not to mention Singleton would provide some added rim protection and shotblocking, something the spurs are in desperately short supply of in the worst way esp if both Bonner & Blair figure to be part of the rotation.
So, because Jefferson sucks and is limited on offense, you want that to continue with Singleton. Got it. You want Singleton, the black Bonner on offense, to park on the perimeter. Got it. That stationary perimeter worked real well from 2000-2003.
Passing and ball handling also don't require set plays to be an asset. In case you haven't been watching since, oh, 2003, the Spurs run a motion offense. That requires a lot of read and react.
Jefferson is still parked out on the perimeter 90% of the time in the spurs' "motion" offense. It won't be any different for Leonard. When the poodle penetrates, somebody has to be out there on the perimeter to open up the lanes and also help prevent easy transition fast breaks for the opposition. Same with Manu. You may fancy the idea that Leonard is going to be getting all these opportunities to show off his fancy passing & rebounding skills, but in reality it's not going to happen.
Why don't we let the guy play before we claim someone is better or worse than him ? The boy is really young. He has a lot of time to develop his game.
Some guys here are so negative it's sad. Sometimes it looks like they just want the guy to suck just to prove their points. It's pretty pathetic.
Any one else tired of lurking on here, only to see countless dumb rants and raves by TJastal?
Should change the name to this site to TJastal-talk. Seriously.
There was a time when he at least couldn't start threads
He seriously has no life.There was a time when he at least couldn't start threads
It's pretty sad..tbh
Bookmarked for when Singleton doesn't do in the NBA.
How do all you dip Spurs fans even put up with this dip TJastal. Is this pendejo for real?
Nuh uh, don't try moving the goalposts. This argument was about the better defender/rebounder, not best basketball player.
http://www.nbadraft.net/players/chris-singleton
http://www.nbadraft.net/players/kawhi-leonard
Chris Singleton defensive rating: 10
Kawhi Leonard defensive rating: 7
A lot have said Chris Singleton has elite defensive talent. Yeah, the report on Leonard is he's a good defender, but you didn't hear anything predraft about Leonard being an elite lock down defender down the road.
I'd even say you're being very kind to Singleton by giving him a 6 offensively. He'll be an offensive liability until (assuming he ever does) develop a consistent shot defenses need to respect. He'll never be a threat off the dribble/in the post. Leonard is undoubtedly much better than Singleton with the ball in his hands, but he's not good enough where he'll be taking the ball out of Parker and Manu's hands.
I'd say Kawhi is the better overall basketball player, but IMO Singleton can have more of an impact without touching the ball.
This would be relevant if we're talking 5 years down the road. Since the Spurs' primary goal for the near future is putting a better supporting cast around the big 3 so they can contend again, it really doesn't matter that Kawhi is younger. If anything, it means he's gonna need more time, time Duncan and Manu don't have.
All this speculation is well and good, but nobody really knows what this guy will pan out to be. The ones who have the best idea, though, is probably the Spurs scouting team.
IIRC, the Spurs have never traded a player to move up in the draft like that. Something about Leonard showed them enough promise to part with a good (if not slightly redundant) player in Hill. I'm curious to see exactly what that was.
, I'm just glad to see some activity for once.
TJastal usually comes across pretty hot-headed in my opinion, but I think some of his opinions have been pretty good lately.
Eh, he's never seen either play.
Actually, the thread is about an article predicting impact rookies, not impact defenders. I didn't move the goalposts, Mr. I hate Kawhi did.
The reality is we don't know which players will be good, so both sides could be right. But I'd go with Kawhi based on, in general he's more liked by scouts (nbadraft.net, ESPN top 100 and DX top 100 rank him higher), stat methods like him(Hollingers predictor, Wages of Wins stuff) and I'm inclined to believe that consensus. I'd say that long term, there's a 75% chance that Leonard is the better player, and that's probably the best we can get. Singleton may end up playing more with the Wizards than Kawhi does with us, and I'd guess he'll score more than Kawhi does as a result, but on a per minute basis, I'd guess that Kawhi will be better.
let him start
then rookie team vs sopho
leonard vs neal, splitter, anderson...
Leonard vs Singleton? Leonard is the better player. His superior rebounding, offence and potential for improvement alone make this an easy choice for me...
So where was your whiny ass when dumbasses were starting threads claiming Leonard to be the next Lebron, Gerald Wallace, Shawn Marion, Bruce Bowen, etc etc etc?
Ahh, right you were probably singing the praises right along with the choir. Friggin' hypocrite.
I bet you didn't like JJ Barea before this season and now you're riding his pene like un perro está en celo, verdad?
Good point at the end there. I'm also assuming the spurs are going to try to contend again next year, and not throw in the towel and start rebuilding. Why would you take a friggin 19 year old? It makes no sense.
Singleton is bigger (6'9"), stronger, faster... he can easily play either SF or PF in nba while Leonard will struggle in that role IMO. He has mad hops and runs the floor extremely well and will be one of the best trailers/finishers in the nba, especially with John Wall pushing the pace and dropping off passes for him to throw down.
I believe Singleton will pay immediate dividends (especially on the defensive end) while Leonard will be a work in progress for many years. Just another kick in the teeth for Tim Duncan (courtesy Pop/FO).
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