LETS TALK Kawhi Leonard

[Buddy Holly]

I think that's a pipe dream but if he turned out to be a Gerald Wallace type of player he would be EXACTLY what we need.

He could be better, we don't know. Let the season start before we pronounce him whatever he is.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

No, he keeps rookies on the bench. Parker's the only one who got thrown into the fire since Duncan. He sat Hill until JJ Barea was gutting the Spurs in the playoffs, he started Bonner (and Finley?) over Blair his rookie year, and Manu sprained his ankle and didn't get into the lineup until the playoffs.

Unless you are really good at which point he starts them because thats what he has done in the past. He certainly won't be buried on the bench. This notion that Pop never starts rookies is flat false. If he is appreciably better than alternative he will start.

Leonard is going to get plenty of playing time to audition because with the contracted season schedule we are going to need his legs.

And Blair didn't start because he wasn't very good. His defense is awful. Bottom tier of the entire league awful.

[Buddy Holly]

People saying he's gonna start must of forgotten this is a Gregg Popovich team.

The same Popovich that made a rookie the starter three games into the season at a position filled by an incompetent player? That Popovich?

[Spur|n|Austin]

before his foot injury james anderson averaged nearly 18 minutes per game ...

- although he is a sg and the spurs were deep at that position
- because he could also play a litle sf

spurs are now 1 sg short without g. Hill, so i expect anderson to get these minutes. Neal keeps his minutes, but may have to take over some pg duties. Having said this i see no problem in leonard playing 20 minutes behind rj at the sf. Pop plays talented rookies ... The spurs just did not have many top 20 picks.

this

[The Truth #6]

The same Popovich that made a rookie the starter three games into the season at a position filled by an incompetent player? That Popovich?

So...you think Leonard will play a lot of minutes?

[Muser]

The same Popovich that made a rookie the starter three games into the season at a position filled by an incompetent player? That Popovich?

Because he could shoot the 3 at an amazing %, and being able to shoot the 3 is like pop's wet dream.

[AFBlue]

Here's how I see it playing out...Leonard gets few opportunities early, but impresses. He gets more opportunity as the season progresses, but he eventually hits a wall (like all rookies do) and Pop reverts to benching him come playoff time.

[Nathan89]

Going on record with K. Leonard is going to be very similar to Luol Deng.

[Obstructed_View]

Unless you are really good at which point he starts them because thats what he has done in the past.

He's done it twice, and that's only if you count Tim Duncan. That's ever.

He certainly won't be buried on the bench. This notion that Pop never starts rookies is flat false. If he is appreciably better than alternative he will start.

See the above. For a long time, Manu wasn't even starting, and he was the best player on the entire team.

Leonard is going to get plenty of playing time to audition because with the contracted season schedule we are going to need his legs.

If only logic played any part in that, we could all agree with you. Logically we all thought Splitter would at least start a single game next to Duncan. Instead they played about the fewest minutes together of any two players on the Spurs. Until the playoffs when they were getting throat ed by the Grizzlies, that is.

And Blair didn't start because he wasn't very good. His defense is awful. Bottom tier of the entire league awful.

Except that Blair started the first 65 games of the season with his bottom of the league awful defense. Poof.

[ElNono]

Manu sprained his ankle and didn't get into the lineup until the playoffs.

Uh? No. Manu played 69 games his first season, starting on 5. He did miss some games early on due to the sprain in his ankle during the Worlds.

His debut was on Oct 29, 2002 against LA.

[Obstructed_View]

Uh? No. Manu played 69 games his first season, starting on 5. He did miss some games early on due to the sprain in his ankle during the Worlds.

His debut was on Oct 29, 2002 against LA.

Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking. You are correct. He aggravated the ankle early on and didn't really get into the rotation until January, but that's way before the playoffs. He started right away too, which sort of shoots down a point I made above.

[ElNono]

Welcome back

[Obstructed_View]

Welcome back

Shakin' off the rust. It's preseason for all of us.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

He's done it twice, and that's only if you count Tim Duncan. That's ever.



See the above. For a long time, Manu wasn't even starting, and he was the best player on the entire team.


If only logic played any part in that, we could all agree with you. Logically we all thought Splitter would at least start a single game next to Duncan. Instead they played about the fewest minutes together of any two players on the Spurs. Until the playoffs when they were getting throat ed by the Grizzlies, that is.


Except that Blair started the first 65 games of the season with his bottom of the league awful defense. Poof.

Splitter didn't play because he missed all of training camp and well into the season with injuries. He was out for months. When he came back and was out there it was obvious he could do pick and roll and literally nothing else.

He had not practiced with the team and it showed.

Blair started because the alternatives were McDyess who wanted to come off the bench and Bonner. Only when he he had eaten too many #5's and seemed to lose interest in paying attention to his rotations did he go to the pine. He also played significant minutes his rookie season.

i am not saying Kawhi will start but if he is good to go he will try and develop him as he puts stuff in. If he gets hurt and is out two or more months then he is going to have a big issue catching up. If he sucks then he just sucks.

If he can play though then Pop will put him out there.

[Fireball]

Splitter didn't play because he missed all of training camp and well into the season with injuries. He was out for months. When he came back and was out there it was obvious he could do pick and roll and literally nothing else.

He had not practiced with the team and it showed.

You are right about missing training camp and that was the main issue. But Splitter was not out for months. He started playing in the 3rd regular season game. As Blair started to eat too much cheeseburgers I think Tiago had another small muscle injury in the second half of the season. That might have been the final straw why he never got over the hump ...

[Obstructed_View]

Yeah, Splitter simply wasn't hurt as much as people like to think. He'd get 2 minutes of garbage time in one game, 14 minutes the next and then not play for the next several days.

[Fireball]

He'd get 2 minutes of garbage time in one game, 14 minutes the next and then not play for the next several days.

Which did not help him regarding his fitness. You could see him nearly grasping for air when he was on the court for extended minutes. And that led to some mistakes on the defensive end or prevented him from finishing otherwise easy buckety ... so I have hope he will be a linchpin this year playing at least 25 minutes per game.

[therealtruth]

I think all that matters is that Pop have the right mindset. He's got to be serious about getting better defensively. The team didn't play the best defense it could have last season. If Pop makes playing defense a must for getting playing time it will force everyone to play better defense and keep Bonner of the court since he can't even if he tries. I missed being able to see the Spurs lock down opponents.

[Fireball]

I missed being able to see the Spurs lock down opponents.

From last season I can only remember two games in which they played such a great "swarming" defense - I think it was once against the Hornets (resulting in a big turnaround victory) and once against the Thunder. I really enjoyed that and couldn't quite understand why they were not able to duplicate it against even lesser opponents ...

[Buddy Holly]

Because he could shoot the 3 at an amazing %, and being able to shoot the 3 is like pop's wet dream.

Tony to this day has never been able to shoot the 3 at an amazing percentage. I think you're guessing the wrong player.

Pop replaced Antonio Daniels three games into the season with a 19 year old rookie, Tony Parker.

If he's done it once, what's not to say he won't do it again with Leonard and Jefferson.

[wildbill2u]

is he better than Anderson?

Depends upon what you want from a player. Anderson was primarily a scorer in college, looking for big stats. He's athletic so he can be taught to play more defense--but let's face it, most scorers have concentrated all through their careers on their offense and defense took a back seat. Anderson will have to learn to play defense to get a lot more time in the rotation. I hope he 'gets it.'

Leonard on the other hand, like Bowen and some few NBA players, has always been known as a hard-nosed defender and rebounder. On a team like theSpurs with a need for a defensive stopper, he may fit into Pop's rotation quicker than the average rookie. Learning the Spurs defensive system may be difficult--more so for the scorer type-- and some never 'get it" because they've never put much effort into that phase of the game.

However players who WANT to play defense, have always concerntrated on the defensive side of the game, and pride themselves on it can probably pick the system up quicker.

Also an athlete with Leonard's attributes--long arms, big hands, relentless pressure--can often make up for mental errors he makes in system rotations.

Between the two, I think Leonard fills a bigger hole in the Spurs overall needs than Anderson and may get more time on court.

[Mel_13]

Depends upon what you want from a player. Anderson was primarily a scorer in college, looking for big stats. He's athletic so he can be taught to play more defense--but let's face it, most scorers have concentrated all through their careers on their offense and defense took a back seat. Anderson will have to learn to play defense to get a lot more time in the rotation. I hope he 'gets it.'

Leonard on the other hand, like Bowen and some few NBA players, has always been known as a hard-nosed defender and rebounder. On a team like theSpurs with a need for a defensive stopper, he may fit into Pop's rotation quicker than the average rookie. Learning the Spurs defensive system may be difficult--more so for the scorer type-- and some never 'get it" because they've never put much effort into that phase of the game.

However players who WANT to play defense, have always concerntrated on the defensive side of the game, and pride themselves on it can probably pick the system up quicker.

Also an athlete with Leonard's attributes--long arms, big hands, relentless pressure--can often make up for mental errors he makes in system rotations.

Between the two, I think Leonard fills a bigger hole in the Spurs overall needs than Anderson and may get more time on court.

Very good post.

To the advantages you see for Leonard, I would add that he has legitimate size for an NBA SF. When RJ rested last year, the Spurs went to a 3 guard set by default as all the players who got minutes behind RJ were SGs (Manu, Neal, Anderson).

With Hill's departure, Manu and Neal will both likely get some minutes at PG. That leaves an even bigger hole at reserve SF than last year. That's good for Leonard.

[superbigtime]

Here's how I see it playing out...Leonard gets few opportunities early, but impresses. He gets more opportunity as the season progresses, but he eventually hits a wall (like all rookies do) and Pop reverts to benching him come playoff time.

...and then finally plays him and guy has an awesome game but it's too damn late as usual and we're all left wondering 'what if.'

[analyzed]

This is stating the obvious : the spurs have given up on RJ. Yeah we might not use the amnesty on him this year but it's obvious he's not part of the equation either long term or this season.

Which puts the presure on Leonard , its not far fetch to say that unless he can someone put himsleft in the roolkie of the year conversation, we're not competing for west this year

[Agloco]

Leonard should be a solid contributor by the end of the season provided Popovich doesn't try to play him out of position too much (read: as a small ball 4 or 5).