Kawhi Pippen in March

[Malik Hairston]

One thing I've noticed is that he's found another gear in big match ups like Lebron or the upstart Wiggins. Against the PJ Tuckers of the league he is good, but lately against marquee players he has taken it personally and put the team on his shoulders. Bodes well for the playoffs tbh

Yep, which is why I find it strange that some people forget that he's been a great playoff performer for 2 years in a row at the highest level..it's not like he's an unknown commodity and we have to worry about whether his game will translate to the playoffs(which has even been the case for his peers like Jimmy Butler and Klay Thompson, 2 playoff chokers, so far in their careers)..

[therealtruth]

Pippen was a defensive monster. With those long arms he was able to terrorize opposing guards and wings. Pippen also was the proto point-forward and regularly averaged 5+ APG. So Kawhi still has room to grow there.

[Chinook]

Chinook is it about that time to abandon the "green is a better defender than leonard" position?

Eh, Kawhi is having an amazing stretch, but I wouldn't say it's time to make the change. Green's been better in all three post-seasons, and his stretch at the beginning of the season was almost as impressive.

If this is just how Kawhi's gonna be from now on, I'm definitely inclined to give him the nod, though.

[romain.star]

Kawhi isn't a max offensive player, to be fair, I do agree with that, tbh..

Halfcourt Offense: B-
Defense: A+
Rebounding: A for his position

That's sufficient for a max deal, tbh..the offensive grade is excluding his offensive creating ability that stems from his defense, too..

Many of the "franchise player" types are A+ offensive players that are D-level defenders..

Are you insane in the mind? Kawhi will prove you wrong hater.

Shame on you Apamaliklisoc.

[100%duncan]

Eh, Kawhi is having an amazing stretch, but I wouldn't say it's time to make the change. Green's been better in all three post-seasons, and his stretch at the beginning of the season was almost as impressive.

If this is just how Kawhi's gonna be from now on, I'm definitely inclined to give him the nod, though.

Not that I agree with your DG>Kawhi in D, although it's definitely arguable, but just to add that DG's defense has also been really great recently through the win-streak. Also, his defense has been consistent all year. Kawhi's hasn't because of injuries.

[99 Problems]

KAWHI gunna burn down cities.

[Tuddy]

Scary thing is, his handles still aren't that great, which will stop him becoming a dominant half court scorer, but they've improved each year so there's no telling how good he can be.

[SASdynasty!]

22.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 2.6 apg, 2.6 spg, 1.2 bpg, 58% shooting

Parker: 25.8 ppg, 5.4 apg, 3.0 rpg, 1.6 spg, 60% shooting (in those same 5 games)

Kawhi and Tony playing at a very high level

[Cklbmk]

going to be a staple moving forward tbh.

Prediction, Kawhi will be a top 10 MVP candidate next year on most list.

Thats like 1 vote for 3rd place

[Brazil]

When Parker and Kawhi are on offensively Spurs are a machine difficult to stop. Kawhi with another offensive threat so as other said 1A / 1B is a beast because he did not have to force anything and play through the flow of the game.

[dabom]

Kawhi erases mistakes with his defense.

[Johnny RIngo]

Since that pitiful four game losing streak coming out of the all-star break, Spurs have gone 7-1. In those 8 games, Leonard has been the best offensive and defensive player on the team. His numbers over that 8 game stretch:

21 ppg/ 8 rpg/ 2.4 apg/ 1.4 bpg/ 2.8 spg
60.5 TS%

Parker's also been good over those 8 games, though not quite on Kawhi's level(Leonard's impact on defense is immense). TP's numbers during that stretch:

20.6 ppg/ 2.5 rpg/ 5.1 apg/ 1.1 spg
57.6 TS%

[Malik Hairston]

When Parker and Kawhi are on offensively Spurs are a machine difficult to stop. Kawhi with another offensive threat so as other said 1A / 1B is a beast because he did not have to force anything and play through the flow of the game.

Parker and Leonard, of course, but Danny Green's shooting is the barometer for this team IMO..

[Brazil]

Parker and Leonard, of course, but Danny Green's shooting is the barometer for this team IMO..

I'd say the 3 pts shooting is more the barometer than strictly Danny. The 3 pts just give the Spurs more marging but even when struggling from 3s DG and KL on the defensive end will be keep us on the game, we just need a 1a 1b puncher offensively Kawhi / Parker, Kawhi / Manu or Tim etc... to win close games imho

Good thing about DG or KL is that both are consistent on the Defensive end, that's the foundation. Parker nowadays will give you near nothing on the D end but we don't need that to win games so I don't care anymore, a dialed up Parker on offense ease everybody's life tho.

[Brazil]

Since that pitiful four game losing streak coming out of the all-star break, Spurs have gone 7-1. In those 8 games, Leonard has been the best offensive and defensive player on the team. His numbers over that 8 game stretch:

21 ppg/ 8 rpg/ 2.4 apg/ 1.4 bpg/ 2.8 spg
60.5 TS%

Parker's also been good over those 8 games, though not quite on Kawhi's level(Leonard's impact on defense is immense). TP's numbers during that stretch:

20.6 ppg/ 2.5 rpg/ 5.1 apg/ 1.1 spg
57.6 TS%

Parker has been better last 6, he sucked on the road at Sac and phoenix iirc

Only a fool would not recognize that Kawhi is the barometer of the team and barometer is I'm sure pretty happy to see Parker helping offensively

[apalisoc_9]

Anyone who thinks Parker is more valuable than Kawhi in the last 6 games is a friggin Idiot...

[DMC]

If Matty continues to get any minutes at all that's going to be bothersome. Jeff Ayres came in long enough to turn the ball over and get a technical. What a ing bag, how can you be hard on the bench? got.

[hater]

Anyone who thinks Parker is more valuable than Kawhi in the last 6 games is a friggin Idiot...

anyone who says we can win anything without a 100% Parker running the team is a damn moron...

[Cklbmk]

anyone who says we can win anything without a 100% Parker running the team is a damn moron...

Cuz TP was healthy during the Finals... OH WAIT

[hater]

Cuz TP was healthy during the Finals... OH WAIT

which is irrelevant to my post. congratulations moron

[Hoops Czar]

Cuz TP was healthy during the Finals... OH WAIT

I don't see Patty Stockton or Cory "Magic" Johnson walking through the doors so yeah, this team goes as far as MVPParker takes them.

[loveforthegame]

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...age-continues/

Leonard is now averaging an NBA-best 2.19 thefts per game, putting him on pace to become the first Spurs player to lead the league in that category since Alvin Robertson in 1986-87. (Robertson also won the steals le with a team-record 3.67 per game in 1985-86.) Should he maintain his averages, Leonard will also become only the 13th player in NBA history to average at least 2.2 steals and 0.8 blocks per game.

[timtonymanu]

Pay the man.

[Hoops Czar]

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...age-continues/

Yet, when asked about the 5 best spurs defenders of all-time in Spurs history, nobody brings up Alvin Robertson

[LakerHater]