Was Aldridge worth it, tbh?

[midnightpulp]

i'm not suggesting he should exclusively sit in the corner ... but his 3 point shooting is absolutely a weapon that we should be taking advantage of.

you cant just give him the ball at the elbow every single trip down the floor and say "go"

That's what his fanboys want. And while it might be best for his numbers and their fantasy teams, it'll destroy the overall offense.

[midnightpulp]

If that's what helps him develops the ability to go into Oracle and drop 40, then sure, why not. You can't be that dude until you've gone out and done it. Some guys do it naturally, some guys have to learn how to carry that load. Kawhi needs to learn and what better time than scrub time. And of course is not the same level D he'll be facing in the playoffs, but he'll have that much more confidence because he HAS done it. He'll might learn which situations to conserve his energy on on defense to help his legs on offense instead of going 100 everytime on D. MJ did.

Is like developing a boxer. You gotta let him beat up on scrubs to develope his skills and confidence so when he gets to the better fighters, he's ready.

But then we'd all want Pop's head on a pike if Kawhi got injured padding in garbage time.

Like it or not, his offensive development is going to have to progress slower than other elite players since Kawhi is playing for a contending team, meaning he won't get to pad on ty teams and have the free reign to develop like Durant, Curry, and Lebron did.

[midnightpulp]

Nah. Next season, we'll bench him to reserve his energy...21-23mpg in the season.


Per 36 minutes. He's averaging 22 ppg per 36 minutes but you say he can't average more than 18-20 ppg on a contender...it's confused.

Kawhi's per 36 minutes stats apply to his FGA but not his PPG?

I never spoke definitively on claiming he can't be an elite scorer on a contender, just that I have some doubts.

I bought into him being an elite scorer in the first half of the Clippers series. He regressed over the next 3 games. I bought into him being an elite scorer a few times this season. And he's regressed again. Again, I can sit on here all night and post screen caps of Kawhi getting the ball in one-on-one isolation situations that are purposely created for him (just watch the movement of the offense and how they run to specific spots to create spacing for him), and he gives the ball up.

It's him parking himself as much as you think Pop is parking him. And I don't have a clue in why Kawhi just doesn't attack in those spots. A confidence thing? A wanting to play team ball thing? You soon forget that Pop needed to instruct him to be aggressive against Miami in the 2014 run, telling him to Tony, Tim, and Manu, go get yours.

[YGWHI]

I never spoke definitively on claiming he can't be an elite scorer on a contender, just that I have some doubts.

I bought into him being an elite scorer in the first half of the Clippers series. He regressed over the next 3 games. I bought into him being an elite scorer a few times this season. And he's regressed again.

It's funny. You say we've been blowing teams out...that's why Kawhi played less and took less shots blah blah blah so he scored less points blah blah... But now he's regressed?

Again, I can sit on here all night and post screen caps of Kawhi getting the ball in one-on-one isolation situations that are purposely created for him (just watch the movement of the offense and how they run to specific spots to create spacing for him), and he gives the ball up.

Not sure. The Spurs rarely clear out for Kawhi so we don't watch many of those situations in a game.

It's him parking himself as much as you think Pop is parking him.

And again. The most plays Kawhi's behind the 3 point line, the Spurs are running pick and rolls...they can help a lot to develop his game if he's involved in those situations instead of parking him.

[midnightpulp]

It's funny. You say we've been blowing teams out...that's why Kawhi played less and took less shots blah blah blah so he scored less points blah blah... But now he's regressed?

Before the last two games, he had 7 straight games in which shot below 50%. Yes, it could be the blow out factor that doesn't let him put together a big scoring stretch, but I'm just not seeing the confidence.

Not sure. The Spurs rarely clear out for Kawhi so we don't watch many of those situations in a game.

Well, you don't want to abuse iso situations like that, we're not in the 90's, but Kawhi will pass up 2 or 3 situations like that every game when they do get him one-on-one.

And again. The most plays Kawhi's behind the 3 point line, the Spurs are running pick and rolls...they can help a lot to develop his game if he's involved in those situations instead of parking him.

He's a great 3 point shooter. Why wouldn't you want him behind the 3 point line in a lot of sets? It creates spacing for the team and for himself when he gets the pass (a lot of those driving lanes he has that I speak of are in fact created by Kawhi being a threat from 3).

I still don't see the issue.

- He gets a fair amount of front court touches.
- He's at 15.8 FGA per 36 minutes
- His FT rate is climbing
- In Dec., I think he averaged the most assists he ever has in his career
- This month, he's averaging about 2.0 TO, meaning he is handling the ball some

All this points to him being engaged in the offense.

I get it, you want him force-fed in the post Kobe-style. Isn't going to happen.

[gilmor]

This is a fair question..

Do you think Kawhi can average 35-40 points a game? Given Spurs will give him as many touches as possible..

[ceperez]

Just because Parker and Manu are driving doesn't mean Kawhi can't.

And yes, his ballhandling isn't good enough, which is the point I was implying all throughout this thread. You can't be an elite scoring wing these days without being a good ball-handler. So what's left? Turning Kawhi into Kobe Bryant. Heavy isolation in the post and mid range jumpshooting. A style of play that won't work today (it might work for Kawhi's individual numbers, so I understand why his fanboys clamor for it).

I agree here about the importance of ballhandling. Kawhi still needs to work on his ballhandling.

Kawhi could be the focal point of offense like how the Bulls have morphed their game around Jimmy Butler. GSW also plays that kind of game with Green playing as point. It is a different kind of game compared to the more traditional PG leading the attack.

[ceperez]

I never spoke definitively on claiming he can't be an elite scorer on a contender, just that I have some doubts.

I bought into him being an elite scorer in the first half of the Clippers series. He regressed over the next 3 games. I bought into him being an elite scorer a few times this season. And he's regressed again. Again, I can sit on here all night and post screen caps of Kawhi getting the ball in one-on-one isolation situations that are purposely created for him (just watch the movement of the offense and how they run to specific spots to create spacing for him), and he gives the ball up.

It's him parking himself as much as you think Pop is parking him. And I don't have a clue in why Kawhi just doesn't attack in those spots. A confidence thing? A wanting to play team ball thing? You soon forget that Pop needed to instruct him to be aggressive against Miami in the 2014 run, telling him to Tony, Tim, and Manu, go get yours.

I agree with your take that he still needs to work on his offensive game.

In terms of skill and mobility, he's at least at the level of Jimmy Butler and we've seen how Butler has played when the Bulls has forced fed the offense around him. I don't doubt that he can score a decent amount of points and maybe the Spurs should have some experimental games to see how well this works out.

[dabom]

[Mnky]

I heard but he need to step up his game. He's like torn achilles Kobe. Sad to watch really...

You're the only one who agrees your takes are good.

[Kawhitstorm]

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 25 points with 10 rebounds and five assists while playing only 29:40. No other NBA player has had a 25/10/5 (points/rebounds/assists) game while playing fewer than 30 minutes either this season or last; the previous instance was by Blake Griffin on February 9, 2014 (26 points, 11 rebounds, six assists in 24:52 against the 76ers).

[elemento]

Still worth tbh.

[BatManu20]

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 25 points with 10 rebounds and five assists while playing only 29:40. No other NBA player has had a 25/10/5 (points/rebounds/assists) game while playing fewer than 30 minutes either this season or last; the previous instance was by Blake Griffin on February 9, 2014 (26 points, 11 rebounds, six assists in 24:52 against the 76ers).

[dabom]

You're the only one who agrees your takes are good.

You're trash and you should feel bad got.

[Kawhitstorm]

Too bad they won't be playing the Rockets in the WCF

[Mnky]

You're trash and you should feel bad got.

You declare yourself winner, and others loser. You can't declare yourself the victor... It just feels of insecurity. ..not to mention adding a laughing smiley, in hopes of feeling like you're supported by said smiley. Like so..

You can maybe recover your image though, with a sincere apology to the people.

[Russ]

LMA made the All-Star team.

[ceperez]

LMA made the All-Star team.

Excellent, now he's more valuable to trade!

[dabom]

You declare yourself winner, and others loser. You can't declare yourself the victor... It just feels of insecurity. ..not to mention adding a laughing smiley, in hopes of feeling like you're supported by said smiley. Like so..

You can maybe recover your image though, with a sincere apology to the people.

I don't even know who you are. I hope it stays that way.

[Slippy]

Well don't to LA for responding and clearly showing his worthiness minus Tim by his side. To be accurate , the rockets D and Howard on the low block didn't really test him like the Warriors did. Still you gotta be impressed. He looked confident in his moves without over-thinking and worked hard to gain extra scores through his rebounding.

The real test will come up againt the Thompson of the Cavs who pretty much out-worked , out-muscled and out-played him last game.

[DrunkTXLabrat]

Excellent, now he's more valuable to trade!

this

[Mnky]

I don't even know who you are. I hope it stays that way.

I don't think anyone here actually knows anyone else. It's the internet. Try again.

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

Well don't to LA for responding and clearly showing his worthiness minus Tim by his side. To be accurate , the rockets D and Howard on the low block didn't really test him like the Warriors did. Still you gotta be impressed. He looked confident in his moves without over-thinking and worked hard to gain extra scores through his rebounding.

The real test will come up againt the Thompson of the Cavs who pretty much out-worked , out-muscled and out-played him last game.

LMA should just shoot over him every time and Thompson's value staying on the floor for the Cavs would decrease significantly.

[Sean Cagney]

With Tim out now your damn right he is worth it...

[YGWHI]

He's a great 3 point shooter. Why wouldn't you want him behind the 3 point line in a lot of sets? It creates spacing for the team and for himself when he gets the pass (a lot of those driving lanes he has that I speak of are in fact created by Kawhi being a threat from 3).

I still don't see the issue.

Parker and Manu are our primary ball-handlers/running the pick and rolls, which makes a ton of sense since both excel in those situations, but in tough matchups for them or bad nights, we need other options. Also, I still rather see the ball in Kawhi's hands in big games than Kyle/Simms.

We can't pretend that Kawhi's gonna be able to run a pick and roll with LMA in that instance if he never has the opportunity to do it in the regular season.
Kawhi can run pick and rolls during practice but it's just not quite the same as a real game.

We saw some of those problems in the game against Warriors. They neutralized Parker and no one in the starting lineup could help to establish LMA because Pop never called plays for Kawhi-LMA two-man game.

You don't, but I can see an issue there.

Just imagine this crazy sequence. They let Kawhi to run 1 or 2 pick and rolls with LMA/Diaw in the last minutes of the 1st quarter when Parker's on the bench against some ty team...It won't kill the Spurs offense and will give Kawhi some experience in real-game situations. Then, when he improves, let him do it against better teams.

One or two p&r with LMA per game can't be that bad, right?

I get it, you want him force-fed in the post Kobe-style. Isn't going to happen.

No, you don't get it. I'd like to see 2 or 3 more post-ups per game but I also said more pick and rolls and 1 or 2 possessions per game scoring/coming off screens.