Obviously Tim's leadership is being missed. Both West and Kawhi spoke about that after last night. It's more than rim protection, Tim is the one calling the shots, literally, on defense. Someone needs to step up in his place, They are not 'communicating' with each other. I'm sure LMA and West being new might make it harder for them to be the leaders on defense, but someone has gotta do it!
Didn't see Solid D's thread when this was posted. This is covered there. At least the obvious part of us missing Tim. I reckon the question is, who is going to take the leadership role in his absences? Gotta be Kawhi and I don't know if it's his nature....might be a good thing for Tim to be out in that regard.
Last edited by spurs10; 01-31-2016 at 06:23 PM.
The big I
In position to call what they will do. Has to be LMA but he's never
One that nor is he familiar enough with it to do it, but he will have to.
Aldridge has never been known as a leader, tbh..he's a follower that wants to be credited as a leader..
D-West actually is vocal on defense but he isn't very good at actually playing defense.It's common knowledge that the last line of defense has to be pretty vocal & it helps when someone can read the other team's offensive sets (like KG/Tim/Chandler/Fat Gasol/Noah/Bosh). It's no different than a line-backer running the defense.
Pretty much what I'm thinking. His leadership qualities are going to need to bloom. He's not being paid to be a wallflower. I think it will do him some good. Again we are spoiled as and Tim Duncan is one of a kind!
Spurs should trade for Noah. He's a DPOY is a great communicator in defense.
I also read somewhere that Mahinmi has become a good defensive player because he's out there communicating with the defense.
Kawhi can't do the job Tim does because he's at the wind defending and can't see the play from the point of view of the center.
Man... why the do the Spurs have this kind of player? So sad!
I don't think he's ever been in a position to lead. Durant is the same way. Must be a UT thing.
SMH....
Kyle has been a leader at every step. Newbie and all.
Maybe him at the 4 can call WTF we are doing. I always see him pointing out to Boban when to help for example and other guys to rotate. Sometimes he's missed his own assignments bc he's pointing to other guys who to pick up.
I have more faith in Kyle calling something than LMA I don't see him vocal on defense nor pointing out anyone anywhere.
You expect someone who's learning the system to be the leader at communicating where to be?
Kyle is a smart player and is more familiar with the system as it's played the same in The d league, and he's consistently out of position on offense and defense. Dwest and LMA come from systems built around them. You don't emulate what we are used to seeing from years of chemistry of the spurs in half a season. The leadership should be from Kawhi, it's his team. Kobe, Jordan, LeBron, all took that role on defense. Kawhi needs to take it too.
I am pointing out what we see on defense. Communication on what we are doing has to come from the first person getting back in transition and I don't know what you were looking at, but very often that is or has been Kyle. HOw many times did he pick up Dwight Howard until LMA was able to get him. Danny does this a lot too, in getting back in transition and running to the paint.
Kyle has actually been in the system longer than LMA and was a damn fine leader in SL. This is not something I would ask him to do on defense. It has to be the big man, wings are usually not in the best angle of view to call out what they are doing. It is usually the center's job. Maybe a defensive minded PF does that for other teams, but I don't see LMA pointing out anything or talking to anyone on defense. I am telling you what I see. I see Kyle pointing out to others where to be when he plays. He's seen a lot of garbage time with guys just as him or with less experience than him in Ray Mc, Simmons and Boban.
I would not have expected that we need this from him in the big leagues, but someone has to, if he's at the 4 he could be in position to defend PnR and may have to communicate with LMA on defensive rotations. Being a leader comes naturally for some guys. Kawhi is not a vocal person, Kyle is. Just look at them play. How often is Kyle talking to others.
I expect another minuteless playoff run just like last year for KA.
No meaningful minutes atleast.
He should be that way as he's always been a point guard. That wasn't the question. It should always be the wings getting back first because they're standing at the three point line in transition as opposed to battling in the paint for rebounds. What I asked is if you thought a new player learning a system should be accountable to lead the team. No new player should be the one in charge of communication, especially with this group of veterans who all talk over each other. If someone new has to come in and fix things, it only shows that the people in there before were broken.
No the leader is Tim but this is our current big situation.
All our rotation bigs at this time save Diaw are new to Pop's system.
West? New, and he's not a defensive stalwart TBH. He's fiery and compe ive, but he has more of an offensive impact than defense, and he's often out of his own rotations. WAtching him defend even benches PnR with Patty is really really difficult and terrible.
Boban? Pls, Kyle is the one pointing out to Boban where to be.
LMA? I have not seen him in any of our games without Tim talk to others on defense. Our games without Tim have actually not been very good defensive games. Heck Timberwolves almost won while we were playing AT HOME.
So among all these "bigs" I think Kyle might be able to help. It's not a concidence the team made a run while he was playing and then he was subbed out and LMA came in the game, and the lead kept ballooning. Kawhi probably has a role in that too. You can't blame it all on LMA... but usually LMA is the one who has to communicate with the guard or wing defending and call out what the heck they are doing.
Hopefully this is being discussed. Perhaps a lot of the communication needs to be a group thing with the C or PF being the most vocal. We should do much better against the Magic and we always seem to bounce back well after a bad loss.
Thatmakes a Danny/Kyle trade for Hill/Mahinmi even more tempting. But, questions: does he communicate in French?
spurs are missing his defence and, imo, his calmness.
A girl I know went to school with Ian. I believe he's from here...the US.
As Pop said "the center of the universe." It will do them good acclimating to his absences in all of them finding their way. Especially LMA, he needs to find out what kind of leader he needs to be. As someone mentioned Kyle is defending the wing and has a different site-line.
I think that's something people don't realize enough. West, lma, boban are all learning a system. It takes time to learn a normal system let alone pops advanced systems.
I told you in another thread that Kyle ran the team better than Tony in my eyes due to his want to play as a play maker than a shot maker. Same thing happens especially against elite teams. Parker has become a very situational player, and his lack of playmaking for the team is concerning since he has so much experience in the system. How long will it take before he learns to play a pg and not a sg? I digress, back to the defense.
The call on the switch is almost always on the wing player. Even Tim gets called and told what to do on switches. The post player calls the side of the screen, and the wing usually calls according to how he attacks the screen. The big man is left to play off his teammates ability to discern the right choice of attack. I think all the bigs will be better at the end of season just to familiarity allowing more instinct to take place and not so much decision making. Kawhi, definitely should be taking charge of this team though and telling people what to do. If your leader can't lead, you won't get far.
We saw that Kawhi's talking a lot on defense this season. I can remember some particular moments where he was full on some guy and then that guy was better on that end. Like the game in Houston with Diaw.
It's likely he won't say much on offense since Parker is running it but on defense, I truly think Kawhi can be the leader the Spurs need.
Beside D's leadership, like many people say here, the Spurs have a personnel issue in the paint. West and Diaw can't play at C and Boban is a rookie with some limitations on the defensive end.
Kawhi/LMA/everyone can talk a lot on the court but they won't improve as rim protectors...
Last edited by YGWHI; 02-01-2016 at 03:15 PM.
I agree with you on Tony. I don't want to hate on him because he's been efficient with what he's doing for the most part, and when he does decide to move the ball, he has had success. But Tony is struggling with his own role playing off other ppl (he should shoot the 3 when its created for him out of the post up, otherwise the whole post player getting doubled and having to kick it out to him is a waste of time). He doesn't fit in a post play centered offense. Then he's not looking to pass most of the time, he only passes when he's stuck. He's always been like that and you are right on Kyle. He's always looking to pass and will take his shots when there are no options for anyone else. Tony doesn't have that mentality, maybe he never will.
On defense, like you said, there is probably a lack of communication from everyone and they will have to work on that as a team. Once Aldridge got in foul trouble we saw a lot of experimentation with different defensive schemes, so I think guys were not even very familiar on those schemes and the lack of communication aggravated it.
That's good to hear and yes on he won't be as vocal on offense.
Good post. When LMA got benched for the entire 2nd quarter it certainly gave Boban a taste of what he is up against. We obviously got torched defensively. Lesson learned!
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