Leadership On The Court

[EVAY]

Shouldn't Kawhi be the leader on the court outside of Tim? I mean, it is 'his team' now...if he is our MVP candidate and the person we are building the franchise around, doesn't it have to be him?

[spurs10]

Shouldn't Kawhi be the leader on the court outside of Tim? I mean, it is 'his team' now...if he is our MVP candidate and the person we are building the franchise around, doesn't it have to be him?

People have mentioned that he is often locking someone down on the wing and won't have the court vision that someone in the post will. I think it takes a village and they are learning how to delegate that responsibility with "the Center of the Universe" out...

[SAGirl]

Shouldn't Kawhi be the leader on the court outside of Tim? I mean, it is 'his team' now...if he is our MVP candidate and the person we are building the franchise around, doesn't it have to be him?

You need to be a vocal person, he's a very quite dude and barely do I see him barking orders out to anyone. He should do more of that, but you know what? No one is stopping him. He can grab the role in fact he's probably being pushed to grab it. Its just no his nature. Meantime you see a young "inexperienced" guy like Anderson and he's always talking to guys while he's on the floor on both ends. It comes natural for him.

[EVAY]

You need to be a vocal person, he's a very quite dude and barely do I see him barking orders out to anyone. He should do more of that, but you know what? No one is stopping him. He can grab the role in fact he's probably being pushed to grab it. Its just no his nature. Meantime you see a young "inexperienced" guy like Anderson and he's always talking to guys while he's on the floor on both ends. It comes natural for him.

I understand and agree that he is a quiet guy by nature. So was Tim, and Tim had to be forced to take the leadership role that seems like it is second nature now. It was not ever his first nature. I believe that Pop is pushing Kawhi to that because I have heard him in interviews saying almost defensively "I'm talking out there". I think NO one on the team has Tim's court vision, but then no one has his experience and talent, either, and that includes all of our younger players, including Kawhi and Anderson.

[T_L_P]

I understand and agree that he is a quiet guy by nature. So was Tim, and Tim had to be forced to take the leadership role that seems like it is second nature now. It was not ever his first nature. I believe that Pop is pushing Kawhi to that because I have heard him in interviews saying almost defensively "I'm talking out there". I think NO one on the team has Tim's court vision, but then no one has his experience and talent, either, and that includes all of our younger players, including Kawhi and Anderson.

Comparing Tim and Kawhi in this sense is apples and oranges. Even if a 21-24 year old Tim wasn't the team's absolute leader, he was still one of the most talkative and jokey guys on the team, despite what the media makes him out to be (Malik and Daniels can both attest to this).

I'm 100% sure everyone in SA loves Kawhi but he's still probably very quiet with the team. Duncan was just a normal teammates who became the team's absolute leader when he got a bit older and when David hung them up. Kawhi doesn't have that in him. He can lead by example, but I think a team's leader will always need to be somewhat vocal. Again, despite the stigma, Tim is and was as vocal as they come. Just not with the media or in-front of cameras.

[hitmanyr2k]

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.

Not really. It was Pippen who was QB'ing the Bulls defense out there similar to Duncan now.

“His greatest strength was his knowledge of how things worked on the defensive end of the floor,” he said. “Scottie was the voice of our team—figuratively and literally, as he did a lot of the talking and kept our team on the same page. When he wasn’t at the top of the key harassing a guard as a special assignment, he was on the backside of our defense talking his teammates through different situations, whether it was a double team, trap or some other important aspect. Because of that, he was very vital to the run that we made.”

"All I needed to do was whistle, and Scottie would know instinctively how our defense should react. On the occasions when I signaled a player toward the bench to ask why he suddenly changed his defensive position, the standard reply was: ‘Scottie sent me.’ Which is why, when I met Dr. Buss in Hawaii last May, Scottie was my first choice among the prospective free agents.” - Phil Jackson

[Mnky]

Not really. It was Pippen who was QB'ing the Bulls defense out there similar to Duncan now.

That would be Kawhis position, making the argument more valid. Although, Jordan would often pull assignments when the opposing player wasn't getting slowed down.

[EVAY]

Comparing Tim and Kawhi in this sense is apples and oranges. Even if a 21-24 year old Tim wasn't the team's absolute leader, he was still one of the most talkative and jokey guys on the team, despite what the media makes him out to be (Malik and Daniels can both attest to this).

I'm 100% sure everyone in SA loves Kawhi but he's still probably very quiet with the team. Duncan was just a normal teammates who became the team's absolute leader when he got a bit older and when David hung them up. Kawhi doesn't have that in him. He can lead by example, but I think a team's leader will always need to be somewhat vocal. Again, despite the stigma, Tim is and was as vocal as they come. Just not with the media or in-front of cameras.

During the first few years that Tim was here (and he was a college grad when he got here, so he was 21 or 22 during his first year?) the ONLY vocal voice on the team was Avery Johnson. I was at every one of Tim's home games for the first 12 years of his career, and I guarantee you, it was Avery Johnson who was the 'team leader' for the first several years. Tim grew into his vocal leadership role - he didn't start that way.

[dabom]

During the first few years that Tim was here (and he was a college grad when he got here, so he was 21 or 22 during his first year?) the ONLY vocal voice on the team was Avery Johnson. I was at every one of Tim's home games for the first 12 years of his career, and I guarantee you, it was Avery Johnson who was the 'team leader' for the first several years. Tim grew into his vocal leadership role - he didn't start that way.

tlp needs to stop his shtick from oozing into ST tbh.

[T_L_P]

During the first few years that Tim was here (and he was a college grad when he got here, so he was 21 or 22 during his first year?) the ONLY vocal voice on the team was Avery Johnson. I was at every one of Tim's home games for the first 12 years of his career, and I guarantee you, it was Avery Johnson who was the 'team leader' for the first several years. Tim grew into his vocal leadership role - he didn't start that way.

I'm not saying Tim was any kind of vocal leader his first few years. I'm simply saying the Kawhi comparison is terrible because Duncan was just one of the guys who progressed into becoming a leader when he got older and when his team needed him to be one.

Kawhi, OTOH, is intrinsically introverted. He's not talkative at all and it seems very unlikely that it's going to change. It's unfair to anticipate him becoming a vocal leader in his career.

[T_L_P]

tlp needs to stop his shtick from oozing into ST tbh.

Stop following me, dabs.

[dabom]

Stop following me, dabs.

You lost the argument brah. Don't dig deeper youngin. It happens when the majority of people are all Spurs fans. Lot of history in these boards. People will be corrected. It happens. No shame in saying you were wrong.

[dabom]

You're a good guy though...

[T_L_P]

You lost the argument brah. Don't dig deeper youngin. It happens when the majority of people are all Spurs fans. Lot of history in these boards. People will be corrected. It happens. No shame in saying you were wrong.

Bro, I'm just saying I don't think Kawhi has the vocal leader in him. He's exceeded all expectations we've ever had of him already, so it's obviously not a bad thing. But Kawhi is a really quiet guy (I'm sure his father being murdered has something to do with that) and I don't think that'll change.

You're a good guy too though.

[dabom]

Bro, I'm just saying I don't think Kawhi has the vocal leader in him. He's exceeded all expectations we've ever had of him already, so it's obviously not a bad thing. But Kawhi is a really quiet guy (I'm sure his father being murdered has something to do with that) and I don't think that'll change.

You're a good guy too though.

I think once Duncan leaves, he'll slide in as the team leader on and off the floor. All players go through that. It's a respect thing.

I'll leave it at brah.

[YGWHI]

I truly think Kawhi can be the leader the Spurs need.

Pop and his teammates seem to agree.

Leonard has emerged this season a team leader. Of all the many internal developments that are taking place within the Spurs ecosystem, this may be the most important.

"He’s not just doing it by example anymore," Spurs guard Danny Green told me. "He’s leading by action."

"He’s never going to be a towel waver," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "He speaks to me about things that he sees now. He comes into timeouts, if he’s not happy with what’s going on on the court. That’s all good.

"I’d rather have him do that than beat his chest and wiggle his shoulders and stare at the camera and all that other crap," Pop continued. "That doesn’t seem to make much sense. I’d rather have it the other way and work on him to be a leader in the timeouts, in the locker room, on the plane. That kind of stuff."

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2016/11/...ay-shootaround