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Only Superstars turn down daughters...so yes, he was a Superstar even before this season started.
first take threads should be deleted
Only Superstars turn down daughters...so yes, he was a Superstar even before this season started.
Maybe there's an argument to be made that Westbrook is above Kawhi, but it can't be a good one.
Plus how many defending DPOY's have lead the league in 3 point shooting? Can't be many....DPOY, FMVP, leading a 52-9 team in scoring and steals, 3rd in rebounds from the SF position, while shooting historically unprecedented splits at a high volume. At 24 years old.
Definitely just an all-star.
That's really the jist of Barkley's argument that Kawhi's the best 2-way player in the league: not only is he the reigning DPOY and a defensive beast, but he's a great, efficient scorer. Sadly whatever Kawhi is doing, and whatever SA is doing this season is overshadowed by Curry and the Warriors.
You might be able to make one for the first 47:45 of gametime. The running threes at the end of the game are pretty bad though.
The hesitation is always ppg. We've been programmed to think you can't be an MVP, Superstar level player unless you score X amount of points. While that is true to some extent, the way kawhi dominates the D side of the game, along with what he does offensively, plus doing it in a spurs system that is not designed for one person to dominate is impressive, most impressive *huuuhhhpeeerrr*
greatcuck being a salty today.
First Take was alright until they gave SAS a permanent seat... now it's unwatchable.
Of course Kawhi it's a SuperStar. He even chest pounding now
If he's not already one now..it'll be official come June
Westbrok...and Kawhi leonard are in a tie as the second best player in the league. Westbrook edges him out just a bit in overall efficiency. Definitely not shooting however.
I'd have to truly see who's been the better player past the all-star break. Leonard should win that easily in terms of offensive efficiency.
Its undeniable that Kawhi Leonard is a superstar......but he plays for the Spurs. He's a top 3 player in the league. Top 5 is watering him down. He's top 3.
Stephen Curry has runaway with Value Over Replacement, offensive winshares, offensive box +/-, Overall box +/-, winshares and per 48, offensive rating, and PER. Nothing defensive. He isn't at all an elite capable defender. Especially at 185lbs. He's 5th in steal's per game which the top five of this defensive category is dominated by point guards of course. That's the only true thing defensively that he's capable of leading in.
Curry has faced all the best defenses in the league and they couldn't stop him. Its whatever.
Hopefully, we climb out of that shadow in the playoffs.
That's why PER is crap: it overrates crappy volume shooters like Westbrook.
Westbrook "edges" Kawhi on PER (almost negligible difference) but Kawhi absolutely annihilates him on shooting. Westbrook is shooting .456 from the field and .296 on 257 three-point attempts!
Spurs that are shooting worse than Westbrook: Green, Manu, Patty and McCallum.
Spurs with a worse 3P% than Westbrook: LMA, Duncan and KA (and they combine for 43 attempts)
Westbrook and his "elephant in a china shop" athleticism is really the most overrated PG (or even player) in the NBA.
Oh relax.
He does edge kawhi in PER. It doesn't matter how the stat is skewed, he still leads second on PER.
I didn't mention anything about True Shooting(leonard wins), Field Goal Percentage(leonard wins), Three point percentage(leonard wins), and Assists (leonard losses).
Assists play a huge role in the movement of an offense. Rebounds play a huge role at finishing defensive plays and not allowing second chance plays.
Westbrook does it all around the board. He's a streaky shooter from long distance but its competent enough for players to have to guard him.
I've never seen Leonard take up point forward duties at all. He's walked the ball up court, made plays but hasn't played a major role as point forward. Granted, the most assists he's had in a game this year was 6 assists. The most rebounds he's had total in double digits were in 11 games. Westbrook had 14 games of double digit rebounds. 36 games with at least 10 or more assists. Russell Westbrook has 84 more total rebounds then leonard.
He even has 44 more offensive rebounds then Leonard also. He has 499 more assists than Leonard. He's the leader of all point guards in defensive winshares. He's the defending point guard in the league. Curry, surprisingly, made it to the top 20 at number 20. He's a team defender but not at all an individual defender.
Westbrook has 9 triple doubles this year. Leonard has none. Granted it's not Leonard's role to play point, that shows how much Wesbrook plays a major role in contributing to team's wins. This is why Westbrook is second in overall box +/-, offensive box plus and minus, overall win shares, value over replacement. Westbrook trumps Kawhi Leonard in ball distribution. This all leads to why he's the second best player in the league.
Yep. Westbrook is a player that's entirely in the mold of Kobe -- he wants to get his regardless of the cost to his team. And 9/10 times he thinks HE is the best option to have the ball in his hands, especially in late game situations.
Remember the shot he put up in OT game 6? It went OVER THE BACKBOARD. That's not just a low BBIQ at play, that's a reckless, selfish person who has no regard for how the game SHOULD be played.
I wonder what his clutch stats are. They're probably awful. Hmm
If he's not a superstar, then there aren't any more than three superstars in the entire NBA.
Kawhi is the second best player of the league behind Curry and it's not even close tbh...
Dude is the best player of an historical 52-9 Spurs, Spurs are second best in the league and would be first by a mile if not for a GSW historical run.
Durant is not at Kawhi's level, OKC are largely behind the Spurs and Durant impact on Defense is <<<< Kawhi while his offense is > but not by a wide margin
Westbrook is not at Kawhi's level, his defense is gimmicks compared to Kawhi then again offensively he is a pure chucker
Lebron this year has not a big case either even though Cavs are absolutely when he is out and Spurs still look like a PO team but this kind of argument is quite dumb, not Kawhi's fault are not pure without him tbh
So if the second best player of the NBA leading a team to a 52-9 is not a superstar then
He's just thinking about how ty Stephen A. Smith's reply's going to be/already was and it's sending him into depression.
Can't blame him tbh.
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