Kawhi-critical Buck Harvey hit job

[look_at_g_shred]

Not sure, tbh.

The biggest thing holding Kawhi back on the offensive end (besides his lack of killer instinct) is his lack of handles. The same big hands that make him a great defender are a liability when he puts the ball on the floor. He just does not have confidence in his dribble and it shows. If you think about it, Kawhi's best historic offensive plays are of the catch-and-shoot variety or throw-down dunks when he's unimpeded to the basket or is already there when he gets the ball.

nah dude he's come along way with his handles. It's his mindset. He'd rather dance one on one with the defender and take a midrange j rather than use his handle to get past the defender. We see it all the time. He seems to bail out the defender with a quick J.

[midnightpulp]

Exactly. Before Waiters said that quote, he probably had Kevin Durant telling him in the locker room that yeah, Kawhi is still a system player. This is Kawhi's chance to prove that he isn't and shut them up. He really needs to step up here and now. If he wants it as bad as he says that he does, then he needs to be totally locked in and very aggressive mentally with a take no prisoners at ude.

Yet, I still want him to play smart basketball. An egomaniac like Kirby would come out and stupidly try to score 50 and probably shoot his team out the game. But when the opportunities are there, he needs to attack. Don't settle. And make Durant's and Westbrook's life . I would actually be okay with 20ish points from him on like 8-17 shooting if he totally destroyed one of those on the defensive end (I'm talking annihilation, like holding KD to 5-25 shooting. Kawhi won't need to score 30 if KD puts up that line). But still, there will come a time when we need his scoring, as well.

[DaBears]

I thought this. And if it were minor enough, the Spurs would likely keep it inhouse. Hopefully this time off will help, if there is such an injury.

I am hoping the rest will refresh him & heal minor injuries if any are there.. I did notice Pop had him sitting on the pine more than normal..

[loveforthegame]

Pop doesn't mess around with injuries. If he thought Leonard had something (hammy especially) he'd sit him 2 weeks minimum. Besides, Leonard was on the bench for long periods of time. I never saw him leave the bench so he didn't get loose on a bike. I didn't notice a heating pad either. Is it possible Leonard is keeping it from the team? Or it's sore and he didn't trust pushing off it? I don't know. Game 3 should be more telling.

[look_at_g_shred]

Pop doesn't mess around with injuries. If he thought Leonard had something (hammy especially) he'd sit him 2 weeks minimum. Besides, Leonard was on the bench for long periods of time. I never saw him leave the bench so he didn't get loose on a bike. I didn't notice a heating pad either. Is it possible Leonard is keeping it from the team? Or it's sore and he didn't trust pushing off it? I don't know. Game 3 should be more telling.

Honestly, Pop sees these players more than anybody. I would assume he would know if someone doesn't look themselves.

[itzsoweezee]

Not sure, tbh.

The biggest thing holding Kawhi back on the offensive end (besides his lack of killer instinct) is his lack of handles. The same big hands that make him a great defender are a liability when he puts the ball on the floor. He just does not have confidence in his dribble and it shows. If you think about it, Kawhi's best historic offensive plays are of the catch-and-shoot variety or throw-down dunks when he's unimpeded to the basket or is already there when he gets the ball.

That's kind of true. But just compare his handles to just year, vastly improved. They've gone from bad, to mediocre, to pretty good, and,sometimes, they're excellent, like the time he crossed Durant the up. The more reps, the better he becomes at it. He's like a machine.

[loveforthegame]

Honestly, Pop sees these players more than anybody. I would assume he would know if someone doesn't look themselves.

Agreed. That's why I don't think Leonard is injured like some are wondering about. Pop doesn't mess around. If anything, he can be overly cautious about it.

[UZER]

Kawhi doesn't have the explosive athleticism to drive and make split second adjustments on drives to the bucket, especially after contact. He does have the occasional extend his arm out of reach from the defender. But if it's not clear path, he tends back away, or easily get bumped off his path. He also doesn't have explosive vertical lift to jump over guys.

Yes there are occasional plays were it all line up perfectly for something spectacular like the Ibaka dunk in 14, but it's not a regular thing.

So he's caught between this athletic, not quite athletic enough game.

[Horse]

Maybe the referees are in his head

This could be and it's getting worse and I lost count how many and 1's he should've had. Wish Pop would pull a phil jackson and say something in the post game but we know that's not happening.

[Gervin44Silas13]

Hes gotta be Duncanesque....Period...take over a game!!!

LMA did......

[DaBears]

There is no doubt we will need more than just LMA to show up in the next game.. KL & TP to me will need to be big factors in the scoring side if spurs are to hope to pull 1 out in OKC. LMA will not be able to carry the entire load in tomorrows game. And i expect them to play much better as a whole than in the last game.

[SAGirl]

I said this in another topic, but what amazes me the most is how he even doubled down on the ridiculousness. After LMA/Kawhi got us all the momentum and got it to a 1-point game going into the 4th, he goes to a Mills/Manu/Green/Diaw/West lineup. Alright, fine, whatever. Then OKC immediately comes out and builds their lead back again, and then what does Pop do? Brings in ing Kyle Anderson and subs out Manu

I watched those sequences again, including the group that finished the third. They made a come back bc Donovan put out his own ty line-up with Kanter as center and Durant as a 4, and he played rookie Payne who had a TO and was terrible. LMA murdered them bc they didn't have rim protection and it just so happen that Patty made his last jumpshot of the game in that stretch too. Donovan was ready to sub in Adams bc of his own ty line-up when he realized his mistake, but there wasn't a dead ball. Advantage:Pop.

However, to start the 4th Donovan returned with a legit lineup this time with Adams, Kanter, Durant, Roberson and Waiters. This obviously is a line-up with a lot of size, and yet Pop puts out his smallest line-up with Diaw/West/Danny/Manu/Patty. Blunder:Pop. At times Patty ended up taking very ill advised contested shots while guarded by Durant! that he missed bc of course. Of course they struggled. They had no dominant player against that group to get anyone free. I don't think they managed a single good look in 3 minutes.

Diaw refused to shoot open 3s he got and D west was not an inside presence. He missed everything he tried including getting blocked by Kanter. Anderson played only 30 seconds. He was obviously there I think bc it was prescheduled, but it was ill advised to start the 4th with that line-up to begin with and I hope Pop learned his lesson.

Now, LMA had played the entire 3rd Q and it made sense for Pop to rest him. Looking back on it he was as the only player keeping this team in the game. You can look at it as just him sitting down to start the 4th was the most impactful event in that run by OKC bc Kawhi was invisible in the 4th Q. Maybe Pop should have played Kawhi those 3 minutes with the bench instead of Danny/Anderson and called post ups for him or something to both keep his aggressiveness going and help that line-up out to score.

I hope Pop learned his lesson. I think he will need to manage minutes to both separate Diaw/West against Kanter/Adams (maybe Boban gets a few minutes or TD with the bench) and that maybe he needs to bolster the bench with Kawhi, keeping at least one of LMA or Kawhi in the game. It will mean either some guys will play a lot more minutes or he will have to mix and match lineups more than he has and spare the SL to start, close games and key moments in the game.

We shall see. I agree Pop's time management wasn't the best, but it is a challenge bc Timmy is old and can't be overplayed. D west and Diaw were already at 10 and 8 minutes respectively. Boban played 3, LMA played 42. I think Bogan can play more with the bench specially when Westbrook is resting. One of Diaw/West will either give up minutes or be mixed in with TD and LMA more and you keep LMA/TD lineups for key moments in the game.

For the perimeter rotation, Kawhi can play more. Anderson only played 5 minutes and those can be absorbed by Kawhi easily. It depends if Pop is ready to do that, but for sure Pop cannot sub Anderson in with units that are already challenged offensively like the one he put out in the 4th Q.

[Creation88]

Buck is a hack. any chance he has to publicly ridicule a Spurs player he does. it's either a defense to not seem bias or he secretly dislikes them all. he's bogus.

[SAGirl]

I really think that lineup cost us the game. We were down 1 with all the momentum and that lineup took it to 11 I think. (Maybe 9?) One of Kawhi or LMA must be on the court at all times. I'm worried Kawhi's relatively low minutes for a 24 year old means Pop's protecting him from aggravating some injury. Either that, or the price of his great defense, is more rest.

It was 7 points. When they were all subbed out the game was 83-76. Still the lineup was awful and it would have gotten worse without Pop's intervention at that point.

[Gervin44Silas13]

I watched those sequences again, including the group that finished the third. They made a come back bc Donovan put out his own ty line-up with Kanter as center and Durant as a 4, and he played rookie Payne who had a TO and was terrible. LMA murdered them bc they didn't have rim protection and it just so happen that Patty made his last jumpshot of the game in that stretch too. Donovan was ready to sub in Adams bc of his own ty line-up when he realized his mistake, but there wasn't a dead ball. Advantage:Pop.

However, to start the 4th Donovan returned with a legit lineup this time with Adams, Kanter, Durant, Roberson and Waiters. This obviously is a line-up with a lot of size, and yet Pop puts out his smallest line-up with Diaw/West/Danny/Manu/Patty. Blunder:Pop. At times Patty ended up taking very ill advised contested shots while guarded by Durant! that he missed bc of course. Of course they struggled. They had no dominant player against that group to get anyone free. I don't think they managed a single good look in 3 minutes.

Diaw refused to shoot open 3s he got and D west was not an inside presence. He missed everything he tried including getting blocked by Kanter. Anderson played only 30 seconds. He was obviously there I think bc it was prescheduled, but it was ill advised to start the 4th with that line-up to begin with and I hope Pop learned his lesson.

Now, LMA had played the entire 3rd Q and it made sense for Pop to rest him. Looking back on it he was as the only player keeping this team in the game. You can look at it as just him sitting down to start the 4th was the most impactful event in that run by OKC bc Kawhi was invisible in the 4th Q. Maybe Pop should have played Kawhi those 3 minutes with the bench instead of Danny/Anderson and called post ups for him or something to both keep his aggressiveness going and help that line-up out to score.

I hope Pop learned his lesson. I think he will need to manage minutes to both separate Diaw/West against Kanter/Adams (maybe Boban gets a few minutes or TD with the bench) and that maybe he needs to bolster the bench with Kawhi, keeping at least one of LMA or Kawhi in the game. It will mean either some guys will play a lot more minutes or he will have to mix and match lineups more than he has and spare the SL to start, close games and key moments in the game.

We shall see. I agree Pop's time management wasn't the best, but it is a challenge bc Timmy is old and can't be overplayed. D west and Diaw were already at 10 and 8 minutes respectively. Boban played 3, LMA played 42. I think Bogan can play more with the bench specially when Westbrook is resting. One of Diaw/West will either give up minutes or be mixed in with TD and LMA more and you keep LMA/TD lineups for key moments in the game.

For the perimeter rotation, Kawhi can play more. Anderson only played 5 minutes and those can be absorbed by Kawhi easily. It depends if Pop is ready to do that, but for sure Pop cannot sub Anderson in with units that are already challenged offensively like the one he put out in the 4th Q.

Hopefully Pop will learn from his ty as subsitiutions if not we are gonna be done for and the 67 wins this year won mean ....it would be a wasted season

[SAGirl]

Not just his low minutes - his low energy. I said it in the game thread, it looked like one of those games where you find out later he had flu or something. But they don't want to make excuses, so they don't say anything till the season is over.

I don't doubt Kawhi's heart, or his motivation. So I have to think it was something else. There's no doubt that if the Spurs have Kawhi as his normal self, that game looks a lot different. People can be defensive or butthurt al they want, but that didn't look like the Kawhi we are used to seeing. And not just because shots didn't fall.

He definitely came out sleepwalking that is why Pop sat him out initially, he wasn't engaged on defense. Also he kept letting Westbrook switch off easily with LMA. Sure Westbrook didn't score against him but when it was so easy to get clear of him I hardly call that top defensive effort from him.

[UZER]

Hopefully Pop will learn from his ty as subsitiutions if not we are gonna be done for and the 67 wins this year won mean ....it would be a wasted season

False. System overcomes all.

It's just basketball.

[BillMc]

It was 7 points. When they were all subbed out the game was 83-76. Still the lineup was awful and it would have gotten worse without Pop's intervention at that point.

Cheers thanks for the clarification. Well, it felt worse than seven.

[SAGirl]

is it possible that Kawhi is not that good?

dont take me wrong, Kawhi is the best defender on Earth, one-on-one,

yet there are many intangibles to being a superstar:

One, leadership and presence in crucial moments (Duncan and Manu have this, like the all-time greats)

Two, the ability to make his teammates better (i do not know if Kawhi has this in great amounts)

Three, Offensive execution in clutch moments (well, Kawhi has done it once or twice; MJ and Bird do it regularly)

Four, the ability to diagnose the tempo of a game and influence it accordingly (again, I do not know if Kawhi has this)

Fifth, consistency and the ability to maintain his greatness over long periods (which our boy sadly lack)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

having said that.....hmmmm.....we still believe!

All good points. He's still young and just had his coming out party as the main guy this season. We had a great record but greatness is established in the postseason and this is where he's at. He's still got chances bc season isn't over.
I believe too.

[spursistan]

False. System overcomes all.

It's just basketball.

They made some shots ..

[Kawhitstorm]

If something has shown this series if how much Kawhi improved his driving, he showed strong moves to the rim...But not sure if the team is designed for that.

Look where is LMA and the other big, where is Parker...when Kawhi has the ball. It's not like the team is giving him the space or calling plays for him to attack the rim.

I remember a play where he scored on a hand off from LMA b/c Ibaka was glued to LMA, Pop should be calling more dribble hand-off if LMA's defender going to stay glued instead of trying to bump the cutter at the mere threat of him shooting an uncontested jumper. They could also run HIGH PnRs but Pop has refused to breakout the Kawhi/LMA PnR.

Kawhi is also adept at catching his defender sleeping or off balance then slashing to the rim.

[tholdren]

I remember a play where he scored on a hand off from LMA b/c Ibaka was glued to LMA, Pop should be calling more dribble hand-off if LMA's defender going to stay glued instead of trying to bump the cutter at the mere threat of him shooting an uncontested jumper. They could also run HIGH PnRs but Pop has refused to breakout the Kawhi/LMA PnR.

Kawhi is also adept at catching his defender sleeping or off balance then slashing to the rim.

Im sure pop calls a play every time down.

[T Park]

No it is not good to blame Kawhi for the loss. 18 for 47 38% from the rest of the team beside Aldridge, Leonard, and MANUUUUUUU..

NOT NO BUT NO it wasn't Kawhi's fault. Buck Harvey was looking for someone big to blame and choose Kawhi when he should have looked at Duncan, Parker, Green and the bench.

Comes with the territory of a max contract. You want the money, be prepared to get ripped if you don't. Leonard was terrible. Period.

[T Park]

Just wanna say, Kawhi took a horrible 3pt shot with the game on the line.
I'm not sure what he wast thinking.

Yeah that kick out from Aldridge to Kawhi and that three pointer was one of the worst shots I've ever seen him take. Just horrible.

[Mnky]

Actually, when you lose by a couple of points then it's most likely the coaches fault. On the other hand, if the team gets blownout then the players are to blame.

Coachs job is to put the players in a position to win. When you lose by one, you're obviously in a position to win. Execution is on the players. You don't play much, do you?