Pop creating rotation players out of nothing

[Kawhitstorm]

For sure. Never said Kawhi wasn't talented or hardworking, tbh. I'm just saying that he needed a coaching stuff that guided all that talent and hardwork into the right path. Kawhi could have easily landed on a team that didn't care or didn't know how to fix his shot and his ceiling would have been greatly lowered. Kawhi owes the Spurs a whole lot.

Jimmy Butler wept 15 picks later

[John B]

Watch how Spurs make Demar MVP candidate

[J_Paco]

Lmao. Stop it. Kawhi would be great anywhere. If anything, Pop held him back. Maybe y'all don't remember but Mills used to take twice as many shots as Kawhi back in the day. He'd brick most of them as well. PATFO didn't make Kawhi, this nonsense needs to stop already.

Yes, because I see so many shooting coaches fixing non - shooters shots throughout the league. Kidd-Gilchrist, Stanley Johnson, Justise Winslow, Dante Exum are really killing it from the outside.....

[J_Paco]

That's like giving credit to OKC for developing Kevin Durant or the Bulls for developing Jimmy Butler or Biogenesis for developing Lebron James.

Two of those examples are individuals that are far and away more naturally gifted than 99.99% of the world's population, while guys like Kawhi & Butler needed to be developed and "built up." Neither came in a ready made superstar ala LeBron and Durant, moron.

[TimmyBuckets]

This is a joke right? Shooting form and development aside, Pop literally punched nephew in the chest and pretty much ordered him to take on a bigger role. Without someone telling kawhitter what to do, he wouldn't be able to tie his shoes in the morning. He clearly came in physically gifted defensively and was a worker, but he doesn't have a mind of his own. There were a lot of better athletes and players out there who didn't amount to anything.

[r0drig0lac]

Any NBA team's training staff would have been an immense upgrade over whoever he worked with prior to being drafted, so no it's not a surprise he hadn't corrected it til that point lol

I'm not completely discrediting the Spurs coaching staff, but even Pop(et al in the spurs org) lauded Kawhi for his otherworldly(probably autistic) work ethic over the years.

There was quote from Bonner a couple years back where he basically said he's never seen anyone get to that stage in their basketball life and develop a jumpshot like that. Obviously credit to the trainers, but Kawhi's rapid development was more unique to him than to the trainers.

I really believe this helped him.

[rastaspur]

He was by far my favorite player... Spurs did him wrong, no doubt... Our FO has been doing a lot is silly stuff lately that even us called out.. So has pop... And to add insult to injury they coddled a guy who complained about touches even tho he choked in the playoffs... Then mishandle Kawhi's injury,imoly because they want to give Parker and ginobili one last hoorah at Kawhi's expense... And on top of that, imply to the media that he is faking... After he carried their sorry asses all year long... I'd be ing pissed too

Fake news.

You should become a raptors fan and gtfo

[Hoops Czar]

Two of those examples are individuals that are far and away more naturally gifted than 99.99% of the world's population, while guys like Kawhi & Butler needed to be developed and "built up." Neither came in a ready made superstar ala LeBron and Durant, moron.

From one moron to another, I shouldn't have to tell you that Kevin Durant's first year with the Sonics saw him shoot 43 FG%, 28% from three and a TS% of 52%. As a matter of fact, He didn't shoot above 50% from the field until his sixth season. Lebron James shot 42%, 29% from three and a TS% of 49% his rookie season. By comparison, Kawhi Leonard shot 49% from the field, 37% from three and a TS% of 57% b-b-but he couldn't shoot.

Leonard was a great athlete coming out of college who just needed time to grow. Maybe he didn't have the physical attributes, the persona or the hype that surrounded Durant and James, but he did have all the tools to be great. However, to think that Leonard couldn't be coached up to be great with another organization is foolishness, ignorance and arrogance. It makes you sound small minded and stupid.

[Seventyniner]

He was by far my favorite player... Spurs did him wrong, no doubt... Our FO has been doing a lot is silly stuff lately that even us called out.. So has pop... And to add insult to injury they coddled a guy who complained about touches even tho he choked in the playoffs... Then mishandle Kawhi's injury,imoly because they want to give Parker and ginobili one last hoorah at Kawhi's expense... And on top of that, imply to the media that he is faking... After he carried their sorry asses all year long... I'd be ing pissed too

I would also be pissed.....if anything you said was even remotely true. But it isn't, so I'm not.

[Mirrornick]

Every thread I click on, it has Kawhi Leonard as the main topic LOOOOL.

[diego]

Comparing LeBron and Kevin Durant, best players on their teams as rookies with superstar usage and shot attempts to Leonard who didn't get near those usage / fga rates till his sixth season (because until then he was not the best player on his team)

[weebo]

Honestly, how many of us knew Leonard would have turned out to be a top 2-3 NBA level talent? I know I didn't. There's a reason he was picked 15th.

[J_Paco]

From one moron to another, I shouldn't have to tell you that Kevin Durant's first year with the Sonics saw him shoot 43 FG%, 28% from three and a TS% of 52%. As a matter of fact, He didn't shoot above 50% from the field until his sixth season. Lebron James shot 42%, 29% from three and a TS% of 49% his rookie season. By comparison, Kawhi Leonard shot 49% from the field, 37% from three and a TS% of 57% b-b-but he couldn't shoot.

Leonard was a great athlete coming out of college who just needed time to grow. Maybe he didn't have the physical attributes, the persona or the hype that surrounded Durant and James, but he did have all the tools to be great. However, to think that Leonard couldn't be coached up to be great with another organization is foolishness, ignorance and arrogance. It makes you sound small minded and stupid.

You are moron plain and simple. Only an idiot would compare rookie LeBron/Durant to rookie Leonard.

He wasn't a "great" athlete but has freakish/tremendous physical tools and great defensive instincts. That is what got him drafted and then the Spurs (and their development staff) cultivated his growth offensively.

[r0drig0lac]

Honestly, how many of us knew Leonard would have turned out to be a top 2-3 NBA level talent? I know I didn't. There's a reason he was picked 15th.

Kawhi I do not know, but I would have picked Giannis in first (2013) for sure (and I still think it's stupid that so many teams have not seen that he was miles better than any player in that draft)

[exstatic]

Kawhi I do not know, but I would have picked Giannis in first (2013) for sure (and I still think it's stupid that so many teams have not seen that he was miles better than any player in that draft)

Foreign players are much harder to project. I think after Darko, teams really shied away from using extremely high picks on overseas players. With Giannis , you would have been drafting based solely on raw physical attributes. If you pass, you are one of a number of teams that missed. If you pick him, and he busts, you can lose your job.

[Hoops Czar]

You are moron plain and simple. Only an idiot would compare rookie LeBron/Durant to rookie Leonard.

He wasn't a "great" athlete but has freakish/tremendous physical tools and great defensive instincts. That is what got him drafted and then the Spurs (and their development staff) cultivated his growth offensively.

I am going to say this again so even the most naive, pin headed simpleton can understand..... Believing that Leonard couldn't be coached up to be a great player with another organization is beinbg flatout, ignorant, arrogant and idiotic. It makes you sound small minded and stupid. The Spurs didn't invent the wheel on NBA development.

Leonard was a great athlete who needed to harness his physical tools to be a great player. He was a raw specimen. No, he isn't going to jump out of the gym with his athletic ability but he is far superior to most. Athleticism isn't a teachable skill and you don't become a two time DPOY by having two left feet.

[weebo]

I am going to say this again so even the most naive, pin headed simpleton can understand..... Believing that Leonard couldn't be coached up to be a great player with another organization is beinbg flatout, ignorant, arrogant and idiotic. It makes you sound small minded and stupid. The Spurs didn't invent the wheel on NBA development.

Leonard was a great athlete who needed to harness his physical tools to be a great player. He was a raw specimen. No, he isn't going to jump out of the gym with his athletic ability but he is far superior to most. Athleticism isn't a teachable skill and you don't become a two time DPOY by having two left feet.

Leonard was given the time and opportunity to develop into what he has become under Pop/staff tutelage. Could he have been this good somewhere else? Sure, but we don't know that for a fact. Everybody wants to give Duncan all the credit for the Spurs success but it wasn't all him--the parts that made up his team were also great--there's plenty of examples of fringe NBA players becoming solid NBA players/ solid NBA players becoming all stars under Pop.

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What happened to Kyle Anderson?

Ask MemphisGirl.

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He had 19 years prior to being drafted by the Spurs to change his shooting form and never did it, tbh.

Tbh.

[SpurOutofTownFan]

Do you re s not remember Kawhitter's shooting form and offense in general coming out of college?

The autistic re already had a great body, work ethic, and desire to be great but to suggest the Spurs didn't play a huge role in his development is laughable. Honestly, how many teams have the balls to do something as simple as going up to their 1st round draft pick and telling them "your form sucks, we are going fix it". Look at Gonzo with the Lakers. Or any other player with a terrible shooting form.

His postgame/fadeaway. Pop gave him tapes of guys like Kirby IIRC and had Forcier(?) tailor his workouts to that. Once the double teams came, he gave him tapes of Barkley to learn how to pass out of/read them. He and his agent wannabe unc are ungrateful s. Plain and simple. He'd be a ing nobody if he ended up in Sacramento or Orlando or any of the other perennial bottom dwellers.

I remember Kawhi being just a pretty standard player when the Spurs took him