Kawhi isn't going to get MVP when he's sitting out games and his team still wins comfortably without him.
Doing "just as well" isn't the same as "quite well". Why couldn't a rotation player make it just as well on another team? You sell a lot of these guys short.
Kawhi isn't going to get MVP when he's sitting out games and his team still wins comfortably without him.
That's the benefit of playing in the East. Easily the most ignored elephant in the room in regards to sports media. LeBron isnt GOAT if he played in the West before molesting a bunch of prepubesecent Eastern teams en route to a shameful Finals record.
Yea, regular season champions is much better than an MVP.
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He's not even All Star level this season. +1.57 RPM, and a measly +0.25 DPRM. Maybe now Spurfan and Kawhi fanboys will finally see what I saw the last two seasons as Kawhi transitioned from a killer all-around player into trying to be the next Jordan/Kobe. He ball stops. He's too mid-range dependent (his percentage of attempts from the midrange are the highest they ever been). Relatively poor dribble drive game. I used to argue blue in the face with the likes of YGHWI and those that wanted to see Kawhi drop 30 every night that he would be a much better overall player if he were B on offense (20-21ppg range) and just continued wreaking havoc on the defensive end. But Kawhi thinks he's a Jordan, Durant, Lebron level offensive talent. He isn't. Doesn't mean he can't be an MVP level player, but that's going to take a recommitment to defense and knowing his role on offense.
The Raptors are 18-4, on pace to set a franchise record in wins, you gotta be stupid to not consider him as an MVP.
He's scoring 24ppg, grabbing a career high 8.6 rpg, 3 assists, 1.8 steals, in just 33mpg. He's almost averaging a double double, and his teammates are largely having career years because of him.
I would kill you to keep him away
Where is this coming from?
He's only playing half the games.
He's having a subpar year. I agree Pop's mythical system had no impact on his game, it's more him thinking he's Jordan and not knowing his role as a Scottie Pippen on steroids.
meh NBAs 82 game schedule is nothing but a money making scam anyways.
50-55 games is plenty to determine seeds and then we would see more games with both teams going all out the whole game.
As far as the *old school were so much tougher* I remember an interview with Magic saying the 82 game schedule was way too much.
Ok maybe that is not the best example but still. I'll bet most players would be down with a shorter season unless it affected their money.
Have you seen him play this year? Defenses are focused on him giving his other teammates room to operate, his rebounding has been as good as it gets, he's averaging around 10 per 36. He's been almost unstoppable when he gets the ball.
At some point you have to look at their 18-4 record and realize how good Kawhi is.
His stats are slightly below his regular average and that's largely due to not playing ball in about 2 years, joining a brand new team, and not even knowing the offense which he admitted to. Raps are 18-4 and Kawhi has the highest winning % in NBA history.
I've been to all their home games but one, you'd have to be quite the homer to claim that he's been anywhere near unstoppable
Also, his teammates have been doing great even when he doesn't play..
Kawhi has looked subpar compared to his last healthy year, not sure what this dude is talking about. The Raps are loaded with talent and as HH said above, have won without him. Of course, his worth will come playoff time, but MVP is a regular season award and he's not even in my top 5.
If they were losing without him, that's one thing. It's not happening. That really s on any MVP consideration when a dude can miss half the games and the team not falter.
The media award is given to the truly most valuable player about what, 15% of the time?
Timmy Duncan only getting it twice.
So WGAF. If Kwa's in the top 5 and the Raptors reach the Finals it's a super successful MVP type season for him.
Present your Zapruder tape proving that Kawhi was in the wrong.
Harden
Houston.
I have no idea what is the second sentence about?
Simmons was hurt, working himself back into NBA bball.
Kawhi lacks the dribble penetration ability and explosiveness that made those guys GOATS, but he's still elite. To say he's not an all star level guy this year is a stretch...and I can't stand the guy.
I'm more curious to see how he holds up. His shooting percentage has taken a hit this year. I wonder how much of that is the looks he's getting vs. subtle decline. Either way, I'm rooting against him
If Toronto finishes with the league's best record he'll likely be in the top 3 in voting.
He's playing well. It appears that he's not as explosive this year, but that might just be him protecting his leg a bit. Giannis is probably #1 at this point, but based on how Toronto is playing, but I think KL should be considered no lower than top 5. I'll be curious to see how his season plays out, how the Raptors do in the playoffs, and what his value will look like this off season. He becomes a bigger gamble for a long-term max deal if he's exposed as not elite, or if he doesn't stay healthy. Although the way some teams hand out contracts I'm sure he'll get paid.
Still sitting out way too many games. His numbers in terms of scoring would have to go up a little bit. The second half of the season he needs to not sit out and put up some big numbers.
Raptors were a 60 wins team last season without Kawhi. Why should we give Kawhi extra credit for their record? Specially when they have been killing it on the many games Kawhi has sitted too.
The per game stats are all-star level, but the on court impact just isn't there yet. Leonard and his "team" are definitely a bag of es, but I don't really have sour grapes, so there's no ulterior motive (i.e. Lakers fans who are clamoring for him think we Spurs fans will downplay Leonard's ability to make ourselves feel better). 1.25 RPM just isn't noteworthy. Looks like he's playing well tonight, but it's one game.
Kawhi’s ws/48 is the lowest since his third year in the league (not counting last year of course due to sample size) and his BPM is the lowest in his career. His three point shooting, which was what allowed him that quantum leap a few years ago, has regressed. He is shoot a lot more twos and at a lower percentage than before so it’s almost laughable to suggest the pop system is overrated.
His defense is nowhere close to his peak and his play making has not improved. He’s still clearly an all star caliber player but he isn’t close to his peak before his injury and will likely take some time to fully play himself back to that level.
Unless he really turns it around next year, Kawhi is playing more like Paul George than Lebron
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