LMA Scoring Trend

[SPURt]

I love how he's coming on so strong! Watching him last night I realized how he totally tilts the OKC matchup in the Spurs favor. Ibaka was the piece the Spurs struggled the most with and starting LMA>>> starting Bonner to matchup with Ibaka.

[DPG21920]

Pretty incredible. Even as someone who watches a ton of basketball outside of SA, LMA has been better than advertised. DMC is correct that it's his defense that has impressed. He's turning into a true all around guy on a consistent basis. He's answered every question I've had so far:

O Can he play in a system: So far, yes.
O Can he play defense/in a system: So far, yes.
O Can he improve efficiency on offense with less touches: So far, yes.

He's using the regular season to learn and grow and become more comfortable and his ability to mesh and pick things up is a huge reason why SA is so much better, so much faster than I expected.

There are still playoff questions of course, but the more I see the more I am confident he will do his part. The team may fail but I don' think it will be one of those things where he stands out. Will be a lot of different things and as things look now he actually looks like he can lift the team up if needed.

I also love how he literally fits in personality wise with Tim/Kawhi. Dude just does his job and keeps quiet. Strong mental game as well. Doesn't go crazy, doesn't show too much emotion. Has a bad game, then bounces back. Literally a perfect fit in every single damn way.

[KenziE]

Never complains to the refs aswell very level headed, laid back dude ... Not much of a talker too just keeps on the task at hand and is very team oriented guy .

[Obstructed_View]

Pretty incredible. Even as someone who watches a ton of basketball outside of SA, LMA has been better than advertised. DMC is correct that it's his defense that has impressed. He's turning into a true all around guy on a consistent basis. He's answered every question I've had so far:

O Can he play in a system: So far, yes.
O Can he play defense/in a system: So far, yes.
O Can he improve efficiency on offense with less touches: So far, yes.

He's using the regular season to learn and grow and become more comfortable and his ability to mesh and pick things up is a huge reason why SA is so much better, so much faster than I expected.

There are still playoff questions of course, but the more I see the more I am confident he will do his part. The team may fail but I don' think it will be one of those things where he stands out. Will be a lot of different things and as things look now he actually looks like he can lift the team up if needed.

I also love how he literally fits in personality wise with Tim/Kawhi. Dude just does his job and keeps quiet. Strong mental game as well. Doesn't go crazy, doesn't show too much emotion. Has a bad game, then bounces back. Literally a perfect fit in every single damn way.

In a defensive system conventional wisdom says it takes the better part of a year to understand, LMA showed up from day one not making mistakes. Wonder how much better it can get on both ends of the floor.

[coachmac87]

RC "GM of the year"?

[Obstructed_View]

RC "GM of the year"?

For sure. Wait until next year when he adds Lebron.

[DPG21920]

In a defensive system conventional wisdom says it takes the better part of a year to understand, LMA showed up from day one not making mistakes. Wonder how much better it can get on both ends of the floor.

For sure - I do think LMA's defensive talents are heightened playing next to Tim/Kawhi/DG, but that goes for anyone. I was really just concerned with can he come in and SA still have a good defense. Not only can they, but he's adding to that in a very big way.

I don't know how much better they can get only because of Tim. If Tim plays another year than for sure; him having a full year of knowing what's going on should help. If Tim leaves, that will obviously change things but that's not on LMA.

[spurtech09]

LMA-KL- Locked in...rest of the team....not so much...

[DPG21920]

LMA-KL- Locked in...rest of the team....not so much...

It's true, but the good news is everyone is focused on defense. The team is mentally engaged. The tide should turn on the scoring. Maybe not for TP who has to generate a lot on his own, but for everyone else the offense is getting good looks and you have to think the shots will fall.

[Slippy]

LongtimeSpursFan

Personally I feel more comfortable with LMA as the main offensive weapon. I feel he just has a natural scorer mentality. Once teams try to focus/game plan on stopping him this will allow others to step up.

Teams are doing it now. Last game being the most recent example where the defense is collapsing around LA or they automatically doubling. KY was benefiting as in only having to deal with one defender but kept missing good looks until he got going in the 4th. Other teammates were the letdown missing wide open looks.

[Sean Cagney]

Woah! let's not get ahead of ourselves.

[cutewizard]

I'm glad to see LMA fitting in so well. It was a really good idea for him to start with a focus on defense, as that was needed a lot more than his offense, and as he had shown he could be a bit lazy on that end. His offense was going to come no matter what, it was just a question of patience, but his D was questionable.

So we now have two great 2-way players to build around. The Spurs really need to find a great guard in the next couple of years and the Spurs will have reloaded nicely, without missing the playoffs.

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

agree

my choice is John Wall, would be perfect for us

[will_spurs]

Kobe did them a favor and took a paycut, dude.

I was confused as to who he meant but still don't understand the comment...

[Cowboys_Wear_Spurs]

Oct/Nov - 15.2
Dec - 15.9
Jan - 16.7
Feb - 20.5
Mar - 25.2

This exactly what I predicted back in August. No surprise. Pop wanted his defense to get to Spurs standards and once it did, now his offense is back on Par and actually better due to the open shots he gets in the Spurs System.

[BillMc]

This exactly what I predicted back in August. No surprise. Pop wanted his defense to get to Spurs standards and once it did, now his offense is back on Par and actually better due to the open shots he gets in the Spurs System.

+1

[Harry Callahan]

I love how he's coming on so strong! Watching him last night I realized how he totally tilts the OKC matchup in the Spurs favor. Ibaka was the piece the Spurs struggled the most with and starting LMA>>> starting Bonner to matchup with Ibaka.

Ibaka seems like a way softer player now than he was 2-3 years ago and OKC is OK with letting him shoot jumpers on the perimeter and not just focus on blocked shots and rebounds. Let's face it OKC has two high end scorers, but, unlike the Spurs, most of their "other" guys are less willing to do the dirty work.

LMA really hurts OKC and the older guys have way less pressure to do the heavy lifting now - its a big collective effort.

The Spurs record of success will not necessarily go away when Tim, Manu, and (eventually Tony) step away. Kawhi is sooooo much better now (he even controls the ball in crunch time like a point guard/forward). LMA can play the style he plays for a long time without a huge dropoff because his fundamentals are so sound with his offensive game. I consider him to be a Dirk type player with a litte less range - there is nothing wrong with that for the next 4-5 years. He can flat out put points on the board almost effortlessly.

If the Spurs are shrewd AND a little lucky in their near term player acquisition, they will be able to win more NBA championships in the next 5 years. I did not think that was realistic two years ago.

IMO, if the Spurs can obtain a Tony clone in the next year or two, we can still kick butt.

[BillMc]

[BillMc]

Ibaka seems like a way softer player now than he was 2-3 years ago and OKC is OK with letting him shoot jumpers on the perimeter and not just focus on blocked shots and rebounds. Let's face it OKC has two high end scorers, but, unlike the Spurs, most of their "other" guys are less willing to do the dirty work.

LMA really hurts OKC and the older guys have way less pressure to do the heavy lifting now - its a big collective effort.

The Spurs record of success will not necessarily go away when Tim, Manu, and (eventually Tony) step away. Kawhi is sooooo much better now (he even controls the ball in crunch time like a point guard/forward). LMA can play the style he plays for a long time without a huge dropoff because his fundamentals are so sound with his offensive game. I consider him to be a Dirk type player with a litte less range - there is nothing wrong with that for the next 4-5 years. He can flat out put points on the board almost effortlessly.

If the Spurs are shrewd AND a little lucky in their near term player acquisition, they will be able to win more NBA championships in the next 5 years. I did not think that was realistic two years ago.

IMO, if the Spurs can obtain a Tony clone in the next year or two, we can still kick butt.

I agree with you. The weird thing is that this feels like a transition year, like we're a piece or two away (like the Tony clone you mention) and yet we're 56-10 with really only 1 team in the whole league who'd be favored against us in a series. Amazing.

[SPURt]

Ibaka seems like a way softer player now than he was 2-3 years ago and OKC is OK with letting him shoot jumpers on the perimeter and not just focus on blocked shots and rebounds. Let's face it OKC has two high end scorers, but, unlike the Spurs, most of their "other" guys are less willing to do the dirty work.

LMA really hurts OKC and the older guys have way less pressure to do the heavy lifting now - its a big collective effort.

The Spurs record of success will not necessarily go away when Tim, Manu, and (eventually Tony) step away. Kawhi is sooooo much better now (he even controls the ball in crunch time like a point guard/forward). LMA can play the style he plays for a long time without a huge dropoff because his fundamentals are so sound with his offensive game. I consider him to be a Dirk type player with a litte less range - there is nothing wrong with that for the next 4-5 years. He can flat out put points on the board almost effortlessly.

If the Spurs are shrewd AND a little lucky in their near term player acquisition, they will be able to win more NBA championships in the next 5 years. I did not think that was realistic two years ago.

IMO, if the Spurs can obtain a Tony clone in the next year or two, we can still kick butt.

Great response! I agree with you everything except I'm not even sure if the Spurs need a Tony clone. It'd be nice to have a PG that can create and play consistently. The hardest part of this season has been the inconsistency from Danny, Tony, Patty, and Manu.

[Obstructed_View]

I was confused as to who he meant but still don't understand the comment...

I thought 12 referred to Kobe, and I thought your comment referred to the article where he says that his 800 jillion dollar contract was him giving the team a discount because players like he and lebron are underpaid.

[will_spurs]

I thought 12 referred to Kobe, and I thought your comment referred to the article where he says that his 800 jillion dollar contract was him giving the team a discount because players like he and lebron are underpaid.

I thought 12 was a reference to Parker's current salary, but I guess it's actually a reference to LMA's contract. In any case it's cryptic to say the least.