Aldridge: "It's About Winning a le. I Didn't Come to Have a Good Regular Season."

[TheGreatYacht]

Im not ill be the first one to admit that Kawhi ing blew it the those last 2 game against the clips, but everyone not named Tim Duncan was a no show. As for 2013 i was more disappointed in the 4 time NBA champion missing the freebie right before a 21 year old Leonard did. And Leonard had a great overall series that finals also averaging a double-double.

That Game 7 Timmy miss never happens if Kawhi makes his free throws in G6 tho.

[Spurs_619]

That Game 7 Timmy miss never happens if Kawhi makes his free throws in G6 tho.

I was talking about Ginobli missing the free-throw right before Leonard did not the tim miss.

[Spurs_619]

That Game 7 Timmy miss never happens if Kawhi makes his free throws in G6 tho.

Kawhi free throw never happens if ginobli makes his.

[TheGreatYacht]

Only Kawhi fans will spin a thread about LMAlpha focusing on getting a le into a negative

Get rattled so easy when a thread isn't about Kawhi...

[Mnky]

No it makes them guys who were unable to deliver when it mattered most. Sure but you have to put context into it. Last year was the only year that LMA and Kawhi's usage% was similar in the playoffs and Kawhi had the much better numbers.

And on your point in LMA he has played better of late But against the other 3 contenders. OKC,GS, and CLE he has been a no show or out performed by his counter part. So until he proves me wrong which i hope he does, there is no evidence in his NBA career to show he can deliver in the big moment. Even in POR it was lillard who clinched the series not LMA.

No evidence in his NBA career foe the big moment..?

Just reread that a few times..

He showed enough for Buford and Pop. I'm comfortable on that side of the argument.

[Spurs_619]

Only Kawhi fans will spin a thread about LMAlpha focusing on getting a le into a negative

Get rattled so easy when a thread isn't about Kawhi...

No unlike you who would rather see Kawhi play like then the spurs win i want LMA to do well and prove me wrong. I responded to a Post comparing the two and why one gets a perceived pass, thats all.

[Spurs_619]

No evidence in his NBA career foe the big moment..?

Just reread that a few times..

He showed enough for Buford and Pop. I'm comfortable on that side of the argument.

Dont get me wrong i think adding LMA was a huge positive, but i don't think hes going to be the guy to deliver in crunch time or in big games he never has been that player.

[Slippy]

I am not going to defend LMA for his rather mediocre playoffs performance so far, but i just think Kawhi has always been in a way better position to succeed than LMA.

Kawhi has not been the focal point of the team in neither of all his playoffs appearences aside of maybe the last one, where he was as mediocre as LMA has been overall in portland, other than that he always shared the court with at least 2 more players far more experienced, battle tested, respected by the refs and opposing coached than him, which puts him in a position to excel.

On the other hand LMA has always been the focal and sometimes only point of his team during his stint in Portland, he never had ANY player as battle tested and effective as Duncan or Ginobili which are not only great players but leaders and pressure pumps for any player, nor a team that didn´t need him to score at least 30 on every night.

So i am not trying to say that Kawhi success should be overlooked, just that what KL has done depended a lot on the team around him, just as LMA failure also depended a lot on the team around him.

Comparing both is pointless.

Thats the crux of the matter. Unfair comparison . Plus the theres no way anyone can consider portland a contending team like the spurs in LA's time there.

[ChumpDumper]

lol game plan krew still game planning.

[rasuo214]

Why are people comparing a 30 yr old to a 24 yr old as if that's an equal comparison?

LMA @ 23 in the playoffs = 19.5 ppg 7.5 rpg
Kawhi @ 23 in the playoffs = 20.3 ppg 7.4 rpg

Took LMA until his 4th try to get past the 1st round @ age 28. The logical thing would be to wait and see what Kawhi has done by age 30 but this is the internet so carry on...

[YGWHI]

Some posters here are making a big deal of LMA playoffs/big games/whatever, he's doing a great job this season and will be fine in playoffs.

Only Kawhi fans will spin a thread about LMAlpha focusing on getting a le into a negative

Get rattled so easy when a thread isn't about Kawhi...

Tell Mnky this , the first guy in this thread who was comparing LMA to Kawhi...

It's crazy people think Aldridge isn't a clutch performer or good performer. Kawhi has much worse stats in the playoffs, yet they consider him to be a great player. It's just a fan type of mindset that doesn't really understand basketball.

Still waiting to see those worse playoffs stats, since LMA/Kawhi stats show that Kawhi has been a lot more efficient...

[YGWHI]

Why are people comparing a 30 yr old to a 24 yr old as if that's an equal comparison?

LMA @ 23 in the playoffs = 19.5 ppg 7.5 rpg
Kawhi @ 23 in the playoffs = 20.3 ppg 7.4 rpg

Took LMA until his 4th try to get past the 1st round @ age 28. The logical thing would be to wait and see what Kawhi has done by age 30 but this is the internet so carry on...

You responded to my point, which was a comparison of Kawhi and lma and the different lights shown on them. I responded straight to your comments of suggesting Kawhi comes up big. Statistically he doesn't show that. So let's go to what people criticize about lma, which is who he plays good against. Kawhi played horrible against Barnes.. a defensive minded player and played good against someone who is known for letting his man look better than they are with his lack of effort on the defensive side.

Statistically...Kawhi 48 FG% 20.3 ppg, LMA .33 FG% 21.8 ppg in last playoffs.

Kawhi didn't play horrible against Barnes, until game 6 Kawhi was great, averaging 24 ppg in .60 FG%...I guess that Barnes was playing for the Clippers in those previous five games.
It didn't really matter who was guarding Kawhi in the last two games of the series, he was having a terrible slump at the worst time.

[LaMarcus Bryant]

Why can't Aldridge playoff numbers be explained simply through nature of him always being on an inferior team going against superior compe ion, with smart coaches who game plan to take Aldridge out of the game?

If you look at Portland teams, the logical thing is to shut down Aldridge and force them to beat you from outside.
Seems like that's what's happened.

[TrainOfThought5]

If you look at the last two times the spurs got to the finals Kawhi played better every round. As the stage got bigger so did his game most guys go the opposite. And two of his best series came in the finals against the best player in the world at the time. Is it really that hard to understand why people are less worried about Kawhi then LMA, who has never been able to even get to a WCF much less a finals. And Kawhi has already been to 2 finals and 3 WCF at age 24. Not to mention that rockets team was the perfect team to for LMA to go off against who was guarding him ing t jones and dwert lol.

I could write a book on kawhis clutch levels.

[Spurs_619]

Statistically...Kawhi 48 FG% 20.3 ppg, LMA .33 FG% 21.8 ppg in last playoffs.

Kawhi didn't play horrible against Barnes, until game 6 Kawhi was great, averaging 24 ppg in .60 FG%...I guess that Barnes was playing for the Clippers in those previous five games.
It didn't really matter who was guarding Kawhi in the last two games of the series, he was having a terrible slump at the worst time.

Don't even bother. Logic and statistics don't matter some posters on this site will always downplay Kawhi for whatever reason.

[Russo21]

Well LMA is having a good regular season anyway so I dunno what he's talking about there. The rest of the NBA should bloody look out if LMA is on top of his game in the playoffs with the team he has around him, can't wait to see how he and the rest of the guys go. Go Spurs Go!

[SAGirl]

If you look at the last two times the spurs got to the finals Kawhi played better every round. As the stage got bigger so did his game most guys go the opposite. And two of his best series came in the finals against the best player in the world at the time. Is it really that hard to understand why people are less worried about Kawhi then LMA, who has never been able to even get to a WCF much less a finals. And Kawhi has already been to 2 finals and 3 WCF at age 24. Not to mention that rockets team was the perfect team to for LMA to go off against who was guarding him ing t jones and dwert lol.

Well Kawhi had a betteR team with HoF players. lma had lillard??? Little no d chucker... and no HoF coach either. I can't see ppl continuing to hate on him when we would not be playoff team without him this season... last season we were a 7th seed and Timmy played out of his mind all season. That wasn't going to happen again. This is not to diminish the rest of the team or Kawhi's excellence, but without Lamarcus this team has a lower ceiling and we may yet not win it all this season bc we are weak at the guard spots.

[YGWHI]

Don't even bother. Logic and statistics don't matter some posters on this site will always downplay Kawhi for whatever reason.

I find this very funny. Mnky and TGY saying "statistically, blah blah" but stats show otherwise.

[SAGirl]

I am not going to defend LMA for his rather mediocre playoffs performance so far, but i just think Kawhi has always been in a way better position to succeed than LMA.

Kawhi has not been the focal point of the team in neither of all his playoffs appearences aside of maybe the last one, where he was as mediocre as LMA has been overall in portland, other than that he always shared the court with at least 2 more players far more experienced, battle tested, respected by the refs and opposing coached than him, which puts him in a position to excel.

On the other hand LMA has always been the focal and sometimes only point of his team during his stint in Portland, he never had ANY player as battle tested and effective as Duncan or Ginobili which are not only great players but leaders and pressure pumps for any player, nor a team that didn´t need him to score at least 30 on every night.

So i am not trying to say that Kawhi success should be overlooked, just that what KL has done depended a lot on the team around him, just as LMA failure also depended a lot on the team around him.

Comparing both is pointless.

Good point.

[Spurs_619]

Well Kawhi had a betteR team with HoF players. lma had lillard??? Little no d chucker... and no HoF coach either. I can't see ppl continuing to hate on him when we would not be playoff team without him this season... last season we were a 7th seed and Timmy played out of his mind all season. That wasn't going to happen again. This is not to diminish the rest of the team or Kawhi's excellence, but without Lamarcus this team has a lower ceiling and we may yet not win it all this season bc we are weak at the guard spots.

As i said in previous posts in this thread 2-3 years ago LMA was the better player, but then your comparing a prime LMA to a 21 year old Kawhi which is stupid. and his addition to this team has been a huge positive and he is a great player. But LMA has never stepped up when his team needed him, and that has also been the case in the big games the spurs have played this year. Like i also said in this thread earlier i hope he proves me wrong.

[Spurs_619]

I find this very funny. Mnky and TGY saying "statistically, blah blah" but stats show otherwise.

And then you show them the numbers and they just ignore them

[rasuo214]

Well Kawhi had a betteR team with HoF players. lma had lillard??? Little no d chucker... and no HoF coach either. I can't see ppl continuing to hate on him when we would not be playoff team without him this season... last season we were a 7th seed and Timmy played out of his mind all season. That wasn't going to happen again. This is not to diminish the rest of the team or Kawhi's excellence, but without Lamarcus this team has a lower ceiling and we may yet not win it all this season bc we are weak at the guard spots.

Last year's team was a 6th seed and only 1 game back from the 2nd seed. Last year the west was significantly better, the same team would easily be a 3rd or 4th seed this season.

When it comes to LMA we'll see how he does in the playoffs this season. Everything else won't matter if he's a beast this year and helps lead the team to another .

[SAGirl]

Last year's team was a 6th seed and only 1 game back from the 2nd seed. Last year the west was significantly better, the same team would easily be a 3rd or 4th seed this season.

When it comes to LMA we'll see how he does in the playoffs this season. Everything else won't matter if he's a beast this year and helps lead the team to another .

fuzzy memory, but by any measuring stick last season's team underachieved big time and it wasn't going to improve with Timmy, Manu and Tony one year older and everyone else but Kawhi was a roleplayer. That was the point which you captured. One game away still is one game short, one bucket short can cost you a series etc. No excuses for last season Spurs team, same as no excuses for Lma but our weakness is our guard play, the strength of several other teams. Ultimately we may not win it, but I don't think that will be on Lma. It's more likely to be on Tony and our other guards getting owned. But that too will be settled in the postseason.

[LongtimeSpursFan]

We need Aldridge to save his best basketball for the playoffs. The Spurs simply do not have any other player that demands a double team anymore.

[Spurs_619]

We need Aldridge to save his best basketball for the playoffs. The Spurs simply do not have any other player that demands a double team anymore.

Except ya know when the clips double teamed kawhi multiple times in the post in the series last year, but who on ST actually watches the games.