Charles Barkley: Kawhi Leonard is a starter.

[spurs1990]

Ya'll can hear the conversation here:

http://www.danpatrick.com/2011/06/24...-no-1-overall/

Love Dan Patrick's logic on the Hill trade. Not.

[TE]

I hope this guy doesn't turn out like Corey Brewer.

[objective]

I'm starting to think, or maybe hope is more accurate, that Leonard could be a starter sooner rather than later. Mostly because I think Jefferson is the type of player who will come to camp fat and will be prone to nagging injuries now that he's both been guaranteed another near $30 million dollars and how he was benched and ignored by Pop in the biggest game of the year. Especially if camp gets pushed back by the lockout.

So an out of shape, unmotivated Jefferson showing up at camp with maybe some minor injury tweaks opens the door for a hungry Leonard to step in. Pop would have to think it fair to the team and to Leonard first though.

[joshdaboss]

Ya'll can hear the conversation here:

http://www.danpatrick.com/2011/06/24...-no-1-overall/

Love Dan Patrick's logic on the Hill trade. Not.

What do you mean? Patrick was dead-on. Unless this Leonard joker gets significant minutes, year 1, this trade is automatically a joke.

[BackHome]

I like the way our drafts went by trading Hill a guy we would not be able to afford for a 15th pick and getting a young Bowen/Rodman type of player at our second weakest postion SF was a blessing.

I hope we will be able to do the same thing next year in trading Blair and moving up the draft board and getting a good PF or Center.

[k_nguyen93]

To be honest best time to trade Blair is after rookie-sophmore game when he's still starting. Getting benched in playoffs because of too much McDonalds ain't the best way to up your stock. Still have the possible issue of his knees as well.

[Mel_13]

Why? Because whenever Pop elects to resort to his often-used "small-ball" lineups, he prefers his SFs to swing over to play the PF position. He's tried doing this with RJ the past 2 seasons - much to RJ's dismay and ineffectiveness. If Pop forced RJ into such a role, you certainly know damn well he will expect Leonard to do the same?

That's one of Pop's flaws as a coach, he sometimes forces players to play out-of-position, where their limitations are revealed and they become exposed. See George Hill being forecd to masquerade as a defensive SF.

He force-fed RJ at the 4 until the All-Star break in his first season and very rarely after that.

RJ played 90% of his minutes at the 3 in 2010-11 and almost all his minutes at the 4 were to match-up with smallball configurations of the opponent.

If Leonard plays, I would expect him to be used the same way.

[objective]

RJ publicly complained about playing smallball 4 also, and combined with the rest of his soft lazy play was a recipe for disaster.

If Pop thinks it's fair to the team to play Leonard as a smallball 4, I hope Leonard is hungry enough to do a better job at it.

[TXstbobcat]

It kind of sucks that there is no summer league play this offseason. I would have been really excited to go to Vegas to see Leanord play.

[Tyrone Jenkins]

First and foremost, let's understand something fundamental - positions for players can get "assigned" by lots of different factors. Height is usually the greatest one but I'd offer many analysts are often wrong. Take Dirk for instance . . . what's his true position? PF? C? Sometimes down the floor, he's a SG. At other times, he's a PF. No one seems to be questioning Carlisle's use of him.

Player positions are determined by the offensive skillset. Plain and simple. TP is a point guard due to his DECISION MAKING ability. Ball handling alone does not a point guard make - it's a secondary skill. Gary Neal is a SG - through and through. SGs typically run around picks and shoot (imagine that) where the only decisions they have to make is whether to catch and shoot or make a move on the defender, move a few feet then shoot. That's a typical SGs game (don't get confused w/ Kobe, Wade and MJ who were the exception). Ray Allen is your classic 2 guard. Hill did have some decent point guard decision making skill but played more like a SG to me.

The SF position is typically the 2nd smartest guy on the team in that he has some decision making responsibilities as well. Offenses are often built around SF play in that many can do multiple things - shoot from deep, drive to the basket or post up smaller players. They can usually defend one position higher and lower (SGs and PFs) as well as their own position. Paul Pierce and Melo are elite SFs. Kawhi Leonard will probably never be as good a shooter or offensive threat as either, but that's not what the Spurs system calls for.

Having Leonard play the 4 when Pop goes to a smaller lineup is IDEAL. The reason for the smaller lineup is for quickness (obviously) - of course, you give up size on the defensive end. Whenever Blair was in the game, the Spurs were effectively playing small ball. Only thing was that Blair wasn't quick enough to guard the SF position wherein Leonard is. Now, w/ a lineup of Leonard and Blair or Bonner in the game, he has more options than just using Blair or Bonner to guard the PF.

[wildbill2u]

Of course he will play some 4 but it will only be situational minutes against opposition that goes small. He will primarily be a wing. People automatically assume its a negative thing that a guy can be versatile or a tweener between a 3 and 4, but its not always the case. The Spurs have routinely been killed by smaller athletic 4's because they havent had that tweener 3/4 type who can guard these guys.. but Leonard has a perfect body type to be that guy, he is a huge 6'7" (8'10 reach and 7'3 wingspan) and his rebounding is elite. He has the potential to guard guys like Durant, Dirk, Kobe, Carmelo... guys that have routinely destroyed the Spurs over the last few years because of guys like Hill and Jefferson being the only options.

You cant just build yourself to matchup with one type of lineup.. you have to have versatility.. against the Lakers you can hopefully stick him on the perimeter on Kobe and make him shoot over a 8'10 reach... and you can play him at the 4 against the Mavs and not lose anything in rebounding.

Versatility is a good thing.

Speaking of PFs and bulked up SG/SF that have given us fits, how about Zach Randolph and that guy from out in California that went to Houston?
They take our little guys down in the post and kill us--and Tim is too slow these days to do much against a mobile PF.

[Solid D]

Bump this thread from 6/24/11 following the draft.

[Solid D]

"He's relentless and you cannot teach relentless" - Jay Bilas (regarding Kawhi Leonard)

[DPG21920]

I'm so happy with how good he's turned out to be so early on. Im blown away by his development and cant wait to see his first playoffs.

[therealtruth]

Barkley's been on fire in his predictions since last season.

[lefty]

Bump this thread from 6/24/11 following the draft.

Solid bump from Solid D

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Its eye opening cuz of all the fatalistic RJ talk

[BoricuaCJA]

I'm still so happy we made that trade up to get him. He has been incredible this year and I believe he will have a great playoffs this year. He is Spurs material!

[Spurtacus]

Sir Charles is a smart man.

I hope he picked the Spurs to win it all. Need to offset the jinx from Shaq.

[siraulo23]

danny green is also a starter...

[Solid D]

Kawhi is a starter and a finisher

Fixed

[SpursRock20]

danny green is also a starter...

Thanks to a giant gift from Pop. I don't see Green starting in the playoffs.

[Beanzamillion21]

if he gets the startin job = ROY, FIRST TEAM ALL ROOKIE TEAM

Not likely.

[Solid D]

I couldn't help but notice SpursRock20's sig video loop of Kawhi's dunk, 2 posts above this one. The "quiet" leader Tim Duncan in the background. Oldest player in uniform, on a pogo-stick, extremely into the game, looking as fresh, vocal and intense as anyone at that game!

[GSH]

I've always trusted Chuck. He loves the Spurs. I don't know why he gets so much flack on here.

You can't really tell when Barkley is being serious, and when he is just saying something to be outrageous. Or to get under Kenny's skin. Like when he "guaranteed" that Yao Ming wouldn't score 20 points in any game his rookie season, or he (Barkley) would kiss Kenny's ass? They had to bring in a pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, and make Charles kiss the tail part?

Barkley is a smart guy, when it comes to basketball. Not perfect, but smart. But, just like Shaq, he knows the value of showmanship. A lot of people here love him when he says something good about the Spurs, and get pissed when he says something critical. He's been right with both kinds of comments. He's also said a lot of things just to stir the pot. You have to be careful with the Chuckster.