Translating RC Buford's Summer League Interview

[Tyrone Jenkins]

Because Kobe is harder to guard than Curry?

Diaw isn't going to guard Curry for any amount of significant time either. If he's done it already, it probably wasn't for a long time and it was when Curry was having an off night (and Pop can gamble w/ Diaw sagging off him to defend the drive).

[Tyrone Jenkins]

Because Kobe is harder to guard than Curry?

BTW - Kobe IS harder to guard the Curry on most nights. When Curry is shooting lights out - no one can guard him. But Kobe, even at 100 yrs old, is stronger, faster, jumps higher and plays harder than Curry. When was the last time you saw anyone other than Green, Kawhi, SJax or Ginobili on Kobe?

[Chinook]

I don't know but Diaw is underated as a defender, he can guard the 5 positions as well as anybody, he did work on Curry and Lebron and also guarded Bogut.

I'll just quote this post, but this applies to the other ones where you mentioned Diaw guarding Curry.

Diaw is not capable of guarding Curry. What you're referring to his hedge on Curry the end of regulation in Game 1 versus Golden State, where Diaw hedged very well and used his length to deny Curry's shot. That type of defense is not uncommon for bigs to be able to provide, although it is very useful. To say Diaw can guard point-guards because he hedged well on Curry is like saying that Green can defend the five because he blocked Bogut's shot on a switch. You don't seem to think Splitter can guard point-guards, and his defense on Conley at the end of regulation in Game 3 against Memphis was at least as impressive as Diaw's Curry defense.

Guarding a position means you can go up and down the floor with a player of that position and play competent defense in all aspects. Diaw was not going to guard Curry or any guard for an entire shot clock. Very few players can guard more than three positions. James and Mbah a Moute are the only players I know who can. And even in their case, they're actually much better at guarding swingmen and forwards than they are at guarding the other two positions.

[Chinook]

That's exactly the point - Diaw's defense was OK at best and he was the best 2nd unit player to defend LBJ. Leading up to the Finals, the Spurs most challenging 3 they had to defend was Harrison Barnes (who is good but certainly not the feature of his team). Next year that might be Durant or Gay that's out there in the latter half of the 3rd qtr when Kawhi needs a breather.

TP, Green, Kawhi, Duncan and either Splitter or Diaw make for a great starting unit (Splitter starts in cases of other teams possessing 2 dominant big men - like Memphis or LA w/ Kaman and Gasol). That unit will do OK vs. most teams.

But, the combo of a not very good decision making PG (like Joseph, Colo or Mills), Ginobili or Neal, Green or Diaw at the 3, Bonner or Pendegraph at the 4 and Baynes at the 5 is pretty turnover prone and has little inside scoring capability. If you insert Belinelli in at PG, you do get some scoring and better decision making but now have horrible perimeter defense.

Backup back court will need to be Belinelli, Ginobili or Neal and a new SF who can play defense and create shots on his own so that Diaw, Bonner, Pendegraph (and sometime Splitter) and Baynes can offer both D and O from the 4 and 5 positions.

Just my thought process but the Spurs REALLY need a backup SF...if DeShaun Thomas ends up maturing/learning the system and capable of decent defense by playoff time, excellent. But I wouldn't count on that if I were RC/Pop. Ronnie Brewer is still available but he has ZERO offense and outside shooting. Luke Walton is intriguing but is fairly old and isn't really stellar offensively or defensively. Mikael Pietrus is my choice for someone who can help out and be happy w/ the remainder of the MLE the Spurs have (if he checks out medically).

A Ginobili/Belinelli/SF back court is much more worrisome than a Joseph/Belinelli/Ginobili back court. Manu can't play the point defensively, and Beli can't guard the point either. Ginobili on the other hand CAN play the three defensively. For all the talk about the Spurs having to go through elite small-forwards to win a le, they only need to go through Durant and James. Every other elite three is in the East, unless Tyreke Evans does indeed count as a three, and he's not even elite in any case. In a normal rotation with Leonard playing 40+ minutes, there's no need to worry about having another player to guard the opposing small-forward.

You could argue that having a player to put in if Leonard gets into foul trouble would be nice. I think it could be a possibility, but even then, I'd ride with Green and Ginobili for most of the minutes. Adding another player to the rotation already takes valuable minutes from them. Green's as tall and long as Pietrius (taller, actually), so there's no reason to bring a guy like him in. Ariza? Sure if you can get him. Singleton? Potentially good insurance. A typical three? Not that big of a need, in my opinion.

[Baam]

I'll just quote this post, but this applies to the other ones where you mentioned Diaw guarding Curry.

Diaw is not capable of guarding Curry. What you're referring to his hedge on Curry the end of regulation in Game 1 versus Golden State, where Diaw hedged very well and used his length to deny Curry's shot. That type of defense is not uncommon for bigs to be able to provide, although it is very useful. To say Diaw can guard point-guards because he hedged well on Curry is like saying that Green can defend the five because he blocked Bogut's shot on a switch. You don't seem to think Splitter can guard point-guards, and his defense on Conley at the end of regulation in Game 3 against Memphis was at least as impressive as Diaw's Curry defense.

Guarding a position means you can go up and down the floor with a player of that position and play competent defense in all aspects. Diaw was not going to guard Curry or any guard for an entire shot clock. Very few players can guard more than three positions. James and Mbah a Moute are the only players I know who can. And even in their case, they're actually much better at guarding swingmen and forwards than they are at guarding the other two positions.

No Boris blocking a 3 pointer from Curry when put on an island with him is much more impressive than the Tiago's play on Conley and Curry is just a much better offensive player.

Besides "being able to guard" doesn't mean that your the best option on the team, it just means that you can do a decent job.

[Chinook]

No Boris blocking a 3 pointer from Curry when put on an island with him is much more impressive than the Tiago's play on Conley and Curry is just a much better offensive player.

Besides "being able to guard" doesn't mean that your the best option on the team, it just means that you can do a decent job.

On that play, Diaw "blocked" Curry by hitting him on the arm. And a big blocking a three-pointer against a player who's not a threat to drive is not impressive. Bigs are taller than guards, and it's easier for them to block them when they know the guards are going to shoot. That's not as impressive as Splitter being put on an island (actually, not on a hedge) and being able to move his feet and contest the shot.

And I didn't say that "being able to guard" meant the player had to be the best option. I said they have to be able to guard the position for an entire shot clock, and up and down the court for multiple possessions. Diaw can't do that against guards, not excellently, not even passably. He can barely do that against small-forwards who don't try to post him up.

[Baam]

On that play, Diaw "blocked" Curry by hitting him on the arm. And a big blocking a three-pointer against a player who's not a threat to drive is not impressive. Bigs are taller than guards, and it's easier for them to block them when they know the guards are going to shoot. That's not as impressive as Splitter being put on an island (actually, not on a hedge) and being able to move his feet and contest the shot.

And I didn't say that "being able to guard" meant the player had to be the best option. I said they have to be able to guard the position for an entire shot clock, and up and down the court for multiple possessions. Diaw can't do that against guards, not excellently, not even passably. He can barely do that against small-forwards who don't try to post him up.

Saying that Curry is not a threat to drive is wrong, maybe you're thinking of Klay Thompson.

Also saying he can't guard SFs is just stupid when he did so well on the best SF of all time but whatever...

[Chinook]

Saying that Curry is not a threat to drive is wrong, maybe you're thinking of Klay Thompson.

Also saying he can't guard SFs is just stupid when he did so well on the best SF of all time but whatever...

No, Curry was not a threat to drive, especially after his first ankle injury. No one on that team was besides Jack. That's a big reason why the Spurs were able to beat then in the last two games; they were just a jump-shooting team.

Also being able to guard one player of a position does not equate to guarding that position, no matter how great that player is. Guarding Magic Johnson wouldn't mean being able to guard all point-guards. James decided mid-way through the series he was going to post up primarily or just shoot inefficient jumpers. Diaw was too big for him to back down, and it took him a game to figure out that he should just go around him from the wing instead of in the deep post. Diaw also had significantly more help than Leonard or Green did. , even David West did a good job on James when he got the assignment in the ECF.

Diaw does not have the skills to guard threes that don't play like combo-forwards, at least not to the level that he'd be a great option against them. James is about the only small-forward that Diaw is a good option against. Diaw's not guarding the Gays, Pierces and Durants of the NBA.

[Baam]

Bottom line you're a hopeless Green homer and I'm a hopeless Diaw homer.

[Chinook]

Bottom line you're a hopeless Green homer and I'm a hopeless Diaw homer.

I wouldn't say that. I'm definitely a big Green supporter, but I don't think I'm that crazy. I like Diaw a lot, too. But I'm not a fan of moving players down positions. I think downsizing is the trend of the league and Diaw is a center more than he is a small-forward. I also think Leonard is more of a four than he is a two.

[Baam]

Yeah with his rebounding Kawhi is the perfect small ball 4 once he bulks up a little. Boris did very good things at center in his career but with his lack of rebounding I don't like it that much, ideally I'd like him to lose some weight to play the backup 3 but I know it's very unlikely.