Celebrating the best 32-year old Frenchie this team ever had...

[KL2]

I don't doubt for a minute that all the attention that LeBron gave Duncan in that series made it easier for Parker to shine.

But isn't that the very definition of most of these things? Last year, our big three got most of the attention (and LeBron was on Parker a lot in '13 and '14) and Kawhi was able to shine.

It does not logically follow that Parker was not a worthy finals MVP, any more than it would follow that Kawhi was "only" the MVP due to the attention given to the big 3 stars.

You base your argument on how bad the Cavs defenders were...but the point is that by being whatever they were, Parker was able to do as well as he did.

It is not necessary to belittle a guy's achievement in order to put it into context.

It wasn't just Duncan drawing the defensive attention, it was the Cavs in general, they were horrible on both sides of the ball, I covered most of this stuff in the post above. They were nowhere near the talent of the '14 Heat.


The primary difference on offense when comparing Parker to Leonard is Leonard has nowhere near as much help. With Parker the Spurs run him off numerous screens trying to free him up, they run plays for him over and over, pick and rolls, ISOs with any mismatch he gets, teammates recognize the spacing, mismatches etc. it comes at a price because the Spurs are doing everything in their power to get him going and we often see the offense stall.

It's just this year we're finally starting to see Leonard get some of that help. Leonard's offense last year, much like this year, came off put backs, dunking on people, offensive rebounds, grabbing the defensive rebounding and scoring in transition, hustle plays, steals, blocks, occasional post ups, floaters, jumpers, etc. all things Leonard has created.

Last year Leonard was lucky to even get a single screen called for him, teammates ignored mismatches in the post/perimeter, no plays called for him, etc. he had very little help out there, and Lebron did guard him a lot of the time. Even when he did get the ball the Spurs didn't recognize the mismatch and often crowded him, they still do this year at times although they've gotten much better.

Just like the Dallas series, Leonard was neutralized by his own teammates. Every time he got the ball in the post Splitter/Duncan would crowd him in the paint, drawing their defenders within his vicinity, making it almost impossible to score. With Parker the Spurs know his strengths/weaknesses and will clear out, not with Leonard. Even when Leonard wants to drive Splitter/Duncan were almost always packing the paint, he wasn't getting put in the pick and roll, thus all the bigs would be in the paint neutralizing his game. It's why Leonard exploded with Diaw out there, a wide open lane.

Defensively (the thing that wins 'ships) it's not even close. Leonard guarded Lebron, Wade, etc. and locked them down. Even when he blew past them the Heat were actually athletic, unlike the Cavs, they actually had some shot blocking and foot speed to stay in front of Leonard.

You simply can't compare Leonard's MVP to Parker's, Leonard's was 100x more difficult.

[KL2]

Just like the other poster said, you could find MORE stuff to knock on Kawhi if you are going down that road. Just stop

Read my new post

[KL2]

In the end Parker's '07 Finals MVP fooled his coach/team/fans into thinking he was the MVP. From that point on the Spurs tailored everything towards Parker, and we see the success or lack of success since giving him the keys to the offense.

It's a formula that does not work, a few others on this board have realized this and were/are frustrated. The Spurs need injuries/upsets/teams as bad as the Cavs in order for Parker ball to win them a championship, the odds of that happening are very low.

[EVAY]

It wasn't just Duncan drawing the defensive attention, it was the Cavs in general, they were horrible on both sides of the ball, I covered most of this stuff in the post above. They were nowhere near the talent of the '14 Heat.


The primary difference on offense when comparing Parker to Leonard is Leonard has nowhere near as much help. With Parker the Spurs run him off numerous screens trying to free him up, they run plays for him over and over, pick and rolls, ISOs with any mismatch he gets, teammates recognize the spacing, mismatches etc. it comes at a price because the Spurs are doing everything in their power to get him going and we often see the offense stall.

It's just this year we're finally starting to see Leonard get some of that help. Leonard's offense last year, much like this year, came off put backs, dunking on people, offensive rebounds, grabbing the defensive rebounding and scoring in transition, hustle plays, steals, blocks, occasional post ups, floaters, jumpers, etc. all things Leonard has created.

Last year Leonard was lucky to even get a single screen called for him, teammates ignored mismatches in the post/perimeter, no plays called for him, etc. he had very little help out there, and Lebron did guard him a lot of the time. Even when he did get the ball the Spurs didn't recognize the mismatch and often crowded him, they still do this year at times although they've gotten much better.

Just like the Dallas series, Leonard was neutralized by his own teammates. Every time he got the ball in the post Splitter/Duncan would crowd him in the paint, drawing their defenders within his vicinity, making it almost impossible to score. With Parker the Spurs know his strengths/weaknesses and will clear out, not with Leonard. Even when Leonard wants to drive Splitter/Duncan were almost always packing the paint, he wasn't getting put in the pick and roll, thus all the bigs would be in the paint neutralizing his game. It's why Leonard exploded with Diaw out there, a wide open lane.

Defensively (the thing that wins 'ships) it's not even close. Leonard guarded Lebron, Wade, etc. and locked them down. Even when he blew past them the Heat were actually athletic, unlike the Cavs, they actually had some shot blocking and foot speed to stay in front of Leonard.

You simply can't compare Leonard's MVP to Parker's, Leonard's was 100x more difficult.

I honestly wasn't trying to compare the two players. I was only trying to point out that in ANY situation that is not a LeBron (total dominance) or a Duncan (in the three of the four previous ones to last year) clear-cut decision, that the attention obtained by other players contribute to the ability of a strong player to show his ability. That was all.

I do happen to agree that Kawhi's attempts at offense have been hampered from time to time by the other players on the team not knowing exactly where to be or what to do. I think that was evident earlier this year when the team really WAS trying to put Kawhi into the offensive set more, and the rest of the team looked uncertain where to be, what to do, and there were a ton of turnovers. My only point here is that the position that Kawhi has played has not been a significant offensive position for the Spurs in the last few years when the essential Spurs offensive set was a series of pick and rolls between Duncan and Parker, or variations on the loop play. I don't think anyone was intentionally trying to avoid Kawhi, or crowd him, or ignore him, or anything like that. I think that they just haven't gotten good yet with that - although I think it can change. It just takes some practice.