dat strategic mistake from the Krew to mess with Mid... Mid is one the greatest ST mind and is merciless... he's gonna marginalize dat krew in no time
Harlem/Apo should have sent some PMs to save them from embarrassment...
I rewatched yesterday's game in which people claimed Kawhi was being "ignored."
He got 45 front court touches. He averages 43.8 per game. Durant averages 47.7.
"He probably didn't get the ball in his spots because Enrique!"
He got 90% of his touches in good spots that gave him an iso-situation against his defender. I'll provide some caps later, but one issue I've noticed with Kawhi is his reluctance to drive. Manu gets the ball in similar perimeter spots and dribbles/drives to spot where he's comfortable taking a shot or playmaking for a teammate.
I know the dribble-drive is one of Kawhi's supposed weaknesses, but the thing is, he's looked good this season when he's put the ball on the floor and drove (good things usually happen when he drives from the Bowen spot or the wing 3 point area). I don't get his hesitation/deferring.
Because he doesn't have Manus athletic ability or coordination to make a split second adjustment pass on the fly based on the real time evolving defense on the play. If he's driving, he committed to it. He's had a few drive and kicks but even those dont look to smooth. Some of the kicks have just kinda been thrown in a players direction as opposed to a "pass". Yesterday was a good example of Kawhis head down drives with no adjustments.
Edit: And I'm speaking in general terms overall. Of course there is a play here or there when kawhi adjusts, he is a basketball player. I'm talking about the ability to do it consistently with his skill set. Duncan got better doing the same thing, but from the post, so kawhi can too. That's will take his game to another level.
Last edited by UZER; 01-13-2016 at 08:51 AM.
Apples and oranges. Kawhi's a post up player who is still developing his mid range shot and other areas of his game.
He was a hybrid between SF and PF in college, and he plays like that, Manu was always a guard and never a post up player.
We are 34 -6, best franchise start ever. Undefeated at home. We rest Duncan, we win. We rest Duncan and Manu, we win. Green is in a serious slump, we win despite. Kawhi has a bad game and Tony goes off. Tony has a bad game and Kawhi goes off. Aldridge keeps getting a little better. We incorporate new guys and, overall, don't miss the guys that moved on. People still and whine and denigrate. I can't tell which of you are the democrats and which are the republicans. Sad.
The OP makes a simple and solid point. Tony needs to be a threat. Him having this type of game when it is needed now and then is proof of that threat. That threat will make it easier for other players. Nobody is saying he needs to try and do this every night and that has been in check all season. He is likely to go 3 for 4 with 8 points the next game. We all know he had a very bad year last year. Try and keep up, this is 2015-2016 and 34-6.
Kawhi isn't the 2nd coming of MJ. He is a great player, but the team has a lot of great players. They all will have some really good games and some really bad games. They support each other, not throw each other under the bus. This isn't golf, its a team game. The TEAM is 34-6.
Holy krew getting crushed .
Good take. As much as I am impressed with Kawhi's offensive production, Parker will still need to be the primary threat in offense. The downside of this is we don't know if he can remain healthy and explosive. The reality though is that Kawhi just doesn't have enough moves in his arsenal to be that dominating in offense.
The pecking order in offense is: Parker, Leonard, Aldridge, Duncan, Green.
The pecking order for the 2nd team is a lot more dynamic.
I don't expect him to be the playmaker Manu is, but due to Kawhi's size, strength, and length, he's becoming tough to handle for defenders in dribble-drive situations.
I think it's a confidence issue right now.
Most PGs do have to run the offense.
However, the 2nd team of the Spurs doesn't run their offense around Mills. It runs through either Manu or Boris.
The Cavs run their offense around Lebron.
The Bulls have now switched to running their offense around Butler and not Rose.
So it is not automatic that an offense runs around the PG. It runs around the best playmaker, that just happens to be Parker. Aldridge can't make plays. Leonard is better than Aldridge in setting up other players, but Parker is just much better. It is unfortunate that Leonard can't get enough reps in this kind of work. But lets be honest, Leonard can be playing defense and running the team at the same time.
I use to think Kawhi's dribble-drive game was very rough, but when he does commit, they usually can't stop him from getting into the paint.
His length allows him to "dribble long" and cover more distance quickly, which basically translates into him having a very quick first step without having elite footspeed (like Lebron, for instance). Durant uses his length in a similar fashion when dribbling.
We should see 2 or 3 moves like this every game:
Agreed, but what I was implying is that a team's starting PG is typically their best playmaker (Paul, Rubio, Lowry, Rondo, Wall, Westbrook, etc). I know Manu is our best, but he can't play the minutes.
I didn't say you did. I was just using it as a point of reference. Kawhi needs to learn how to be an effective passer off the dribble. Not Manu level of course, but enough to keep the defense honest. If he doesn't, teams will just start crowding him and forcing him into a bad play. It happened a few times last night and will start happening more.
I'm just pointing out he's not athletic enough for it up come naturally. He has to learn how to do it with his skill set.
This isn't just "one game." Tony was doing this all the time at the beginning of the season. He went awol for a couple weeks, not sure what the was all about.
But, the TONY I saw tonight, has been the Tony we've seen most of the season. With this Tony...I would pick us over GS. Without this Tony...I wouldn't.
I agree here that he's not a natural. He's got size, length and a descent level of athleticism, but he's not elite athletically that some ST posters have a delusion that he is.
This may be the best game I've seen Tony play this season. Does it translate vs the GSW? Is Curry any better a defender than Reggie Jackson?
It's not necessarily the primary defender on Tony. It's the help defense when gets into the lane.
I will say this though, Tony does seem to thrive against GSW.
I like that Tony scored 30+, I love the W, Kawhi sucked balls, but, at the end of the day, this gotta be a fluke game, tbh... Kawhi should be the guy you expect to score 20+ every night at this stage of the team, not Parker, Tim or Manu. If you get a good matchup or if one of those guys have a renaissance game, you take it, but it can't be the norm, IMO. I do agree that Tony has to "draw attention", and I would argue that extends to Tim and Manu too. I think Tony is mature enough to know he won't be able to do this every night, and won't try to force the issue.
But I think this particular game said more about Kawhi, still having a tough time finding his regularity, than Tony or anybody else. He got looks, he even forced the issue a few times, and I felt he was discouraged and kinda removed himself from the offense at times. I'm sure Pop and him will review the tape and come back strong from this, but it's a process. People forget how young he is, and he's a gym rat, so no concerns here at the moment.
No he didn't. Only idiots would infer that.
I agree with the OP. Parker's game is needed for a le.
As long as Parker is healthy and picks his spots well, he will do great for this team.
I wish he had a better (or more consistent) 3pt shot already for when he has to spot up or bail out a possession.
A couple of times this season he has come up with a 3pt shot and that must be demoralizing for the other team.
Other than his legitimate shortcomings as player (dribbling, ball handling), I think Kawhi is not there yet mentally compared to TD/Manu in their prime or even Tony..He comes across as type who needs the external prodding to seize the moment, sometimes quite literally (Pop pounding his fist on Kiwi chest in Game 3 of the Finals)..this stuff (leadership/alphaness etc..) is innate, but i just hope Kawhi grows in this department instead of slipping into an on-court shrinking violet..TD/Manu won't be there for long time...This team will be his if not already is..
He got shat on the first page then turned in cesperez.
Harlem/Apo should have sent some PMs to save them from embarrassment...
He got shat on the first page then turned in cesperez.
and then you know People tend to consider smart and articulate takes rather than takes like
imho fwiw tbh
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