Spurs, less Leonard = Pretenders

[horsielove]

Spurts losing to the Lakers AT HOME just proves how this team is without their alpha player Kawhi

[wildchild]

No-big-pic of Kawhi like Tiago's thread? This is how racism looks on ST.







b/f

[KL2]

He just a role player doe

[FireMicoHalili]

Austin Daye should have started in place of Kyle IMO. Could have had 22PTS easily like in the Philly game last year.

[DesignatedT]

Chandler-less Mavs - Pretenders
Bogut-less Warriors - Pretenders
Varajeo less Cavs - Pretenders
Conley less Grizz - Pretenders
Ariza less Rockets - Pretenders.
etc.

Not to mention...

Splitter-less Spurs- Pretenders
Green-less Spurs-pretenders
Diaw-less Spurs-pretenders.
etc.

Hope you successfully made your point.

[Dre_7]

The Spurs just don't flow as well with out Kawhi. He does so much on both ends. He is responsible for so many points off turnovers, even when he doesn't directly get the assist or basket. He makes them so much more athletic on O as well.

[BatManu20]

We also lost to the Nets and Jazz in the past week with Kawhi....

[Harry Callahan]

They are not healthy, but the execution is not up to par either. This one really pisses me off. The Lakers had no business winning this game, even with the Spurs missing two of their top eight and having two other guys playing very limited minutes with Splitter and Parker.

They have got to get healthier to really get rolling. It better happen soon.

[-21-]

Legitimately surprised that this thread wasn't made by apalisoc_9.

[cjw]

The Spurs just don't flow as well with out Kawhi. He does so much on both ends. He is responsible for so many points off turnovers, even when he doesn't directly get the assist or basket. He makes them so much more athletic on O as well.

While not always pretty offensively, he's deadly efficient and can take guys in the post. He also forces the defense to be honest instead of laying off the guy playing his minutes - particularly important when you don't have Mills and Parker is limited.

And you're totally right about his defense igniting the offense. Only a couple steals show up on the stat sheet, but forced bad shots and deflections can lead to easy points on the other end when in a halfcourt offensive rut. And who doesn't love his one man fast break?

I'm making no judgments on this team until back at full strength. Others in the west will / have been dealing with injuries too.

[Harry Callahan]

Agree with cjw. Kawhi is good for at least 2-3 turnovers a game with steals. Oftentimes those steals are dunks the other way. The lakers don't get all those good looks at the basket when they are looking for Kawhi stealing the ball.

[r0drig0lac]

now this crap alphas and betas also in ST, right

[SanDiegoSpursFan]

Most teams would drop off significantly without their 2nd most impactful player.

[TheGreatYacht]

We also lost to the Nets and Jazz in the past week with Kawhi....