Red Mosquito

turned2black wrote:LOL.

4/5 wrote:

turned2black wrote:LOL.

He's really, really good man. I respect the vast majority of your basketball opinions, but I think you're dead wrong about him.

Bill Simmons wrote:Six sarcastic retorts if/when a buddy says to you, “I just don’t know if Kawhi is a max guy. He’s putting up only 15 and 7 every night and he hasn’t been healthy all season … I think he might take a discount to stay.”

1. “Yeah, it’s not like the league is drifting toward über-athletic forwards who can make 3s, defend both forward spots and thrive in small ball AND big ball.”

2. “Great point, David Kahn.”

3. “You’re right, half the league’s teams have enough cap space to offer him a max contract this summer — there’s no way someone will bite.”

4. “No way he can put up better stats — NBA players always peak statistically at 23 when they’re the fourth option on a contender.”

5. “Yeah, he’ll take a discount to stay — he’s made less than $8 million playing basketball these last four years. He’s definitely ready to leave gobs of money on the table.”

6. “Hold on, I’m gonna make a list of everyone who can successfully defend LeBron or Durant in a seven-game series. Kawhi Leonard, and … oh, wait, we’re done.”

4/5 wrote:Simmons on Kawhi Leonard doubters:

Bill Simmons wrote:Six sarcastic retorts if/when a buddy says to you, “I just don’t know if Kawhi is a max guy. He’s putting up only 15 and 7 every night and he hasn’t been healthy all season … I think he might take a discount to stay.”

1. “Yeah, it’s not like the league is drifting toward über-athletic forwards who can make 3s, defend both forward spots and thrive in small ball AND big ball.”

2. “Great point, David Kahn.”

3. “You’re right, half the league’s teams have enough cap space to offer him a max contract this summer — there’s no way someone will bite.”

4. “No way he can put up better stats — NBA players always peak statistically at 23 when they’re the fourth option on a contender.”

5. “Yeah, he’ll take a discount to stay — he’s made less than $8 million playing basketball these last four years. He’s definitely ready to leave gobs of money on the table.”

6. “Hold on, I’m gonna make a list of everyone who can successfully defend LeBron or Durant in a seven-game series. Kawhi Leonard, and … oh, wait, we’re done.”

Monkey_Driven wrote:Agree with all of this. I watched a good chunk of the Blazers/Spurs game last night and Leonard was everywhere. Grabbing boards and jumping around like he was teleporting.

turned2black wrote:To be perfectly clear, I'm not a Leonard doubter and think he is "probably" a max player. But I also don't think he's the savior of this franchise. He'll never be dominate offensively and continues to be way too tentative. Hell, he's not even in the game most of the time the Spurs need a big bucket at the end of the games.

Monkey_Driven wrote:Agree with all of this. I watched a good chunk of the Blazers/Spurs game last night and Leonard was everywhere. Grabbing boards and jumping around like he was teleporting.

I watched the game as well. He had 8 rebounds, was 5-13 shooting and was very passive on offense.

Monkey_Driven wrote:

turned2black wrote:To be perfectly clear, I'm not a Leonard doubter and think he is "probably" a max player. But I also don't think he's the savior of this franchise. He'll never be dominate offensively and continues to be way too tentative. Hell, he's not even in the game most of the time the Spurs need a big bucket at the end of the games.

Monkey_Driven wrote:Agree with all of this. I watched a good chunk of the Blazers/Spurs game last night and Leonard was everywhere. Grabbing boards and jumping around like he was teleporting.

I watched the game as well. He had 8 rebounds, was 5-13 shooting and was very passive on offense.

His defensive presence doesn't really show up in stats. He did grab 8 boards as a small forward. He leads all small forwards in that category this season.

turned2black wrote:

Monkey_Driven wrote:

turned2black wrote:To be perfectly clear, I'm not a Leonard doubter and think he is "probably" a max player. But I also don't think he's the savior of this franchise. He'll never be dominate offensively and continues to be way too tentative. Hell, he's not even in the game most of the time the Spurs need a big bucket at the end of the games.

Monkey_Driven wrote:Agree with all of this. I watched a good chunk of the Blazers/Spurs game last night and Leonard was everywhere. Grabbing boards and jumping around like he was teleporting.

I watched the game as well. He had 8 rebounds, was 5-13 shooting and was very passive on offense.

His defensive presence doesn't really show up in stats. He did grab 8 boards as a small forward. He leads all small forwards in that category this season.

turned2black wrote:My son and I got to watch Westbrook shoot 12-38 (1-10 from 3) and blow that overtime layup in person last night.

Although he did rebound a ton of his own bricks, so it showed up as 14 rebs on the stat sheet. And he did have a couple pretty assists.

4/5 wrote:So, was last night a Finals preview?

Monkey_Driven wrote:

4/5 wrote:So, was last night a Finals preview?

Mariotta or Winston?

gems and rhinestones wrote:

Monkey_Driven wrote:

4/5 wrote:So, was last night a Finals preview?

Mariotta or Winston?

Mariotta

E.H. Ruddock wrote:Westbrook was too much of a ball hog at the end of the game last night. Missed two late shots when he should have passed, then made a FT he was trying to miss.