re: Is Kawhi overrated on the MSB, or not?

It's not as if Parker has been missing time though. His play has basically been actively sabotaging the team up until recently.

quote:

---

I don't think it's such an outlandish statement,but maybe I'm overrating him. Leonard, as of yesterday, is being compared to Scottie Pippen. I'm not sold that Wiggins will ever reach that level.

---

I kinda have Wiggins' floor at about what Kawhi is doing now.

Speaking of Pippen, I watch an old Bulls vs Knicks game the other day. Nobody punch me, but I was underwhelmed with the way they played and what Jordan was doing offensively. He had 20 in the 1st, but it seemed like he and the guy guarding him were the only players south of the 3 point line.

But Pippen was blowing my mind with some of the plays he made. He was throwing down dunks that I'm not sure many others could do. His length was nuts!

quote:

---

You don't think you could very easily come up with a list of 20 players you would rather have?

---

It honestly starts getting foggy after the Top 10. There are lots of great players in the NBA, but there are only like 7 elite guys. Somewhere around there,it starts to become about preference pretty quickly.

quote:

---

Harden has made Leonard his bitch enough times for me possibly to underrate him a bit defensively. I will concede that.

---

Who hasn't Harden made his bitch this year? I think he'll win the MVP.

I think I value perimeter and on ball defense much less than most people. So maybe that's where my hesitation with Kawhi comes from.

Looking at their stats, you could be right about him and Wiggins. Wiggins even has a ways to go to reach Kawhi's production. I think he'll do it pretty easily, but for now, gotta give it to KL.

ETA: About the comment on defense....

If I had a dollar for every time I heard how Chris Paul was the best on ball defender in the league, I'd have bought the Clippers after homeboy got canned. But is anybody scared to death when going up against Paul and co? Doesn't seem like it.

And I know Kawhi is amazing on defesne but I was kinda under the impression that when they shut guys down, let's say Lebron, it's a full team effort and they do a ton of other things to shut him down. Not just Kawhi doing it.

Absolutely. Popovich gets the most out of his players. He puts Kawhi in position to do well on the perimeter against elite players. We really could get so many answers if he went to a bad team.

I'd have a harder time justifying leaving him out.

There's a fairly clear top 7 in whatever order - LeBron, Durant (assuming he recovers), CP3, Curry, Harden, Westbrook and Davis. Cousins is probably the next guy up after the top group.

After that the group of Aldridge, Griffin and Gasol are all somewhat interchangeable based on preference. So that's eleven guys I'd almost certainly take over Leonard. After that it's a lot tougher to separate them but he's definitely amongst the group of Klay-doh, Irving, Butler and Wall. I'd probably throw Love in there also; still uncertain what to think about him.

when Leonard is on his own eventually, his role is going to change. He's excellent in the role he has now, but yea, when he is on his own, he may just be a good player, but there is nothing wrong with that. He'll likely take more shots, which in turn will equal more points. His efficiency may go down, and he may not be able to totally focus on being a defensive stopper.


Okafor is going to be good. He's way too big and coordinated not to be. He may not win any DPOY awards but so what.

This place would suck if we all agreed. So I don't see why everyone gets so butthurt over some disagreements. Time will tell.