Motiejunas is good player that needs more opportunity & be healthy to shine, Parsons is a decent player that just got overpaid -not his fault though. Only Mook Morris that's rather disappointing but he is still a key contributor in an NBA playoff bound team, so not a total failure either. It is just Leonard has been so surprising & overwhelming in his ascension to superstardom out of his relative draft position that make the rest of his colleagues seem rather lacking. Kawhi is a great player for the analytical geeks, not so much for average, vanilla fans out there.
I would not be so sure about that assertion, he might not be developing this quickly, but if your team has a semi decent development coaches, IMHO he WILL develop into greatness sooner than later. Just read this article, will give you some insights regarding this kid, really amazing attitude & determination to be the best in the game. http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14386491/san-antonio-spurs-kawhi-leonard-nba-quiet-new-superstar
In truth Harden would not be the shooting Guard that he is now if he didn't come to Houston. He needed the ball in his hand to get that experience and confidence. No way in OKC with KD and Westbrook, was he going to get as many touches. Players develop differently. Organisations win championships. The Philosophy/ Culture/ Vision etc. all help shape the direction. Kawhi with the Spurs benefited greatly from it. Most players need that development. Not everyone comes in with Lebron type obvious talent. Can you imagine what all those players that we call busts in philly and cleveland would have been if a winning organisation like the Spurs have developed them. The failure rate would be far less. The problem with Houston is that with the constant trading of personnel you don't get to develop that culture. You need vets with true leadership skills to help forge that. Harden is not that leader right now. That is not to say that he can't be that leader in the future. Sooner or later players realise there is only a limited time in the league before your body breaks down and that is when the seriousness about championship contention kicks in.
Kawhi destroyed PG so badly. PG couldn't score for crap since Kawhi was on him. Kawhi torched "two way player" George too....
Truth. Put Kawhi, no, not the current one but the one coming out of the draft on your bottom-dweller-lottery-teams. Sacramento, Philadelphia, Charlotte, ... he's not the guy he is today! Hell, put him on the Rockets and he's not the same guy he is today. Credit to Kawhi, but this is the Spurs/Popovich. Spoiler <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Partly fair, but ignores Kawhi's superhuman dedication to personal growth. He'd have that anywhere. <a href="https://t.co/VZESGDSh7X">https://t.co/VZESGDSh7X</a></p>— Jeff McDonald (@JMcDonald_SAEN) <a href="https://twitter.com/JMcDonald_SAEN/status/679318730971545600">December 22, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Fair, but I doubt he'd been terrible anywhere. <a href="https://t.co/07nQvKjcAv">https://t.co/07nQvKjcAv</a></p>— Jeff McDonald (@JMcDonald_SAEN) <a href="https://twitter.com/JMcDonald_SAEN/status/679318950082052096">December 22, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">That said: "nothing" is a stretch. "Not the same" is fair. I'll bet you Kawhi will agree. Situation does matter. <a href="https://t.co/x1RdDoyR23">https://t.co/x1RdDoyR23</a></p>— Jeff McDonald (@JMcDonald_SAEN) <a href="https://twitter.com/JMcDonald_SAEN/status/679320087988318208">December 22, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Leonard (& Green) shut down Harden.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">As of tonight, Kawhi Leonard ranks 2nd in the NBA in half court scoring efficiency among volume scorers behind only Stephen Curry.</p>— Synergy Sports Tech (@SynergySST) <a href="https://twitter.com/SynergySST/status/679143540983775232">December 22, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<iframe width="640" height="385" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f7qM7SYAstw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Harden will be extremely motivated to shut down the naysayers on Christmas Day. I believe he has that game circled on his calendar and he will show up big time.
I hope so. Things that motivate normal human beings don't usually motivate Harden. I think back to the "Barnes/Mama Harden" game. The "Curry is the MVP" game.
Wow KL is a stud. I get the hype he's a bonafide superstar and would thrive anywere. His offensive game isn't sexy but he def knows what he wants to do and gets to his spots. He's like Tim Duncan is he was a wing player. Mr Fundamentals 2.0? Top 5 players in the game has to include him Curry Lebron Durant Leonard harden You can flip flop westbrook and Harden if u like but to me Harden is Te better player because he plays more under control is a better shooter and scorer and prob just as good of a playmaker and rebounder. RW is better at defense but he is overrated in that department too. Not to mention James and Russ were in identical situations last year and one guy won 56 games and the other didn't make the playoffs. Anthony Davis is distant to those guys imo. He doesn't make his teammates better but from a individual standpoint he's very very good. I think ultimately he needs to go be a 2nd option to a great wing player and then he will win rings like KG. Man KL would be so deadly with JH right now he's the perfect player to team up Harden with if you were to design one. Morey missed that one.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kawhi? More like Ka-WOW! <a href="https://twitter.com/spurs">@spurs</a> star Kawhi Leonard has really raised his game this season. <a href="https://t.co/01WQmCN9aZ">pic.twitter.com/01WQmCN9aZ</a></p>— FOX Sports Live (@FOXSportsLive) <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSportsLive/status/679165080185888768">December 22, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
