He was ready from day 1 and Pop didn't turn him into a hard worker who took a sub 30% 3 pt shot from the college stripe and turned it into a 40%+ 3 pt shot from the NBA stripe. I'm sure he's better because of Pop but he may be the best 2 way player in the league right now and that's because the kid is talented and works hard - coach isn't gonna change that.
Coach can help hard worker work on the correct things, though. A poor coach may emphasize incorrect things or lack insight into the game to suggest developing skills more conducive to the player's development. This is something I think Morey very much has under appreciated.
I think you're right to an extent but you can't turn someone into a gym rat overnight, and you can't make a gym rat lazy because of the players around him. Kawhi has been a hard worker from day 1 and likely would have been so in Houston. He would have started for us as well - even his rookie year he was clearly superior to Parsons. He might not have hit superstar status in Houston but he would have been damn good.
I mostly agree. To add, I think it's overlooked how vets like Duncan and to a lesser extent Curry, help with developing their teammates.
Bismack Biyombo had 16 points and 25 rebounds last night, most rebounds in a game in Raptors (#2 in the East) franchise history. He's a terrific rebounding & defense center, the Rockets can only wish they have him.
Popovich gave up George Hill I believe who was one of his favorite players to acquire the 15th pick and draft Leonard contingent on Houston passing on him of course. I bet the Spurs war room that night was totally jumping up and down when the David Stern called out Morris's name for the rockets pick. The Spurs obviously saw something in Leonard to give up a quality veteran in his prime like Hill which they usually don't do. Personally I think he would have ended up as the steal of the draft for any team that would have drafted him that night and not just the Spurs.
Well we are all armchair GMs. That doesn't mean we as fans can't judge the GM's decisions from hindsight. 99% of us can't hold a candle with the worst D-league player one on one. That doesn't mean we can't judge whether an NBA player plays well or not. A draft pick can only be judged from hindsight, just like a shot can only be judged after it hits or misses. You can say Curry's shots are bad shots when he takes them. But he hits them, they are good shots. You can say free throws are good shots but when Capela repeatedly misses them, you can say they are bad shots for him. I've been saying that you can't use one draft pick to judge a GM. You have to see the whole body of work. If a GM consistently goes for the "right" pick at the time but those picks keep turning into busts, then you've got to question his judgment. On the other hand, if a GM goes for questionable picks but they mostly turn out better than people have thought, he will be considered a genius. Morey is a genius in the second round exactly because of that. Now, his first round records, not just Leonard, are average at best (yes, even considering the positions of the picks). It doesn't matter whether they were reasonable picks at the time. It's the results that count. And results can only be judged from hindsight.
We all know if Leonard was drafted by the Rockets he would have bounced down and back up from the D league for two years and then been flipped for a future pick. This organization sucks at developing raw talent.
I think that's my point and others' as well - Kawhi was ready to go from Day 1. He was not raw. And we started Parsons that year, so there's literally zero reason to think that Kawhi would have been in the D-League all year.
If not outright developing them, at least creating an environment that lets them develop without undue pressure. Leonard was given three years to get his game up to speed so he could become the new face of the franchise. He's also been given ample time to rest and recuperate from injuries, never having played more than 65 games in a season. Harden has averaged 10 more games a year over his career than Leonard, because the Rockets can't afford to sit him.
Kawhi was actually hurt though... if Harden was hurt we'd have no choice to sit him. I think that's not a valid argument.
You know that one game anecdotes don't define a player's value. I wouldn't mind him on the Rockets. He makes 1/3 of what Brewer makes, yet he is productive. Nevertheless, he had a full rookie contract to earn himself some money, and NBA GM's threw less than $3M a year at him. That tells you something. He has NO offensive game. Stone hands and no jump shot. Still adds value. Having a good year.
Me trolling you?!?! That's rich. Here are the only posts of mine I could find from the past few years where your name even comes up, and they are in response to you doing the same bullcrap troll job you're doing now. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=9611776&postcount=52 http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=9612212&postcount=65 In actuality, not only did I not "troll" you, I even came to your defense from unfair criticism by those confusing the issue at hand. (For those interested in getting more full context, I encourage you to read the entire thread from which those posts were taken.) Again, you admitted previously to not following me on Twitter, where most of my Rockets commentary is posted. See the second link above. So don't ask me to provide evidence of my own opinions when you don't even read most of them in the first place. Not to mention that I don't post all of my opinions on social media. Go ask Clutch about my thoughts on the Kawhi-Morris situation. EDIT: I actually found a post of mine from 2011 (before Kawhi ever played an NBA game) where I say I wanted him over Morris but was hoping Morey would prove me wrong, attempting to give him the benefit of the doubt (but NOT agreeing with the move). Ironically, it was something YOU pulled up a while back in order to criticize me. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=6345629&postcount=20 I am tired of this. I actually considered you an interesting and sometimes insightful poster before this nonsense from you. I will take our mutual advice and just do what I should've done to begin with (rather than give you an opportunity to correct course): Ignore you. So long, dude. It's been real.
790 Programming Note - Daryl Moorey will be a special guest with Doug Pike on 790 at 9:30am to discuss last night's exciting Rockets win. He will also share some of his favorite fishing lures.
