Glad I'm not the only one who noticed this. Also it's not a big deal but Leonard's first name is Kawhi, not Kwahi.
He was the exception, not the rule. I seem to recall Blair (a very, VERY NBA-ready rookie) didn't get substantial minutes until some other guys got injured. Even guys like Tony Parker, George Hill did not eat up big minutes early in their rookie years. Heck, Tiago Splitter was supposed to be NBA-ready after playing pro ball at a high level in Europe for years, and he had to go through a slow transition. (By the way, I think Splitter will play a lot more next year.) (Had a feeling someone would throw Blair in my face.)
So you think he will beat out Vesely and/or Derrick Williams (who will probably end up small forward).
Thats not too hard a bet to win. Leonard wont play much time on the Spurs veteran team. Careers? That bet takes longer but Id still take Marcus career over Leonards anyways.
You don't watch Game of Thrones on HBO, do you. CXbby, enjoy basking in your win on the Morris pick. However, we should wait and see how it turns out before going too overboard! I think it was a good pick, but was it the best move for the Rocks? Time tells all. The Spurs dealt a major piece of their future to snag Leonard, so the comparison will be very interesting going forward. But a bet? Why would I bet against Morris? The Spurs are The Enemy. I cannot bet against OUR guy and for THEIR guy to have more success. That's very un-Rocketlike, dude. I'm 100% for Mr. Morris... now. He's wearing our uniform. -
Morris.. Can Score.. Has more Intensity,Passion,more of a competitor and a Higher Basketball IQ than Leonard.. I take Morris anyday.. just watch both of their press conferences...
SA had to give up their PG security blanket, so they will probably want to get their money's worth out of this guy. Let's hope there's a full season to make this side story a reality.
Good pre-draft post CXbby ..... I didnt watch either of them all that much pre NCAA tourney and really couldnt compare the two. I get the idea Leonard will never be a plus shooter because of the size of his hands - Kinda like many big guy's have trouble at the FT line because of much the same reason. He's going to have to make his living defending and on the glass .... MM while not particularly explosive can shoot and shoot well .... Offensively he has more upside.
Sombody spiked the punch bowl in the spurs draft room, they gave up too much for this kid, now in this league you can't be a one way player anymore teams will destroy you on the other side of the ball. This kid might be lucky if he averages 7pts a game
Living in new york, how many games did you see of morris or leonard Cxbby. Unless you have connections where u can get your hands on tape. This is not to say one way or the other, but what are you basing your bet off of?
Just one thing CXbby, to say that his athleticism is overrated and that his absolute top side is Gerald Wallace. Does not compute, Wallace is the best athlete in the nba (and probably top 10 all time)
Yes, I have connections, to that thing called the internet. I go into why I like one over the other in the OP, and talking about Morris in other places too. Obviously based off of what I saw, and reinforced by the fact that obviously Morey saw the same things. Which btw I have infinitely more respect for than my own opinion. Also, I researched his background and found out he was always a wing before getting to Kansas, found tapes on that, and based some of my judgement on that as well. That is important to me because like I've said before, as a PF he went around where he should have gone at 14. But as a SF he would have been a top 5 prospect. Playing out of position in college definitely hurt him there. If you only watch him in college, you see a very good player. But if you also watch what he did before college, some abilities he didn't have a chance to show at Kansas, and after college in workouts, you realize there is a lot more to the package. Anyways, it doesn't really matter what I based the bet on. If you think I am basing it on hot air that is even better for you, just take the bet.
Cx, this is all I'm saying, the internet won't have leonards games on. Well, they won't have enough to make the assumption you're betting. I think both will be good players, but you're throwing around pa]l pierce and melo comparisons like they're ok pro players. Both guys will probably go into the hall. Both guys were great college players. I think if leonards turns out to be wallace and morris turns into caron butler, that's probably a draw career wise.
You are putting words in my mouth. I have always said he is a Melo/Pierce TYPE player, as in style of play. Not that he is as good. I think he has a shot at eventually reaching Pierce's level, or a little below. I've called him Pierce-lite. I don't think he will ever be on Carmelo's level talent wise, and never claimed he would. How am I saying they're ok players? I call them franchise players that you can build a championship around, even though Melo has never been close. I think Morris can get there too, but will need an extremely strong supporting class- as in multiple allstar level players around him. I've said all this before, and even compared him to Caron Butler too! So it's not like I am even disagreeing. Leonard on the other hand I have little faith in actually reaching Wallace's level. Hence the bet.
Leonard is extremely RAW, but he already has the attributes to be a shut-down defender in this L, and he will be. The Spurs project him to be at worst a better version of Bruce Bowen. And there is every reason for me to believe he can defend at that level. But he has every chance to become a Gerald WAllace type of player, with better defense. Wallace came into this league with LESS offensive abilities (he was actually pathetic). Playing for the Spurs, Leonard has every opportunity to reach his potential. He'll get a ton of playing time purely off of his athleticism and defense, since the Spurs lack that on the perimeter. And he can grow and learn offensively playing with guys like Manu and Duncan, and a great coach like Pop. Leonard is going to be at least a great complimentary player in this league, at his worst. I would take this bet 3 years down the line, since you will know how a player's career will turn out on how he performs in his 3rd year. I don't think Morris can reach Paul Pierce's level, b/c his ballhandling and playmaking aren't as good. Pierce had that in college. You just don't suddenly develop those attributes. However, Caron Butler would be his ceiling I believe, or even a poor man's Glenn Robinson. Again, these 2 guys will be really 2 different types of players. And how great they will become depend on their work ethic, and their team situation. None of these guys have superstar potential, so it's hard to create a niche for yourself without being in a great situation. The Spurs will provide that for Leonard, since he has stars to learn from. Hopefully, we can develop a great surrounding for Morris to nurture his skills.
You want to wait 3 years to see how the bet turns out before taking the bet? That's not how bets work where I come from. Do your own research. Morris doesn't have to "develop" those attributes. He just has to rekindle them. One of the big reasons why I like this bet: I never bet on raw dog. Too risky.
