Adding Leonard and subtracting Harden would mean we would be further away from a title than we are now. Harden struggled but come on, do u think Leonard could ever have a 25 5 and 5 season? I don't think so. Leonard can't even be counted on to stay healthy and play 30+ minutes a game. Leonard will NEVER be the best sf in the game while Harden will continue to be a top 5 vote getter in the MVP voting. I agree with a lot of stuff u say but come on bro
You're absolutely correct. I've been following the Spurs on and off for the better part of a decade and in those early 2000 years when Duncan was in his absolutely prime, the Spurs ran their offense through him. As the years went by, the growth of Parker and Ginobilli obviously took a lot of that responsibility away from him. Furthermore, the league has turned into more of a guard's game as it has become more of a fast-flowing type of offense. I think a lot of people misinterpret my comments. I'm not questioning whether Duncan should the top PF of all time, as clearly his stats and awards indicate he is. I'm not questioning whether he is a great player with talent. He definitely is. The central argument to my comment was could Duncan have reproduced the same or similar kind of result if he had played for other teams OR had different coaches in his career? And to answer my own question, I said we'll never know since it's most likely he'll finish is career with the Spurs playing under Popavich.
Lol! Those last couple years with the Spurs for sure. BSB just shut it down and coasted all year, and the woke up just in time for the playoffs.
Having watched nearly every game of his for the entirety of his career, I guarantee you that Duncan would have been easily as great on any team. During his prime (which was quite a long time), the Spurs ran absolutely everything through Duncan. Their bread-and-butter play was called "four down," and consisted of Duncan on the low post just outside the paint. They ran that play 30-40 times a game, with Duncan controlling the ball movement. He'd either post up and shoot that patented bank shot, or move the ball out if he got double teamed, which is what he actually would try to do to get the rest of the team involved. Back then, plays like "the loop" and others which are predicated on that beautiful misdirection motion offense you see today weren't even a glimmer in Pops eye. It's been evolving for awhile, but has really taken off in the last three or four years.
how about leonard now? 16 pts in 1st game and 24 points total since game 1 as I said, everybody was over rating him so much when they killed a weak blazers team
the game was tailored to him, and we repeatedly dumped it into him. something we never done before at the rate they did. as a result, it hurt Harden. Although I do have to admit Harden seem disinterested, but I will say that was his age factoring into that and he'll mature and grow from it. However we needed to run different plays and not be so damn predictable with just dumping it into Howard.
we all know he was a defense liability and that's also on coach for not making him accountable. mchale said sampson was the one who held him accountable before, but yet he's the head coach? anyways this is a Leonard thread not harden.
If a guy needs a coach to "hold him accountable" in order to even try on defense in the friggin playoffs, and a closely contested playoff series at that, there is something seriously wrong with him, especially judging by the standards that we must apply to star players. Dwight Howard didn't need a coach to "hold him accountable" in the playoffs. The scoreboard should be enough to "hold him accountable." Some guys, like Kawhi, have heart. Other guys not so much.
The Blazers ran more of their offense through their front court and point guard, and less through their wings than they usually do. Harden might be the only guy in nba history who gets criticised for having 15 ppg at god awful percentages scored on him by a 16 ppg scorer. Portland offense playoffs (vs us) v regular season, obviously all their minutes went up Lopez slightly down Aldridge way up Batum slightly down Matthews way down Lillard up
exactly, the only stretch i remember harden played bad on defense was late in one of the games where howard covered for him. mathews had a good 1st game and really nothing after that. this is from memory, so i'm not 100% on that
damnn what could've been.. Bev/Lin Harden Leonard/Parson(6) Jones Howard We could've traded leonard or parsons in a package deal for Love easily...
