that's a very big might...

You have a tendency to traffic in the absurd...


>>Do you seriously believe if you switched Kawhi on the Cavs
>>instead of Lebron that they would have still been in 1st
>place
>>jn the East w/no Kyrie and Shump for most of the first 2
>1/2.
>>months of this season??? No, you don't believe that
>
>He still had Love/Tristan/Jr/Delly which is pretty solid
>supporting cast for the East.

GTFOH w/that stupidity - this is essentially the same supporting cast that DIDN'T score one basket in last year's finals that WASN'T facilitated by Lebron...NOT ONE IN AN ENTIRE 6 GMS...

You obviously don't understand how much better Lebron makes that team when he's on floor...and they are equally as bad or mediocre when he's not on the floor (see last year stretch when Bron was out 2 weeks, they only won 1 gm w/o him but they still had everyone else including Kyrie/Love)

People said the same thing abt the Heat the season after Lebron...that they will still be competitive in the East w/o Lebron and how that played out...same for the Cavs the first go around when they won 62 gms and the following season minus Lebron they went straight to LAST PLACE

And FTR, the east is more competitive than the West this season

I say all that to say there's no way in hell Kawhi could carry the Cavs if he were on this team instead of Lebron

The disparity in their passing ability is huge...and what separates Bron from any other SF in today's game

Leonard is not that type of player, period...and I seriously doubt if he'd have the same type of success playing elsewhere...
>
>>I seriously doubt he could've done what PG has done in the
>>first half of the season if you switched PG for him
>
>PG is shooting 41% & got destroyed by Kawhi.

That's because PG is on a really bad team and has to put the ball up which sometimes leads to ill-advised and terrible shot selections...if PG were on the Spurs I have no doubt he would be more efficient and the Spurs best player

And while Kawhi did get in his jersey, PG did have abt 3 awful gms in a row after that game...so while I do think some of his offensive woes were due to Leonard's D, I do think he happened to go through a horrible stretch...we'll see when they play again if it mainly because of Kawhi's D or just a 3 or 4 game stretch of bad bball...
>
>>There's a big difference when you're on a team w/no other
>star
>>player to draw attention to them like he has in SA w/LA -
>last
>>season in the postseason Duncan still proved to be their
>best
>>and most reliable player
>
>-How much better than Love is LA on offense?

No, the real question is how much of a better (post) player is LA than Love? I bet most GMs would rather have LA

>-Kawhi was the Spurs best player before Doc saw enough &
>started doubling him w/ Blake b/c Tiago was injured & Diaw
>couldn't hit an outside shot along w/ Danny Green. Tony also
>had one of the shittiest series in NBA history. Tim sonned
>DeAndre 1-on-1, he wasn't getting doubled.

When it mattered most Duncan still proved to be the Spurs best player just as he was whenever needed when the team had transitioned to Tony Parker's/Ginobili's team

-Duncan was the Spurs best player vs LAC in last year's series
-Duncan imo was the best and most consistent player in the 2014 finals
-Duncan was the Spurs best player in the 2013 finals loss to the Heat
>
>>I also think Duncan sbould've gotten finals MVP in the 2014
>>finals or at least co-MVP because he was consistent
>throughout
>>that entire finals where Kawhi was MIA in those first few
>gms
>
>The series was 1-1 before Kawhi put it on overdrive which
>resulted in a historic ass whoopin'. Hibbert sonned Bosh so
>Tim was expected to have his way unlike Kawhi going up against
>the "best player in the world"


Smh dude, Kawhi averaged an amazing 17.8ppg in the finals lol

>>Yeah lets look at this season thus far by Harden - last year
>>is starting to look more and more like an outlier for him
>too
>>- that Houston team has clearly taken a step backwards and
>>some of that has to be laid at the feet of Harden who is
>>shooting a dismal 41% FG and everyone knows abt his D or the
>>lack thereof
>
>Kawhi has been better than Harden.

K

>>Again, you listed just one season where you could argue
>Pippen
>>was the best 2 way player in the league which means that one
>>season was more of an outlier...93-94 was an unforgettable
>>season (Jordan stepping away was the reason)...just go look
>at
>>some of the perimter players who made the all-star team...it
>>also featured the nationally lowest rated NBA finals at that
>>time between NY/HOU
>
>Pippen made the All-NBA 1st team over reigning MVP Barkley &
>repeated it in 94-95.

And? He was NOT better than Barkley by any stretch and Karl Malone moreso than Pippen was probably the reason he didn't make 1st team ALL-NBA since he and Malone played the same position
>
>>Lebron was finals MVP in the 2012-13 NBA finals and he also
>>had one of the all-time great gm 7 performances
>
>LeBron in his best season ever was struggling against 2nd year
>Kawhi & won Finals MVP b/c Ray Allen bailed him out.

No, it was the Spurs defense he was struggling against which is why Kawhi was giving him space to shoot instead of letting him get in the paint...and when he did get to the rim he had still the game's best rim protector waiting on him

And once he started to trust his jump shot we know what happened...

And the notion that "Ray Allen bailed him out" is absurd even coming from you - you seem to conveniently forget that w/a little under 7 minutes to go in gm 6 the game looked all but over (86-68)...and it was Lebron who SINGLEHANDEDLY got them back in the game scoring *20 straight point* all while being guarded by Lebron's "defensive stopper," Kawhi Leonard he line for that game: 32pts 10rebs 11assists.. LOLOL

And he even hit a big 3-pointer to get the Heat within 3 (95-92) which set up Ray's shot

>
>>In the 2013-14 finals Lebron averaged 28ppg 56% FG which
>both
>>stats were better than when he was finals MVP in the prior
>NBA
>>finals
>
>LeBron was scoring in spurts & after the game was already out
>of hand.

Boy, stop! (C) Big Boi - are you forgetting gm 1? Lebron was beasting on Leonard before he had to sit for crucial minutes on the bench dealing w/cramps

And he damn near won gm 2 by himself torching Kawhi for 35 pts - scoring in spurts my anus lol

Even the blowout gm 5 Lebron had abt *31* pts AT THE HALF and tried (in vain) to keep the Heat in striking distance but that SPURS TEAM (not Leonard) proved to be too much for Lebron who was the ONLY Heat player to show up for that series


He was unable to do anything when the Spurs were
>making run to break the game open & Kawhi was in the middle of
>it all.

Was Lebron supposed to beat a GREAT TEAM by himself? Was it all on him to stop the Spurs...he did his part: 28ppg 7rpg 5apg 56% FG 52% 3-PT FG

>-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU09Gph3B_s
>-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj9oItSQL50
>-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APGlNxSvODw

I actually did WATCH the finals ya know...
I
>>That hardly sounds like he "dicked Lebron down" (PAUSE!)
>-https://usatftw.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/lebronkawhi.gif
>-http://i.imgur.com/CPYEit4.jpg
>-https://sandiegosportsdomination.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/untitled3.jpg?w=750&h=471
>
>>He has however smothered Melo/Durant/PG this regular season
>-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyKKl1kc_kI
>
>>No one is talking abt his career resume bro - I specifically
>>said THIS SEASON where he's averaging 20.8ppg 7.3rpg 2.8apg
>>2spg <---- all solid numbers but nowhere close to making any
>>kind of argument for him having the best season for a SF
>
>So far this season:
>-Highest D-Rtg/D-WS in the league
>-Better shooting lines than any player: 50.9/48.8/88.7
>-Only player in December w/ a 50-50-90 shooting line
>-Highest WS/48 & WS amongst SFs (only behind Curry)
>-Highest RPM amongst SFs by a mile (breathing down on Curry's
>neck)
>-Highest O-Rtg amongst SFs
>-#1 in steals amongst SFs
>-#1 in the league in 3-Pt Field Goal Pct
>-Lowest turnover rate amongst 20 pt scorers
>
>-So, 20.8ppg 7.3rpg 2.8apg, 2spg.......all while having a much
>lower usage rate than any of the elite SF.

Because you don't seem to understand that it has more to do w/the Spurs system than anything else

That system allows him to flourish - the same it did Tony Parker who GREW into an elite PG (remember Parker's earlier seasons in San Antonio?) - he was perfect for that system which is why most ppl didn't feel like he was better than CP3 even when Parker was playing his best basketball (and winning the head-to-head battles against CP3) and finishing 2nd in the MVP voting - because many believed he wouldn't have the same type of success playing on another squad whereas CP3 could do what he does on any team you put him on

I can watch Leonard and how he plays and see that he's benefitting from playing in a system that gets GREAT SPACING on the floor AND EXCELLENT BALL MOVEMENT...which is why not only Leonard but the ENTIRE Spurs team is very efficient...because they pass up good shots for great shots and turn bad shots into good ones

grassrootsphilosopher