Popovich on Kawhi Leonard

[PHILA]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...rdan/75612616/


In an effort to help Kawhi Leonard become better as teams focus their defensive efforts against him, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich gave his star forward a CD with clips of Hall of Famer Charles Barkley handling and beating double teams.

“At this point, he’s just trying to figure out what to do when people come after him,” Popovich said. “He’s getting double teamed now, and that’s a whole different basketball game.”

Some of the best offensive players in double teams would “get you in a situation where they knew where they were going to go with the pass. Right now, he’s dealing with that,” Popovich explained. “Do I try to score? When am I in a crowd? When am I not in a crowd? When do I let it go? All those decisions. That’s really the part of his game he’s working on the most.”

“I always wanted to be a great player coming into the NBA,” Leonard said. “First coming in, I wanted to be on a team that was a winning team and help me learn how to win in this league. I gradually wanted to become a go-to guy. It’s all played out and worked out well for me.”

When told Popovich put together a CD of his decision-making, Barkley was honored. “For Gregg Popovich to give a tape of me to Kawhi Leonard, that’s just awesome. It really is,” Barkley said. “I really appreciate that compliment.”

Not only does Barkley offer a visual education in beating double teams, he gave a spoken lesson. Barkley had to learn to beat double teams early in his career with the Philadelphia 76ers.

“The way you handle double teams is you can’t fight them,” Barkley said. “That’s part of making your team better because it comes down to simple common sense. Do I try to score on two guys or do I pass the ball to an open teammate? There are guys who try to fight the double team and only two things can happen and they’re both bad. You can either take a bad shot and miss or you can turn the ball over.”


Barkley offered more tips:

• Don’t pass the ball before the double team arrives.

• Don’t give up the dribble until you know where to pass the ball.

• Know from where the double team is coming.


“You have to have confidence in yourself that you’re going to make the right pass,” Barkley said.

Leonard is working on reading the defense, finding his shots within the offense and handling those double teams. His offense is improving as he tries to maintain the same defensive presence that made him the 2014-15 defensive player of the year.

“His goal will be to sustain it and not to just morph into an offensive player and forget that he’s a defender. That’s what we want him to do first of all more than anything. Defend and rebound,” Popovich said. “So far, he keeps that as his priority. That fuels his offense a little bit.”

“It’s about how good of a player you want to be. He has the ability to do what a Michael Jordan did at both ends, and I don’t mean he’s Michael Jordan,” Popovich said. “But you think about the best players in the league, they’re not two-way players. He wants to do that.”

[SugarHill]

But you think about the best players in the league, they’re not two-way players. He wants to do that

this was more interesting. pop saying they're just a bunch of scorers with little less

[ClipperRevival]

Nothing harder to do than to be "the man" on a team, face the double every night and still dominate. That's why the gap between MJ and Pippen was immense. Let's see how far Leonard can take his game.

[RoseCity07]

What does he mean about the best players in the league NOT being two way players? Is he talking about Lebron and Curry? They are two way players.

[Spurs m8]

Really puts ******* like no defence Melo into perspective.

[Giaodollo]

What does he mean about the best players in the league NOT being two way players? Is he talking about Lebron and Curry? They are two way players.

LeBron, Curry, Durant... Wouldn't really put them in the elite category, LeBron is good but does he do it on a nightly basis? Even Davis, who certainly has good defensive stats, but is he really an elite defender?

I think we can certainly put Kahwi in the elite defensive category.

Check Jimmy Butler two years ago and then again last season, we saw him go from an elite defender to a good offensive player and a terrible defender. It is hard to play 100% on both sides, especially as a wing, that makes Kahwi special in my eyes.

[LONGTIME]

LeBron, Curry, Durant... Wouldn't really put them in the elite category, LeBron is good but does he do it on a nightly basis? Even Davis, who certainly has good defensive stats, but is he really an elite defender?

I think we can certainly put Kahwi in the elite defensive category.

Check Jimmy Butler two years ago and then again last season, we saw him go from an elite defender to a good offensive player and a terrible defender. It is hard to play 100% on both sides, especially as a wing, that makes Kahwi special in my eyes.

[STATUTORY]

this was more interesting. pop saying they're just a bunch of scorers with little less

shots fired at Lebron, Pop already playing mind games in preparation for the finals

[ClipperRevival]

This is why MJ gets underrated to some extent because he gave you GOAT level play on both ends. His energy and stamina was also unmatched and a huge part of his success.

[STATUTORY]

This is why MJ gets underrated to some extent because he gave you GOAT level play on both ends. His energy and stamina was also unmatched and a huge part of his success.

Kobe before achilles tear was the same, n99a had Rondo on the verge of tears in the finals

[LONGTIME]

This is why MJ gets underrated to some extent because he gave you GOAT level play on both ends. His energy and stamina was also unmatched and a huge part of his success.

[ClipperRevival]

Kobe before achilles tear was the same, n99a had Rondo on the verge of tears in the finals

No. Kobe didn't have MJ's constant motor and stamina. Kobe had to pick his spots on when to expend energy on the D end while MJ's motor was much more consistent on the D end. And Kobe's D dropped off starting the 2009-10 season. Not to mention, he had the luxury of playing with Shaq up until 2004 where defenses didn't square in on him. MJ was a force from the get go and attracted the attention of the D until he retired with the Bulls in 1998. No wing player had to carry such a huge burden for such an extended period of time and still dominate . Wade in 2006 finals but that's a small sample size.

[huskerdu]

Curry and Durant aren't even close to two way players


Kawhi is the second best two player in the league after Lebron.

People were crying about ESPN putting Kawhi at #7 in their best players list but now it looks like they may have even underrated him.

[90sgoat]

LeBron, Curry, Durant... Wouldn't really put them in the elite category, LeBron is good but does he do it on a nightly basis? Even Davis, who certainly has good defensive stats, but is he really an elite defender?

I think we can certainly put Kahwi in the elite defensive category.

Check Jimmy Butler two years ago and then again last season, we saw him go from an elite defender to a good offensive player and a terrible defender. It is hard to play 100% on both sides, especially as a wing, that makes Kahwi special in my eyes.

Yep.

Lebron can be an elite defender, but it is several seasons since he was able to do it consistently. Even in 2012 where he tried for DPOY I thought he was past his defensive prime. Lebron now coasts on defense most of the game and rarely defends the best player on the opposite team.

Great article too, this is why for the non-homer fans, how can you not love the San Antiono Spurs? Such a great team, coach and players with real character. I am now definititely repping the Spurs after a couple seasons liking Bulls, OKC, Spurs, Memphis.

Spurs 2015 is the clear cut casual old school fan team.

Kawhi needs to start passing though, 1 assist is simply embarassing.

[ClipperRevival]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to disrespect Kobe. He's one of the best two way players ever but he just wasn't as impactful as MJ on both ends of the court. There are levels to greatness/impact on both ends.