Serious question, what the hell happened to Kawhi Leonard in the Clippers series?

[keep-itreal]

He completely disappeared in game 4-7.

wtf!?!?!?!

[rmt]

I think it's a combination of pressure from winning DPOY and not really having someone suitable to guard in the series. He's too big to guard Paul, too small to guard Griffin and not suited to chasing Reddick around screens. Pop should have put Green on Paul all the time, let Parker chase Reddick around screens and Leonard on Barnes (seems like a waste to put DPOY on Barnes) but those are the best defensive assignments.

Hopefully he won't be affected by the poor play going forward. Saw both Parker and Manu talking to him at length. After, the 2 fantastic Finals series, he was due for a poor showing. If Spurs hadn't messed up and he was defending Chandler Parsons (like he should have), he'd probably play better (defense feeding offense). Leonard/Spurs probably peaked too early (after ASG) but really messed up on HCA. Such is life - can't win it all - not to worry - he'll get his max contract.

[imdaman99]

People have bad series. He's not a star (yet) so his consistency needs work. I know he started out blazing, someone made a thread that he was leading the NBA with a 30.6 PER. Remember when Danny Green started out blazing hot in the 2013 Finals? Then the final 2 games came and he was as invisible as they get.

[HEAT111]

Roy Hibbert disappeared all season

[Optimus Prime]

The hype was not real.

[sportjames23]

Blake Griffem happened to him.

[ArbitraryWater]

Ridiculous... "he's not a star yet" ? Man...

OP, he had 26/7/5 on 53% in game 4, dumbass.

This guy averaged 20/7/3 on 48% with elite defense... this is a bad series for the guy, he was so crazy good through the first 4 games, other players would have a bad game at that point already... I don't see this as a bad series, but bad games.

Through his first 4 he did 25/7/3 on 60% and led the NBA in PER... obviously that won't always be the case.

This is a better first round than alot of the ones that one guy has...

Anyone really think Harden is better than Kawhi? Lmao.

[MiseryCityTexas]

He completely disappeared in game 4-7.

wtf!?!?!?!

Lol and people said that he was capable of leading a team to the play-offs without Duncan and Parker. It was also some idiot that said that he's up there with Scottie Pippen

[nba_55]

Ridiculous... "he's not a star yet" ? Man...

OP, he had 26/7/5 on 53% in game 4, dumbass.

This guy averaged 20/7/3 on 48% with elite defense... this is a bad series for the guy, he was so crazy good through the first 4 games, other players would have a bad game at that point already... I don't see this as a bad series, but bad games.

Through his first 4 he did 25/7/3 on 60% and led the NBA in PER... obviously that won't always be the case.

This is a better first round than alot of the ones that one guy has...

Anyone really think Harden is better than Kawhi? Lmao.

No. His defense wasn't good.

[dbugz]

Dude's not yet confident with his offensive ability. He's still young though,

[rmt]

Dude's not yet confident with his offensive ability. He's still young though,

Yep. He was injured this season and when he came back, it's not like Popovich had the whole offense run through him. He did increase his post-ups but nobody double teamed him in RS. When they started to double him in the playoffs, I don't think he knew what to do (had never been in that situation). That's on Pop to prepare him. He's got a lot to learn though - it'll be a welcome change for the offense to run through him than see Parker's constant dribbling.

[T_L_P]

His offense isn't that developed yet so it pretty much relies on him being hot or cold. It's a lot of mid-range Isos which isn't good offense at all imo.

Don't know about his defense. He shouldn't have won DPOY in the first place (Bogut >) but he didn't even look good on that end this series. Those double screens were quite tricky.

He was due for an underwhelming showing after the great Playoff performances.