Kawhi Leonard: “There’s guys on the floor that want to guard. They’re just not just pointing at me asking to guard… They motivate me defensively. Especially, Kris Dunn.”
One of my favorite stories about him in college…
*Kawhi made a comment to coach Hutson, who was the defensive coach at the time, and he was like, ‘I don’t get it, coach. Why can’t they just stay in front of their man like I do? Like, why do I have to play help side?’” Kawhi’s teammate, Tim Shelton, shared. “That was his only comment I ever heard him make about defense: ‘They should just be able to stay in front of their man like I do.’”*
That’s hilarious. Coach why don’t these fools stop getting ran past and not get crossed over like me?
Coach, why are they not balling
Coach, tell em to git gud
Coach, why do they have skill issue
Coach, why these clowns not on my level?
I just picture him saying this after Jimmer dropped 43 on whatever scrub guard they had on him back in college.
Mainly because you know it irked him because when they returned the favor in San Diego Kawhi went over and talked some shit to Jimmer after the game (or maybe late) which is wholly out of character for him
Those BYU SDSU matchups were legendary
Coach, why aren’t they as good as me?
I think this is why superstars usually don’t make good coaches. they can’t understand why everyone else isn’t as good as they are lol.
pulls out white board
“okay, so just blow by your man with your first step, stop on a dime and hit him with a nasty crossover, and then dunk over the 2 players trying to help. simple X’s and O’s.”
Kawhi seems to play with a lot of feel vs more calculated guys like Harden and LeBron, both of which I think would make great coaches
Magic has been pretty transparent about this. He can’t coach since he doesn’t have the patience to work with people who can’t see the game the way he does since it’s so easy for him.
This is why star players don’t make great coaches or GMs, they don’t understand how talented they were so they can’t understand the players they draft or coach can’t do what they did
Gretzky was a notoriously bad coach and Jordan was a bad owner from a talent evaluation pov.
I think the only one that did it great was Jerry West
Larry bird
MVP, Coach of the year, and executive of the year, will probably never be done again
Doesn’t look likely, at least in the near future. If CP3 had won a MVP I could see it but closest he got was second place.
I forgot about Bird. My apologies to Larry Legend.
Larry West Bird?
Bird took Pacers to the finals. But yeah, magic & Isaiah were awful.
magic is the goat gm… for the opposition
So awful that James Dolan had to be convinced to not bring Thomas back to the Knicks for a second time.
FFS. Dolan is such an idiot.
PGs are different. They need to understand how all their teammates play to make them better.
Some how Magic was not good at it. And then teams that had Kidd and Nash, they seem to hate them as coaches.
Kidd is a very good coach. Even if the players don’t like him, he understand the game extremely well.
Nash, jury is out, it was a weird situation.
And that’s not to say they are all good at being coaches, just that a superstar PG has a better understanding of all positions and the strength and weaknesses of their teammaters than superstars of other positions.
The Nets would have won a championship with Steve Nash and his firing was definitely political not on merit.
I maintain he would have been a very fun coach for like the Hornets or the Cavs at the same point in time he took the Nets job.
Magic: “alright whoever scores more points will win the game. Now get out there!”
Nash was well liked as the consultant or whatever it was before he got the head coach job. His problem was as a coach on the nets he was herding cats. KD and Kyrie weren’t gonna be listening to him and other guys were following their lead. The whole experience seemed to how soured him on coaching for a while.
Larry Bird, ROTY, MVP, Finals MVP, Champion, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year.
He forgot about Bird. His apologies to Larry Legend.
He forgot about Larry. His apologies to Legend Bird. 🦅
Bill Russell
Was he a coach-coach, because I know he was a player-coach, so not really fair to use him if he can just run plays and call timeouts for himself to get he ball or when he needs rest.
He coached the Sonics in the 70s and the Kings in the 80s. Had a couple of middling playoff appearances with the Sonics and the Kings were a lost cause when he coached them.
Kenny Smith played on that Kings team and by his account Russell was pretty checked out coaching them. He didn’t know how to handle bad players.
This is also why KD’s teams have been so disappointing post warriors. He wants to play free flowing basketball without the limitations of set plays or offensive schemes because all of that stuff is so inherent to him. He gets frustrated at teammates and coaches for not having his level of basketball awareness and clearly doesn’t think he should have to play down to their level to unlock the offense.
It’s why role players on these kd teams almost always disappoint
Can you imagine Leo Messi coaching? “So in this case, why did you not just run through everyone and score the goal?”
I’ve said this before as well. I coached HS football with a guy who played receiver in the SEC, and so much of his coaching was flawed because he couldn’t understand that we were working with 15 year old white kids who run 5.2 40s and not elite athletes, so he was not the best at teaching or describing specific technique and whatnot because he was just always able to do it.
Thierry Henry not understanding how Montreal Impact players can’t just dribble past 4 players and score a banger vibe
Why don’t they just not get beat on defense? Are they stupid?
This is exactly what he thinks
Reminds me of Dwight’s DPOY speech where he thanked his teammates for letting their man get by so he could help side block shots.
This is why a lot of elite players don’t make good coaches sometimes. “Why can’t my players just do what I, Wayne Gretzky, was able to do?”
It’s even funnier, instead of “why can’t,” it’s “why don’t,” as in they simply haven’t thought about just being elite players.
Are they stupid?
I mean sometimes, yes. JR Smith for example.
My favorite def play from Leonard is when he picked Kent Bazemore back to back plays and Kent immediately got benched
So disrespectful
Ben McLemore* but yes, classic moment.
*Ben McLemore
Shit…… I’m dumb
*Next Ray Allen
Didn’t they bench him right after this too?
Found Ben McLemore’s account^^^^^
That’s a lot of words for him to say at one time
Reminds me of Barry Bonds failing as hitting coach because he couldn’t understand why people couldn’t hit like him.
I’m dying
Kawhi, they’re saving energy for offense.
Typical problem of geniuses
maybe just me but the good vibes and all these comments make me think Paul George was a bitch to deal with
We only hear what he says publicly and even then, he puts his foot in his mouth all the time. Just imagine what he says in private.
“I deserve to be paid more than Kawhi, no way teams regret giving me the max”
Did he actually say that?
Yep. He also said “Cha-ching, I fucking fleeced Daryl Morey and the Sixers organization”
I don’t see a problem with this statement.
[removed]
Are we defending China’s geopolitics here? I’m confused.
CCP bot gone rogue lol
Daryl morey is a liar and I’ll never be part of an organization that he’s part of.
Tiananmen Square
Taiwan is real
No. Parent is being Sarcastic
Teague telling the story about how CJ miles showed the “no OT tonight” meme clip in the locker room after they got swept was hilarious
That story is so good. No words were said just showed him his phone and shook his head 😭😭😭😂😂
really was no OT
At the time no one on the team ever said anything about it but now that he’s gone it’s pretty clear no one liked him
No fanbase really likes him either. Not sure if his jersey gets retired by any team
Indy is the team I think of when I think about PG but that was a lifetime ago now
Me too, and I always thought PG peaked in Indy, not OKC. It would be disappointing if Indy retires PG’s number though considering the ugly exit, but not surprising considering Toronto and Brooklyn decided to honor Vince who did fuck-all for those franchises
Doubt he gets his jersey retired. Owners here are super stingy with it
Hopefully. His name does not belong with Reggie
Not gonna lie that’s deep
PG peaked his MVP caliber season in OKC
Indy PG was one of the greatest wing defenders ever and was better in the playoffs
That’s a matter of opinion. He was better in every advanced stat that season in OKC
Not in the playoffs. Playoff P was actually a thing before he left Indiana
I think the Thunder love PG
We got Shai, all the clippers picks and now we have a 33% chance at pick 7
He was also good for us and actually resigned
Sure, but not enough to hang his jersey or fondly remember him 50 years from now
33% chance at pick 7
That wasn’t PG.
That was from the Sixers dumping Al Horford.
He was there for like 3 years lmao
Retired in Brandon Miller’s house and that’s about it
JVG would have murdered PG by now for his lazy defense
Crazy because he built his name as an elite 2 way player on the Pacers.
He’s capable of being a good defender but he’s seems unmotivated and only really cares about making flashy plays
I honestly think that one play-off run when he had a great team and coach in Indiana fucked with his head, made him think he was way better than he was.
Yep and then Pg would take it personal, withdraw within, play horrible and start getting in his head and then transfer that shit to everyone else on the court. GOOD RIDDANCE!!
I remember PG spoke of his mental issues.
I respect mental health struggles, but he’s a diva
“Just give me what Kawhi got”
I’ve seen clips of his podcast, i concur that Paul George would be a bitch to deal with.
You know him so well!
This is a rare situation where like, yeah you don’t know him, but you do know what he’s comfortable saying publicly and it seems like enough to determine how he thinks of himself anyway.
Probably better than he knows himself if we are being real here.
Come on it’s playoff p you could’ve just stopped your sentence after bitch
Pandemic P
DN P
I mean just go off the stuff he was saying on his podcast..he would simultaneously complain that he’s not a dirty work role player guy so he shouldn’t be asked to do that stuff, but also not the star that Kawhi was so don’t ask him to lead the team properly…but also say he should get paid the same as Kawhi lol
If there’s any lesson that I’ve learned from this year, it’s that the basketball gods really don’t like PG
PG did this to himself. He’s had a very strange career thus far, and his habit of alienating fan bases has resulted in nobody really rooting for him
Sub favorite Jeff Teague was on the Out The Mud podcast saying how he and PG didn’t speak for the first six months when JT joined the Pacers. He said they were both in the same starting back-court but didn’t speak at all off the court or in the locker room and how guys were telling them that they needed to talk. Jeff himself said they would have been a better team had their relationship been good but since he was the new guy he wasn’t comfortable. And Jeff seems like a real laidback cool dude who was friends with a lot of his teammates.
He himself said he only started talking after another teammate forced them to speak and Teague started doing it more because the contract negotiations were coming up.
PG for all accounts seems like a chill dude himself, there’s a reason players come to his podcast and his ex teammates like him.
Its eye opening when you realize Norman Powell is actually better than PG at this point
Cool, cool. Lemme just check real quick how much longer he’s with the Sixers for…
If you need me, I’ll be refreshing the trade machine and crying.
Addition by subtraction
In the 1st or 2nd year they were on the Clippers and they were going through a rough stretch, there was a report about how all the other players were voicing their displeasure with ‘some teammates’ not having to put in the same effort off the court. There was even a quote of something along the lines of ‘with Kawhi at least we know he has shown us..’
It was basically the players taking umbrage with PG acting like he was on Kawhi’s level.
Winning games creates good vibes.
We don’t know him enough
Understatement
He was always ass for the clippers
Thought the exact same thing. Vibes seem so much more chill than all the other years he was there.
Imagine if Kawhi had just gone to the Clips without demanding they trade for PG. Kawhi and SGA would be fucking insane to guard.
For sure
Years ago I’d heard from some local business owners in Indianapolis that he was a total knob
Good vibes is because they’re a competitive team again, PG was their main guy while Kawhi was out and he sucked. I doubt it has anything to do with PG’s personality.
Kris Dunn motivates me to start defending random people on the street
the homeless guy on the corner is no match for my HOF clamp badge
Dude.. after watching Dunn defensive highlights.. my granny couldn’t get past me ALL DAY
My Mailman just got DENIED
slapping the floor like al harrington
Lmaoo
Hopefully Kris Dunn will make them rethink the arbitrary all-defensive team rules.
Even Harden is active on D with 35 which says a lot
Harden be defending Jokic in the post
Harden has always been a great post defender though. It’s what made a lot of our switch heavy scheme work since he could guard up
Because he has insane fat boy strength lol hard asf to back him down
Same applies to Luka and LeBron, their frames allow them to defend really big guys for periods of time. It really helps out with rotations and flexibility on defense, it’s funny when people knock on their defense like there’s no value there.
LeBron is one of the most versatile defenders of all time. People only knock on him for coasting in later years.
Offensively, he’s a pg/sg hybrid. Defensively he’s a slow unathletic but smart center.
Is it crazy to say this is his best defensive effort since his OKC days?
Eh, he was a positive defender for us when CP3 arrived and held him accountable. Shit, that team was incredible defensively.
CP3 also allowed someone else to take the ball so he’d have more energy. Dude’s asthmatic I can only imagine he only has so much he can give
“He only has so much he can give”
The strip club takes about 60% of that.
Incredible is an understatement man
yes, he was quite alright. Sure, he took lots of plays off because he was busy sustaining the whole team on offense. It was really bad in 2016.
He was neither or positive or negative. Still has his weaknesses but did a good job overall
That’s high praise coming from Kawhi
It actually is. Dude does not just hand out praise, especially to role players.
at the start of the season he said something about how no one new on the team impressed him 😭
“Kawhi, what have you seen from the new guys?”
“Nothing really.”
😂
Zubac too. From watching Jokic just back down AD relentlessly to seeing Jokic exhausted and settle for jumpers.
It’s like Game 7 Jokic against Wolves already…but it’s game 3 in the first round.
Zubac is the perfect defender for Jokic.AD/Gobert don’t have the size or strength and get backed down or foul once out of position. Zubac makes it tough for him in the paint
Meanwhile, Ayton becomes unstoppable whenever he goes against Zu.
leading many scholars to theorize that Ayton is better than Jokic.
That’s Max Player DominAyton for ya!
Also the fact that zubac has been steadily increasing his offensive game now, where jokic has to try to defend him, cause nobody is big or strong enough to defend him now. It makes jokic way more tired to do all the plays and score, And now defend.
I feel like that’s the big reason. I would not call Gobert weak, honestly think he’s as strong or stronger than Zubac. But his offense is pitiful, so Jokic doesn’t have to work much there
We won’t know for sure but I think Zubac is stronger. Not in a he lifts more than Gobert but he looks thicker and has a bigger base to hold his ground.
The bench combo of DJJ/Simmons (often with Kawhi) is also super filthy defensively.
Ty adjusted the rotation to have Zu sit in the first, and Simmons comes in and basically presses Jokic from the start. Doesn’t matter if he fouls, because he won’t play enough minutes to foul out.
Then they swap in DJJ as well, and that Murray/Jokic PNR that usually is impossible to stop looks MUCH less effective because DJJ/Ben can switch and recover easily with Batum/Kawhi preventing most nifty Jokic passes to cutters.
Dang, I think I may be falling in love with this Clippers team!
Ready to put your fandom out there and potentially get hurt again, admirable. Gotta treat this like a no hitter in baseball, nobody talk to Kawhi
I was gonna say I noticed this too. I’ve seen Simmons actually be really active in the floor, which isn’t something I’d thought I’d see ever again. Seems like he’s comfortable with this Clippers team and the coaching staff, and maybe even enjoying himself out there. You can see that his body really limits him now but he really does appear to be trying hard
If you were to advance - do you think Simmons will get his 5-10 minutes against OKC?
Of course. Even if dont shoot, his passing, agility, size, and defensive impact is needed. He may not be the same Ben as he was before but he is still super useful when utilized properly
I think Simmons used like he is works against most any team. Gives you ten minutes of pretty good defense and he can still pass the ball really well.
U cannot run zu for 40+ minutes a whole playoff run so Ben Simmons minutes r a necessity. I don’t think he’ll be bad against Ihart or Chet tho
I love Kawhi man seeing him struggle with injuries for so many years with everyone telling him to retire, just to come back and play like a star this playoffs has been great to see.
The laugh clip will always be one of my favorites
I only recently saw the clip of him from College where he laughs, then everyone just quiets down and don’t know what just happened or what they should do now.
Indubitably
Fr im tuning in to this very fucking game of his right now. No idea how much longer we’ll get to enjoy this. Dude is an all time great. Such a treat
Exactly! Enjoy this while we can basketball fans, because it doesn’t get much better than prime Kawhi
praying embiid has the same fate
I feel the same way when my boy goes back for his 4th plate at the buffet, gotta match the intensity
There’s guys on the floor that want to eat. They’re just not just pointing at me asking to eat… They motivate me hungerously. Especially, Kelvin Benjamin.
Man kawhi be opening up this postseason
Yup, hates Gatorade loves Dunn
Kawhi Bobby Boucher Leonard. He knows what’s best for hydration and best for defensive cohesion. These fellas may be Mud Bowl material
that high quality H two oh
You can Dunn it!
Dunn has been amazing this series defensively. Feels like he’s been great at predicting/disrupting the Nuggets backdoor cuts that Jokic loves so much
If the Clippers advance he’ll be the one defending SGA
Really helps that Braun/Gordon/Porter Jr are eating glue when they get a 3v2 after we blitz the Jokic/Murray game, it’s crazy to see how dependent they are on Jokic
I agree with the first part but the second part is painful because the Clips have honestly let them get SO many backdoor cuts for free this series, though in fairness Dunn probably wasn’t on the floor for many of those
The impact of culture
Glad Dunn finally found a place that can appreciate him. Baller thru and thru
I loved him in Utah. He was the only good perimeter defender, and dished out a lot of assists.
Dude was so good in college
Didn’t watch much clippers games this year but goddamn Dunn is a defensive menace. I’m usually just watching him disrupt the plays and frustrate the nuggets.
Just how bad was Paul George really ?
I love the Clippers being good again but I also hate that they got good specifically after I was rooting for them
Imagine getting a shoutout for your defense from the Klaw
“Why doesn’t Ross the largest friend, simply eat the other friends? Is he stupid?”
I wonder if he felt this way on Toronto cause that team was pretty stacked w defenders
Begs the question, have there been any championship teams without three A+ defenders?
Dunn was an absolute dawg at Providence. glad to see him doing well in the league.
This is such great subtle leadership from Kawhi. This is how you make the people who do the dirty work feel valued and appreciated. A lot of what Kris Dunn does doesn’t show up on stat sheets so his impact can be overlooked. Hearing this praise from someone like Kawhi has to feel so good and will probably make Kris want to play ever harder.
I loved Kris Dunn on the Jazz, we were going nowhere but he gave 0 fucks about that and played as hard as possible. Man knows his role, knows what’s asked of him, and does it every fucking night.
Dunn has been awesome
I love this for Kris dunn, I was rooting for him on the bulls. He was clutch and a dog.
The clippers have surprised me this year. I didn’t think they would be this good. I didn’t think Kawhi would be able to reach these heights again after all the injuries.