inDe_eD wrote:Completely agreed. If he continues to get comfortable in the offense, I see him taking major leaps next year (3rd year). I believe he's an 18/7/4/2/1 guy in his prime, with all-world D, which would be great to build around.
Agreed on the points and rebounds and steals. In the last 2 months, he's averaging roughly 15 points, 6 rebounds, and nearly 2 steals in 33 minutes. I can see him making that kind of leap next year to 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists.
But in the shotblocking, I rarely see Kawhi getting weakside blocks (which is where most player's blocks come from). When he gets a block, it usually come from playing individual defense and getting his long hands at the ball. That's a lot of the reason why he doesn't really get a lot of blocks. For the season, he's averaging 0.5 blocks in 30 minutes. I just don't see shotblocking as a big part of his game. I guess he's not usually close enough to the basket anyways to be a shotblocker. A lot of guys liken Kawhi to Gerald Wallace, and Wallace used to fly around the rim defensively for blocks.
And assists, I'd be glad if he just develops the scoring part of his game. Court vision isn't something that can be teached IMO. Or atleast, I think it's generally accepted that it's the hardest part to improve. From the looks of it, Kawhi's court vision and passing skills are limited. I don't think he handled the ball much in college either so that's why that part of his game isn't developed.
Right now, I just want Kawhi to work on his scoring. He can be downright dominant in the post with his size, strength, long arms, and big hands. Get him a lesson with Hakeem. Or learn from Jordan's post moves. Whatever. But I much prefer Kawhi when he's asking for the ball in the post and backing down instead of him trying to take the ball to the basket. He's so physical in the post.
For some reason, Kawhi doesn't really elevate as high when he takes the ball to the rim. Almost like Tony Parker where he's looking for the glass or the layup. There are times he goes for the dunk, but mostly it seems he's either purposely looking for the contact first or he just doesn't elevate much because he's focused on speed to get to the rim as quickly as possible. Either one.
