kabstah wrote:E-Balla wrote:kabstah wrote:No. I repeat, it's 100% a LaMarcus Aldridge issue. He needed to check his ego and fall in line behind a superior player who -- ballhogging or not -- was getting results you can't argue with (see 115 ORTG with Kawhi on). That LMA failed to do that and instead chose to mope about and be disengaged falls entirely on his shoulders and his alone, especially when you consider that guys like David Robinson, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobili were all able to gracefully cede their offensive primacy.
Jordan in 1990 and 1991 had the same supporting cast. One offense was +4.2. The other was +6.7. Is it not at all MJ's fault he wasn't getting the most out of his teammates in 1990 because he didn't fully understand the triangle yet?
Absolutely not. If you look at the Bulls' rise from 89 (last season prior to Phil Jackson) through 92 (their peak offensive year), most of their improvement is due to better offensive rebounding, not better shot-making. That has precisely nothing to do with MJ sharing the ball or the the triangle offense.
Going back to the Spurs, Kawhi/LMA shared primacy in 2016 with near identical USG% and shot attempts, even though Kawhi was markedly more efficient with his opportunities than LMA. The obvious right thing to do at that point is to give Kawhi more responsibility, and the onus is on LMA (and everyone down the line) to adjust. Kawhi proved he could handle that, and when he was on the floor, the Spurs' offense was the best it's ever been.
I know I’m late with this but I have to agree with E-Balla here. Using Kawhi more is one thing, but going to an offense that almost exclusively relies on him doing his jab step thingtakes the other guys out of any kind of flow. Danny Green went through a year’s-long slump as the motion offense started to be replaced with Kawhiso stuff.
We need to draw a distinction between LMA “falling in line” and LMA taking a step back in primacy. I’m sure he’d play great as a second option next to a lead pick and roll ball handler because his game is pick and pop, offensive rebounds, and spot-up mid range stuff. There are plenty of perimeter players he’d fit great next to as a #2.
But it didn’t work with Kawhi because many possessions he’d be reduced to standing around as did most of the Spurs. They weren’t even setting back screens or anything because Kawhi’s not a good passer. They were asking him to be Brook Lopez which is a real misuse of his talents. I don’t think this is all one Kawhi, but...
We see the exact same thing happening with Toronto now. They have their regular offense and the Kawhiso offense. They are lucky in that they had a long established culture and system of ball movement and shooting to fall back on, but guys can’t keep two systems in their head. The slushy offense San An ran during the last two Kawhi season really limited the play of a lot of guys who thrived in the motion stuff.
