Kawhi Learning MJ's Fadeaways

[co_laper]

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnatio ... and-kawhi/

He said he’s watching Jordan’s turnaround fadeaway/jumpers closely.

You may see Leonard utilize that move from time to time, and it appears he’s getting the technique down.

Leonard said Spurs assistant coaches Chip Engelland and Chad Forcier work with him as he continues to develop that fadeaway jumper. He works on his spacing, trying to create room from his defender.

According to NBA.com/Stats, Leonard is shooting 3 of 5 (60 percent) on turnaround fadeaways this season, 4 of 7 on fadeaway jumpers (57.1) and 5 of 6 (83.3) on turnaround jump shots.

“It’s getting more natural to me and I’m feeling a rhythm off it,” Leonard said. “Once I start getting more isolation, I’m going to get about two or three moves that I can really knock down; and for that move, it’s pretty natural for me to shoot.”

This is just music to my ears. I feel like I'm being heard. I kept on saying about Kawhi needing to develop a post game instead of becoming a P&R guy.

Kawhi's got Michael's big hands. He's about the same size as Michael. An inch taller. And Kawhi is probably as athletic and as strong as the 32 year old MJ when he starts posting up more and more. Also, Kawhi has a knack for scoring near the basket. An ability to absorb contact and follow through.

Becoming an older version of Kobe and MJ is exactly what he should focus on. It's something that he's already good at and he needs to focus on it and turn Good into Great. Once he's great at this, then go ahead and learn other stuff.

[Phreak50]

Great news!

I'm loving his baseline pull-up (also an MJ fave) lately.

I hope he keeps working at his finishing as well. He seems to struggle when he beats a guy and is still met by a rim defender. When he doesn't have the dunk, he doesn't always know what to do with the ball.

I guess it's hard(er) to develop in game being on the Spurs. I mean, put him on a lottery team and he could shoot it 30 times a game and learn a lot quicker. But, I'm still glad he's on our team

[SPURt]

That'd be awesome if mastered that shot! That shot was unstoppable.

[Nolan]

Glad to see him working on his post game as well. If he master that mid post area he'll become a very dangerous player.

[marcusaurelius]

The sky is the limit for this guy. He had an incredible finals last year. In fact, I would say he was the third best player in the finals, after Lebron, and then Duncan. (As an aside, I thought he was clearly the Spurs third best player for the regular season last year. Ginobilli was just too inconsistent all year long.) That is really incredible considering that Parker, Ginobilli, and Wade are all stars (or have been).

Few people in their second year have ever looked like that with the lights shining and the pressure on. Hats off to him.

Having said that, I thought that I would see a little more consistent improvement from him this year. However, given that he usually seems to be the third option (or maybe fourth), I guess you really shouldn't expect that much.

[Donald Kaufman]

This is exactly what I want to see from Kawhi. He has all the tools to take over games, it's his demeanor that needs work. He's looked better since he came back from injury. He's key for us if we want to win a fifth ring.

[co_laper]

Spurs really go to Kawhi today againts Sacramento, especially early in the game. They posted up Kawhi on Gay a lot. I don't remember that happening before. Usually we post up Kawhi (or Kawhi himself went to the post) when he has a smaller man guarding him.

At the same time, Kawhi really doesn't look comfortable yet posting up players his size. I start to wonder how high Kawhi jumps because he doesn't jump very high. He looks quick and strong, but doesn't look like much of a leaper. Even in his post ups, I felt like he's almost stuck to the ground. It's his strength that allows him to get up shots. And he has a strength and size advantage againts smaller players, but can't do it againts taller and longer players.

Kawhi tried a couple of moves that I can still remember right now that results into nothing. It almost seems like he already decide what moves he's going to do without knowing how Gay is defending him. Anyhow, he looks like he's in his early stages of these post moves, so I'm just glad he's working at the right stuff instead of those P&R.

[Phreak50]

. It almost seems like he already decide what moves he's going to do without knowing how Gay is defending him. .

Yes, very well said!

I've noticed this as well! Especially earlier in the season. This would explain why he looks so helpless when he finishes a move and is still met by defence.

But yeah, great to see him working on these things and even better that the Spurs are giving him the ball.

[BooReal]

Can't wait till he fully blossoms to take over the team on his shoulders on both sides of the court.

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[Phreak50]

Kawhi seems to have copied the 'old' Jordan rather than the young one (ie. He can't jump)

[co_laper]

Kawhi seems to have copied the 'old' Jordan rather than the young one (ie. He can't jump)

Yup.

What would you guys want him to improve next?

I'm personally hoping for two things:

1. Get a left hand dribble.
I like what I'm seeing when Kawhi drives to the basket going right. He takes it in strong and he's able to absorb contact and finish. But he doesn't go left much. So I think if he was to be featured more next year or the year after, he's got to mix it up. Got to be able to go both right and left.

2. Learning how to get to the FT line.
While Kawhi has started to become more aggresive, I still feel that he tends on settling for 3 pointers and midrange jumpers. He's becoming good at that though so I'm not really complaining. But for someone that has shown a knack for getting And 1s, I would like to see him get to the line more. He doesn't attack the rim on drives as much as I want. As this moment, he's averaging 2 FT attempts in 30 minutes. Marco Bellineli is averaging 1.6 FT attempts in 25 minutes. Basically he's getting to the line as much as Marco is.

The biggest stars in this game knows how to get to the FT line offensively.