Bornstellar wrote:HBK_Kliq_33 wrote:Bornstellar wrote:
No he wasnt. The revisionist history on this board is disgusting
2009 - 1st round exit and only won 1 game
2010 - 2nd round sweep
2011 - lost 1st round 2-4
That's 7 playoff wins in three years, horrible for the TD era. They lacked athleticism and that's why they tried with the failed Richard Jefferson experiment. Kawhi was the x factor that gave them athleticism and defense on the wing they been missing since Bruce Bowen left. By 2014 finals, Kawhi would not only be the main guy guarding Lebron but also spurs best scorer.
2012 is also the year that Duncan slimmed down, Spurs got rid of deadweight Jefferson, grabbed Diaw and revived him, traded for Captain Jack, Danny Green really coming onto the scene, TP having (another) all-star year, Splitter finally getting minutes, etc. Yes, Kawhi was a cog in that. NO ONE IS SAYING HE WAS NOT. But he did not LEAD the Spurs to rings. He was the man on our 2015-2017 teams that were all sadly disappointments.
Once again, Kawhi was a part in all that. But to me, the biggest part was Duncan's resurgence. He was looking close to done in 2010, and over the next couple years he slimmed down, changed his diet, restricted his minutes, and really took a backseat on offense and focused more on overall team play and defense. It's no surprise he ended up being 1st team in 2013 as an old man. He was also carrying the Spurs against the Clippers in 2015 as an even older man when Kawhi was choking in the last 3 games of the series. So yeah, Kawhi deserves credit, but he is just a piece in the overall puzzle
7 playoff wins speaks for itself and Duncan was still getting older and older, Manu was out of his prime by 2013 and those are the two best players of the team during all their rings.
- 2014 it was still Duncan that was the leader but Kawhi Leonard was still the best player on the team because he was a better scorer than Duncan at that point and guarded Lebron.
- 2015 Duncan was still the leader and trying to go for a repeat and couldn't block a midget Chris Paul at the end of game 7 because he was too old. It still wasn't Leonard's team yet, his usage was way too low. Leonard didn't "choke" in 2015! He increased his PPG by 4 point in the playoffs and even had a higher TS as well. Clippers series the offense was more about posting up Duncan still.
2016 - Duncan took a major step back this year and it was officially Kawhi's team. 67 wins was the result. Problem is, Kawhi was 1a to 1b because Lamarcus is too stupid to take his head out of his ass and quit pretending he's a 1st option scorer. Kawhi loses but isn't the #1 scorer in the series
2017 - Kawhi dominates in the playoffs 28PPG 67% TS and was going to beat Warriors on the road and go up 1-0 but was cheap shot.
Leonard since becoming clear 1st option scorer on his teams in 2017 and 2019 playoffs is 6-0 in series and beating teams anchored by Marc Gasol, Embiid, Giannis, Draymond Green.