How big is the talent gap between Kawhi and Paul George? Which player is more important to Clippers?

Quattro · Post #41 » by **Quattro** » Sun Aug 2, 2020 5:02 pm

People forget that Kawhi doesn’t really care about regular season games. I fully expect him to turn it up a notch when the games really matter.

Harcore Fenton Mun · Post #42 » by **Harcore Fenton Mun** » Sun Aug 2, 2020 5:03 pm

Paul George is a nice name, but he's under achieved. He has two bad surgically repaired shoulders and is 6-42 in late clock situations.

I don't see why anybody's got him top 10 at this point.

sikma42 · Post #43 » by **sikma42** » Sun Aug 2, 2020 7:25 pm

After that Utah series, I dropped him down a notch in my book.

If I can't count on you to outplay Joe Ingles than u cant be in the same sentence as Kawhi

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Da ThRONe · Post #44 » by **Da ThRONe** » Sun Aug 2, 2020 10:06 pm

There's 3 players in the conversation for #1 in the league. LeBron, Giannis, and Kawhi. My personal choice is Kawhi. I think Paul is in the top 10 conversation.

Roscoe Sheed · Post #45 » by **Roscoe Sheed** » Sun Aug 2, 2020 10:18 pm

PG is a better shooter and has a smoother offensive game, but Kawhi is stronger physically and mentally. Kawhi is better, but PG isn’t very far behind

Prokorov · Post #46 » by **Prokorov** » Mon Aug 3, 2020 3:17 pm

Rodwilliams wrote:
Prokorov wrote:
Rodwilliams wrote:How big is the talent gap between them? Is it significant or slightly? Which player is more important to the team

Kawhi is elevnty billion imess better. Better on D helps the team more on D. better on O make sthe team better on O.

George is a career losers who consistenly makes everyone worse

People seem to forget that Paul George had a MVP year last year averaging 28 and finished 3rd in MVP voting. He also took the Pacers to the Conference Finals a few times but lost to Lebron’s super team heat. Kawhi is better but I don’t think it’s significant though

yeah his empty stat seasons is part of why he is such a horrible #2 star. he gets his at the expense of everyone else then comes up short when it counts most.

And yeah, im not giving anyone credit for getting to the "eastern conference finals" on the opposite of the lebron bracketing in the seeding. i mean you basically beat 2 trash teams to get there, congrats? nah.

Kawhi is so far and away better.

Statlanta · Post #47 » by **Statlanta** » Mon Aug 3, 2020 3:19 pm

the gap is shrinking by the day with people gassing up Kawhi as his play declines while Paul George is getting slandered going through good teams.

scrabbarista · Post #48 » by **scrabbarista** » Mon Aug 3, 2020 8:21 pm

Kawhi is in the convo for best player in the league. PG is not. I voted "significantly better."

Def Leppard · Post #49 » by **Def Leppard** » Mon Aug 3, 2020 8:23 pm

Can you please define talent

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SF_Warriors · Post #50 » by **SF_Warriors** » Mon Aug 3, 2020 9:59 pm

Kawhi is better on both ends. PG is a better 3 point shooter but that's about it.

Offensively, Kawhi is better at creating for himself, better in the mid range/getting to the rim/finishing at the rim. Some might say PG is the better playmaker, but honestly the difference between the two there is negligible.

Kawhi is just a different tier in level of strength and athleticism than PG.

Basically the difference is one is a #1 option on a contender and the other is a #2.

TheBoi10 · Post #51 » by **TheBoi10** » Mon Aug 3, 2020 10:11 pm

PG inside the arc game looks to have regressed

Edrees · Post #52 » by **Edrees** » Mon Aug 3, 2020 11:42 pm

If they lost PG i'd still be scared of them.

If they lost Kawhi I'd call it a 4-0 sweep in the Lakers favor

Chanel Bomber · Post #53 » by **Chanel Bomber** » Mon Aug 3, 2020 11:58 pm

Kawhi can almost singlehandedly (it’s all relative) lift a team to 60+ wins and turn it into a championship contender. He’s not just a great player, he’s an all-time great.

Paul George would never be able to carry a team like Kawhi did the 2016-17 Spurs or ultimately the 2018-19 Raptors, although the supporting cast for the latter was heavy artillery.

I never felt PG13 was consistently reliable. Maybe it’s not fully justified but I always expected him to drop the ball at some point, or not to step up at the right time. In fairness, he’s never had great coaches like Pop and Nurse until he got to the Clippers. But still, I think Kawhi is significantly better than George. Not even close in terms of pure dominance.

macNcheese3 · Post #54 » by **macNcheese3** » Tue Aug 4, 2020 12:03 am

Kawhi is significantly better than George any day of the week, month, year.

azcatz11 · Post #55 » by **azcatz11** » Tue Aug 4, 2020 3:47 am

macNcheese3 wrote:Kawhi is significantly better than George any day of the week, month, year.

...and it's not even close

Basketball_Jones · Post #56 » by **Basketball_Jones** » Tue Aug 4, 2020 3:54 am

PG has vastly improved the last two seasons. He really looks like he can carry a team. But Kawhi is scarier, because he doesn't just shoot threes. He can really do anything out there. George I feel you can limit him into some mid range shots or tough shots at the basket and he'll struggle.

macNcheese3 · Post #57 » by **macNcheese3** » Tue Aug 4, 2020 4:59 am

Basketball_Jones wrote:PG has vastly improved the last two seasons. He really looks like he can carry a team. But Kawhi is scarier, because he doesn't just shoot threes. He can really do anything out there. George I feel you can limit him into some mid range shots or tough shots at the basket and he'll struggle.

I always respect your opinion no matter what. However, I disagree. I do not think PG can carry a team all by himself.

Rodwilliams · Post #58 » by **Rodwilliams** » Tue Aug 18, 2020 3:45 am

macNcheese3 wrote:Kawhi is significantly better than George any day of the week, month, year.

Don’t know if it’s “significant” and it seem like both players are putting up similar numbers on the Clippers so far. If they do win the Finals this year I think it will be a coin toss on who wins Finals MVP. Whichever one is hot. Paul George has looked like the better player so far in the bubble

As far as this Clippers team goes they may be equally important

Pelly24 · Post #59 » by **Pelly24** » Tue Aug 18, 2020 4:06 am

Chanel Bomber wrote:Kawhi can almost singlehandedly (it’s all relative) lift a team to 60+ wins and turn it into a championship contender. He’s not just a great player, he’s an all-time great.

Paul George would never be able to carry a team like Kawhi did the 2016-17 Spurs or ultimately the 2018-19 Raptors, although the supporting cast for the latter was heavy artillery.

I never felt PG13 was consistently reliable. Maybe it’s not fully justified but I always expected him to drop the ball at some point, or not to step up at the right time. In fairness, he’s never had great coaches like Pop and Nurse until he got to the Clippers. But still, I think Kawhi is significantly better than George. Not even close in terms of pure dominance.

Ok. Kawhi is an incredible player. But I have to ask where there's ever been evidence that Kawhi could lift it to 60 wins. The Raptors won 53 games this year and played at 60-win pace this year after losing Kawhi and Danny Green. Their record without Kawhi was excellent last year. All of that is to say that Kawhi joined an excellent team and took what would be a 60-win team to a championship where he played exceptionally well through the playoffs. 2008-2013 LeBron is someone that can lift bad/mediocre/possibly a 40-win team to 60 games. Kawhi is not at that level. Not sure anyone else has ever been, and that's not just me being a LeBron fan.

Now with all of that said, I agree that Kawhi and PG are in completely different tiers as players. Paul George can be a top 8 player at his absolute best, but in reality, since 2016-2017, he's mostly vacillated between top 15 and top 20. He has the look of a great scorer, but he's underwhelming as a slasher and he relies on his jumper too much so he's been prone to cold streaks. PG in the same role as Kawhi last year I think is quite possibly, even likely eliminated by the 76ers. They have people to stifle him and he's just not able to get to his spots the same ways that Kawhi is. Defenders like Jimmy Butler (who's better than PG from year to year also), Ben Simmons and Embiid at the rim is just tough. Kawhi's physical abilities and skill could just overcome them with a force you rarely see. PG doesn't have that because his offense is too limited. He's in my top 13 in a vacuum, Kawhi is in my top 3.

Kawhi I think when you put him on a very good team with adequate stuff around him, it seems like it's pretty much impossible to keep him from getting an efficient 30 points. He's just too strong and too balanced and his handle is too tight and his hands are too big and his reflexes are too quick. He can always get into the midrange and get his shot, for most of the same reasons MJ could. He can also get to the line a lot. Additionally, he's improved as a playmaker. He's an elite defender. He's more physically dominant than PG, flat-out.

As an aside, Luka Doncic is simply amazing. There's basically nothing that can be done with him one-on-one and his playmaking is supernatural. Amazing debut, turnovers be damned. With Porzingis in it's maybe even closer.

macNcheese3 · Post #60 » by **macNcheese3** » Tue Aug 18, 2020 5:41 am

Rodwilliams wrote:
macNcheese3 wrote:Kawhi is significantly better than George any day of the week, month, year.

Don’t know if it’s “significant” and it seem like both players are putting up similar numbers on the Clippers so far. If they do win the Finals this year I think it will be a coin toss on who wins Finals MVP. Whichever one is hot. Paul George has looked like the better player so far in the bubble

As far as this Clippers team goes they may be equally important

Well they are also sharing the load. If the O was tailored through Kawhi I think he would be more efficient and I believe he's a better defender than George. George has played well though no doubt.

How big is the talent gap between Kawhi Leonard and Paul George?