Everything Kawhi Leonard

[DanH]

+ Siakam. Raps definitely have the 'potential' to match up defensively..... on paper. No other team can throw that many versatile, athletic defenders at GSW.

We're also one of the few teams that can handle the knuckleball GSW signed this summer in DeMarcus Cousins. Most teams that have similar ability to play small don't have a Valanciunas to match up to Cousins.

[golden]

We're also one of the few teams that can handle the knuckleball GSW signed this summer in DeMarcus Cousins. Most teams that have similar ability to play small don't have a Valanciunas to match up to Cousins.

.... and we can go super-small and matchup FVV on JJ Barea or IT, in case they somehow end up on GSW. lol.

[planetmars]

Warriors/Raptors will be fun. Really hoping Kyle has another healthy year. If we can get Kawhi and KLOE in the playoffs.. man we will be kicking ass and taking names. 16-0 here we come!

[Puffer]

Mentioned in the podcast from the other day was a throwaway line about Drake showing Kawhi around town. This is obviously going to happen unless Kawhi just says no. He has said he is a drake fan. Drake is a NBA fanboy big time. I wonder how likley it is that they develop a bit of a relationship? Will Drake be actively trying to get Kawhi to stay. At least to some extent. Will it have any impact on Kawhi's decision when the day comes? Who knows, but every little bit helps. Certainly Drake can introduce Kawhi to the best that TO has to offer a celebrity. And once he has been introduced, he will be 100% accepted at the too end locations.

[golden]

Warriors/Raptors will be fun. Really hoping Kyle has another healthy year. If we can get Kawhi and KLOE in the playoffs.. man we will be kicking ass and taking names. 16-0 here we come!

KLOE finally has a chance to be true....... Kawhi Leonard Over Everything.

[white men can't jump]

+ Siakam. Raps definitely have the 'potential' to match up defensively..... on paper. No other team can throw that many versatile, athletic defenders at GSW.

Not to mention that we also have a deeper offensive team than Houston did. Ariza, Mbah a Moute and Tucker don't exactly strike fear into the other team's defence. As much as people point to Paul's injury, not sure any team can beat GSW if they fail to reach 100+ pts 5 times in a 7-game series, and even with Paul they were struggling to reach that mark.

[MixxAOR]

KLOE finally has a chance to be true....... Kawhi Leonard Over Everything.

[DogeLover1234]

Not to mention that we also have a deeper offensive team than Houston did. Ariza, Mbah a Moute and Tucker don't exactly strike fear into the other team's defence. As much as people point to Paul's injury, not sure any team can beat GSW if they fail to reach 100+ pts 5 times in a 7-game series, and even with Paul they were struggling to reach that mark.

The fact is they took GSW to 7 games (where they missed 27 straight threes).

I mean yes Houston was comprised of a lot of role players, but putting high end role players next to Harden and Paul makes a ton of sense, and they helped make a lethal offense last year. I would say the low scoring games had more to do with fatigue (Mbah a Moute and Paul injuries) plus fantastic defense from both teams. Both teams went though long stretches where they couldn't score on the other team that series. Even with the Paul injury, Houston almost won. 27 straight missed threes in a game 7 isn't bad offense just plain unlucky.

It's easy to compare this Raps team and that Houston team, but I think its a bit of a stretch tbh. All the pieces on that team fit together perfectly to the tune of 65 wins. The potential of the Raps youth and Nurse is promising, they still have to prove it though.

Going into the season however, Raps are the second best team and match up best against GSW.

[KeonClark]

KLOE finally has a chance to be true....... Kawhi Leonard Over Everything.

Hey now! Kloe has always been true! Dont do the bulldog from bay street like that

[golden]

Hey now! Kloe has always been true! Dont do the bulldog from bay street like that

Kyle Lowry Often Edgy. Yeah, ok. I see it now.

[white men can't jump]

The fact is they took GSW to 7 games (where they missed 27 straight threes).

I mean yes Houston was comprised of a lot of role players, but putting high end role players next to Harden and Paul makes a ton of sense, and they helped make a lethal offense last year. I would say the low scoring games had more to do with fatigue (Mbah a Moute and Paul injuries) plus fantastic defense from both teams. Both teams went though long stretches where they couldn't score on the other team that series. Even with the Paul injury, Houston almost won. 27 straight missed threes in a game 7 isn't bad offense just plain unlucky.

It's easy to compare this Raps team and that Houston team, but I think its a bit of a stretch tbh. All the pieces on that team fit together perfectly to the tune of 65 wins. The potential of the Raps youth and Nurse is promising, they still have to prove it though.

Going into the season however, Raps are the second best team and match up best against GSW.

Sure, you can have this opinion...

However you can't start a sentence with "the fact is" to make a point and then just glance over the fact that they missed 27 straight threes and call it bad luck. That last fact is pretty much at the core of my argument, because offensively Houston was pretty deeply flawed after their all-star backcourt (plus Gordon). The Raptors have a lot less holes in their support players and a better overall crop of perimeter defenders.

Could you ever imagine this Toronto team missing 27 straight 3s? I would be much more shocked to see that happen with our team. Our D also measured out better than Houston's last year and we have even better personnel now (so one could argue that Houston played well above their talent level on D in that GSW series, and would be hard pressed to repeat it even with the same group). We also have more versatility on O. Harden is better than anyone on our team, but we have more ballhandlers and more shooters, and our bigs bring more to the table.

And if you're going to make injury excuses, lets not forget Curry sat out for almost two months and missed the start of the playoffs. You could definitely make the "there's no way he was at his best" argument and say the series could have been very different if he was healthy and at his best. Now, missing Paul was obviously a gigantic blow to Houston, but I don't think anyone who's watched the last 4 seasons would think GSW was at their best in that series (or even most of last season/postseason in general).

Anyway, the argument I'm trying to make is that overall, this Toronto team has way fewer holes in it overall than Houston did. In the playoffs, as much as stars shine, holes sink you.

[inthepaint]

Warriors/Raptors will be fun. Really hoping Kyle has another healthy year. If we can get Kawhi and KLOE in the playoffs.. man we will be kicking ass and taking names. 16-0 here we come!

Health is the key. I'm excited as anyone to see what kind of impact Leonard can have on this team, but I always find myself wanting to confirm that we'll see the same pre-injury Leonard before I get too excited.

I tried to look this up but didn't find anything: Out of higher-impact players that suffered season-ending injuries at the beginning of the season, which ones came back a year later the same way they left, and which ones saw a drop in performance?

In other words, out or players that went close to a year without playing, is it common to see them pick it up right where they left or is there usually a bit of a drop-off?

I know every injury is different, every rehab protocol is different, and every player will react differently physically & mentally to injuries, so it's probably next to impossible to forecast this type of thing. However, it'd be nice to see some nice comeback stories out there about players that came out ballin' despite being out of the game for an extended time.

[Mitchell Duong]

If you want to envision a way the Raptors led by Kawhi could beat the Warriors. You can watch the youtube video from 2016 where Spurs win 87-79 and Steph goes 1-12. They'd have to have those types of games to beat the Warriors, and they have the defense to grind it out.

I could envision a scenario where they get enough offense from Kawhi and feeding JV for easy buckets. To grind out games like that.

[golden]

If you want to envision a way the Raptors led by Kawhi could beat the Warriors. You can watch the youtube video from 2016 where Spurs win 87-79 and Steph goes 1-12. They'd have to have those types of games to beat the Warriors, and they have the defense to grind it out.

I could envision a scenario where they get enough offense from Kawhi and feeding JV for easy buckets. To grind out games like that.

That was pre-KD, though.

[DanH]

The template is the first half of the first game of the 2017 series between the Spurs and Warriors.

The Spurs defence only allowed the Warriors to attempt 9 threes in that first half. They made only two, but even if they made 4, the Spurs would have been up 14 at the half. The Warriors took a third of their shots from mid-range (10-20 feet, 2 pointers only), where they usually take less than 1/4 of their shots. And the Spurs took away the rim, contesting well and forcing the Warriors down to 5/13 inside 3 feet.

Meanwhile, Aldridge had a field day on offence in the paint, and everyone else was pretty meh offensively, with the team only hitting 33% of their threes, and they punished the Warriors' size with rebounding (grabbing 8 of 18 potential offensive boards).

So, protect the rim. Rebound defensively. Drive them off the three point arc and force midrange jumpers. Crash the offensive glass. Score inside.

We have the personnel for that.