The Kaman vs Leonard Tracker thread

[magnifier661]

Am I reading this right?!?! Are we really comparing Leonard to Pau Gasol?!?!?!

If, and that's a major if, Leonard becomes as good as Pau, I will fucking shit my pants with runs of liquid corn chunks. That would be the ultimate ceiling!

 

[Schilly]

I think we are only comparing him stylistically.

 

[riverman]

Am I reading this right?!?! Are we really comparing Leonard to Pau Gasol?!?!?!

If, and that's a major if, Leonard becomes as good as Pau, I will fucking shit my pants with runs of liquid corn chunks. That would be the ultimate ceiling!

you need to eat in cleaner restaurants mags

 

[Scalma]

I only thought of gasol originally because I remember Leonard mentioning him as someone he watched play in one of his predraft interviews.

 

[HomerLovesKoolAid]

you need to eat in cleaner restaurants mags

Who says he's been eating the corn?

 

[riverman]

Who says he's been eating the corn?

corn enema?

 

[BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94]

Am I reading this right?!?! Are we really comparing Leonard to Pau Gasol?!?!?!

If, and that's a major if, Leonard becomes as good as Pau, I will fucking shit my pants with runs of liquid corn chunks. That would be the ultimate ceiling!

I read this while taking a dump... Don't laugh while on the toilet... It makes things speedier....

 

[jlprk]

Rainman wasn't so young as a Blazer so there's that...Stotts having coached Kemp with the Sonics...I'm sure he made the comparison from coaching both guys. As long as Meyers avoids the nose candy and paternity suits, he'll be ok

You got me curious, so I looked up who Stotts coached when he was a Sonic assistant.

http://bkref.com/tiny/5sV96

 

[H.C.]

Gasol was the focal point of Memphis for like 6 years. Sure Dantoni misused him, but I don't agree that Gasol never reached his full potential. You can't be considered top 5 all time at your position if you aren't a two way player IMO. Gasol was and is a great player but Leonard has the potential to get to his level and I dont believe it's reaching. It's crazy that were even talking about this. Shows you his development. His potential offensively has no limits IMO.

No, the Crazy thing is that someone tried to compare Nards to Gasol.
You can try and compare any player... but for it to be viable and actually make sense... is another thing.
I could say if Luke Babbit improves he can be the next Korver. Doesn't mean it's a good comparison, but i'd be talking about it therefore it shows you Babbit's development.
nonononono.

I never said Pau didn't reach his full potential. I said he was on Memphis(the talent level was subpar), misused in LA once Phil Jackson left, and told he couldn't play anymore by a trashy coach who can't adjust his style to fit his players.
One could argue that Steve Nash is a top 5 PG being a one way player.

saying Nards has the potential to turn into Pau Gasol... Is silly.
Will Barton could be the next Scottie Pippen. Book it.

 

[oldmangrouch]

I will say this for Leonard: he is healthy and appears to have stayed in shape while riding the pine. Right now, that makes him a better option than Kaveman.

I'm still not sold on his long-term ceiling being very high.

 

[riverman]

You got me curious, so I looked up who Stotts coached when he was a Sonic assistant.

http://bkref.com/tiny/5sV96

Thanks for looking that up, it seems Kemp made a pretty big leap in this 4th and 5th years
(a leaping pun, I just realized)

 

[BBert]

Everyone seems to be on board with Meyers shooting threes (my how times have changed).

But look also at his sweet mid-range shot. And his floaters in the lane. His catching the ball in a full sprint and making the jam. And his touch around the basket. With both hands. He doesn't break those things out often, but when he does, you can see the raw talent.

Sure Leonard is camped outside now, but I have no doubt that in two years Meyers will have added a nice around the basket game. LaMarcus has worked on and improved one aspect of his game every summer and it shows. Meyers, if properly coached and motivated, can do the same.

 

[BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94]

Can you guys imagine if Leonard develops a Dirk/LA fade? That would be lethal with his shooting touch and no one could block it.

 

[riverman]

I want to see more of the sky hook he's shown a glimpse of..with his elevation that high arc hook shot is money

 

[BBert]

Or that Jack Sikma turnaround over the head shot.

 

[BBert]

He really has a soft touch on the that hook all right.

 

[Schilly]

Here's my take on this. Meyers Leonard was a wasted pick at #11. He's white so obviously he can't be athletic. He's a terrible player and should never sniff the floor, we should have traded him for a bag of Doritos. He has zero grasp of Defense, he can't rebound his way out of a wet kleenex. He has low basketball IQ and doesn't understand the game at all... Meanwhile in reality.

He is very athletic regardless of his skin color or nationality of birth. He was raw but is becoming a reliable rotation player. His defense is adequate and getting better. His coaches and teammates say he understands the play book better than anyone on the team, in fact he knows other teams playbooks because he watches a ton of game footage. Oh yeah and he's pretty dang good rebounder.

In reality we have a 22yo 7'1" 250Lb Center with a 32" Vertical leap, good hands, good touch shooting, hits 90% of his free throws... And is still getting better. Personally I'm not going to "cap" his ceiling. Do I personally think he will be an All Star C? Probably not, but centers are the hardest position to figure out especially at the age of 22.

 

[stampedehero]

Kaman is older but not wiser. In that Dallas game he handed a pass at the bench line with no one there. Just awlful. He has not proven himself. He reminds me of Matt Elam from the Ravens who can't tackle. If we could trade him for another hulk for less cost, lets do it.

 

[blue9]

Pau is one of the most gifted C/PF to ever play in the NBA.
If Pau was on a team that was built around him... He would have been considered a top5 PF to ever play.

Umm, he was built around in MEM. And that team never competed for a championship, which adds to my opinion that building a team around a PF isn't a good idea.

 

[e_blazer]

Shouldn't this thread really be about comparing Leonard to TRob? Barring injuries, I don't see him getting much PT at the 5, but I sure think he's going to be getting a bunch of PT at the 4 playing alongside Kaman. He'll get some minutes with Aldridge where I suppose he'll be the nominal center, but LA will do the bulk of the inside work.

 

[blue9]

But look also at his sweet mid-range shot. And his floaters in the lane. His catching the ball in a full sprint and making the jam. And his touch around the basket. With both hands. He doesn't break those things out often, but when he does, you can see the raw talent.

Unfortunately they clipped video #2, which was the most impressive of his 3 baskets in this game:
http://stats.nba.com/cvp.html?CFID=...014-15&SeasonType=Regular Season&LeagueID=00#

 

[BBert]

Big men who make their free throws are hott.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Umm, he was built around in MEM. And that team never competed for a championship, which adds to my opinion that building a team around a PF isn't a good idea.

Greg Popovich agrees with you wholeheartedly.

 

[H.C.]

Umm, he was built around in MEM. And that team never competed for a championship, which adds to my opinion that building a team around a PF isn't a good idea.

this is getting pretty obnoxious that I have to draw this big of a picture. When one can look up the players on the Grizz at Gasol's time and see they had very little around him.

in 01-02 season the Grizz had who on their team?
Battier, Jason Williams, Stromile Swift. I don't recognize any of the other players. But not much talent from the looks of things.
in 02-03 season the Grizz had who on their team?
Battier, Miller, Swift, Williams.
Ohh look out they added Gooden, and Giricek. -.- Again, not much Talent.
in 03-04 season the Grizz had who? At least they finished 50-32
Oh hey they added Bonzi Wells look out. Nuff said.
in 04-05 season they finished 45-37 James Posey? ????????
in 05-06 look out they added Cucky Atkins, Damon Stoudamire, Eddie Jones and Bobby Jackson. Finishing 49-33.
in 06-07 they had Rookies Rudy Gay, and Kyle Lowry. But really? they're rookies.
Outside of 05-06 Gasol had nobody around him. And even in 05-06 had no other Star around him.

Outside of Gasol's rookie year when two players averaged 14.4 and 14.8 ppg No player but Gasol one averaged more than 13.7PGG in the years
he was in Memphis. That was Mike Miller. Goodjob the players you put around Gasol were Subpar role players.
Give Gasol Kobe, and instantly Gasol transforms the Lakers from wannabe's to championship contenders.

 

[blue9]

Greg Popovich agrees with you wholeheartedly.

I've already mentioned in other threads that there are always exceptions to the rule - though when one of the exceptions is one of the best, if not the best, to ever play the position it's not really much of an exception.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

I've already mentioned in other threads that there are always exceptions to the rule - though when one of the exceptions is one of the best, if not the best, to ever play the position it's not really much of an exception.

It's not good to build a team around a shooting guard...unless it's Jordan or Kobe.

It's not good to build a team around a small forward...unless it's Bird or LeBron.

It's not good to build a team around a point guard...unless it's Isaiah or Magic.

It's not good to build a team around a center...unless it's Shaq or Hakeem.

If we ignore the "exceptions", then it's apparently not good to build a team around any player.

 

[Scalma]

The more relevant question here should be why couldn't Leonard become a gasol type offensively? What tool does he not have?

 

[BlazerCaravan]

If he gets just a couple more offensive rebounds per game, he'll be

It's not good to build a team around a shooting guard...unless it's Jordan or Kobe.

It's not good to build a team around a small forward...unless it's Bird or LeBron.

It's not good to build a team around a point guard...unless it's Isaiah or Magic.

It's not good to build a team around a center...unless it's Shaq or Hakeem.

If we ignore the "exceptions", then it's apparently not good to build a team around any player.

And that's true; 96.67% of all teams fail to win the Championship every year. Those are really bad odds. Professional sports are like the lottery for billionaires.

 

[dviss1]

Umm, he was built around in MEM. And that team never competed for a championship, which adds to my opinion that building a team around a PF isn't a good idea.

(multiple championships) Tim Duncan? (beat Lebron) Dirk Nowitzky? (Best of "Big 3") Kevin Garnett?

 

[dviss1]

The more relevant question here should be why couldn't Leonard become a gasol type offensively? What tool does he not have?

Post footwork. His is well below average.