Thoughts on Pop comparing Leonard to Bowen

[Finch23]

After the Rockets game, Pop evoked the name of Bruce Bowen to describe the play of Kawhi Leonard.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pop

It’s huge for us to have a guy on the team that can do similar things to what Bruce (Bowen) did in the past. This young man has got a lot to learn, but he’s very willing, very versatile and I think he’s got the ability to be one heck of a player.

 

 

Here are some thoughts on the comparison of Leonard to Bowen:

 

-As it stands right now, Leonard's defensive ability isn't in the same stratosphere as Bowen at his best (or Bowen at his worst, for that matter). And that's not a knock on Leonard. He's a 20-year-old who didn't have summer league or a training camp. In fact, he's already playing better defense than I thought he would in his rookie season.

 

At this point, Leonard has two distinct modes: he's even locked in to his opponent and neglecting most of his team defense responsibilities or he's flying around the court trying to cause havoc. Eventually he'll find the middle ground. That's something you can only learn through experience gained by playing and learning tendencies of each player in the league.

 

-Being an elite perimeter defender is extremely rare for a young player. Bowen was 30 years old when he joined the Spurs and it still took him a couple years to reach his peak performance on defense. The best perimeter defender in the game today is Tony Allen and he's 30. I can't think of a 20-year-old player off the top of my head who came into the league and received minutes mostly due to perimeter defense.

 

-Some scouts questioned whether Leonard was able to play small forward -- they said he was actually going to be forced to play power forward. Thankfully, those scouts were wrong. Leonard is definitely capable of playing small forward on both ends. In fact, he's starting at shooting guard right now. Going forward, if Leonard can turn into a legit shooting guard, that would be scary good because he could physically overwhelm just about every SG in the league due to his combination of bulk, size and length.

 

-So far, we've seen Leonard defend small forwards and shooting guards. Can he defend point guards? Hopefully Pop gives him a shot because if he can, that shoots his value up another notch. I'm not sure he has the quickness but it's worth a try. Another thing to try is to see if Leonard can handle true power forwards. We've seen him on smaller power forwards like Lamar Odom but if Leonard can legitimately defend point guards through power forwards, that alone would be enough to guarantee him a long, successful NBA career.

 

-Chances are, Leonard won't become as good as Bowen was defensively. Bowen was one of the best perimeter defenders to ever play the game, so that's not really a knock on Leonard. But Leonard already rebounds about twice as well as Bowen ever did and he has tools to become an average to above average offensive player. Bowen was always markedly below average by any measure. Thus, even if Leonard doesn't reach Bowen's level defensively, he could still reach the status of championship quality starter by other means.

 

-If Pop is going to fully commit to Leonard being the next Bowen, Pop needs to start him from here on out. As we saw in the Bucks game, bringing your ace perimeter defender off the bench doesn't work because once an NBA player gets hot, it's almost impossible to cool him off (See: Jackson, Stephen). Once Manu Ginobili returns, the right adjustment is to move Richard Jefferson to the bench. Jefferson's skillset (shooting and running the floor, mostly) works as well or even better off the bench since opposing teams won't be able to key on him as easily. Let's see if Pop is all talk or he's willing to put his rotation where is mouth is.

 

-One reason why Pop loves Leonard so much so early is that Leonard doesn't foul. At all. Pop hates nothing more than useless fouls out on the perimeter. Pop's two tenets to perimeter defending: Don't foul and don't let your man drive middle. Leonard is averaging 1.6 fouls per 36 minutes. Bowen rarely fouled and his lowest foul rate was 2.3 fouls per 36 minutes. In NBA history, only one rookie swingman fouled at a lower rate than Leonard's current rate: Peja Stojakovic -- and he wasn't exactly the Sacramento's perimeter defensive stopper.

 

While such a microscopic foul rate is mostly good, it probably points to Leonard having room to grow in terms of being more physical. Bowen tiptoed the line between being physical and fouling. Leonard doesn't have to be as safe as he's currently playing.

 

-Another thing Leonard hardly does is turn the ball over. In 243 minutes, he has five turnovers for a TOV% of 5.8. To put that in perspective, Matt Bonner always leads the team in lowest TOV% and his lowest number as a Spur was 6.3 back in '08-09. Bonner's TOV% is low because all he usually does is catch-and-shoot. Leonard's number being low is extra impressive since he does a lot more than just stand around on the perimeter. Historically, no rookie has played 500 minutes and posted a TOV% that low -- at any position.

 

-Overall, it'll be interesting to see how it goes the rest of the season with Leonard. We saw Danny Green explode ... only to regress. Leonard surely will have a few bumps in the road but his short-term and long-term potential is exciting. Let's hope he keeps learning game by game and that Pop continues to bring him along at a rapid pace.

[Real Deal]

I can't think of a 20-year-old player off the top of my head who came into the league and received minutes mostly due to perimeter defense.

Very easy...Arron Afflalo. He was 21-22 when he came in, but still. Tayshaun Prince, but he was also around that age.

 

But, the idea was, there aren't many young players to come in and play that good of defense from the start (20-23 year olds vs. 30+ veterans), and that's not exactly true.

 

As far as Kawhi Leonard goes, he reminds me of Marion. This is what I said before the draft...

 

7) Sacramento Kings: Kawhi Leonard, SDSU (SF)

NBA Comparison: Shawn Marion

Rumors point to the Maloofs wanting Jimmer Fredette for the draw, while the coaching staff is showing more interest in forward Kawhi Leonard, to fill a bigger need. Leonard doesn't have the range he'd like to have, taking more shots than necessary away from the rim, but he's still improving on the offensive end. The defense and rebounding are the turn-ons. Leonard resembles a young Shawn Marion, and his ability to contest shots and disrupt passing lanes could be the key to him being a top ten pick, as much as it was for San Diego State's surprising push this season. It's true that the Kings are looking at point guards, and Udrih is really the only point on the roster at this time (Tyreke Evans starts at two-guard, and eventually covers back-up point), but Leonard gives them what most bigs can, in a smaller, more versatile package, at a position of need as well. Word is that the Kings have a trade on the table, though, which will most definitely change the entire look of the first round, from this point on. I doubt many teams are cranking their gears to trade up for Leonard...this could be Fredette or Kemba Walker. If it's Charlotte that took the pick (as rumored), there's a chance it stays Leonard.

[Finch23]

I like the Marion comparison on the defensive end, offensively he still has some work to do.

[Finch23]

I didn't watch much of Affalo from when he first came into the league, but i do know that he only played around 15 minutes a game. I don't recall him ever being thrown out there to guard the opponents best player (especially multiple positions).

 

As for Prince, same goes for him. He was 22-23 when he first came in and barely played. Bottom line is (and there is some homerism in here) Kawai has shown a lot of promise for a 20 year old. To be thrown out there and asked to guard multiple positions (usually the best player from positions 2-4) is pretty impressive.

 

Scottie Pippen V2.0.... Lol I wish, but I can see him being a Marion or Gerald Wallace.

[Real Deal]

Well, there are other examples, I just didn't have the time to look up their ages when they joined the NBA. Ron Artest was 20, and he was defending Kobe his rookie season.

 

The Spurs really don't have anyone else to do it, though. Gary Neal? James Anderson?

 

Leonard is a good defender, no doubt...but we would not be having this conversation with Manu still playing. It's not really about Leonard being THE GUY to start and defend the "Kobe and Wade" players, it's really him stepping in for an injured Ginobili...and a big part of that is because Gary Neal and James Anderson aren't fit for it (Gary would get roasted because he's a bit small, and Anderson doesn't play defense -- neither do, really).

 

Now, if Manu was healthy...and Leonard STILL was starting over him (like you've seen with Afflalo and JR Smith, or Thabo and Harden), that's a much different story.

[Finch23]

I disagree, even when Manu was healthy Kawai was brought in to guard the "hot hand". Early on in the season he was guarding Tyreke Evans/Kyle Lowry to Kevin Martin, to Kevin Durant, to Dirk. Gary Neal should be starting, but since TJ went out they need him to play back up PG. James Anderson is pretty much out of the rotation, so they went with Kawai. His role so far this season with Manu or not is to guard the best player on the opposing team.

 

Eventually I would like to see RJ moved to the bench and Leonard starting, and if he continues to play solid on both