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| Image by Jeff Passan |
Kawhi Leonard- rookie, fresh out of my very own SDSU. He left San Diego State University in 2011 as a sophomore and took the 15th overall pick in the first-round by the Indiana Pacers but was quickly traded to the San Antonio Spurs for George Hill, which also included Erazem Lorbek in a 2:1 swap. So for this season, he has averaged 6 pts, 5 boards Rebounds and .7 Dimes assists per game. According to Yahoo! Sports:
Jan 8 F Kawhi Leonard got some serious on-the-job training Sunday night in becoming a stopper. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had the rookie guard Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant."Kawhi did a good job," Popovich said. "When I called the timeout, I told him that he was now going to guard the leading scorer in the league for the past few years and you're not coming out of the game. I told him he was going to get experience and see what it was like. He did a good job."
It's awesome that Popovich sees the potential in Kawhi, averaging a double-double at State (15.5 pts, 10.6 boards). He's going to need Kawhi to step-up his game since Manu broke his hand and is out for 6-8 weeks, which is a lot in this 66 game season. The Spurs have also been struggling with age issues, Kwahi (20) provides energy and youth to this squad Can I mention, it's a weird feeling when you realize the athletes on television are younger than you. as well as a weak center in DeJuan Blair. But for now, Kawhi will have to be the spark off the bench using his giant hands to pick pockets, average 1 steal per game and grab boards. This article was sparked by Kawhi's outstanding performance in the Spurs 106-103 loss to the Bucks. He had 19 points and 3 boards of the bench in 32:58 minutes, showing that he's getting more PT Playing Time. If he keeps this up, I think Popovich might have to move Richard Jefferson to the 2 (shooting guard) spot and have Kawhi start as the 3 (small forward), replacing Gary Neal. That would be awesome.
I forgot to add, Malcolm Thomas of San Diego State University, that's right, another Aztec, is headed to San Antonio to join his former teammate Kawhi, after getting pulled from the D-Fenders, D-League team. It looks like the Spurs are finally getting some fresh legs on their team. Check out what Malcolm Tweeted 2 days ago:
Everything works out! He bailed on the Korean League to participate in the LA Lakers training camp, but didn't make the cut. However, he showed a tremendous amount of motivating and energy in his dominating performance while playing on the D-Fenders, so it's no wonder the Spurs had to snatch him up. Congrats to you both you guys made it, it was chill kicking it with you guys at Phi Kap, you dudes are dope as fuck. @imrichbitch!
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