Why did scouts get Kawhi's shooting ability wrong?

[dirkdiggler41]

Same thing way scouts got LeBron wrong
People thought he was going to be a MJ
But at the end LeBron ended being another Jerry west and Baylor

What? Nobody said he was going be like MJ, at least not serious scouts. They said he had the potential to be the next MJ as far as career goes. The media scouting was saying he was going to be a mix between MJ and Magic, not the scorer and not the passer, but something in between.

[baudkarma]

In his two seasons in college he shot .205 and .291 from three point range. He was drafted by the Spurs who have a coach called Chip Engelland who works on shooting. That helped Kawhi's mechanics and Kawhi has the work ethic to make it work.

Chip said this, in an interview with the San Antonio Express-News:

“I guess we can start from the beginning, before the draft. I walked into pre-draft camp, and Kawhi wasn’t scheduled to work out. He was getting tested. Some of the players will take a few shots, just because there are baskets there. I evaluate shooters for the draft. A lot of them, I have to watch on film. It’s nice when you get to watch it in person. I happened to walk in, and he happened to take shots literally right when I walked in. I got to see it in person. We all talked (as a staff). I felt his shot didn’t need a full makeover. With just a tune-up, he could become a very good shooter, if not great shooter.”

[ralph_i_el]

Mechanically, Kawhi has a flat angle on his shots. He gets away with it because he has such a high release point. Remember, he has the wingspan of a big center. He puts a ton of touch on his shots too.

[iamgine]

not meaning to affront, but pippen seemed like an ultra hard working player and HOF talent, yet he never came close to shooting like kawhi. Being elite at shooting definitely has a talent component to it as well. Rondo could practice a 3 twice as much as curry, he'll never shoot it better than him.

I tend to believe most anyone can learn to shoot. If women like Maya Moore and a few others could become an elite shooter, any NBA player should be able to.

[fsvr54]

Flat or not, his jumpers go in at a high clip. That's what matters. Show me another player in the league right now (other than KD) with such a buttery midrange J with defenders in his face.

[Roundball_Rock]

not meaning to affront, but pippen seemed like an ultra hard working player and HOF talent, yet he never came close to shooting like kawhi. Being elite at shooting definitely has a talent component to it as well. Rondo could practice a 3 twice as much as curry, he'll never shoot it better than him.

Krause said what he said. He looked at Pippen, Grant for their defensive abilities. The Pippen comment came because Woj asked if they drafted him to be a complement to Jordan as a 2nd option. Krause said they weren't concerned with scoring or shooting because it could be learned and he noted Pippen did become a good shooter (take up your cherry picked stats from one series against the #1 defense up with him--his words). It makes sense. If you have MJ averaged 37 PPG but a trash defense every year you logically are going to focus on defense.

[Phoenix]

Flat or not, his jumpers go in at a high clip. That's what matters. Show me another player in the league right now (other than KD) with such a buttery midrange J with defenders in his face.

There isn't. They're the two most lethal mid-range guys in the league and there's an argument that ability to create volume offense in that area is the still the most important ability in a playoff situation, when dead legs and pressure start affecting those 3 point shots that some players rely on during the year. I think that's why Kawhi has proven to be a more reliable big game player than the likes of Steph and Harden.

[AlternativeAcc.]

There isn't. They're the two most lethal mid-range guys in the league and there's an argument that ability to create volume offense in that area is the still the most important ability in a playoff situation, when dead legs and pressure start affecting those 3 point shots that some players rely on during the year. I think that's why Kawhi has proven to be a more reliable big game player than the likes of Steph and Harden.

Kawhi isn't even a top 10 midrange shooter in the NBA LMAO.

he's not in the same league as Durant or Paul, let alone Middleton or derozan..

[Phoenix]

Kawhi isn't even a top 10 midrange shooter in the NBA LMAO.

he's not in the same league as Durant or Paul, let alone Middleton or derozan..

I'll stick with Kawhi until any of the bolded translate their mid range volume and efficiency into a first option role on a team that at least makes the finals.

[AlternativeAcc.]

I'll stick with Kawhi until any of the bolded translate their mid range volume and efficiency into a first option role on a team that at least makes the finals.

Kawhi has played on teams that win 60 wins without him every year of his career.

He won a ring as a 12ppg role player

And we're talking midrange shooting only, but way to move the goal post champ

[Akeem34TheDream]

Kawhi isn't even a top 10 midrange shooter in the NBA LMAO.

he's not in the same league as Durant or Paul, let alone Middleton or derozan..

Oh yeah not even top 10. Is Lebron also better?
When you troll, you should have at least an angle to argue. When you type stupid, blatantly wrong shit like this people would just laugh at you.

[Phoenix]

Kawhi has played on teams that win 60 wins without him every year of his career.

He won a ring as a 12ppg role player

And we're talking midrange shooting only, but way to move the goal post champ

Except no goalposts were moved, champ, because no goalposts were set to begin with. The first poster said KD and Kawhi had the most buttery midrange shots in the game. And I concurred with that by saying they're the most lethal two. And in the context of when it actually counts, the playoffs? I'll take Kawhi over Khris Middleton and the annual playoff shrinker Derozan, I don't care what the regular season numbers say. If you'd take Khris Middleton in the playoffs in terms of ability to make contested midrange over Kawhi, you're an idiot. Actually, you're just an idiot anyway, not that I'm any better acknowledging you.

[AlternativeAcc.]

Except no goalposts were moved, champ, because no goalposts were set to begin with. The first poster said KD and Kawhi had the most buttery midrange shots in the game. And I concurred with that by saying they're the most lethal two. And in the context of when it actually counts, the playoffs? I'll take Kawhi over Khris Middleton and the annual playoff shrinker Derozan, I don't care what the regular season numbers say. If you'd take Khris Middleton in the playoffs in terms of ability to make contested midrange over Kawhi, you're an idiot. Actually, you're just an idiot anyway, not that I'm any better acknowledging you.

So he made a subjective comment about the 'butteryness' of kawhi's clanky, ugly, robotic, no lift jumper and you gobbled it up like a *** whore?

I'll take any player over a guy who sits every other game and only succeeds on teams that win 60 games without him. Kawhit is the goat bitch and he'll always be known as a quitter.

[Hey Yo]

Flat or not, his jumpers go in at a high clip. That's what matters. Show me another player in the league right now (other than KD) with such a buttery midrange J with defenders in his face.

I would add LeMarcus Aldridge to your list.

Just last year, 23% of his shots were from mid-range and he shot 46%. For his career 21% of his shots are from mid-range at he's shot 42%. I'm not saying he's better than the 2 mentioned, but he's right there. The highest % of his shot selection is from 16ft to the 3pt line at over 30%. Seems strange for a dude who's 6'11

Plus it depends what one considers the distance of a true mid-range shot. I've seen some say / use 10-16ft and also seen others say 12-17ft.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

Kawhi has played on teams that win 60 wins without him every year of his career.

He won a ring as a 12ppg role player

And we're talking midrange shooting only, but way to move the goal post champ

Spurs had 7 total playoff wins in the three years leading up to drafting Kawhi

Raptors lost in a 2nd round sweep

Clippers were a 1st round exit

Zero playoff success before Kawhi came on board.

Now Kawhi is anchoring a top 5 offense and defense while averaging 27PPG on 33% usage. Can you name me any other players in NBA history who have done that in a single season? Didn't think so, now go back to watching your 3-6 finals tape. We all know you don't actually watch Leonard.