A Quote by Kawhi Leonard
The bigs are there on the help-side if the guy goes by me, and I'm able to switch to other offensive players.
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Going to Golden State, I really fine-tuned everything on defense, which is important because the NBA is moving away from standard bigs and going toward bigs that can switch and things like that.
The value in having bigs that have the ability to shoot from the perimeter has increased and having bigs that have the defensive versatility to not only protect the rim, but to switch out and defend smaller guards, the value of that has also increased.
If I see a black kid in a hoodie and it's late at night, I'm walking to the other side of the street. And if on that side of the street, there's a guy that has tattoos all over his face, white guy, bald head, tattoos everywhere, I'm walking back to the other side of the street, and the list goes on of stereotypes that we all live up to and are fearful of.
Coming off the bench, I'm able to view the game, see how their bigs are playing. And what I bring to the table is energy. The starters go in and run their bigs for a bit. When I check in it's time to punch the clock and play hard.
I've always believed that. I'm not a guy who comes in with an offensive system, and we try to fit guys to it. I think it goes the other way. 'Here's who we've got. Let's put them in the right spots where they can be productive.'
You have to stay locked in. You're so locked in on guarding your guy you figure when the ball goes up the bigs are going to get it. But the possessions not over until you get the rebound.
We have a simple rule for switching. Anytime there is movement over the top of a screen, there has to be an automatic switch. If a blind pick is set on one of our defensive players, there has to be a switch. To play good pressure defense, you have to use the switch.
Well when I made my first record I thought it would be a good joke to have me on one side, have the lable say John Fahey on one side, and this guy Blind Joe Death on the other side.
A lot of players have told me they see me as a protector of my teammates, that, side by side, I'm there when something goes down, and I step up beside them and for them when things get nasty. I play the game hard, and I play it physical.
Every season, I've adjusted. My first couple of years it was still banging in the post and doing all the nitty gritty stuff. Over the years, it's changed to bigs being able to shoot and run the floor and be more agile, which is good for me because I'm a very agile guy.
Bringing in a guy like Jordan Howard is going to help us immensely: a guy that you can give the ball to behind five really good offensive linemen and say, 'Go to work.'
I'm not having to go outside and switch the role model hat on. It's me, and it's important for me to leave that legacy to help inspire younger players because I didn't have a role model growing up.
Somewhere along the line I made the switch and was able to look at the bight side rather than the dark side all the time. Now I look at everything I have and think how lucky I am.
If something goes wrong with my switch, there's no way anyone from Bharti can do anything about it. An Ericsson guy is going to have to come and fix it. I don't manufacture it; I can't maintain or upgrade it. So I'm thinking, 'This doesn't really belong to me. Let's just throw it out.'
Help is a conversation. If one side talks too much, the other side will get bored. So make sure you help back when you can.
Other players can be leaders on the pitch, but not all players can understand another player, so I try to. You need to understand the heart of another player. I try to read other people, to figure out how I can joke with this guy, how I can help him or touch his heart.
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