No Kawhi on bench? Give it a rest MAILBAG
Not to start the paranoia about Kawhi Leonard being fully committed to the Raps this year, but I’ll ask: Where was Kawhi during tonight’s game against Washington? I knew he wasn’t playing, but was kind of surprised to not see him on the bench while watching on TV. Did he not travel with the team? — Mark D. No, he didn’t. Neither did Delon Wright. They didn’t leave the ground in Toronto until well after midnight Friday night, had nothing on Saturday in the day and were likely back about 1 a.m. Sunday. Made absolutely no sense for either of them to go. Now, if it had been the first game of a multi-game trip they would have travelled, but a one-off is easy to blow off. Often heard on TV broadcasts is that your team is in great shape when your best player offensively is also your best player or at least hardest worker defensively. Could you say this description is valid for both Lowry and Leonard? — Don in Ottawa I understand the sentiment and mainly agree with it. I do also think Kawhi Leonard is the team’s best defender. I don’t think Kyle Lowry would be the second-best defender on the team, although he is a hard worker. That first point is in no way a huge knock, just an observation with Fred VanVleet and maybe Danny Green right there nosing him out. Two games in and boy, is this fun or what? I admit to only watching the Raps and no other team, so have never really understood the whole Ibaka thing. Since the acquisition of Ibaka, I have been waiting for him to impress me. And then I saw the game tonight. He looks like a completely different player! — Christa Serge Ibaka was outstanding Friday and even though he shot it like crap Wednesday, his coaches and teammates were happy with how he played overall. I think he needs to become a more consistent rebounder, which is going to be a trouble spot for this team. About the Jays, why don’t they make Russ Martin the bullpen coach? They need the roster spot and they need someone who can hit their weight. — Paul S. Why not leave him on the roster — he’s virtually untradeable unless Toronto will pay his entire salary — and let him catch the odd game, and play some third early in the season while they waste Vlad’s time in a money-saving, fan-cheating move until May 1 and see where they are? On Pardon The Interruption, Charles Barkley said that the Boston Celtics have an “overabundance of talent” and “on paper” “more talent than the Golden State Warriors” Hyperbole from Chuck or some truth in what he said? — Paul M. I think there’s some truth to it, and how Brad Stevens eventually settles on a nine- or even 10-man rotation will be fascinating. As will how Danny Ainge deals with paying them all. Sure, it’s a good problem to have, but it’s a problem if someone’s scuffling and the next guy thinks he should get a quicker shot because he’s just as good and doesn’t. Egos and teams — especially with so much money at stake — are fragile things.
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