The San Antonio Spurs have been without superstar Kawhi Leonard for the entire season to date as he continues to rehabilitate his quad injury.
No head coach wants to lose their star player for such a long time, but Spurs coach Gregg Popovich sees the positives in being without Kawhi for the first couple of months.
Per Tom Osborn of San Antonio Express-News:
Pop on silver lining of playing without Kawhi: “We are playing a lot of different people, a lot of different combinations. Some nights, it doesn’t work out real well. Other nights, it looks really good. But I think down the stretch it will help us.”
It’s a testament to Popovich’s coaching that the Spurs remain locked into third place in the West despite Leonard’s absence. Pop is a big proponent of giving just about everyone on his roster the chance to play and contribute, and he’s been able to do that a lot more with Leonard out of the lineup.
Newcomer Rudy Gay has had more playing time to help himself acclimate to the Spurs’ system, Kyle Anderson has become a semi-competent starter, while Bryn Forbes has been given the opportunity he needs to develop.
Building up the confidence of those reserves should pay dividends for the Spurs later in the season in terms of adding to their already impressive depth.
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