Juke Skywalker - The Kemba Walker Thread II

[catch20two]

The way how Kemba has been shooting the 3 lately he'll probably wind up beating BK in all three categories, PER, TS%, and A/TO ratio by season's end.

[fatlever]

i imagine knight's fg% will benefit from playing next to a guy like calderon who does such a great job of setting up teammates with easy looks.

[catch20two]

i imagine knight's fg% will benefit from playing next to a guy like calderon who does such a great job of setting up teammates with easy looks.

Kemba is already shooting a higher FG% and FT% than Knight. It's the 3P% where Knight makes the little difference up to have a higher TS%.

[thruthefire]

i imagine knight's fg% will benefit from playing next to a guy like calderon who does such a great job of setting up teammates with easy looks.

I wonder if Knight will play at the point at all. He's clearly not as good at the position as Calderon and Bynum are.

[JoseChinga]

Kemba would have a higher FG Barbosa like if he played with guys who know how to set screens.

[HornetJail]

The fact that Kemba has been able to score 17-18ppg on above 40% shooting with this roster amazes me. He'd probably be an all star on any team with half decent bigs, like incidentally, Detroit.

[Jahensle]

I like Kemba a lot actually. Bobcats are having trouble but I think you keep him and MKG and that's a decent start if you land someone nice in this years draft. I'll be up to see the Bulls game on the 22nd, love Charlotte! Always root for you guys since I'm relatively close and in the market (I get all Bobcats games here in Myrtle Beach).

[fatlever]

thats great to know that all cats games are on TV in Myrtle. progress.

[Jahensle]

thats great to know that all cats games are on TV in Myrtle. progress.

for sure, I also went to the preseason game vs the Hornets that was in Charleston, SC. There was a pretty big turnout for it and people were into the game. There are Bobcats fans in SC for sure!

[fatlever]

i would think the ramon sessions connection in myrtle definitely helps

[-Ian-]

Charlotte Bobcats coach: It’s time for Kemba Walker to speak up

A wonderful article from Rick Bonnell. Here are some excerpts:

Kemba Walker is many things to the Charlotte Bobcats: Leading scorer, tops in assists and steals. He leads the team in pass deflections and is among the NBA’s best at “And 1s” – three-point plays created off drives and shooting fouls.

What isn’t he yet for this team?

The “voice,” coach Mike Dunlap said recently.

“You’d like a Peyton Manning disposition in huddles,” Dunlap described of his point guard. “Kemba has a quiet disposition, so pulling that jacket on can be kind of difficult.

“It’s not his nature. But it needs to be his nature.”

Following the worst season in NBA history (7-59), Bobcats management chose a new coach whose primary sales pitch was making Kemba Kemba again. A colleague of Hicks’ at St. John’s, Dunlap promoted an offense full of the drag screens that freed Walker all the way back at Rice High.

It was an easy sell, and Walker thrived, averaging 17.3 points, 5.6 assists and 1.9 steals. As president of basketball operations Rod Higgins said at midseason, Walker has the keys to the car.

[Elden Payton]

Good article, also of note that is says that Hendo is Walker's best friend on the team.

[ball teacher]

Charlotte Bobcats coach: It’s time for Kemba Walker to speak up

A wonderful article from Rick Bonnell. Here are some excerpts:

Kemba Walker is many things to the Charlotte Bobcats: Leading scorer, tops in assists and steals. He leads the team in pass deflections and is among the NBA’s best at “And 1s” – three-point plays created off drives and shooting fouls.

What isn’t he yet for this team?

The “voice,” coach Mike Dunlap said recently.

“You’d like a Peyton Manning disposition in huddles,” Dunlap described of his point guard. “Kemba has a quiet disposition, so pulling that jacket on can be kind of difficult.

“It’s not his nature. But it needs to be his nature.”

Following the worst season in NBA history (7-59), Bobcats management chose a new coach whose primary sales pitch was making Kemba Kemba again. A colleague of Hicks’ at St. John’s, Dunlap promoted an offense full of the drag screens that freed Walker all the way back at Rice High.It was an easy sell, and Walker thrived, averaging 17.3 points, 5.6 assists and 1.9 steals. As president of basketball operations Rod Higgins said at midseason, Walker has the keys to the car.

so we basically brought in a coach who's main goal was to make Kemba a good player?

[ball teacher]

My problem with the information in the article is this, the Bobcats organisation is using this season to just market Kemba, to make him seem to be a future star when this may never be the case. I have never heard of a coach being hired to help a particular player improve, ever. The article confirms what has been pretty obvious to me, that the offense is really predicated on letting Kemba run off a high screen (to help him get open since he doesn't seem to be able to break down most NBA caliber point guards) to get a good easy shot.

If Kemba isn't shooting off a high screen, Sessions is putting his head down and going for self, Hendo is catching and shooting a mid range jumper and Mullens and BG are jacking up shots from wherever. This is the Bobcats offense. We are clearly trying to lose to build this team up through the draft, and I have no problem with that, but we cannot lose while trying to trick the Bobcats fans into thinking Kemba is more than he is.

No playoff caliber NBA team is going to have the whole offense based around Kemba Walker, he's a streaky little guard, but he's not a elite scorer on this level, at best he may be a Jason Terry type or a Leandro Barbosa from Phoenix type player. I'm starting to think that the reason we are going to such efforts to make Kemba seem to be the next big thing is because Jordan knows his legacy is at stake with the draft picks and he is doing whatever he can to make Kemba seem like he isn't another bust.

I don't think Kemba is a bust but I don't think he's a point guard you should consider a franchise type player, and that's what it seems we are trying to do with him. Wall, Kyrie, Rose, Rubio aren't players who need this type of focus from the leadership of the organisation, if you bring in a great player you just get players and coaches to make a complete team, we're bringing in coaches to help improve one players performance, that alone doesn't even sound right.

[-Ian-]

Good article, also of note that is says that Hendo is Walker's best friend on the team.

Yes, it's quite surprising. But Gerald looks like a friendly guy.

[freakon0mics]

Kemba wouldve been perfect in the skills challenge. Don't know why Teague and Knight got picked over Kemba.

[vorbis]

i'd really prefer the bobcats coaching staff make kemba walker the best kemba walker he can be, rather than the kemba walkerest peyton manning. as a sidenote, dunlap really is quite the BS artist, isn't he?

[Robot Rock]

I've said it before and I'll keep saying it: Kemba will be a star in this league when he gets NBA-caliber players around him.

[HornetJail]

I've said it before and I'll keep saying it: Kemba will be a star in this league when he gets NBA-caliber players around him.

Put him on the Piston in place of Knight and he's an All-Star this year instead of Jrue Holiday. All he needs is a legit big.

[ball teacher]

I've said it before and I'll keep saying it: Kemba will be a star in this league when he gets NBA-caliber players around him.

I don't agree because if you look at what type of player Kemba is, he's not a pure pg with great playmaking ability. He's a scorer first and foremost trying to play the point. We have not seen Kemba running the show like Kyrie does for Cleveland, or Lillard does in Portland, he's not a floor general like that to be a elite PG and on top of that he isn't even 6 ft tall.

Kemba and DJ Augustin are damn near the exact same player only difference is Kemba may have more heart, and may finish around the rim better, but DJ had the better jumper. Neither of whom can really defend man to man, and neither of whom were great playmakers, but DJ was a little more natural at the point position. Who knows what would have happened if DJ would've had a whole offense catered to him like we are trying to do for Kemba, and if he was really was a borderline star he should be getting about 20 plus per game. Again the whole offense is catering to Kemba and we got this from Bonnell when he wrote...

" Following the worst season in NBA history (7-59), Bobcats management chose a new coach whose primary sales pitch was making Kemba Kemba again. A colleague of Hicks’ at St. John’s, Dunlap promoted an offense full of the drag screens that freed Walker all the way back at Rice High.It was an easy sell, and Walker thrived, averaging 17.3 points, 5.6 assists and 1.9 steals. As president of basketball operations Rod Higgins said at midseason, Walker has the keys to the car."

So if Kemba is on a bad team but a team where he has free reigns to do his thing, he should be putting up better numbers, another team with a more traditional offense isn't gonna have a style catered to his play, I think Kemba is suited to be a spark off the bench who can get you buckets, not as a floor general controlling the flow and direction, this isn't what Kemba does, even Dunlap said

"You’d like a Peyton Manning disposition in huddles,” Dunlap described of his point guard. “Kemba has a quiet disposition, so pulling that jacket on can be kind of difficult. It’s not his nature. But it needs to be his nature.”

This isn't the character of a point guard and is just further proof of what Kemba really is, he's a SG trying to play the point because his size limits what he can do in this league.