The Kemba Walker Thread

[SWedd523]

It is very telling


that he only dreams he could be as good as Tim

[fatlever]

@ stun - or perhaps you are underrating bobby jackson (especially when i say "a better passing jackson". jackson was a solid nba player for a while and at one point was probably the best 6th man in the league and could have started for at least a dozen teams. jackson increased his fg% from 39% as a rookie to 46% in his best season.

as for the tim hardaway comparison - not even close. kemba doesn't have as much explosion as hardaway did. while kemba has great handles and a good crossover, hardaway had the best crossover in the history of the NBA. hardaway was a much better finisher in traffic (as evidenced by his 47% shooting as a rookie - it wasnt until hardaway ripped up his knee that his fg% dropped, because he couldnt beat people off the dribble and had to remake his game as a shooter). hardaway was also a pure pg from the day he stepped into the league. there was never any talk of hardaway being a small shooting guard or a combo guard.

[SWedd523]

UTEP Two Step



all day errrrrr day

[fatlever]

speaking of tim hardaway, where the hell has lamar been lately?

[Walt Cronkite]

Blasphemous. Kemba will never be as good as Timbug

not sure if serious, him having good metric stats such as PER and that future star rating despite having such a horrid fg% is very telling

Took exception to you saying he had good metric stats such as PER. He posted 14.98. 15 is the league average. Best PER on the worst team ever? Sure. Likely to improve? Alright. Also, if you're referring to Hollinger's Draft Rater as "future star rating", he was on the same level as Kawhi Leonard and they were guaranteed to "at least become solid rotation players" and "at least decent", not HOFers and MVP candidates.

I still think Kemba can improve and provide value. Just piling on.

[Stun704]

Blasphemous. Kemba will never be as good as Timbug

not sure if serious, him having good metric stats such as PER and that future star rating despite having such a horrid fg% is very telling

Took exception to you saying he had good metric stats such as PER. He posted 14.98. 15 is the league average. Best PER on the worst team ever? Sure. Likely to improve? Alright. Also, if you're referring to Hollinger's Draft Rater as "future star rating", he was on the same level as Kawhi Leonard and they were guaranteed to "at least become solid rotation players" and "at least decent", not HOFers and MVP candidates.

I still think Kemba can improve and provide value. Just piling on.

His PER was around 16 until the team was struck wit a lot of injuries and he was forced to play with scrubs like Corey Higgins and J White for a majority of his minuites. what i'm saying is its impressive that he still had a PER of 15 despite having virtually no help last year. And no i'm talking about this

9. Kemba Walker, Charlotte Bobcats

Expected Averages: 10.2, 4.9, 1.6
Expected Rating: 16.6
Highest Rating (1989-2008): Dirk Nowitzki (1998), 33.8
Lowest Rating (1989-2008): Patrick O'Bryant (2006), 3.8
Kemba Walker's Averages: 12.1, 3.5, 4.4
Kemba Walker's Rating: 20

Rookie Breakdown:
After the Bobcats record level of futility, I felt a little disappointed in Kemba Walker not making more of an impact. Little did I know, his statistical rating of 20 would technically make him a "star" by 82games.com's chart. Is he a potential star? This is where the numbers can be misleading. His shooting percentage was poor even for a rookie (36.6%), not to mention his not exactly being a defensive stalwart. With the team setting a record for futility, it remains to be seen if Kemba can make it as a long term starter in the league.

Pick History:
If you had to choose a holy trinity of 9th picks, it would be Tracy McGrady, Dirk Nowitzki and Amare Stoudemire. Throw in Shawn Marion and Andre Iguodala, this pick has had a much brighter history than picks 6-8. There have still been some duds in the form of Eric Montross, Ed O'Bannon and Tom Hammonds.

[Stun704]

@ stun - or perhaps you are underrating bobby jackson (especially when i say "a better passing jackson". jackson was a solid nba player for a while and at one point was probably the best 6th man in the league and could have started for at least a dozen teams. jackson increased his fg% from 39% as a rookie to 46% in his best season.

Hes not a sixthman though, thats the thing, he'll be atleast a top 10 PG in his prime

as for the tim hardaway comparison - not even close. kemba doesn't have as much explosion as hardaway did. while kemba has great handles and a good crossover, hardaway had the best crossover in the history of the NBA. hardaway was a much better finisher in traffic (as evidenced by his 47% shooting as a rookie - it wasnt until hardaway ripped up his knee that his fg% dropped, because he couldnt beat people off the dribble and had to remake his game as a shooter). hardaway was also a pure pg from the day he stepped into the league. there was never any talk of hardaway being a small shooting guard or a combo guard.

How is it not even close? just because he had a "bad" rookie season despite it being condensed and having a horrible coach? again I think you're underrating Kemba, he is very explosive, and can become a better finisher in traffic and a more pure PG hes already showing flashes of having good court vision, with keeping his turnovers low

[Stun704]

why does he insist on shooting so much if he misses so much? I just don't get it, he never stops missing shots over and over and over... Why? Does he think you get better by missing NBA shots?

He has an unwavering confidence

[Woodie]

Kemba desperately needs to develop a consistent mid-range shot. While it would be nice for him to become a decent 3 point shooter, we really need him to hit that 15 foot jumper that he keeps throwing up. He has shown that he can get his shot off, but it doesn't matter if he can't make it. And until it starts dropping, he is actually hurting the team. IMO, the biggest problem is that he has poor body control. While he has the handles and quickness to get open, he doesn't seem to be able to stop his momentum and square up or even simply adjust his shot to account for his positioning (in other words, there is a level of "out of control" to his offensive game).

As for the rest of his game, he is a pretty good passer, and can find the open man when he actually looks for him. I do think he is/can be a very good leader, and is an excellent rebounder from the PG position. Also, while he is not stout enough to be a tough, physical defender, he is one of those pesky guys that can cause all kinds of problems for the opposition on defense.

In addition to improving his shooting percentage, he also must develop more of a PG mentality. Like I said, he can find the open man when he looks for him, but the problem is that he usually looks for another shooter as a second option, not the first like you want out of your PG. Until that changes, I don't think he can ever be looked at as the PG of the future.

One last point, I have seen some compare him to top players like Chris Paul and AI, while others compare him more to Raymond Felton and Devon Harris. I actually think both are correct. Currently, I would rate Kemba on par with the Felton type players, but if he can significantly improve his shooting and develop more of a PG mentality, he has the potential to push himself up to the top group of PG's. So really, Kemba's future is wide open, and it truly depends on how honest he is with himself and if he is willing to do what it takes to improve on his weaknesses

[Bassman]

I've never seen so many grown men (assume they are men) on here get a total love throb for a player like some have for Kemba. Look, he's doingreally well in several areas,and I am happy to see that , but it's JUST SUMMER LEAGUE. I hope he continues with this progress into training camp and the season, but he's had a full year of NBA, so he should be DOMINATING SUMMER LEAGUE!

The ignorance of excusing his HORRIBLE shooting just can't be justified. Come on guys...at least admit it's a concern. You're like some flaky gal who's in love with her handsome man, despite the fact he has a prison record and tends to beat people up when drunk (which happens too often). The points Fatleve and others are making is...we're tickled to see him doing well in SUMMER LEAGUE, but his shooting should be much BETTER in SUMMER LEAGUE than we saw last year. It appears to be worse.

Agree that he needs to take less shots, concentrate on distribution and driving, while taking open shots that he can set properly for. Hopefully he can build himself up from the basics. I see no way he will improve taking wild-as* shots off-balance, on the run, falling sideways, you name it. If this is letting "Kemba be Kemba", Dunlap needs to refine the approach.

[SWedd523]

Kemba becomes anything close to Tim Hardaway?


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFKRUGfJm78[/youtube]

[Stun704]

Kemba becomes anything close to Tim Hardaway?


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFKRUGfJm78[/youtube]

http://nbadraft.net/players/kemba-walker

You're right hes gonna become the next Isiah Thomas, so I have foretold it so it shall become

EDIT: This video slayed me

[Eoghan]

I like this game of comparing Kemba to former PGs. The Bobby Jackson one was good. How about, poor man's Mookie Blaylock?

In all seriousness, I thought he played really well last game. He shot poorly (again) but they were all within the offense and mostly good looks. If he keeps that up, his FG% will go up unless he's absolutely just an awful shooter.

[Stun704]

I see Kemba in becoming a PG that sets up team mates for first 3 quarters then takes over in the 4th/crunch time like Zeke did

[SWedd523]

I'll see your

http://nbadraft.net/players/kemba-walker

and raise you

http://nbadraft.net/players/deshawn-stevenson

[fatlever]

I like this game of comparing Kemba to former PGs. The Bobby Jackson one was good. How about, poor man's Mookie Blaylock?

In all seriousness, I thought he played really well last game. He shot poorly (again) but they were all within the offense and mostly good looks. If he keeps that up, his FG% will go up unless he's absolutely just an awful shooter.

maybe offensively. defensively, though mookie was as good of a defensive pg to come in the league in the past 25 years, except maybe payton.

[mrknowitall215]

This is the article that Stun was referring to about the possibility of Kemba becoming a "star". Interesting read.

http://nbadraft.net/2011-rookie-perform ... pectations

[MKG14]

you're downplaying Kemba because of his fg% way too much, hes gonna be tim hardaway at worst

5× NBA All-Star (1991–1993, 1997–1998)
All-NBA First Team (1997)
3× All-NBA Second Team (1992, 1998–1999)
All-NBA Third Team (1993)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (1990)
WAC Player of the Year (1989)

That's supposed to be Kemba's floor?

[Eoghan]

I like this game of comparing Kemba to former PGs. The Bobby Jackson one was good. How about, poor man's Mookie Blaylock?

In all seriousness, I thought he played really well last game. He shot poorly (again) but they were all within the offense and mostly good looks. If he keeps that up, his FG% will go up unless he's absolutely just an awful shooter.

maybe offensively. defensively, though mookie was as good of a defensive pg to come in the league in the past 25 years, except maybe payton.

Good point, Mookie was a beast on defense. I do like that Bobby Jackson comparison the best so far.

[MKG14]

How about Dajuan Wagner?