Leap Year - The Kemba Walker Thread III

[fatlever]

Why do you fail to mention the huge improvements Kemba made this offseason with his shooting? He changed his form and worked all summer on improving his 3pt shot.

Also you fail to mention the impact Batum has had on Kemba. Having someone else out there to help run the offense takes that burden away from Kemba and allows him to do what he does best.

Things most of us always said about Kemba was he needed to improve his 3pt shooting, his shot selection, he needed help running the offense and he needed more shooters around hi to help spread the floor. Even the biggest Kemba detractors have always said we needed shooters next to him. That is not news.

Two of the things mentioned above, better 3pt shooting and better shot selection are directly related to improvements Kemba made on his own this summer. The other two were related to smart moves made by Cho and coaching changes.

[catch20two]

Last year somebody, don't remember who, wanted to trade him for Tony Wroten and others said the Sixers would never do it and then everybody got all depressed. True story. Wroten got cut, and Kemba is on the NBA's best bargain contract.

I've heard Norris Cole and Iman Shumpert too. Lol. I think I even had a back and forth earlier this season where somebody said that George Hill is better than Kemba. They were ready to start Lin and make Kemba a 6th man spark plug probably a month ago because we beat the Cavs on Lin's best game of the year.

[yosemiteben]

Last year somebody, don't remember who, wanted to trade him for Tony Wroten and others said the Sixers would never do it and then everybody got all depressed. True story. Wroten got cut, and Kemba is on the NBA's best bargain contract.

I've heard Norris Cole and Iman Shumpert too. Lol. I think I even had a back and forth earlier this season where somebody said that George Hill is better than Kemba. They were ready to start Lin and make Kemba a 6th man spark plug probably a month ago because we beat the Cavs on Lin's best game of the year.

Final warning to both of you. Don't derail by reconstructing opinions that are not being voiced.

[Hugo The Hornet]

Agree. In the last year(s) Kemba was accompanied by Gerald Henderson, Lance Stephenson and MKG. Gerald was OK, he was a good player for a team wants to compete on the playoffs but it wasn't enough so we signed Lance, who should've be a star in our line-up, but he also wasn't enough. And MKG didn't know to shoot.

Now Kemba is accompanied by very good players like Courtney Lee, Nicolas Batum. That's what Kemba needed to maximize his ability, and I'm very happy that we brought those two players. Marvin Williams is also in offense and he has good ability from the 3pts line and from mid-range. We have a very good line-up, all players are in-form and we need to keep this up for playoffs. And it doesn't matter against who will we play.

[catch20two]

Ocean water salty.

[yosemiteben]

Ocean water salty.

I've never been a strong Kemba critic. Candidly the mod crew is tired of derailing, doesn't matter if it's Kemba fans, Lin fans, or anyone else. This isn't going to become a problem because bans are going to be swift.

If I were you I would be particularly aware because your next break will be an extended one.

[PG13]

I think Kemba will win EC player of the week.

[catch20two]

Ocean water salty.

I've never been a strong Kemba critic. Candidly the mod crew is tired of derailing, doesn't matter if it's Kemba fans, Lin fans, or anyone else. This isn't going to become a problem because bans are going to be swift.

If I were you I would be particularly aware because your next break will be an extended one.

Let me live to see the playoffs. I'm not attacking anyone personally or directly. Just admiring how Kemba has went from overpaid bench material to the star player/anchor of what's looking like possibly the best regular season record Charlotte has had since the late 90s when the almighty Baron Davis was a rookie averaging like 5ppg off the bench to Eddie Jones prime years of stardom. I mean we practically couldn't trade Kemba's bad contract earlier in the year for decent pieces and now his improved shooting mechanics has taken this team to another level. It's almost like a miracle over night. I'm almost astonished and just so happy that Kemba has helped my griping turn into sweet sunshine.

[catch20two]

You're not reading what I'm saying. I'm saying that Kemba once was hot trash but now he's a shiny treasure and it's been a miraculous transformation overnight. My statements aren't derailing. I almost can't believe that we're a top half offense with him as the #1 scoring option. That's how much he's improved before our very eyes. Based on Kemba's track record as a inconsistent scorer since Uconn I never would've believed that he could be shooting 44% on the season because most players are what they are. I thought 42% was his best bet which he still have enough games to brick down to. He's such a gym rat. Kudos to him.

[fatlever]

I think its totally fine for the long-time Kemba fans to bathe in his glory right now. He has been amazing this year, especially since Xmas and he deserves all the kudos and accolades. That being said, all we are asking is just don't turn this into a massive gloat-fest bringing up comments in the past.

My gripe was mainly with MI acting like Kemba's fantastic season was merely the product of finally having some shooters on the team, which we all know is just one of many factors in Kemba's breakout season. And also acting like some of the negative Kemba comments in the past weren't completely deserved. He was not good for the majority of last year, especially after he came back from his injury, so you can't really blame people for being nervous about heading into a 4 year extension based on how he ended the season last year.

As for anything I said about Kemba in the past, not being up to standard I will now eat crow, happily.

Kemba just needs to make this level of play his new standard (and I don't mean scoring 30ppg and shooting 50% from 3, but the overall shooting improvements, attacking the rim, better passing etc...)

[mrknowitall215]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/hornetslmartin/status/709092744107577346[/tweet]

Not too shabby for a bad shooter

[catch20two]

He ain't no Ricky Rubio making 15mil.

[fatlever]

It took Kemba 400 more attempts. Rice shot a staggering 44% on 3s in his Charlotte career. Granted much of that was during the years with the shortened 3pt line, but still incredible.

[James Gatz]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/hornetslmartin/status/709092744107577346[/tweet]

Not too shabby for a bad shooter

Volume has never been his problem. While shooting well this year he's still 33rd in 3PT FG% for Hornets who have shot at least a 100 3s and played 60 games (tried to make similar to one full season). He's below guys like Stephen Jackson, Adam Morrison, McBob and even Larry Johnson.

Interestingly enough Tolliver ranks 5th on this list.

Kemba will pass Glen Rice but Rice made 508 3s on 400 less attempts.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=combined&type=totals&per_minute_base=36&per_poss_base=100&lg_id=NBA&is_playoffs=N&year_min=&year_max=&franch_id=CHA&season_start=1&season_end=-1&age_min=0&age_max=99&height_min=0&height_max=99&shoot_hand=&birth_country_is=Y&birth_country=&birth_state=&college_id=&draft_year=&is_active=&debut_yr_nba_start=&debut_yr_nba_end=&debut_yr_aba_start=&debut_yr_aba_end=&is_hof=N&is_as=N&as_comp=gt&as_val=&award=&pos_is_g=Y&pos_is_gf=Y&pos_is_f=Y&pos_is_fg=Y&pos_is_fc=Y&pos_is_c=Y&pos_is_cf=Y&qual=&c1stat=fg3_pct&c1comp=gt&c1val=32&c2stat=g&c2comp=gt&c2val=60&c3stat=fg3a&c3comp=gt&c3val=100&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&c5stat=&c5comp=gt&c6mult=1.0&c6stat=&order_by=ws

[fatlever]

20 players in franchise history have taken 400+ 3s. Kemba ranks 15th in 3pt% among those 20 players, ahead of Felton, Baron, Crash, Chapman and Henderson (Hendo dead last at 30%).

Top 10
Rice
Richardson
Curry
Burrell
Carroll
Hawkins
Marvin
Augustin
Eddie Jones
Mashburn

[fatlever]

Gatz and I just basically did the same search on Bball ref at the same time, just slightly different parameters. Jinx.

[mrknowitall215]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/708839686417092609[/tweet]

[mrknowitall215]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/RealGM/status/707912673518694400[/tweet]

[ChokeFasncists]

They were ready to start Lin and make Kemba a 6th man spark plug probably a month ago because we beat the Cavs on Lin's best game of the year.

Kemba probably learned a lot from that game.

[fatlever]

Dan Levine has us at #3 in his power rankings this week behind only Cavs and Warriors.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/bdl-s-most-interesting-power-rankings--the-cavs-send-a-new-message-073231485.html

In his summary he had a lot of praise for Kemba

3. Charlotte Hornets (37-28; LW: 7): Steady as she goes for the hottest team in the NBA. Charlotte owns a league-best seven-game winning streak after dispatching the Houston Rockets on Saturday, and continues to boast the East's best record and point differential since the All-Star break.

Rich Cho and Steve Clifford should earn some Executive of the Year and Coach of the Year votes, respectively, for the jobs they've done in overhauling a once-punchless offense without sacrificing the defensive identity that's defined Clifford's tenure. The Hornets continue to receive key contributions from players previously regarded as overhyped or underperforming, including the engine of their recent run: Kemba Walker.

In October, I wondered whether the 25-year-old UConn product with the vicious handle and lightning-quick first step could ever knock down enough perimeter shots to lead an improved Charlotte attack. Through tireless work and unshaken confidence, he's silenced us, posting career-high shooting percentages across the board en route to his most productive and efficient pro campaign.

Walker's one of just six players this season averaging better than 21 points, five assists, four rebounds and one steal per game; the other five (Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, Kyle Lowry, James Harden) will likely dominate the MVP leaderboard and All-NBA rosters. He's been even better since the All-Star break, averaging 25.3 points, 6.3 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting 49.5 percent from the floor and 43.3 percent from deep on a decidedly unbashful 7.5 triple tries per contest. And these aren't just empty numbers — Charlotte has been 3.5 points per 100 possessions better with Kemba on the floor than off it this season, and a whopping 11.4 points-per-100 better in his minutes since Jan. 1, with the Hornets' O clicking at a top-10 clip when he plays and plummeting to the league's basement when he sits.

Walker has been a top-five point-producer in "clutch" situations, behind the likes of Curry, James, Kevin Durant and the Detroit Pistons' Reggie Jackson. ESPN's Real Plus-Minus ranks his contributions as more valuable than those of Damian Lillard this year; Basketball-Reference.com's Value Over Replacement Player metric pegs Walker as a top-15 player this season. He's been "Cardiac Kemba" for years, but now, Walker truly has proven himself to be the heart and soul of a Hornets team playing dynamite basketball.