Leap Year - The Kemba Walker Thread III

[Braggins]

Yep, Al will gladly defer to Kaminsky and Lamb.

[HornetJail]

The difference is, if Al wants this team to be about him and his stats and his new contract, then we can hold him accountable. Both Cho and Clifford alluded to this accountability. It's difficult to hold someone like Al accountable when we didn't have the versatility, flexibility and skill on the roster. Now we do.

Do we? Our other options up front are worse defensively than he is.

Defense?

Al's biggest thing is he doesn't make his teammates better.

He has the capacity to pass out of double teams but he holds the ball, depletes the shot clock and deteriorates the quality of possessions.

We have players with versatility now and skill who can do things to make their teammates better and that includes setting screens, facilitating for others while also finishing plays.

I'll believe it when I see it, but Biz was a good screen setter and while he wasn't a factor offensively, he wasn't actively making things worse offensively the way Al was by pounding the rock for 23.9 seconds. Frank and Hawes are better fits offensively- no question there, but I am not looking forward to the horrific defense. I'm going to miss Biz a ton. All three of these guys are going to need to be "held accountable" for their defense. Biz's impact on the game is bigger than any of theirs.

[MasterIchiro]

Yep, Al will gladly defer to Kaminsky and Lamb.

Getting bench for selfish play certainly won't bolster his value in contract negotiations. Not only do we have more talent backing him up, we have him locked in a contract year. We can also opt to play small ball. If he wants to see the floor, he has to play for the good of the team. Both Cliff and Cho are on the short list and they will bring the axe down on Al if he threatens their job security to boost his own bank account. Cliff can bench him. Cho can trade him. If the team starts to lose and Al is hogging the ball or destroying possessions, he'll be gone or out. I'm 100% confident.

[HornetJail]

Yep, Al will gladly defer to Kaminsky and Lamb.

Getting bench for selfish play certainly won't bolster his value in contract negotiations. Not only do we have more talent backing him up, we have him locked in a contract year. We can also opt to play small ball. If he wants to see the floor, he has to play for the good of the team. Both Cliff and Cho are on the short list and they will bring the axe down on Al if he threatens their job security to boost his own bank account. Cliff can bench him. Cho can trade him. If the team starts to lose and Al is hogging the ball or destroying possessions, he'll be gone or out. I'm 100% confident.

How can you possibly be confident in anything our office/coach does around here? This team saw the stinking turd Al shat out on defense every night, and they went out and traded a metric f*ckton of young talent for two players that are as bad as he is defensively. I don't have any faith in this team to make the right decisions long term or short. Last year we had a ton of defensive talent with no offense, so what do we do? The only logical thing- trade most of it and give up a ton of value and long term assets to gain a ton of shooters at the expense of most of our defense. Good job team, you done f*cked up.

[Braggins]

Yep, Al will gladly defer to Kaminsky and Lamb.

Getting bench for selfish play certainly won't bolster his value in contract negotiations. Not only do we have more talent backing him up, we have him locked in a contract year. We can also opt to play small ball. If he wants to see the floor, he has to play for the good of the team. Both Cliff and Cho are on the short list and they will bring the axe down on Al if he threatens their job security to boost his own bank account. Cliff can bench him. Cho can trade him. If the team starts to lose and Al is hogging the ball or destroying possessions, he'll be gone or out. I'm 100% confident.

He hasn't been benched for selfish play a single time in the two years hes been here. It didn't even happen when it became clear to everyone that we were better with Biz as the starter. We were never in a position last year where we needed or had to rely on him. He was consistently our worst player. If they were serious about holding him accountable then he would have been traded by now.

I hope you are right but I won't believe it til I see it.

[MasterIchiro]

With our current roster, it's easier to hold Al accountable than it was when we had Biz.

[Braggins]

True, but we are talking about Clifford. He seriously said in the post-season presser that Al was our best player and needed to be our top guy. I don't think he lives in the same reality that we do.

[MasterIchiro]

True, but we are talking about Clifford. He seriously said in the post-season presser that Al was our best player and needed to be our top guy. I don't think he lives in the same reality that we do.

Nobody at this stage is going to let Al Jefferson cost him to lose his job. We can play an entirely different style now with moving pieces tailored to match ups.

[BeesWax]

True, but we are talking about Clifford. He seriously said in the post-season presser that Al was our best player and needed to be our top guy. I don't think he lives in the same reality that we do.

Exactly. Cliff is so bad on offense he has to have Al playing selfish ball to score at all. He also doesn't understand how bad Al hurt everyone around him. I won't believe that Clifford will bench him for bad play until he does. If he really believed in benching Al to benefit the other guys he would have kept Biz who fits better with Kemba and Batum than Al does.

[DY_nasty]

For the record, I wouldn't trade Kemba for Eric Bledsoe.

[JDR720]

There are about 200 kids at the Kemba Walker Basketball Pro Camp Thursday morning, and Walker seems to know them all. These kids get a high-five, this one sits next to Walker for a picture and these three get a fake and a quick behind the back dribble.

Walker, who starts at point guard for the Charlotte Hornets, says he’s aware of the impact an athlete can make. Some of the kids, who are as young as first grade, make their own impact. They tell Walker his statistics.

"It’s kind of surreal," he says in the corner of the Carolina Courts gym. "It’s very humbling."

Last season was humbling for the Hornets. They finished 16 games below .500 and five games out of the playoffs.

We – players, fans and media – believed they were going to be good. At no point were they. The Hornets were hit by injuries, among them the torn meniscus in Walker’s left knee. But even before the injuries, they scraped along the margins of the Eastern Conference playoffs, hoping for a few breaks and a first-round matchup with Atlanta.

Management undid that team and added potential scorers of all sizes at all positions.

"We’ve done good, man," says Walker, 25. "We should be a lot better."

He doesn’t say the Hornets will be better. Look at last season, he says.

To accommodate the additions, some of his friends were jettisoned. I ask about Gerald Henderson, who was traded to Portland.

"Gerald’s my guy," Walker says of his long-time starting backcourt partner. "He’s one of my closest friends on the team. I talked to him after the trade. He’s in good spirits. As long as he’s in good spirits, I’m in good spirits. We talk. We only live about five minutes away from each other.

On July 9, Walker was in New York, en route to his basketball camp there. A friend has the Hornets’ app on his phone, and on the app there was breaking news. Charlotte signed point guard Jeremy Lin.

What? Walker’s face turns incredulous Thursday, replicating the way he looked in the car last week. He had no idea the Hornets were going to sign Lin. And he had no complaints.

"Oh, he’s a good player," Walker says.

Walker talks quietly. Not far away, Dino Gaudio, the former Wake Forest basketball coach, has the microphone and he knows how to use it. The kids listen to Gaudio’s instructions and line up for what comes next.

It will be interesting to see what comes next for Walker. Last season, his fourth in the NBA, he averaged 17.7 points, which ties his career high, and set highs with 6.1 assists and 4.2 rebounds.

He’s fearless, and he leads. What he doesn’t do is consistently hit jump shots. He shoots like a guy who grew up playing outside on courts in New York City. Last season he hit 38.5 percent from the field and 30.4 percent from behind the 3-point line. Both percentages dropped in the second half of the season when he struggled with the knee injury.

When Walker was good, he lifted everybody. On Jan. 12 he was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week after averaging 30.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and shooting 50 percent from the floor.

Walker is criticized for shooting too much. But in seasons past, who was he going to look for as the clock ran low? Who was capable of getting a shot and making it? Let the line form here. What line?

Next season Walker will have options, among them shooting guard Nicolas Batum; Lin and Walker’s former Connecticut teammate Jeremy Lamb; big men Frank Kaminsky and Spencer Hawes; Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, a practice-court regular with new shooting coach Bruce Kreutzer; and perhaps some surprises.

I ask Walker what fans will see from him in season five. What specifically has he been working on?

He freezes. Only two of us remain in the corner of the gym and he, he, he – smiles.

"The 3-ball," he finally says.

If Walker shoots less and hits more, or shoots more and hits more, defenses will stretch to accommodate him as well as his new teammates. You imagine what he can do with room to move?

If Walker hits from distance, the Hornets should be better. They will be better, too.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/tom-sorensen/article27446524.html#storylink=cpy

[Liver_Pooty]

^ Good read. Wish Tom would replace Rick.

[Snidely FC]

I'll never forget watching the NCAA championship and hearing the announcers say Michael Jordan thought Kemba had swag. My heart sunk. As soon as I heard that, I knew CHA was going to draft him. And I was so disappointed. I wanted Klay Thompson or Kawhi Leonard something fierce. Not just revisionist history. I wanted those guys bad! But Kemba it was. I think his major skill is his will to win. Too bad he isn't four inches taller, he might be John Wall. Mrrp. Frankly, I wish we could trade his pipsqueak little self.

[BigSlam]

If Walker hits from distance, the Hornets should be better. They will be better, too.

It is by far the most important thing for our future success.

More than MKG finding a J or Batum being able to play SG or Cody going up strong and not flailing about or Frank not busting or Lamb being useful.

If Kemba can add a serious jump shot and average 45/40/85 he is an All Star and we are a serious team.

[JDR720]

I would be happy if he could manage 42/36/85. nothing special, but its a lot better than shooting 30% for a month or two straight.

[HornetJail]

I would be happy if he could manage 42/36/85. nothing special, but its a lot better than shooting 30% for a month or two straight.

42/32/80 is what he averaged under Dunlap, but more importantly, that's his percentage in the year where he started and Al Jefferson wasn't clogging the paint. If he can do 42/36/85 with Al there, then he's a 45/38/85 guy without Al, at least.

[SeanBobcats]

I would be happy if he could manage 42/36/85. nothing special, but its a lot better than shooting 30% for a month or two straight.

42/32/80 is what he averaged under Dunlap, but more importantly, that's his percentage in the year where he started and Al Jefferson wasn't clogging the paint. If he can do 42/36/85 with Al there, then he's a 45/38/85 guy without Al, at least.

I don't see any reason for his three point percentage to go up without Al.

[Mystical Apples]

Now, Kemba fits better with this team's putative starters. Likewise Lin with the second team. And Kemba and Lin should be able to play together. You can't say that about the past PG pairings here. Factor in the increased scoring ability on this year's roster, and there should be less pressure on each of these guys.

I actually think it's the opposite - Kemba is more suited in a 6th man role and suspect that is where he ends up. Not this year but no long after. He's instant offense and would do well with weaker players on a second unit. The usefulness of his skillset has an inverse relationship with the strength of his teammates.

[RealHusky]

I predict Kemba gonna have a monster year with Lin as his running mate. I think Lin will take a lot of pressure off Kemba and Kemba will get a chance to run free with Lin feeding him the ball at the right spot. I think Kemba will do well this year since Hornets finally got another real play maker on the team.

[Liver_Pooty]

Walker can't run free without the ball in his hands. Terrible off the ball.