OMFKG! The Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Thread

[catch20two]

Our whole offense has taken a hit in January, especially MKG and Kemba. Maybe it's the absence of the stretch 4 presence of Mullens and the fact that Warrick is crowding the lanes more or maybe we're just hitting a wall of truth that we're not that good when teams gameplan for us. I hope Dunlap has been paying attention and make a few tweaks to get the better out of our best players because we have been looking extremely flat in the past couple of weeks since the new year.

[HornetJail]

The team has been nearly as bad as last season since Mullens went down. Defenses respect him at the rim out to 25 feet. Regardless of how many bricks he chucks up or defensive rotations he misses on a given night, he's probably our team's most important player not named MKG or Kemba simply because he is one guy that attracts defenders opening the game up for everyone else on the florr. Biz can't do it, neither can Adrien, Hakim the Drim, Haywood, Gana, or Thom-ass and when Mullens is out we have less spacing, and more defensive attention on Kemba, MKG, & Co. MKG's play fell off when Mullens went down. He hasn't been able to do anything but rebound recently.

[catch20two]

I agree. Mullens' absence has been a huge loss to our offense since he was the only big that we had that was capable of a 20-point outing and then throw in the fact that we already had a porous depth in the frontcourt before his injury.

[thruthefire]

http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2013/01/17/sheridan-hoops-rookie-rankings-week-11/2/

sheridan hoops has MKG down to #10 on their rookie rankings.

MICHAEL KIDD-GILCHRIST, F, CHARLOTTE: Fading fast, just like his team. After shooting 56 percent from the field in December, he is down to 39 percent in January. Had a pair of four-point stinkers this week and aside from hitting the boards hard isn’t filling the boxscore the way he did earlier this season.

10 is ridiculous, but it's clear that Drummond is the superior prospect.

[James Gatz]

10 is ridiculous, but it's clear that Drummond is the superior prospect.

Half of a rookie season really isn't enough time to determine that in addition to the fact Drummond doesn't even play more than 20 minutes a game.

[countryboi]

http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2013/01/17/sheridan-hoops-rookie-rankings-week-11/2/

sheridan hoops has MKG down to #10 on their rookie rankings.

MICHAEL KIDD-GILCHRIST, F, CHARLOTTE: Fading fast, just like his team. After shooting 56 percent from the field in December, he is down to 39 percent in January. Had a pair of four-point stinkers this week and aside from hitting the boards hard isn’t filling the boxscore the way he did earlier this season.

10 is ridiculous, but it's clear that Drummond is the superior prospect.

I can't believe that came out your mouth

[thruthefire]

Well, superior prospect doesn't necessarily mean that Drummond will be the better player. But he's been incredible so far, and should be playing a lot more than he is. It comes off very similarly to the Wolves holding back Love early in his career.

[BigSlam]

http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2013/01/17/sheridan-hoops-rookie-rankings-week-11/2/

sheridan hoops has MKG down to #10 on their rookie rankings.

MICHAEL KIDD-GILCHRIST, F, CHARLOTTE: Fading fast, just like his team. After shooting 56 percent from the field in December, he is down to 39 percent in January. Had a pair of four-point stinkers this week and aside from hitting the boards hard isn’t filling the boxscore the way he did earlier this season.

10 is ridiculous, but it's clear that Drummond is the superior prospect.

SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH!!!

[Eoghan]

He needs to either A) Find a jumpshot or B) be surrounded with jumpshooters. Since both are tough sledding, if I were Dunlap I'd tell MKG just to focus on defense and rebounding and not get discouraged. But I'm not Dunlap, therefore MKG unfairly gets bench splinters while Jeff Taylor gets to trot out there simply b/c he can sort of shoot.

[BigSlam]

Here is the thing about Gilly that I cant help but think a lot of people are missing:

He knows what he does well, but more importantly, he knows what he needs work on.

Its not like he is jacking J after J or pulling up in transition for a 3 ball or trying to do too much. I LOVE that about him. He gets "him". His ability to take guys off the dribble. His ability to contort his body and hang, his ability to spin and remain in control - he OWNS that stuff.

Hey, I was a Beal guy going into the draft. I was wondering if Gil was Corey Brewer V 2.0 but Gilly is something special. I have NO doubt.

He is, by FAR, the rookie we have drafted that I have been the most excited about.

I love his poise. I love his upside. I love his moxie.

He is not a 1st string but he is a hell of a 2nd string.

I love him.

If he was trying to do too much or pulling up for contested 18 foot J's or being a dink - but he KNOWS who he is.

I love him.

[fatlever]

dont take too much out of MKG being ranked 10 on the sheridan ladder. he takes recent play into major consideration for his rankings. 3 good games in a row and MKG is back in the top 3.

on offense, teams have adjusted to MKG. its now MKGs turn to make the next adjustment. when that happens is not clear. it might not happen until the summer when he has a chance to add to his game.

[HornetJail]

Here is the thing about Gilly that I cant help but think a lot of people are missing:

He knows what he does well, but more importantly, he knows what he needs work on.

Its not like he is jacking J after J or pulling up in transition for a 3 ball or trying to do too much. I LOVE that about him. He gets "him". His ability to take guys off the dribble. His ability to contort his body and hang, his ability to spin and remain in control - he OWNS that stuff.

Hey, I was a Beal guy going into the draft. I was wondering if Gil was Corey Brewer V 2.0 but Gilly is something special. I have NO doubt.

He is, by FAR, the rookie we have drafted that I have been the most excited about.

I love his poise. I love his upside. I love his moxie.

He is not a 1st string but he is a hell of a 2nd string.

I love him.

If he was trying to do too much or pulling up for contested 18 foot J's or being a dink - but he KNOWS who he is.

I love him.

Agreed agreed agreed agreed agreed ten million times over. At 19, to be able to be as in control of his game and do so many different kinds of things with that level of control is ridiculous. His finishing ability downlow is incredible for anybody of his size, or position, let alone rookies. He is seriously special. The last rookie I remember being this stoked for was Kevin Durant. Even if he was in an epic slump for most of tonight and has been getting inconsistent minutes recently, it's not entirely his fault he's hit the rookie wall. The team generally blows right now.

All I can say is I can't wait till we get Mullens back to space the floor and open things up in the paint for MKG.

I'm thankful for the #2 pick.

[MasterIchiro]

I do like MKG but I'd have a hard time turning down Memphis if they demanded him for Rudy Gay. I understand Gay's contract issues and I'd be happy to discuss it in the trade thread. Just saying Rudy Gay is a clear upgrade over MKG and Charlotte fans are starving for a reason to attend these games.

[SWedd523]

I do like MKG but I'd have a hard time turning down Memphis if they demanded him for Rudy Gay. I understand Gay's contract issues and I'd be happy to discuss it in the trade thread. Just saying Rudy Gay is a clear upgrade over MKG and Charlotte fans are starving for a reason to attend these games.

[HornetJail]

Even our 2000s front office wasn't stupid enough to trade MKG for Gay. That would likely be one of the worst trades in recent memory. To me, Gay has negative value because he's not that good to begin with, then he's paid like a superstar. Let's use that money toward an actual star a couple years from now.

[Liver_Pooty]

I do like MKG but I'd have a hard time turning down Memphis if they demanded him for Rudy Gay. I understand Gay's contract issues and I'd be happy to discuss it in the trade thread. Just saying Rudy Gay is a clear upgrade over MKG and Charlotte fans are starving for a reason to attend these games.

My sentiments exactly.

[Leolovinliberal]

I love this guy; his heart, hustle and the fact that he's not a showboat or trash talker, he just let's his game do the talking. But his jumpshot is bad, and it's so blatantly obvious why; he shoots it on the way down. To me that seems like something that a coach would have corrected years ago. Are the Cats coaches doing anything to address this. If he learns to shoot while still rising, instead of on the descent than he will be a stud.

[expo]

one thing to note is that shooting the ball well is muscle memory(even if you learn a nice looking form) it'll be a long long time before you shoot well. As bad as it looks, in terms of the ball actually going in, it would be a lot worse if he tried something different.

My guess as to why it got to this point: He's 19 and had one year in college where his primary focus was to be showcased for the NBA not to work on his jumper and look like crap doing it, before that he was in high school where given his athleticism he could have tried to head the ball into the net every time and still dominated. It's a case of he learned it wrong to begin with but was always gifted enough to make it up physically.

[fatlever]

more random thoughts on his jumper...

i dont watch much college bball these days and the few times i watched kentucky last year MKG was mainly scoring in transition, at the rim, dunks or ft line (sound familiar). i didnt really see him take any jumpers. as we got closer to the draft i kept reading about his lack of a jumper and awful form, but i didnt really think much of it. i hear that same criticism about at least 5 lottery talents a year. but i was curious, so i went and watched some videos of him working out. there i saw the funky form, but he was nailing them in practice. i was thinking it wasnt so bad, just weird. so we draft him, and first game in summer league he hits a three and another jumper and i was thinking - see, with practice he'll be fine.

fast forward to january... i really dont mean to pick on him, because i really love everything about his game other than his jumper, but holy crap, he might actually be the worst shooter i have ever seen from a small forward. shooting on the way down, hitch in the shoot, completely flat, no confidence, sideways rotation, you name the problem and he's got it.

i really must admit that his jumper is much worse than i expected

could current MKG have the worst jumper of any small forward or guard to play regular minutes over the past few years? or is that just over-the-top on my part?

was rondo in his worst shooting days this bad?
tony allen?
stacy augmon?
muggsy bogues?

the numbers:
3-9 feet: 29.8% on 57 attempts
10-15 feet: 12.5% on 16 attempts
16-23 feet: 27.6% on 76 attempts
24+: 28.6% on 7 attempts
on all jump shoots: 25.8% on 151 attempts

i am going searching for players with 150+ jumpers on less than 25%

[MasterIchiro]

the numbers:
3-9 feet: 29.8% on 57 attempts
10-15 feet: 12.5% on 16 attempts
16-23 feet: 27.6% on 76 attempts
24+: 28.6% on 7 attempts
on all jump shoots: 25.8% on 151 attempts

i am going searching for players with 150+ jumpers on less than 25%

Inexcusable for a #2 overall wing. He has a long way to go before he is an impact player and that's the reason why I think Charlotte will move him - the team can't wait 2-3 years. Biz is another project who needs multiple years. The only impact player on the roster is Kemba Walker and if the secret plan the owners talk about involves putting butts in seats, I think there will be significant movement.