Leap Year - The Kemba Walker Thread III

[Mystical Apples]

Lol. I thoroughly enjoy you two going back and forth. Its informative, and enlightening. And neither of you two get hasty towards one another.

It works cause one is scientific method, the other pendantic jazz hands

Pendantic... Another fantastic word I'll use the next time I play scrabble. I like it.

Its an underrated word for sure. But use it wisely - maybe 2 x per year and only when someone is throwing drivel.

[mrknowitall215]

where do you guys have Kemba on your all-time Charlotte Hornets/Bobcats PG rankings? (including original hornets too)

Probably 3rd behind Baron Davis and Muggsy Bogues, but neither of them blows Kemba away statistically during their tenure. Playoff success, sentimental value, and Davis' All-Star appearance catapult them ahead of Kemba at this point though

[catch20two]

Charlotte only got to see one good year of Baron before they bounced to Nawlins. Not to mention that Hornets team was playoff worthy without Baron. Just thinking about it now I understand why Charlotte fans couldn't accept the Bobcats and couldn't forget the Hornets days. They had a influx of talent year after year.

[mrknowitall215]

Charlotte only got to see one good year of Baron before they bounced to Nawlins. Not to mention that Hornets team was playoff worthy without Baron. Just thinking about it now I understand why Charlotte fans couldn't accept the Bobcats and couldn't forget the Hornets days. They had a influx of talent year after year.

Baron Davis got drafted to a team with Eddie Jones, Bobby Phills, Anthony Mason, David Wesley, Elden Campbell, Derrick Coleman, Brad Miller, Dale Ellis, Ricky Davis, Eddie Robinson. The following year he had Jamal Mashburn and P.J. Brown added to the core with a swap out of players. Poor Kemba could only dream to be groomed in that type of environment

[catch20two]

Charlotte only got to see one good year of Baron before they bounced to Nawlins. Not to mention that Hornets team was playoff worthy without Baron. Just thinking about it now I understand why Charlotte fans couldn't accept the Bobcats and couldn't forget the Hornets days. They had a influx of talent year after year.

Baron Davis got drafted to a team with Eddie Jones, Bobby Phills, Anthony Mason, David Wesley, Elden Campbell, Derrick Coleman, Brad Miller, Dale Ellis, Ricky Davis, Eddie Robinson. The following year he had Jamal Mashburn and P.J. Brown added to the core with a swap out of players. Poor Kemba could only dream to be groomed in that type of environment

Eddie Jones used to be one of my favorite players.

[Liver_Pooty]

Lol. Eddie Robinson.

Talk about a testament to pure athletic ability but a horrific basketball player. That'd be it. Good for him that Jerry Krause gave him a big contract.

[fatlever]

Charlotte only got to see one good year of Baron before they bounced to Nawlins. Not to mention that Hornets team was playoff worthy without Baron. Just thinking about it now I understand why Charlotte fans couldn't accept the Bobcats and couldn't forget the Hornets days. They had a influx of talent year after year.

Bob Bass was a fantastic GM who kept the team stocked with good players, even in the face of a cheap owner who wouldnt pay anybody.

Fats Franchise PG Rankings (ranked by their best year with team)
1. Baron Davis
2. Muggsy Bogues
3. Kenny Anderson (only 38 games)
4. Kemba Walker
5. David Wesley (the 1st two years he played pg before moving to sg)
6. Raymond Felton
7. Brevin Knight
8. DJ Augustin
9. Mo Williams
10. Ramon Sessions

[fatlever]

If you let me include the year that Anthony Mason played point power forward, he would be #2 on my list. He killed it that year.

[catch20two]

Lol. Eddie Robinson.

Talk about a testament to pure athletic ability but a horrific basketball player. That'd be it. Good for him that Jerry Krause gave him a big contract.

I liked him. Lol. Prolly wasn't meant to be more than a role player on limited minutes kinda like Brandan Wright.

[Liver_Pooty]

Lol. Eddie Robinson.

Talk about a testament to pure athletic ability but a horrific basketball player. That'd be it. Good for him that Jerry Krause gave him a big contract.

I liked him. Lol. Prolly wasn't meant to be more than a role player on limited minutes kinda like Brandan Wright.

I loved him. I was devastated when he left for the Bulls. I thought he was the next big thing.

He wasn't at all. Not even close. Got paid though.

[Roy Tarpley]

Serious question about Walker, not trolling.

At what point do the Hornets decide he is hurting the team in terms of shooting efficiency? For example, Kobe killed the Lakers (based on the eye test) by shooting way too much and not making enough shots. When I look at the stats, I see that last year he shot 37% FG while shooting about 20 shots a game (excluding FT attempts).

I've only seen a couple Hornets games so I can't comment on Walker with confidence but when I look at his stats, I see that he generally averages about 22 to 23 shots per game and his FG% is generally south of 40%. So based on stats, Kemba seems to resemble 2014 Kobe in terms of inefficiency.

40% FG seems to be a good line, like the .200 Mendoza line in baseball. I can't think of too many PGs who stick around too long if they consistently shoot below 40%FG, except for players like Jason Kidd, who was multi-dimensional and helped out in other ways (assists, rebounds, steals).

[yosemiteben]

I'd suggest reading through this thread. This may be a new discussion for you, but it's not for this board.

[fatlever]

This year will be a good litmus test with Kemba. He finally has a lot of good offensive weapons around him, including a lot of shooters. He shouldn't have to carry the burden of having to force shots in order to bail out the old "clogged toilet" offense any longer. That means, he should be able to better pick and choose his shots, which hopefully means, less overall shots, but higher quality shots, and better percentages.

[fatlever]

That being said, Kemba has a bad habit of settling for step-back, mid range shots off the dribble, literally one of the worst shots in basketball. If he can't get better about choosing his shots, then nothing will matter.

[Roy Tarpley]

I'd suggest reading through this thread. This may be a new discussion for you, but it's not for this board.

Thanks, I was being lazy and trying to get a summary. When I looked through this thread, I generally see a range of comments from:

Walker is one of the worst starting PGs in the league
Walker is who is he at this point, we should trade him
Walker has flashes of brilliance, like in December
Walker needs a better cast around him
This year will be a pivotal year for him

It seems like fans are resigned to Walker because they don't see a better alternative. I hope with a better supporting cast around him, he can sustain the high level of play that he exhibited for a month last year.

[yosemiteben]

Yep, that's about it. He's one of the more divisive members of our team, hence why I think folks are hesitant to launch into another discussion about him.

Folks tend to agree that he has not been an efficient shooter and needs to improve, he's a leader and has huge intangibles, and he and we sucked last year for reasons that were not entirely his fault.

This will be a telling year.

[Braggins]

When I look at the stats, I see that last year he shot 37% FG while shooting about 20 shots a game (excluding FT attempts).

I've only seen a couple Hornets games so I can't comment on Walker with confidence but when I look at his stats, I see that he generally averages about 22 to 23 shots per game and his FG% is generally south of 40%.

He averaged 15.8 shots per game last season, which was the most hes ever averaged in a single season. Not sure where you are getting this 20-23 shots per game range from.

[Roy Tarpley]

When I look at the stats, I see that last year he shot 37% FG while shooting about 20 shots a game (excluding FT attempts).

I've only seen a couple Hornets games so I can't comment on Walker with confidence but when I look at his stats, I see that he generally averages about 22 to 23 shots per game and his FG% is generally south of 40%.

He averaged 15.8 shots per game last season, which was the most hes ever averaged in a single season. Not sure where you are getting this 20-23 shots per game range from.

I stand corrected -- I looked at a wrong set of numbers. Ha, I thought that sounded a bit excessive (how can Kemba shoot more than Kobe?!). Thanks for the correction.

[Braggins]

When I look at the stats, I see that last year he shot 37% FG while shooting about 20 shots a game (excluding FT attempts).

I've only seen a couple Hornets games so I can't comment on Walker with confidence but when I look at his stats, I see that he generally averages about 22 to 23 shots per game and his FG% is generally south of 40%.

He averaged 15.8 shots per game last season, which was the most hes ever averaged in a single season. Not sure where you are getting this 20-23 shots per game range from.

I stand corrected -- I looked at a wrong set of numbers. Ha, I thought that sounded a bit excessive (how can Kemba shoot more than Kobe?!). Thanks for the correction.

I don't even want to know what his efficiency would look like if he took 23 shots a game playing with last years roster lol.

Kembas efficiency is a problem but he will defer to other players if its the best for the team. I wouldn't worry about selfishness.

[yosemiteben]

I'd say Kemba's problem is more balancing his assertiveness and his deferring to teammates. Selfishness isn't necessarily an issue, but he needs to show he can be effective without dominating the ball.