Leap Year - The Kemba Walker Thread III

[HornetJail]

While I expect Kemba, Batum, MKG, Zeller and Jefferson to be the starters, Clifford would be wise to limit the minutes those 5 play together. Hopefully we will only see that group for 12-17 minutes a game, 6 minutes to start each half, then possibly some minutes at the end of games, when we need more defense. Otherwise, Lin, Lamb, Frank, Marvin and Hawes need to be mixed in with the starters to provide an extra shooter. Clifford has to get better about staggering the subs.

If the Hornets begin the season with the same roster I think it's a lot higher than 50/50 that's not the starting unit.

I don't. When has Clifford ever adjusted our starting lineup for fit? Al/McBob/MKG/Hendo/Kemba remained our starting five every time we were healthy in 2013-14, even when it was quite clear that CDR fit better than Hendo. Al/Marvin/MKG/Lance/Kemba was our starting five until it became very clear that Zeller and Hendo were playing way, way, way better on both ends than Marvin and Lance. Clifford just throws the best five players into the starting lineup. Jefferson is typically a better player than Bismack, but Clifford wouldn't even consider letting Biz start when it was clear he was the better fit. Al/Zeller/MKG/Batum/Kemba are by far our top 5 players- none of our reserves are anywhere close to any of our starters- barring injuries, trades, or serious breakout seasons by our bench players, I expect Al/Zeller/MKG/Batum/Kemba will start all of this year.

[Mystical Apples]

While I expect Kemba, Batum, MKG, Zeller and Jefferson to be the starters, Clifford would be wise to limit the minutes those 5 play together. Hopefully we will only see that group for 12-17 minutes a game, 6 minutes to start each half, then possibly some minutes at the end of games, when we need more defense. Otherwise, Lin, Lamb, Frank, Marvin and Hawes need to be mixed in with the starters to provide an extra shooter. Clifford has to get better about staggering the subs.

If the Hornets begin the season with the same roster I think it's a lot higher than 50/50 that's not the starting unit.

Al/McBob/MKG/Hendo/Kemba remained our starting five every time we were healthy in 2013-14....Al/Zeller/MKG/Batum/Kemba are by far our top 5 players- none of our reserves are anywhere close to any of our starters.

Well, that could end up happening. But this isn't 2013 and this summer almost every move they made was anti-typical Bobcats of tossing disparate parts out there which is a good thing. It's about putting on the court the best units. Even with Batum that's a grossly bad shooting and passing lineup. I suspect Clifford will try a bunch of lineups in preseason and the first quarter of the regular but settle on adding 1 more shooter for the first 6 minutes.

[thesneakysneak]

problem is, all that shooting is still stuck on the bench.

Nic Batum averages 1.8 makes per 36 minutes from distance. That right there is a HUGE improvement. I also expect that MKG and Cody will probably take a few next year. It's still not enough, but it's something.

yeah Nic can make a big difference right there! plus he has been a good distributor for the last two years, so he has the capacity to fill the Lance/Haywood second ball handler the FO has wanted for so long.

I like what Fats said about staggering the starters minutes so that there is a bench shooter in the mix throughout most of the game.
I think those shooters a distributors will be able to look so much better in that setting such as McRoberts and even CDR looked previously. Those guys were just role playing shooters and passers with good IQ and they quickly became fan favourites. I think Batum and Lin and hopefully Lamb and Tank can fill those roles successfully.
If they live up to those expectations then Kemba has a lot of pressure off his back.

[fatlever]

the only starting spot up for debate is power forward. its possible that Zeller's injury pushes someone else to start - Marvin or Hawes. It won't be Frank (yet) and we won't start small.

[SeanBobcats]

http://i.imgur.com/XLZ7eEy.png

This image kinda provides another good reason on why Kemba's efficiency should only get a lot better.

[yosemiteben]

Kobe lol

[Mystical Apples]

http://i.imgur.com/XLZ7eEy.png

This image kinda provides another good reason on why Kemba's efficiency should only get a lot better.

Unless he's a contributing source to the problem. The chart only tells us frequency and success rate. In the case of Kemba that means too much and not enough, respectively.

[SeanBobcats]

http://i.imgur.com/XLZ7eEy.png

This image kinda provides another good reason on why Kemba's efficiency should only get a lot better.

Unless he's a contributing source to the problem. The chart only tells us frequency and success rate. In the case of Kemba that means too much and not enough, respectively.

The chart is showing shots late in the shot clock, and the fact that Kemba is having to take so many is the problem. I can't say it's his fault that he has to take those shots considering that we just didn't have any guys who could create for themselves or any guys who could knock down shots.

[Mystical Apples]

http://i.imgur.com/XLZ7eEy.png

This image kinda provides another good reason on why Kemba's efficiency should only get a lot better.

Unless he's a contributing source to the problem. The chart only tells us frequency and success rate. In the case of Kemba that means too much and not enough, respectively.

The chart is showing shots late in the shot clock, and the fact that Kemba is having to take so many is the problem. I can't say it's his fault that he has to take those shots considering that we just didn't have any guys who could create for themselves or any guys who could knock down shots.

The chart is incomplete and only measures 1 outcome in an unspecified amount of time:

1 - The chart doesn't define "late shot." Kemba is taking over 4.5 shots so we know it's not expiring
2 - It doesn't measure TS%. The high usage players in the upper right- like Lebron, Anthony, Beard - get to the line more.
3 - The chart just shows the result of a shot. It doesn't show the efficiency of all plays (like passes) with clock < 10, for example.
4 - It doesn't show team efficiency when he's off the court, like when Mo Williams was in the same situation.

And of course all this assumes he *had* to do this. As a PG his play more than anyone determines if late shot clock attempts are even necessary.

[SeanBobcats]

Unless he's a contributing source to the problem. The chart only tells us frequency and success rate. In the case of Kemba that means too much and not enough, respectively.

The chart is showing shots late in the shot clock, and the fact that Kemba is having to take so many is the problem. I can't say it's his fault that he has to take those shots considering that we just didn't have any guys who could create for themselves or any guys who could knock down shots.

The chart is incomplete and only measures 1 outcome in an unspecified amount of time:

1 - The chart doesn't define "late shot." Kemba is taking over 4.5 shots so we know it's not expiring
2 - It doesn't measure TS%. The high usage players in the upper right- like Lebron, Anthony, Beard - get to the line more.
3 - The chart just shows the result of a shot. It doesn't show the efficiency of all plays (like passes) with clock < 10, for example.
4 - It doesn't show team efficiency when he's off the court, like when Mo Williams was in the same situation.

And of course all this assumes he *had* to do this. As a PG his play more than anyone determines if late shot clock attempts are even necessary.

I think anything else is just a matter of the eye test. It seems like we may just have a clear disagreement. My point is I don't really see what Kemba could have done with the surrounding player he's had. Guess we'll just have to watch this season and go from there

[DY_nasty]

That chart highlights an inability for a team to produce efficient offense and labels the go-to guy in those situations. Goes right along with what I've been saying all 2013-2014 about this team passing the ball in circles and centering an offense around bad shot selection. Its not an either/or. Some of that is Kemba's fault, a LOT of it was the team's offense being legitimately terrible in a lot of areas at once.

[JDR720]

episode 2 of of his web series

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVe-HOpz1Ws[/youtube]

[fatlever]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/rick_bonnell/status/634792638575714304[/tweet]

[Liver_Pooty]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/rick_bonnell/status/634792638575714304[/tweet]

Lord I hope so.

[JDR720]

just shoot above 40% please

[Hornet Mania]

just shoot above 40% please

That, and/or shoot less. It kills me that Kemba puts up so many shots (never less than 15 attempts per game since his 2nd season) with such a terrible percentage. He is not solely at fault for that, our offense definitely leaves him with the ball in his hands with the clock ticking down more than it should, but if he just refrained from shooting 2-3 contested mid-range jumpers a night it would probably do wonders for him.

[HornetJail]

There is no doubt in my mind that Kemba has the talent to be much better than the 39.5% that he's averaged for his career. He's so good at creating openings for himself on the perimeter and finding gaps in order to get to the rim, but his 3-point touch still needs some work and our roster the last two years has not been conducive to guards whose best weapons are attacking the rim. We saw Gerald run into very tough stretches with his FG% trying to play with Al after being a consistent 44%-45% shooter and a really good shooter at the rim his whole career prior to that. Lance's percentages fell off a cliff into a fiery pit of dog $#!+ in our system, and Kemba was a significantly better shooter under Dunla than Clifford's Alfense. Kemba was just fine playing like an all-star in the stretches without Al last season.

Playing Alfense without floor spacing is the worst possible thing you can do to a drive-first scoring guard.

[Joest2003]

https://instagram.com/p/7HFhSyn9Fm/?taken-by=friia_strength

[HornetJail]

https://instagram.com/p/7HFhSyn9Fm/?taken-by=friia_strength

Now there's someone I'd like to fill our 3rd string center hole with.

[Snidely FC]

From ESPN Insider Tom Haberstroh's Player Profiles:

Scouting report
+ Undersized volume shooter who seems to have plateaued
+ Signature nasty crossover into mid-range jumper but a subpar passer
+ Takes care of the ball but a mediocre defensive player

Analysis
At what point do the Hornets move on from Walker? It's the third straight season the Hornets have watched Walker score 17-something points per game on volume, not efficiency -- and it's the third straight season with the Charlotte offense in the tank.

Walker isn't a natural distributor (5.4 assists per 36 minutes), but he keeps his turnovers to a minimum mostly because he's settling for easy mid-range jumpers so often. He has never been a threat from the outside, and while his long 2 mid-range jumper is solid, he gets himself in trouble in the 10 to 16 foot range where he shot just 30 percent.

It's a good thing he gets to the line as often as he does because he sports one of the worst effective field-goal percentages of any starting guard in the league. At some point, the Hornets have to make a decision whether Walker is their point guard of the future or a scoring supersub like Lou Williams or Jamal Crawford. That's not a bad thing.