Kalk-Blocked: The Ryan Kalkbrenner Thread

[yosemiteben]

I had never heard of or seen this guy when we drafted him. When I saw the various moves and how it left our center rotation, I assumed the FO is big on him and thinking he's ready to jump in and be a part of our C rotation.

After watching him these two games, I'm really hoping that's not the plan.

[Snidely FC]

What's the opposite of smooth?

[Braggins]

I wasn't very impressed by him

Not enough ass nor athleticism to be a starter or main backup

Yeah, my thoughts have been that he seems like he knows how to play and has a solid skill level, but he might not be skilled enough to make up for having below average physical tools.

[SWedd523]

I wasn't very impressed by him

Not enough ass nor athleticism to be a starter or main backup

Yeah, my thoughts have been that he seems like he knows how to play and has a solid skill level, but he might not be skilled enough to make up for having below average physical tools.

we talking about Kalk or Kon? Prob throw Liam Legend in there too if we're being honest

[Walt Cronkite]

What's the opposite of smooth?

Turbulent

[Chapelchilla]

Maybe he can be a stretch the floor guy occasionally

[amcoolio]

I think he will be fine but he needs to gain a lot of core strength and get quicker on his shot before he sees the rotation. Luckily those are two skills that the athletic staff can fix if he works hard. He moves well and his timing with blocking is fine.

I had high hopes after draft watching highlights, but him being so weak in SL has killed those hopes. Richards was able to get stronger, hopefully Kalk will too.

[Bassman]

Kalk doesn’t have much of a ceiling. As a 5th year senior he’s not going to gain a lot of extra strength or speed. His shot is not bad but has a very s l o w release. That’s not changing. Rebounding is limited given his difficulty sealing off big heavy guys. But, he has good hands and does finish at the rim pretty well. Has a good shot near the basket, and he blocks shots. Can he be our reserve center? Maybe. Should he be our starter? Hell no. Nor should the Plumber or Moose. But of course our pleas fall upon an ignorant, hard headed GM who won’t trade our precious draft picks (my rationale for why he’s not getting us a true starting center). I’m sure his plan for one (whatever that was) got blown up, so in a panic he heard Clifford the dog push for the Plumber.

[Liver_Pooty]

Kalk doesn’t have much of a ceiling. As a 5th year senior he’s not going to gain a lot of extra strength or speed. His shot is not bad but has a very s l o w release. That’s not changing. Rebounding is limited given his difficulty sealing off big heavy guys. But, he has good hands and does finish at the rim pretty well. Has a good shot near the basket, and he blocks shots. Can he be our reserve center? Maybe. Should he be our starter? Hell no. Nor should the Plumber or Moose. But of course our pleas fall upon an ignorant, hard headed GM who won’t trade our precious draft picks (my rationale for why he’s not getting us a true starting center). I’m sure his plan for one (whatever that was) got blown up, so in a panic he heard Clifford the dog push for the Plumber.

Moose isn’t an ideal starter but there’s something about his want to and desire. I’ve always said I don’t care if we lose if we play hard. And that dude from the tip is ready for battle.

[Chapelchilla]

Kalk doesn’t have much of a ceiling. As a 5th year senior he’s not going to gain a lot of extra strength or speed. His shot is not bad but has a very s l o w release. That’s not changing. Rebounding is limited given his difficulty sealing off big heavy guys. But, he has good hands and does finish at the rim pretty well. Has a good shot near the basket, and he blocks shots. Can he be our reserve center? Maybe. Should he be our starter? Hell no. Nor should the Plumber or Moose. But of course our pleas fall upon an ignorant, hard headed GM who won’t trade our precious draft picks (my rationale for why he’s not getting us a true starting center). I’m sure his plan for one (whatever that was) got blown up, so in a panic he heard Clifford the dog push for the Plumber.

Moose isn’t an ideal starter but there’s something about his want to and desire. I’ve always said I don’t care if we lose if we play hard. And that dude from the tip is ready for battle.

I think they like his defense/ switch abilities too. But yeah, he is a hard ass worker. The rebounding is key and he doesn't need to shoot a ton.

[fatlever]

Read on Twitter

agree this is an under-discussed aspect of his game. big kauk lays some serious wood on his screens. melo is gonna feast on those screens. nick and mark were great at rolling, not-so-great at the screening part. moose could improve as well, but he doesnt have the girth down low.

[SWedd523]

he's gonna have to show some promise as a spacer after the fact because he's really limited physically down low and doesn't have the fast twitch to be a good roll man

[yosemiteben]

Yeah I noticed that he sets really strong screens, nice to see

[MPM]

Kalk has a strong base which helps him with screen setting and positioning but his lack of upper body strength down low reminds me of one of those wacky waving Inflatable arm flailers when he's going for boards.

[Chapelchilla]

Kalk has a strong base which helps him with screen setting and positioning but his lack of upper body strength down low reminds me of one of those wacky waving Inflatable arm flailers when he's going for boards.

I laughed at that image. Hopefully he can muscled up some for sure.

[yosemiteben]

Has Kalk had even a single moving screen in all of summer league? I don't remember any.

He's like the anti-Nick Richards.

[JMAC3]

Kalkbrenner performance by game
Vs Kings 15 pts, 9 boards, 1 block
Vs Thunder 8 pts, 3 boards, 2 blocks
Vs Spurs 9 pts, 5 boards, 0 blocks
Vs Mavs 9 pts, 5 boards, 1 block
Vs 76ers 7 pts, 6 boards, 4 blocks
Vs Jazz 10 pts, 5 boards, 3 blocks

SL Averages 9.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.6 bpg in 25 mpg.

[amcoolio]

I think he has the skill, but needs Jonas Valanciunas' body to play in the NBA right now, so he's a few years away. He's a string bean. I can't imagine him playing meaningful minutes in an NBA game, he's going to get killed!

[Bassman]

I think he has the skill, but needs Jonas Valanciunas' body to play in the NBA right now, so he's a few years away. He's a string bean. I can't imagine him playing meaningful minutes in an NBA game, he's going to get killed!

Yeah at his current ability he will be thumped by big strong 5’s and made to look a bit like a turnstile from fast agile ones. He tried to extend his defense better in the Kings game, which helped a bit. His drop coverage was exploited in previous SL games. He’s not hopeless…I liked what he did do successfully, but he’s no where near ready for minutes with the big club. Sadly I fear Jeffie and Charlie will think they’re pick was validated and convince themselves to see how their 3 amigos work out.

[fatlever]

pros
- tall
- deters shots at rim
- sets great screens
- huge catch radius
- good hands
- lob threat
- finishes under/around rim
- boxes out (allows teammates to rebound)
- ft shooting
- smart defender
- seems to be good guy
- played all 6 games, including b2b 2x
- willing passer

neutral/tba
- 3pt shooting

cons
- slow
- skinny
- weak
- rebounding in traffic
- can only play drop coverage
- no post game
- doesnt actually have good timing or instincts for blocking shots