Leap Year - The Kemba Walker Thread III

[Liver_Pooty]

We use to compare Walker to Knight and monitor how one was doing compared to the other.

Knight has turned into a freaking animal in Phoenix . Had like 30/10/15 last night

[Roy Tarpley]

Knight's numbers actually went down during his few games in PHO last year, and it looked like the move may have hurt him. But then in his first full year in PHO, he's been just as good as he was in MIL. Bledsoe has taken the next step as well.

[LamarMatic7]

We use to compare Walker to Knight and monitor how one was doing compared to the other.

Knight has turned into a freaking animal in Phoenix . Had like 30/10/15 last night

didn't someone even from the Detroit board lose a bet and was made to change his signature to "I bet against Kemba Walker and I lost"?

[Liver_Pooty]

We use to compare Walker to Knight and monitor how one was doing compared to the other.

Knight has turned into a freaking animal in Phoenix . Had like 30/10/15 last night

didn't someone even from the Detroit board lose a bet and was made to change his signature to "I bet against Kemba Walker and I lost"?

Yeah, he may want to change that now.

[ChokeFasncists]

I think Lin probably made the right decision to sign with Charlotte given he signed what is essentially a 1 year deal hoping to get a bigger contract in 2016. Although the talk of Dallas' demise was premature, it was inevitable they were going to take a step back and I doubt Lin wanted to be associated with that. Also if I'm not mistaken, Lin chose Charlotte while the Deandre storm was unfolding so it's possible that sealed the deal.

Dallas already had Felton, Harris, and possibly even Barea when Lin was making his decision. Those 3 aren't world beaters but it's possible he wouldn't have started and at the least Harris has some skills Lin doesn't. With a crowded point position and Matthews cemented at shooting guard (a spot Harris can also play) it was not guaranteed Lin would get a lot of minutes.

The public narrative about Lin with Charlotte was portrayed as a third combo guard off the bench but I'm sure Lin saw it as a chance to supplant Kemba as the starter for a much improved team. On paper the worst case scenario for Lin seemed to be backup point guard and plenty of shooting guard on team with better spacing and high pnr usage.

You guys have very accurate information about Lin.

Yes, Dallas had Barea when Lin was making his decision. When Dallas thought they got DeAndre Jordan, they were exploring sign and trade possibilities with the Lakers for Lin, to get a pnr partner for DeAndre according to Woj. They were hoping to include Felton in the sign and trade. Lakers were dragging their feet; they wanted a huge concession in return for using their Bird rights to allow Dallas to sign Lin for more money. Then DeAndre deal fell apart....

"Wojnarowski says Lin's proficiency in the pick-and-roll has the Mavericks interested now that they have agreed to terms with DeAndre Jordan."

I would not underestimate the importance Lin places on playing in a system, and with teammates, and coaches, that he likes. Lin's not the kind of player to place a huge amount of importance on money, and he has some endorsement deals anyway. But yeah, he probably is expecting his salary to go up.

My point was more about highlighting our overall lack of PnR options that has been a thing for a while. It limits both Kemba and Lin's assist numbers imo. Al may be a better roll target than Hawes, but hes still a really bad option. Cody has been struggling but he unfortunately is our best PnR option. I just dont see a lot of difference betwee Kemba and Lin's ability as passers/distributors other than what you pointed out at the end of your post. Lin is still too willing to try to thread the needle and Kemba isnt willing enough. Kembas progression over the last few years has been towards less and less risk. He wont even throw oops at all anymore. Youll probably see a similar kind of progression with Lin while he is here. Hopefully he finds a nice balance instead of taking it too far in the other direction like Kemba. Im hoping that Kemba will start to look to take advantage of more openings as he gets more comfortable with our new offense and his role and he starts to realize he has trustworthy teammates.

I was just wondering, did you quote the wrong passage?

Anyways, I agree that Kemba has been in a not-so-good situation. It took almost ten years, several team/coach changes for Lowry to blossom. He and Kemba have very different personality tho. Becoming a good shooter would be a good first step.

So did Kemba constantly make spectacular passes and throw oops in college? I doubt Lin will stop doing those, IMO this is what he lives for, his defining quality. He just needs to be more aware of the defenders. Being on this team, apparently 1st in fewest possessions resulting in TOs, is a very good thing.

It'd be tough for Kemba to become a much better passing PG here now with Batum playing the point forward. He's still pretty young tho.

[Elden Payton]

We use to compare Walker to Knight and monitor how one was doing compared to the other.

Knight has turned into a freaking animal in Phoenix . Had like 30/10/15 last night

didn't someone even from the Detroit board lose a bet and was made to change his signature to "I bet against Kemba Walker and I lost"?

That was Combo Guard City and I.

He's a great poster.

Crunk chose the slogan.

[LamarMatic7]

We use to compare Walker to Knight and monitor how one was doing compared to the other.

Knight has turned into a freaking animal in Phoenix . Had like 30/10/15 last night

didn't someone even from the Detroit board lose a bet and was made to change his signature to "I bet against Kemba Walker and I lost"?

That was Combo Guard City and I.

He's a great poster.

Crunk chose the slogan.

I had forgotten about Crunk, actually. We have had quite the shake-up of members on this board.

[Elden Payton]

didn't someone even from the Detroit board lose a bet and was made to change his signature to "I bet against Kemba Walker and I lost"?

That was Combo Guard City and I.

He's a great poster.

Crunk chose the slogan.

I had forgotten about Crunk, actually. We have had quite the shake-up of members on this board.

Crunk was one of my favourite posters by far.

I was pissed when he got banned.

Reminds me heaps of BD as a poster, very knowledgeable and not afraid to tell it how it is.

It's a shame the amount of great posters from our board who are either banned or don't bother anymore.

[Braggins]

You guys have very accurate information about Lin.

Yes, Dallas had Barea when Lin was making his decision. When Dallas thought they got DeAndre Jordan, they were exploring sign and trade possibilities with the Lakers for Lin, to get a pnr partner for DeAndre according to Woj. They were hoping to include Felton in the sign and trade. Lakers were dragging their feet; they wanted a huge concession in return for using their Bird rights to allow Dallas to sign Lin for more money. Then DeAndre deal fell apart....

"Wojnarowski says Lin's proficiency in the pick-and-roll has the Mavericks interested now that they have agreed to terms with DeAndre Jordan."

I would not underestimate the importance Lin places on playing in a system, and with teammates, and coaches, that he likes. Lin's not the kind of player to place a huge amount of importance on money, and he has some endorsement deals anyway. But yeah, he probably is expecting his salary to go up.

My point was more about highlighting our overall lack of PnR options that has been a thing for a while. It limits both Kemba and Lin's assist numbers imo. Al may be a better roll target than Hawes, but hes still a really bad option. Cody has been struggling but he unfortunately is our best PnR option. I just dont see a lot of difference betwee Kemba and Lin's ability as passers/distributors other than what you pointed out at the end of your post. Lin is still too willing to try to thread the needle and Kemba isnt willing enough. Kembas progression over the last few years has been towards less and less risk. He wont even throw oops at all anymore. Youll probably see a similar kind of progression with Lin while he is here. Hopefully he finds a nice balance instead of taking it too far in the other direction like Kemba. Im hoping that Kemba will start to look to take advantage of more openings as he gets more comfortable with our new offense and his role and he starts to realize he has trustworthy teammates.

I was just wondering, did you quote the wrong passage?

Anyways, I agree that Kemba has been in a not-so-good situation. It took almost ten years, several team/coach changes for Lowry to blossom. He and Kemba have very different personality tho. Becoming a good shooter would be a good first step.

So did Kemba constantly make spectacular passes and throw oops in college? I doubt Lin will stop doing those, IMO this is what he lives for, his defining quality. He just needs to be more aware of the defenders. Being on this team, apparently 1st in fewest possessions resulting in TOs, is a very good thing.

It'd be tough for Kemba to become a much better passing PG here now with Batum playing the point forward. He's still pretty young tho.

I did quote the wrong message lol. I was medicated yesterday cuz i had my knee scoped.

He didnt constantly throw spectacular passes and oops on college, but he would throw some oops and he was more aggressive with his passing even in his first couple years in the league. He still throws some slick passes but he has completely cut out oops and doesnt take hardly any risks. Its kind of how hes progressed under Cliff. Its kind of a good thing but i do think he has taken the conservative approach too far and he misses some opportunities for assists because.

I agree about Lin, but i do think we'll see him become somewhat more conservative than in the past. Its just how we play.

[fatlever]

Carrying over from the the Knicks GT about the criticism about Kemba getting tunnel vision, not running the offense, having only one assist - while scoring 31 points, on good %s, on a night when most everyone else other than Jeremyx2 was off.

We all know who Kemba is by now. The coaches, front office and other teams all know. We've had 5 years of data and he's really not going to change much going forward.

Kemba is an inefficient, streaky, sometimes electric shooting guard with the body, speed and handles of a point guard. He is fearless in face of pressure, he's a great teammate and a high character man and he also has holes in his game that you could drive a bus through.

Kemba has never been, nor will ever be a playmaking point guard who runs an efficient offense that gets tons of great shots for others and he will never be a smooth consistent shooter. The coaches and front office know this about Kemba and have gone out of their way to always have solid back up point guards behind him - Augustin, Sessions, Mo, Lin as well as trying their best to pair him with playmaking forwards that can help run the offense and take some of pressure off of Kemba - McRoberts, Hayward, Lance, Batum, Hawes etc...

The burden to create and run the offense this year does not solely fall on the shoulders of Kemba. This offense is not designed like that. We have plenty of guys who are given the chance to create in this offense - Batum, Lin, Lamb, Hawes and Frank, among others.

There will be nights like last night where some main guys simply are ice cold and Kemba is hot. I would expect him to try and carry some of the offense in that situation, especially in the 2nd half. Obviously this type of me-first tunnel vision playing is not ideal for the long-haul, but in stretches it might be needed. Last night we needed everything we could get from Kemba, Lin and Lamb. Kemba took over that 4th, the same way Lin took over that 2nd.

As I said in the GT, there were plenty of reasons we lost of that game last night - offensive rebounds, defensive breakdowns (such as Lin leaving Galloway to double the post), and ice cold shooting from Batum, Marvin and Al. Kemba's play was not a factor in that loss from my view.

[Joest2003]

Solid evaluation.

[Soul Rebel]

Well said Fatlever!! To your point, it just further solidifies the fact that we MUST re-sign Batum this offseason. He is an ideal wing player to balance Kemba.

[fatlever]

Well said Fatlever!! To your point, it just further solidifies the fact that we MUST re-sign Batum this offseason. He is an ideal wing player to balance Kemba.

Absolutely. Look, I don't really want to build around Kemba more than the next guy, but while he is here, we have to at least do what we can to make it work. Kemba desperately needs a 2nd ball handler and facilitator next to him to help cover his flaws.

[BigSlam]

Well said Fatlever!! To your point, it just further solidifies the fact that we MUST re-sign Batum this offseason. He is an ideal wing player to balance Kemba.

Absolutely. Look, I don't really want to build around Kemba more than the next guy, but while he is here, we have to at least do what we can to make it work. Kemba desperately needs a 2nd ball handler and facilitator next to him to help cover his flaws.

You mention not wanting to build around him - but that's exactly what you are advocating.

"But while he is here...."

Then make him not here. We shouldn't have resigned him, now we should be looking to trade him. Until he is no longer here we are going to continue with poor to mediocre success.

We treat him like he's a star, even a super star (making him the focal pint of our build and building around his flaws to try and cover them up) but he's not.


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[Elden Payton]

Well said Fatlever!! To your point, it just further solidifies the fact that we MUST re-sign Batum this offseason. He is an ideal wing player to balance Kemba.

Absolutely. Look, I don't really want to build around Kemba more than the next guy, but while he is here, we have to at least do what we can to make it work. Kemba desperately needs a 2nd ball handler and facilitator next to him to help cover his flaws.

You mention not wanting to build around him - but that's exactly what you are advocating.

"But while he is here...."

Then make him not here. We shouldn't have resigned him, now we should be looking to trade him. Until he is no longer here we are going to continue with poor to mediocre success.

We treat him like he's a star, even a super star (making him the focal pint of our build and building around his flaws to try and cover them up) but he's not.

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Well said.

As long as Kemba is the pilot, this plane is doomed before it gets off the ground.

[Liver_Pooty]

Worst contract on the roster right now. At least Jeffersons is an expiring. Would love him as a 6th man.

[fatlever]

Sorry, "build around" is the wrong team. We don't have any players with building around. They signed Kemba to a long-term deal, though, so they have to at least try to put pieces together that make sense - same with MKG and Jefferson. You can't just ignore Kemba's flaws just because you don't think he's good enough to build around - stick your head in the sand and keep trying to force him to be something he is not - or worse create a toxic situation by benching him on the first year of a 48 mil deal. As long as the franchise has the goal of making the playoffs, then they have to maximize the players they have on the roster currently. As far as Kemba is concerned, that means having someone like Batum to help him.

I get what you are saying, you want him traded or benched, but we both know that's not going to happen this year. So either you fire Clifford and Cho and rebuild, or you put players together that make sense.

Last year nothing on the roster made sense. At least this year, you can see a little bit of a plan.

I'm no more of a Kemba fan than you are. We both know that.

[Braggins]

Batum and Lin combined for 3 assists in 63 minutes last night, but there hasn't been a word about that, and Kemba leads the team in every assist related statistic. The level of butthurt and hypocrisy is getting pathetic. You guys are just mad because Kemba had a good game and you can't reconcile that with your personal narratives about the team that you desperately want to be true. I know you guys desperately wanted Lin to be your savior to save you from the big bad Kemba, but hes barely cracking 40%/30% shooting numbers and making plays/assisting at an even lower rate than Kemba and you guys are having trouble handling it. Its ok though, maybe he will outplay Kemba tonight and you guys can all clamor about how he is obviously so much better and will lead us to the promised land if we stop letting Kemba hold him back.

[mrknowitall215]

Very disrespectful fan base towards Kemba

[Elden Payton]

Batum and Lin combined for 3 assists in 63 minutes last night, but there hasn't been a word about that, and Kemba leads the team in every assist related statistic. The level of butthurt and hypocrisy is getting pathetic. You guys are just mad because Kemba had a good game and you can't reconcile that with your personal narratives about the team that you desperately want to be true. I know you guys desperately wanted Lin to be your savior to save you from the big bad Kemba, but hes barely cracking 40%/30% shooting numbers and making plays/assisting at an even lower rate than Kemba and you guys are having trouble handling it. Its ok though, maybe he will outplay Kemba tonight and you guys can all clamor about how he is obviously so much better and will lead us to the promised land if we stop letting Kemba hold him back.

This is BS.

Lin is our backup and on 2m per.

Batum is a SF.

Kemba had a good game and we lost.

I'm sure Kemba is really happy with himself.

Kemba is a borderline average starting PG, who can't run an offense, doesn't defend scores inefficiently.

Recipe for disaster.