OMFKG! The Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Thread

[Eoghan]

At this point, he'd probably be more consistent shooting set shots.

[Liver_Pooty]

Hes been better than Gerald Wallace this year.

Not saying much but ill take it.

[HornetJail]

Hes been better than Gerald Wallace this year.

Not saying much but ill take it.

Not in the last month and a half, he hasn't.

[Liver_Pooty]

Hes been better than Gerald Wallace this year.

Not saying much but ill take it.

Not in the last month and a half, he hasn't.

Considering Wallaces contract sure he has. Im a huge Wallace fan, but his athleticism is going and the poor Nets will be stuck with that contract for a long time.

[HornetJail]

^ They gave up the 6th pick for him too. (Lillard )

[Bassman]

Hes been better than Gerald Wallace this year.

Not saying much but ill take it.

Not in the last month and a half, he hasn't.

Considering Wallaces contract sure he has. Im a huge Wallace fan, but his athleticism is going and the poor Nets will be stuck with that contract for a long time.

Geez Liver, you are FOREVER defending this guy, and forever saying that all it takes is practice. I wish people would quit treating him like teflon, same as the president...nothing negative sticks. MKG is NOT a good player, and may never get to a point when he will be an effective shooter in the NBA. His minutes are woefully down as is his production. If he hit a "rookie wall", I'd say he's rested enough to be over that by now. Problem is, hyphen is just not very good. Again, that doesn't mean he will not improve, cause I know he will. BUT...very few players in this league are able to go from s*#* to shinola, much less all-star status, when their first year exhibits this much of an issue with their shooting. Yes, he's too young to call a bust, and I'm not saying that. But please, let's at least be realistic about the kid. Early returns suggest he will be an average contributor (at best) on offense, and that's a shame considering he was the #2 pick.

[amcoolio]

MKG will be fine surrounded by McLemore, Noel, and Wiggins. [/its 100% happening]


Seriously though, MKG will explode after a few years of development, and with better players around him

[Bassman]

These are some of my fellow Bobcat's fans as they stare at MKG:

[HornetJail]

Bassman, there are all-stars in this league that have looked much worse a couple years older than MKG is now. He has so much time to improve it is straight up absurd to say he won't be a good player in the league. Kemba was a trainwreck just last season and is a rising star in the league. Kobe, Ben Wallace, Kevin Martin, Dirk, our own Gerald Wallace, just to name a few, were plenty worse in their rookie seasons than MKG, and most were older than MKG too.

[BlackOutBuzz]

The kid is 19....

19!!!

Hell, Lillard will be 23 before he turns 20. Yeah, he's struggled lately, but he's still been a top 5 rookie despite not having a jumpshot. I don't know what people were expecting out of the teenager...but I for one am not worried. Rose-colored yada yada, he has the potential to be a top 5 SF a couple years from now. You can't teach some of his abilities...but a jumpshot? With HIS crazy work-ethic? Yeah, not concerned.

This reminds me of all the Kemba hate last year. I'm excited for year 2 of MKG, wouldn't be surprised if we saw a Kemba-esque jump with him.

[HornetJail]

I learned from my own Kemba pessimism last year. Kemba has not only completely disproved everything I thought about him (and DJ Augustin) this year, but has turned me into one of his biggest supporters. MKG come around soon enough and once that happens, Bassman and whoever else has turned sour on MKG will as well.

I get the feeling MKG will come along a little slower than Kemba. Give him a year or two to work out the kinks in his game. With MKG's work ethic, his jump shot will come along ala Gerald Wallace or Gerald Henderson, and the foul trouble that plagues him now will slowly subside. In fact lately, he's been in less foul trouble, he's just being kept out of 4th quarters because Mike Dunlap is a **** idiot/tankmaster.

[TheKingofSting]

To be fair it is hard for any growth when your idiot coach insists on giving Sessions and / or Hendo most of your minutes in the second half.

[JMAC3]

It is truly pissing me off that we can not get him involved in the offense. Dunlap has to be the worst offensive minded coach in the NBA.

[Eoghan]

As I was arguably the biggest advocate for drafting Drummond last year, I think you guys are a little too harsh on MKG. As stated, he's only 19 and, like Biz, we all knew he was gonna be a project and take some time. He's fine, this is par for the course. He's probably not even really trying to fix his shot this year and that's not a bad thing b/c priority no. 1 is just getting used to the speed and nuances of professional basketball. We won't know if this was a bad pick until 2014 probably.

[fatlever]

and the splits just keep getting worse

february splits (5 games)
3.4ppg, 4.0rpg, 1.0apg, 17.4%fg in 18 minutes/game

wow

[fatlever]

in 30 games prior to eye injury MKG scored in double figures 18 times. in 19 games since eye injury MKG scored in double figures 4 times. coincidence?

i wish either dunlap, MKG or bonnell would talk about the recent struggles and try to give some explanations.

on a side note, i dont think i have heard/seen a single interview from MKG since the season started, not even after the neck injury. the cats are really keeping him away from the media this year, which i think is a good idea. i wonder how he will do during all-star weekend. he will no doubt have to do some interviews in houston.

[JMAC3]

I know not everyone on this board has played basketball even at the highschool level, but to truly understand MKG situation I think you must have experience. It is extremely hard to get into an offensive rhythm, when you are used to playing big minutes your whole life then go to playing sparingly without really knowing how long you will be out there.

This is especially the case with MKG, who isnt the type of player, who goes in and starts dictating the offense or chucking up shots. He needs to let the game to him offensively which means that he may need those 25-30 minutes. His chances will be there, whether they are on putbacks or fastbreaks, but you can not dictate those by yourself, the opportunity must be there and he is not going to get those opportunities playing 4 minutes here and 5 minutes there.

If he was getting 30-35 minutes a night, I think the stats would be there and his confidence would be high.

[Bassman]

If he was getting 30-35 minutes a night, I think the stats would be there and his confidence would be high.

JMAC, I think he started losing confidence early on, it was a continuing issue until his injury (Fat has a good observation on that earlier), and tanked ever since, which is WHY his minutes are minimal.

Admitedly you all may have seen more of the games than I have, but from my observations, and those others have made, Hyphen just doesn't want the ball right now. He gives it up easily, is lost in a hideous shooting form, and seems afraid of physical play. As poor a coach as Dunlap seems to be, I don't think he's an idiot. He does seem to be making progress with Kemba and others, but he must know or see something with MKG that is giving him MAJOR pause. I mean, the edict is TO PLAY THE YOUNGSTERS FOR THE FUTURE! He is doing that with everyone but Hyphen. WHY?

[KembaWalker]

because he's the only player in the league who gets blocked on wide open jumpshots

[penquin11]

I would like to see us run more quick jam plays for him. Get him more integrated in the offense. He does have elite speed for a SF, he has hops, why the hell can't we make a designated MKG baseline or alleyoop play.