Hammers: Bobcats Vs Kings

[catch20two]

Kemba had that boy Isaiah on lock and key. Jefferson flat-footed ass kept giving him layups tho. That was frustrating. You can probably say that Isaiah shot the Kings out of the game trying to one-up Kemba.

[Robot Rock]

Don't bother trying to use logic. Some people just don't get it.

It's not even about using logic. It just ruffles my feathers to the point where I have to debate when I read unjust criticism. Like what did we expect, Isaiah Thomas not to make any baskets?! Locking a guy that's been shooting as efficient as Thomas has this season to 35% in a game is about as good of defense as you can ask for

Unjust criticism of Kemba is a constant around here. It's at once a source of frustration and entertainment to me.

[Robot Rock]

Kemba (had too many brain farts for my liking when guarding Isaiah)

[MasterIchiro]

Don't bother trying to use logic. Some people just don't get it.

It's not even about using logic. It just ruffles my feathers to the point where I have to debate when I read unjust criticism. Like what did we expect, Isaiah Thomas not to make any baskets?! Locking a guy that's been shooting as efficient as Thomas has this season to 35% in a game is about as good of defense as you can ask for

Unjust criticism of Kemba is a constant around here. It's at once a source of frustration and entertainment to me.

My theory is bashing him deflects attention away from the supporting cast around him which is not living up to their draft positions. It helps fans feel better about "their guy" and usually it's a prospect/player that deserves far more scrutiny than Kemba. Like Kemba is supposed to make everyone around him better, but everyone around MKG would make him a better player.

[LamarMatic7]

OK. I guess it's time for Lamar's breakdown on Kemba's defense against Isaiah Thomas.

Thomas took 19 field goal attempts against Kemba. Three of the misses were against Ben Gordon, Hendo and McBob (Josh switched on him during an inbounds play). One of the field goal attempts was a quarter ending desperation drive so I made the executive decision to not include it in this breakdown as it's a chaotic play. So here's Isaiah's 8/19 against Kemba. Every shot:

1) Kemba gets caught ball-watching (brain fart) and loses Thomas for the corner three which he for some reason doesn't take. A good close-out follows by Kemba to cover up for his mistake but he doesn't deny the middle so Thomas ends up with a decent look. Jeff Taylor can be blamed for the drive as he and Kemba don't communicate well enough which leaves Kemba stopping mid-drive as he's presuming that JT will stay with Thomas.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0PFM9UGTdU[/youtube]

2) One of the bad shots I was talking about. Kemba did everything he had to do, but it's a difficult runner attempt by Thomas.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWx1Y4AFMb8[/youtube]

3) Nothing you can do here about the make. Definitely a positive play as Kemba stayed with Isaiah all through the sequence.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ay3dAOM_zeE[/youtube]

4) Kemba did the right thing to stay with Thompson to prevent the possible dunk but has definitely forgotten about Thomas as after DMC is stopped, Kemba stops himself before realizing the three that is about to come. Kemba read the court well but didn't do the entire job. Of course, there's some bad luck to this as well.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIS7ojuu2AQ[/youtube]

5) Kemba doesn't execute "ICE" particularly well as he does the right thing by not allowing Thomas to use the screen, however, doesn't shut down the middle (brain fart). A weird slip-up by Kemba makes the possession even wackier.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dQG7jbcwn0[/youtube]

6) Kemba just lets Isaiah get in the middle of the lane, only to make a great recovery and reject him as if he was toying with him. Few point guards can make this play happen.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFFyBHvnTao[/youtube]

7) Thomas gets the ball with 1.3 seconds on the shot clock. Desperation heave. A bad shot where Isaiah had no choice.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q89v7JHZu-8[/youtube]

8) Kemba and Zeller ice the pick-n-roll just as you want to, Thomas just decides to rise up for the three over Kemba's hand, even though there's plenty of time left.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yS5QGpx3Ig[/youtube]

9) Bad brain fart. Kemba gets caught ball-watching.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flJzTq3Kw1o[/youtube]

10) Another brain fart. Isaiah catches Kemba back-pedalling and makes the open three. What I dislike is that Kemba doesn't even try to close out on the shot.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8EOYEmiXkw[/youtube]

11) Kemba just doing his job playing weak-side D. If you pause it somewhere at 0:06 (when DMC goes up in the air), he certainly is way lower than you should be (if you did pause, you can see that he just has nothing to do down that low, McBob has it covered) but I guess there's no damage. Great hustle to close out after not doing so the last time, I might add.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifyjE55wXPE[/youtube]

12) Isaiah got way too straight of a line to the basket on this one. Not good D by Kemba. But this play actually is more worth watching because of Zeller. Pause somewhere at 0:08 when Isaiah has just got by Kemba - Zeller's in the restricted area. Then press play and watch how he doesn't move forward one bit. He should have been waiting for Thomas a step outside the restricted area.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9DcwurtexI[/youtube]

13) The pick-n-roll jumper most guards can get in this league (especially if you target the opponent's slow big who drops down on PnRs). Kemba recovers nicely from the screen but it's too late.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdysTNX-HNE[/youtube]

14) Al again gets targeted in the PnR, but Kemba is no better giving up mid-play when he still was in it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_pryYiQbGg[/youtube]

15) Very good D. Keeps himself in front of Isaiah and the task for Thomas isn't any easier when Biz is the one coming over to protect the rim.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fb-eIJ4v4E[/youtube]

16) Bad shot alert!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZTd-HC0GNc[/youtube]

17) As it is with pick-n-rolls in the middle of the court, there's not much the point guard can do to influence the play. Biz does let Thomas cross him over yet manages to protect the rim with his length.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kuOw5mcSYU[/youtube]

18) Very good initial D but a bad, bad gamble that gives Thomas an open layup (yep, Al is back on the court instead of Biz) which he misses.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuN4Qur84k8[/youtube]

19) Kemba awkwardly gets stuck on the screen and again randomly stops middle of the play. Al, of course, gives up the and-1.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3kCRAZ7Xiw[/youtube]

So that's that.

Thomas went 8/19 against Kemba, that's 42%, a 4% drop from his field goal percentage.

Out of those 19 field goal attempts Thomas took 4 very bad shots, on 4 of those plays Kemba wasn't a factor, they were shots an NBA point guard will just get. Kemba also made 3 great defensive plays but had 6 1/2 bad ones. Those being the two times he got ball-watching and was back-doored by Isaiah, the failed icing of the pick-n-roll after which Kemba slips on the court, the back-pedalling that ends in an open transition 3, the gamble and the time he got caught on a screen. It's 50/50 on the play where he gave Thomas a clear line to the basket yet Zeller offered no rim protection at all.

And the play where he does the right thing to cover up Thompson in the transition, yet forgets about Isaiah. Just can't categorize it.

I'm open to any kind of analysis on the uploaded plays and what happened to them. I will ignore posters who add completely nothing to the discussion by just claiming that I am a less intelligent basketball fan than he is and uploading GIFs.

Bottom line is that by no means did Kemba "lock up" Isaiah Thomas. It was just every day NBA defense with too many brain farts for my liking.

I hope you appreciate my hard work, I'm off to bed as I have to wake up in 5 hours for work.

[JMAC3]

Gold- Hendo
Silver- Kemba
Bronze- Biz

HM- Sessions

Kemba clearly outplayed Thomas...

[mrknowitall215]

Good work 'LamarMatic7'. You're still my favorite poster. I still don't think that was enough to strip Kemba of his gold hammer, but...

[fatlever]

this is what happens when you make lamar angry.

note to self, don't make lamar angry.

[fatlever]

funny how this came up...

i ran into ewingsweatsalot today at work. he went to the game last night and had the company seat (centercourt, lower level, 20 rows up - basically the best seats in the arena). first thing he said to me was "kemba's defense was BAD, especially on pick and rolls".

to be honest, i didnt really notice it last night watching the game, but hearing both lamar and ESaL mention it and now seeing lamar's videos, you have to agree there were definitely more than a few "brain farts" by kemba tonight.

i'd still give kemba the gold, because overall he played a pretty good game (4th in past 6). and something ESaL mentioned was that its fair that kemba needs to save some energy for offense considering the massive burder we place on him on that end of the floor.

overall i do believe kemba is one of the better defensive pgs in the league. there isnt a single pg that doesnt have brain farts every game and its more noticeable now than ever due to the staggering number of really good pgs in the league.

this also illustrates why every team is trying to get their hands on an elite rim protector.

[BigSlam]

How did a Hammer's thread become all of this??

[LamarMatic7]

How did a Hammer's thread become all of this??

Robot Rock pissed me off a bit and I like arguing with MrKnowItAll.

[fatlever]

voting closed

gold - kemba
silver - henderson
bronze - sessions