Leap Year - The Kemba Walker Thread III

[fatlever]

It isn't, but no one else has proven that they should be the starter instead. You started from the assumption that Kemba should be benched because you are a Lin fan and obviously have an agenda. Why is the notion that he could be good enough as a starter or that he is currently our best option unfathomable to you?

BTW, Apples isn't a Lin fan, I believe he is a Frank fan. He signed up and was posting here before Lin signed. I don't think it is fair to label him as a biased Lin fan. That is not accurate.

You're right also Batum. Most accurate is to say I'm a fan of how NBA basketball is now played compared to the depth's of hell pit from which it emanated. I'm fond of players like Shane Battier who was grossly underrated because math hadn't yet captured his value. Tyson Chandler who is a black swan without comps. Dirk who's value is still misunderstood, etc...

Btw, not a knock that I was pointing out you were a Frank fan, just trying to guess as to how you became a Hornets fan. I got the feeling you weren't always a Hornets fan. I went back and looked at your first posts on RGM and they were related to Frank, so that was my educated guess.

Anyway, I typically love your posts and view of the game. Very insightful. Just thought I'd put that out there.

[fatlever]

Oh, and another thing, you and I agree 100% on Battier. I used to love him even back in the Memphis days when everyone was calling him a bust because he wasn't putting up stats. (and thats hard for me to say because I grew up a huge UNC fan). I remember telling everyone that would listen that when Battier went to the Rockets they would immediately improve just due to his presence on the floor, regardless of his stats. I love guys like that, who just get basketball.

As it pertains to Kemba... Sadly, I do not have a high opinion of Kemba's basketball IQ. He doesn't read the game very well. He's not a dumb player either. He's a fantastic teammate and high character guy which gives him tons of bonuses though.

[Braggins]

BTW, Apples isn't a Lin fan, I believe he is a Frank fan. He signed up and was posting here before Lin signed. I don't think it is fair to label him as a biased Lin fan. That is not accurate.

You're right also Batum. Most accurate is to say I'm a fan of how NBA basketball is now played compared to the depth's of hell pit from which it emanated. I'm fond of players like Shane Battier who was grossly underrated because math hadn't yet captured his value. Tyson Chandler who is a black swan without comps. Dirk who's value is still misunderstood, etc...

Anyway, I typically love your posts and view of the game. Very insightful. Just thought I'd put that out there.

[bws94]

I come here as a veteran NBA viewer from NYC watching the Knicks literally since Clyde/Reed/Bradley and following Lin here. Kemba is a Bronx kid that went to UConn. Kemba is 25 I believe and you guys have been watching Kemba and of course see repeated tendencies will frustrate as I get frustrated watching Lin and others make repeated mistakes. But, guys get into habits and get their own form of tunnel vision, a lot of NBA players have that. I'm not a Knicks fan currently, I like some guys in the NBA and tend to like the team Lin is on although I had a hard time with LA last season and hope Lin sticks around with the Hornets.

I'd start Kemba over Lin. He has much more secure handles, can get to his spot on the courts under pressure and has a nice sense of changing speeds and stutter steps. He can do some simple PnRs with Al, give and go plays, and it seems to me he's looking to pass more. He's learned to play with Batum and really, showed some decent chemistry with Lin on the court last night.

Lin shows vulnerability under pressure where he seems to concentrate on his dribble to not get the ball stripped, sometimes dribbles in circles, tends to go 0-100 as fast as he possibly can and not utilize the stutter steps enough to get to his spots. When his shot isn't falling he tends to drive into traffic more and turns it over. If he has a great PnR player, he can start and excel. If not, then these qualities come out in his game more. Lin is scouted so he has to fight through traps and such by some teams like Miami and Atlanta and they slow him down. It also reveals itself in the playoffs and half-court situations more than regular season or more up-tempo offensive games.

With the addition of Batum, both Kemba and Lin are helped. Batum isn't perfect either. While he can make great passes he is also vulnerable to a bad pass and at times, late in games. But he makes a lot of great passes and decisions and with Lin and Kemba cutting, he can reward them easily with good looks and easy baskets. Those 3 usually will end games because of the penetration of the PGs and Batum's skills. Batum and Lin definitely get the ball deeper to Al than Kemba does, Kemba can improve there.

But it all may come down to the shot. If Kemba's shot doesn't fall he can become an inefficient chucker and at times he forgets to use his team mates. But if encouraged to use Batum, and reminded, Kemba is a big asset in my opinion.

I also like Batum, Kemba and Lin's defense. All 3 are strong enough in this regard. And I wish Lin wouldn't roam on defense, that's my biggest problem with his defense.

Wishing good health to Kemba this year and growth.

[yosemiteben]

(and thats hard for me to say because I grew up a huge UNC fan)

Just when I thought we could be friends...

[MasterIchiro]

Kemba is shooting 37% from 3.

He just needs to shoot 35% from 3 to be effective.

His FG% is identical to 7-foot Cody Zeller but I have to admit Zeller is having a horrendous season. He's athletic but just not very agile nor skillful. There is no finesse to him. He looks out of control alot of the time, very clumsy and remarkably slow reaction time on rebounds. He has very poor instincts and poor feel for the game. He is high energy and he works hard but I've lost my patience with him.

Anyways, that's for another thread. Clifford mentioned Kemba's starting to put it together lately. It's a new offense for him so he's still learning but I expect him to get better as the season progresses, not worse. He won't be run into the ground like last year when he was backed by Roberts. He will have time to breath on the bench and digest the game.

[Mystical Apples]

The last 6 games (half the season) the Hornets net rating improves by 28.8 points when Kemba sits. About 11 is an improvement in offense and the rest on the defensive end. Als rating is slightly better but not by much. The team has been better by 24 points on defense when Big Al takes a seat.

Kemba On - 101.1 offensive rating, 105.8 defensive rating

Kemba Off - 112.6 offensive rating, 88.5 defensive rating

http://stats.nba.com/team/#!/1610612766/onoffcourt/advanced/?Season=2015-16&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&LastNGames=6&sort=DEF_RATING&dir=1

[Diop]

Clifford mentioned Kemba's starting to put it together lately. It's a new offense for him so he's still learning but I expect him to get better as the season progresses, not worse. He won't be run into the ground like last year when he was backed by Roberts. He will have time to breath on the bench and digest the game.

I'm hoping you're right and willing to wait, mainly because I don't think we have a choice.

[catch20two]

The last 6 games (half the season) the Hornets net rating improves by 28.8 points when Kemba sits. About 11 is an improvement in offense and the rest on the defensive end. Als rating is slightly better but not by much. The team has been better by 24 points on defense when Big Al takes a seat.

Kemba On - 101.1 offensive rating, 105.8 defensive rating

Kemba Off - 112.6 offensive rating, 88.5 defensive rating

http://stats.nba.com/team/#!/1610612766/onoffcourt/advanced/?Season=2015-16&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&LastNGames=6&sort=DEF_RATING&dir=1

Lol. That's some of the most skewed BS with a narrative I've seen on here all season.

How about this, Kemba has a higher offensive rating than Lin point blank period on the season.

[catch20two]

Kemba is shooting 37% from 3.

He just needs to shoot 35% from 3 to be effective.

His FG% is identical to 7-foot Cody Zeller but I have to admit Zeller is having a horrendous season. He's athletic but just not very agile nor skillful. There is no finesse to him. He looks out of control alot of the time, very clumsy and remarkably slow reaction time on rebounds. He has very poor instincts and poor feel for the game. He is high energy and he works hard but I've lost my patience with him.

Anyways, that's for another thread. Clifford mentioned Kemba's starting to put it together lately. It's a new offense for him so he's still learning but I expect him to get better as the season progresses, not worse. He won't be run into the ground like last year when he was backed by Roberts. He will have time to breath on the bench and digest the game.

Let's just face it. Zeller is average at best. Should've traded him this summer when people thought he was a elite defender lmao like I said. But then again we don't know if Portland shunned the idea of adding Zeller and opted for Vonleh.

Kemba has been more than solid so far this season. He's just the whipping boy to blame when things don't go right. I know you couldn't care less but I wish MKG wasn't hurt. Him being hurt has taken a lot of this season away from me but the plus is that I doubt Clifford would give Lamb over 10 minutes had MKG been healthy.

[Mystical Apples]

Kemba is shooting 37% from 3.

He just needs to shoot 35% from 3 to be effective.

His FG% is identical to 7-foot Cody Zeller but I have to admit Zeller is having a horrendous season. He's athletic but just not very agile nor skillful. There is no finesse to him. He looks out of control alot of the time, very clumsy and remarkably slow reaction time on rebounds. He has very poor instincts and poor feel for the game. He is high energy and he works hard but I've lost my patience with him.

Anyways, that's for another thread. Clifford mentioned Kemba's starting to put it together lately. It's a new offense for him so he's still learning but I expect him to get better as the season progresses, not worse. He won't be run into the ground like last year when he was backed by Roberts. He will have time to breath on the bench and digest the game.

Let's just face it. Zeller is average at best. Should've traded him this summer when people thought he was a elite defender lmao like I said. But then again we don't know if Portland shunned the idea of adding Zeller and opted for Vonleh.

Kemba has been more than solid so far this season. He's just the whipping boy to blame when things don't go right. I know you couldn't care less but I wish MKG wasn't hurt. Him being hurt has taken a lot of this season away from me but the plus is that I doubt Clifford would give Lamb over 10 minutes had MKG been healthy.

Since you insist on critiquing Cody on a Kemba thread here you go:

Over the same 6 game period Cody is +8.8.

In 62 minutes with Kemba he is -8.0

In 60 minutes with the other point guard he is +22.8.

[catch20two]

Kemba is shooting 37% from 3.

He just needs to shoot 35% from 3 to be effective.

His FG% is identical to 7-foot Cody Zeller but I have to admit Zeller is having a horrendous season. He's athletic but just not very agile nor skillful. There is no finesse to him. He looks out of control alot of the time, very clumsy and remarkably slow reaction time on rebounds. He has very poor instincts and poor feel for the game. He is high energy and he works hard but I've lost my patience with him.

Anyways, that's for another thread. Clifford mentioned Kemba's starting to put it together lately. It's a new offense for him so he's still learning but I expect him to get better as the season progresses, not worse. He won't be run into the ground like last year when he was backed by Roberts. He will have time to breath on the bench and digest the game.

Let's just face it. Zeller is average at best. Should've traded him this summer when people thought he was a elite defender lmao like I said. But then again we don't know if Portland shunned the idea of adding Zeller and opted for Vonleh.

Kemba has been more than solid so far this season. He's just the whipping boy to blame when things don't go right. I know you couldn't care less but I wish MKG wasn't hurt. Him being hurt has taken a lot of this season away from me but the plus is that I doubt Clifford would give Lamb over 10 minutes had MKG been healthy.

Since you insist on critiquing Cody on a Kemba thread here you go:

Over the same 6 game period Cody is +8.8.

In 62 minutes with Kemba he is -8.0

In 60 minutes with the other point guard he is +22.8.

Silly argument. You're skewing numbers where Lin may have had his best stretch in comparison to Kemba not accounting for the fact that Kemba has to play with Fat Albert the majority of his minutes.

Kemba has a higher offensive rating and assist percentage than Lin regardless how you want to flip it to make your dumb narrative which is wearing extremely thin.

For the season Lin and Zeller together on the floor have a 99.5 offensive rating to a 101.5 defensive rating which would mean they have a negative 2.0 rating on the floor together.

[fatlever]

(and thats hard for me to say because I grew up a huge UNC fan)

Just when I thought we could be friends...

Well, I don't give two **** about UNC or college basketball these days. Does that help?

[Mystical Apples]

Let's just face it. Zeller is average at best. Should've traded him this summer when people thought he was a elite defender lmao like I said. But then again we don't know if Portland shunned the idea of adding Zeller and opted for Vonleh.

Kemba has been more than solid so far this season. He's just the whipping boy to blame when things don't go right. I know you couldn't care less but I wish MKG wasn't hurt. Him being hurt has taken a lot of this season away from me but the plus is that I doubt Clifford would give Lamb over 10 minutes had MKG been healthy.

Since you insist on critiquing Cody on a Kemba thread here you go:

Over the same 6 game period Cody is +8.8.

In 62 minutes with Kemba he is -8.0

In 60 minutes with the other point guard he is +22.8.

Silly argument. You're skewing numbers where Lin may have had his best stretch in comparison to Kemba not accounting for the fact that Kemba has to play with Fat Albert the majority of his minutes.

Kemba has a higher offensive rating and assist percentage than Lin regardless how you want to flip it to make your dumb narrative which is wearing extremely thin.

For the season Lin and Zeller together on the floor have a 99.5 offensive rating to a 101.5 defensive rating which would mean they have a negative 2.0 rating on the floor together.

Six is a perfectly logical number - it's half of 12 and coincides with the Minnesota game where Clifford chose to close with the second unit. There's nothing arbitrary or skewed about it. For some odd reason you continue to introduce these strawman points about Cody and Lin which is weird because I mentioned neither in my original post.

[catch20two]

Since you insist on critiquing Cody on a Kemba thread here you go:

Over the same 6 game period Cody is +8.8.

In 62 minutes with Kemba he is -8.0

In 60 minutes with the other point guard he is +22.8.

Silly argument. You're skewing numbers where Lin may have had his best stretch in comparison to Kemba not accounting for the fact that Kemba has to play with Fat Albert the majority of his minutes.

Kemba has a higher offensive rating and assist percentage than Lin regardless how you want to flip it to make your dumb narrative which is wearing extremely thin.

For the season Lin and Zeller together on the floor have a 99.5 offensive rating to a 101.5 defensive rating which would mean they have a negative 2.0 rating on the floor together.

Six is a perfectly logical number - it's half of 12 and coincides with the Minnesota game where Clifford chose to close with the second unit. There's nothing arbitrary or skewed about it. For some odd reason you continue to introduce these strawman points about Cody and Lin which is weird because I mentioed neither in my original post.

You jumped into my convo with Ichiro where I mentioned Cody and quoted me talking that nonsense. That's how we got to Cody and Lin smartwad. Keep up with your own arguments.

And 6 games don't mean ish compared to 12 games. I'm not a Cody fan anyway. He's been trash all season albeit on 12 games. Looked great in preseason. Almost gave me a glimmer of hope. Both Kemba and Lin are in the negative playing with him on the floor this season.

You talking that strawman ish too. Chill out. You wanna try to use skewed numbers that make Lin look better than Kemba but ignore the fact that the offense has functioned better with Kemba on the floor in all 12 games than it has with Lin. That shutdown any of the nonsense you're tryna spew.

[fatlever]

The last 6 games (half the season) the Hornets net rating improves by 28.8 points when Kemba sits. About 11 is an improvement in offense and the rest on the defensive end. Als rating is slightly better but not by much. The team has been better by 24 points on defense when Big Al takes a seat.

Kemba On - 101.1 offensive rating, 105.8 defensive rating

Kemba Off - 112.6 offensive rating, 88.5 defensive rating

http://stats.nba.com/team/#!/1610612766/onoffcourt/advanced/?Season=2015-16&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&LastNGames=6&sort=DEF_RATING&dir=1

How much of that is related to having to play most of his minutes with Jefferson?

Jefferson has been in serious decline since the start of last season. It looking really difficult these days to have a functional defense with Jefferson on the floor.

That being said, I am not someone who agrees with the myth that Lin can't play defense. I think that is just lazy talk. Lin has really impressed me defensively. He is much better than I thought. But I bet if you flipped Kemba and Lin and forced Lin to play 90% of his minutes with Jefferson, you'd see his Drtg drop like a rock.

Best defensive units (by my eyeballs)
Kemba/Lin, Batum/PJ, Marvin, Cody

[Braggins]

The last 6 games (half the season) the Hornets net rating improves by 28.8 points when Kemba sits. About 11 is an improvement in offense and the rest on the defensive end. Als rating is slightly better but not by much. The team has been better by 24 points on defense when Big Al takes a seat.

Kemba On - 101.1 offensive rating, 105.8 defensive rating

Kemba Off - 112.6 offensive rating, 88.5 defensive rating

http://stats.nba.com/team/#!/1610612766/onoffcourt/advanced/?Season=2015-16&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&LastNGames=6&sort=DEF_RATING&dir=1

Best defensive units (by my eyeballs)
Kemba/Lin, Batum/PJ, Marvin, Cody

My eyeballs agree.

[yosemiteben]

That's how we got to Cody and Lin smartwad. Keep up with your own arguments.

Totally fine to defend your post, but going forward let's please stop any name calling.

[Mystical Apples]

The last 6 games (half the season) the Hornets net rating improves by 28.8 points when Kemba sits. About 11 is an improvement in offense and the rest on the defensive end. Als rating is slightly better but not by much. The team has been better by 24 points on defense when Big Al takes a seat.

Kemba On - 101.1 offensive rating, 105.8 defensive rating

Kemba Off - 112.6 offensive rating, 88.5 defensive rating

http://stats.nba.com/team/#!/1610612766/onoffcourt/advanced/?Season=2015-16&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&LastNGames=6&sort=DEF_RATING&dir=1

How much of that is related to having to play most of his minutes with Jefferson?

Jefferson has been in serious decline since the start of last season. It looking really difficult these days to have a functional defense with Jefferson on the floor.

That being said, I am not someone who agrees with the myth that Lin can't play defense. I think that is just lazy talk. Lin has really impressed me defensively. He is much better than I thought. But I bet if you flipped Kemba and Lin and forced Lin to play 90% of his minutes with Jefferson, you'd see his Drtg drop like a rock.

Best defensive units (by my eyeballs)
Kemba/Lin, Batum/PJ, Marvin, Cody

That's a good question about Al which is possible but his pay alone can't explain it all. The next step is the see if there are any correlated effects with playing units or individuals. Kemba plays 78% with Al, Nic 71% but PJ 91% and he has a decent rating. It could be something or likely just noise from not playing when the first unit got worked the last couple of games. It's a small sample size but looking at on/offs for all 12 games there are trends in categories and playing units

[Mystical Apples]

I have a chart that drills specific efficiency categories by player I'll post over on fun with stats