Leap Year - The Kemba Walker Thread III

[Joest2003]

Calapari was in colin cowherds show today and Colin asked him if he ever missed out on player and the first thing he said was kemba. Said he thought he was too short in high school but then he beat Kentucky in the final four and he was really pissed off lol

[Braggins]

I honestly miss sessions he was in instant spark off the bench. But I like Lin a lot too

I love Lin but maybe it's because Roberts scarred me for life. I like his hair as well. I might be the only one.

I'm with you on the hair. I support all manners of absurd hair. I remember at the beginning of last season we both wanted to trade for OJ Mayo partially because of his new fro. I still want Mayo and like his current (and far more absurd) hairstyle.

[MasterIchiro]

I honestly miss sessions he was in instant spark off the bench. But I like Lin a lot too

I love Lin but maybe it's because Roberts scarred me for life. I like his hair as well. I might be the only one.

I'm with you on the hair. I support all manners of absurd hair. I remember at the beginning of last season we both wanted to trade for OJ Mayo partially because of his new fro. I still want Mayo and like his current (and far more absurd) hairstyle.

I am very jealous of afros. My hair is very straight and Im white. I used to rock a mohawk but it had one track, not two like Lin's. It had a tail in the back though like Christiano Ronaldo.

[Braggins]

I love Lin but maybe it's because Roberts scarred me for life. I like his hair as well. I might be the only one.

I'm with you on the hair. I support all manners of absurd hair. I remember at the beginning of last season we both wanted to trade for OJ Mayo partially because of his new fro. I still want Mayo and like his current (and far more absurd) hairstyle.

I am very jealous of afros. My hair is very straight and Im white. I used to rock a mohawk but it had one track, not two like Lin's. It had a tail in the back though like Christiano Ronaldo.

Yep, if I was black I would without a doubt have an afro.

[MasterIchiro]

I'm with you on the hair. I support all manners of absurd hair. I remember at the beginning of last season we both wanted to trade for OJ Mayo partially because of his new fro. I still want Mayo and like his current (and far more absurd) hairstyle.

I am very jealous of afros. My hair is very straight and Im white. I used to rock a mohawk but it had one track, not two like Lin's. It had a tail in the back though like Christiano Ronaldo.

Yep, if I was black I would without a doubt have an afro.

Oh definitely, I tell black friends and black acquaintances to grow it, all the time.

[MasterIchiro]

Kemba now shooting .457 and .391 and getting to the rack at will. All-Star

[BatumtheGlue]

I hope it's winter all season long. Well, we just have 2 seasons here, lol.

[BigSlam]

What happens to Kemba's game if Bats misses time through injury or suspension or, even worse, we can't resign him in the offseason?


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[BatumtheGlue]

What happens to Kemba's game if Bats misses time through injury or suspension or, even worse, we can't resign him in the offseason?


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

Back to the "old" Kemba and i hate the old Kemba

[Elden Payton]

I'm loving this new Kemba, he still needs to improve his playmaking but he's been exceptional this season.

He's still inconsistent, but there is a lesser degree between good Kemba and bad Kemba now.

Credit where credit is due.

[Braggins]

I'm loving this new Kemba, he still needs to improve his playmaking but he's been exceptional this season.

He's still inconsistent, but there is a lesser degree between good Kemba and bad Kemba now.

Credit where credit is due.

Aussies keeps it real

[Elden Payton]

I'm loving this new Kemba, he still needs to improve his playmaking but he's been exceptional this season.

He's still inconsistent, but there is a lesser degree between good Kemba and bad Kemba now.

Credit where credit is due.

Aussies keeps it real

As an Australian, I feel an obligation to try

Props to your boy!

[Elden Payton]

I hope it's winter all season long. Well, we just have 2 seasons here, lol.

DeWholeDamnSeason-The Kemba Walker thread.

[yosemiteben]

Charlotte Hornets PR ‏@HornetsPR 56m56 minutes ago
With a 20.1 ppg avg in Dec @hornets G @KembaWalker holds highest Dec scoring avg of PG in CHA history via @statmuse https://www.statmuse.com/view?qid=8044b652-4a3f-460e-bebb-

Now let's keep it going Kemba.

[fatlever]

December Kemba showed up again in full force.

[fatlever]

Decemba Walker?

[DY_nasty]

Decemba Walker?

As usual

I rag on him a lot, so I'd like to think that when I say something good about him its REALLY good.... but that 1st quarter against the Clippers, after that T, was the best Kemba has looked to me since the playoffs against Miami. He' hasn't ran the game at different speeds, involved multiple players, stayed dialed in defensively, or made his defender work while not being directly involved quite like that for a LONG time.

Of course he disappeared completely in the 3rd and did the hero ball crap in the 4th again but stuff like that 1st really make me think he's worth the money and investment.

Then he'll get roasted by a nobody like Jose Calderon again and I'll be calling for locker to be emptied lol

[yosemiteben]

Fantastic piece on Kemba's jumper, both on specific steps he has taken to improve it and the impact of his improved jumper on other facets of his game: http://www.si.com/nba/2016/01/06/kemba-walker-charlotte-hornets-jump-shot-the-craft

Really liked this portion and the talk about the staff emphasizing the need to find teammates:

Spoiler:

That isn’t to say that a pocket-sized guard will always get the better of the seven-footers lurking in the paint. Walker still gets his shot rejected plenty and rushes through some attempts as a rim protector looms. Yet among his physical peers (guards his height or shorter), only Kyle Lowry, Rajon Rondo, and Darren Collison have converted a higher percentage of their shots from the restricted area this season. Walker had to work hard to get there; his own shooting in the restricted area is up nearly seven percent from last season, per NBA.com, in part from learning on film when to attack and when to continue probing.

“[The coaches] show me a lot of the stuff where I go into the lane and my shot gets blocked or a big guy just altered my shot,” Walker said. “They show me where I could've kept my dribble alive and kept dribbling through or, when I'm in the air, know how many guys I have just surrounding me and how much attention I create. I always have open guys. That's something I'm still trying to learn, just where my guys are.”

When Walker does decide to push all the way to the rim, he’s having more success than before by way of creating contact early. The sooner that he can get a bump on a potential help defender, the better; Walker isn’t quite big enough to keep a shot-blocker on his hip the whole way, but he’s quick enough on his feet to make the most of that moment his defender spends in recoil. Hetzel runs Walker through all kinds of scenarios to ensure that he’s capable of using the rim for protection, showing the ball on one side of his body only to finish on the other, and taking two steps—long or short—in any direction. Guards that are Walker’s size can’t get by with a single go-to move. They need every trick possible to stay a step ahead of their significantly taller and longer opponents.

“As far as getting in there amongst the trees, that's something I'm still trying to get better with,” Walker said. “It's pretty tough to finish over these guys. That's where decision-making comes in—the decision to either get a quick shot, a quick layup, and make it or find one of my teammates. That's something I think I still have to get better at: Keeping my dribble alive and just continuing to probe in there and try to find my teammates.”

The Hornets want Walker pushing for that next-level recognition. Forcing a defender to chase you over a screen and into the lane is powerful in itself for the way it brings two opponents to the ball. Due to his height, however, Walker can’t afford to get caught in a trap; the passing angles for Walker aren’t quite as accessible under pressure as they would be for a bigger ball handler. In that, so much of Walker’s success will come from learning and internalizing the path to get to particular kinds of shots, reading defensive rotations and making moves to preemptively freeze the second defender, and moving the ball early after drawing a defensive commitment.

“His next step,” Hetzel said, “is just to play chess.”

[catch20two]

All a matter of having more space without the combination of Hendo and MKG on the floor more than anything else if you ask me. Can't wait for MKG to return tho.

[Buzzed_Hornet]

It's becoming clear that in order to become an all star Kemba will need a play making forward like Batum... or Ben Simmons.