Leap Year - The Kemba Walker Thread III

[Snidely FC]

Zach Lowe's take on Kemba's candidacy:

Walker reinvented only one part of his game, but that single change -- morphing into an above-average 3-point shooter -- transformed everything for the Hornets. Opponents for years clogged Charlotte's dreary offense by ducking under screens against Walker, walling off his driving lanes and leaving the Bobcats/Hornets heaving up junk late in the shot clock. Do that now, and Walker is roasting you from deep.

Defenders have to chase Walker over picks, and that means he can ankle-break his way into the paint -- drawing help and opening up 3-point looks for Charlotte's army of shooters. A lead ball handler polishing his long-range shot is the rare isolated skill development that ripples across an entire roster. It's a big reason Charlotte gradually found its footing in those minutes when Walker leads the offense without Nicolas Batum as co-pilot.

Walker vowed for years he would do this. He finally made good. What a season.

[catch20two]

I personally think that has a lot and more to do with the wing personnel, addition and subtraction, than Kemba improving his own shot so much. With wing personnel that are more liable 3pt threats it make Kemba's shot selection and flow of the game more fluid than the previous years where defenses dictatated our flow since our shot selection variety was scarce with wing players that didn't keep them honest.

[ChokeFasncists]

Congradz Kemba, 1st runner up in Most Improved Player of the Year!

McCollum received first-place votes from 105 of the 130 writers and broadcasters who cast ballots for the award, finishing with 559 total "award points" to lead the pack. (Players get five points for a first-place vote, three for a second-place vote and one for third place.) Point guard Kemba Walker, who averaged a career-high 20.9 points per game to lead the Charlotte Hornets back to the postseason thanks in large part to a significant spike in his 3-point accuracy, received seven first-place votes and finished second in balloting with 166 points.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/c-j--mccollum-won-most-improved-player-by-taking-pride-in-struggle-183125931.html

[fatlever]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/theoden-janes/article73966287.html

Nice feel-good Kemba story

[Roy Tarpley]

What a classy player and person. How can you not root for someone like this?

[Elden Payton]

Kemba is a great guy.

He is a 'real' professional athlete.

Huge credit to him.

[MasterIchiro]

They live in Dilworth. Would have made for a warmer story had they been from Sugar Creek.

[yosemiteben]

They live in Dilworth. Would have made for a warmer story had they been from Sugar Creek.

Why?

[ChokeFasncists]

Happy Kemba!

OTOH, is Janes gonna take over Bonnell?

[rallydurham]

Kemba really should have won the award. McCollum didn't really improve his minutes just went up. And kemba is twice the player he is

[fatlever]

Kemba really should have won the award. McCollum didn't really improve his minutes just went up. And kemba is twice the player he is

That's not really fair to McCollum and what he accomplished this year.

It was more than just getting more minutes. His per 36 PPG jumped from 15.7 to 21.6, per 36 assists jumped from 2.4 to 4.4. He took on the 2nd option scoring role with starters and the lead scoring and playmaking role with the bench unit and managed to improve his %s across the board. PER jumped from 13.1 to 17.7. All that on a mid-seeded playoff team that every assumed would be awful.

His improvements were a lot more than simply getting more minutes. His award was well deserved.

[rallydurham]

Yeah but if you look at his production per minute it really was the same as last years. And he's an average player. Whereas kemba became a really good player this year. McCollum just benefitted from being on a team that dumped the guy playing over him and picked up good low usage free agents

[fatlever]

Yeah but if you look at his production per minute it really was the same as last years. And he's an average player. Whereas kemba became a really good player this year. McCollum just benefitted from being on a team that dumped the guy playing over him and picked up good low usage free agents

I already posted his per 36 numbers, (ie production per minute x 36 minutes, to normalize stats to the minutes of a starter). Did you miss the part where I posted the per 36 numbers for his scoring and assists? They clearly disagree with your suggestion that his production per minute was the same. His points per minute went up around 40% while his assists per minute went up over 80%.

For convenience, a link to his per 36 averages for his 3 years.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mccolcj01.html#per_minute::none

[BigSlam]

Yeah but if you look at his production per minute it really was the same as last years. And he's an average player. Whereas kemba became a really good player this year. McCollum just benefitted from being on a team that dumped the guy playing over him and picked up good low usage free agents

I already posted his per 36 numbers, (ie production per minute x 36 minutes, to normalize stats to the minutes of a starter). Did you miss the part where I posted the per 36 numbers for his scoring and assists? They clearly disagree with your suggestion that his production per minute was the same. His points per minute went up around 40% while his assists per minute went up over 80%.

For convenience, a link to his per 36 averages for his 3 years.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mccolcj01.html#per_minute::none

Ok, but there is no Aldridge or Matthews on the team this year - and there was the previous 3 - so his per 36 might not be a good metric, unless you factor in his usage as well, because he wouldn't have touched the ball nearly as much.

Perhaps the delta between the two (per 36 vs usage) represented in a percentage might provide clarity?

Don't know, just spitballing??


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[TheKingofSting]

I think Kemba may win Most Improved Player next season. I agree with Dell Curry in that Kemba isn't even in his prime yet. Nothing would surprise me with this young fella.


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[fatlever]

Yeah but if you look at his production per minute it really was the same as last years. And he's an average player. Whereas kemba became a really good player this year. McCollum just benefitted from being on a team that dumped the guy playing over him and picked up good low usage free agents

I already posted his per 36 numbers, (ie production per minute x 36 minutes, to normalize stats to the minutes of a starter). Did you miss the part where I posted the per 36 numbers for his scoring and assists? They clearly disagree with your suggestion that his production per minute was the same. His points per minute went up around 40% while his assists per minute went up over 80%.

For convenience, a link to his per 36 averages for his 3 years.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mccolcj01.html#per_minute::none

Ok, but there is no Aldridge or Matthews on the team this year - and there was the previous 3 - so his per 36 might not be a good metric, unless you factor in his usage as well, because he wouldn't have touched the ball nearly as much.

Perhaps the delta between the two (per 36 vs usage) represented in a percentage might provide clarity?

Don't know, just spitballing??


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Fair point that his usage increased. He went from being the back up point guard and maybe 2nd option on the second unit, maybe 3rd or 4th option when he was playing with starters to now being option 1B with starters and leading the 2nd unit when Lillard is out. So while his chances to score as assist have gone way up, hence the increase in overall stats as well as per 36 stats, you have to give him credit for actually improving his percentages across the board at the same time.

He's no longer being defended by backup point guards or the weaker wing defenders. He is now a target of all defensive gameplans and on most nights he draws the best wing defender. When we played in Portland this year MKG was assigned to guard CJ. Last year MKG would have been on Matthews and CJ would have probably spent most of the night being guarded by Mo Williams, Brian Roberts or maybe Lance. Now he gets Tony Allen, Avery Bradley or Marcus Smart, Danny Green or Leonard etc...

And its not like he put up empty stats on a bad team that just needed someone, anyone to score. He did it on a solid playoff team that is one of the best offenses in the league.

That being said, I do see your point with Kemba who has the same role, same usage and actually did improve 5 years into his career.

It probably comes down to how you interpret the award. CJ might fall into the categories of young players who are expected to make a leap in their first few years. Considering he missed the first half of his rookie year with injury, this year is more like his 2.5 year.

Fair points on either side if you ask me.

[ChokeFasncists]

Well, OTOH, the team around Kemba has changed dramatically as well.

His main improvement was his accuracy in three point shooting.

[rallydurham]

Yeah per is a terrible metric to ever cite, it was widely discredited the minute it came out as its acompletely inaccurate gauge of production. As it Rewards you just for taking ineffiecient shots lol

His productivity levels were below average and very consistent with last season. He was just a beneficiary of Portland picking up a bunch of low usage guys and his minutes going way up.


I mean kemba dramatically improved there's really no argument to be had that he improved a lot. Whereas McCollum usage just went up and his productivity was about the same. Assists and turnovers are in line, 0.6% ts.... it was actually kinda disappointing given his age.

But the award seldom goes to he player who improves the most it goes to a guy whose counting stats are higher because writers are dumb and lazy.

I mean Crawford got the most ludicrous 6th man award yet. You could make a strong argument that he's the worst 6th man in the league.

[Snidely FC]

we lost but Kemba really showed his quality

[catch20two]

I hope Kemba can ride that tenacity into Game 7. I'll almost ensure a victory if he do.