Leap Year - The Kemba Walker Thread III

[Walt Cronkite]

He's way surpassed my expectations. I thought he would most easily fit as 3rd guard/6th man and that building a team that complimented his abilities would be too difficult and risky. This team still has a lower ceiling than I'd optimally love, but the floor looks set at playoffs or higher for the foreseeable future. Most importantly, this is an easy team to like that is fun to watch and Kemba sets that pace. Glad I was wrong about his upside.

[Zombiesonics]

He wasn't always. I remember when they gave Kemba his 4/$48m deal, Zach wrote an article for the then-Grantland about the "Kemba Condundrum", about how Kemba wasn't worth the$12m a year contract that Charlotte was rumored to give him. I hit him up on twitter after one of Kemba's daggers, and Zach actually replied and said he was a defensive liability and even with the cap going way way up, he still thought the Hornets overpaid.

Now he's one of the best contract in the league, oh and it's the same contract. How Mr. Lowe has changed his tune.

Oh and Kemba got better. Granted at the time, his running mate in the backcourt was Hendo, and now it's Batum. What a difference that made.

this is very true, he use to laugh at the idea walker could be an above average pg in the league.

[fatlever]

Batum has been a godsend for Kemba. But most of the credit goes to Kemba for his tremendous work ethic. It's so much fun when you see the results for a guy that you know has been busting his ass in the gym.

[James Gatz]

Batum has been a godsend for Kemba. But most of the credit goes to Kemba for his tremendous work ethic. It's so much fun when you see the results for a guy that you know has been busting his ass in the gym.

It does make the MKG gym hype all the worse though.

It's crazy how much Kemba has improved since his rookie season. His only elite skill back then was his handle. He's got a bag full of tools now.

[BigSlam]

Kemba's shooting and ability to finish at the rim has obviously improved a staggering amount, but for me the thing that stands out is his decision making, passing and the way he plays between speeds.

He used to always seem to try and play at top speed, which got him into trouble. Now he varies between his 4th, 5th and 6th gears so gracefully and effectively. His willingness and ability to pass has improved out of sight as well. As Fats has said, no doubt a byproduct of playing with Bats.

I've been critical of Kemba during his career but his improvement last season and especially to start this season is proving me wrong.

The most awesome part though is that he is SUCH a great kid, such an awesome representative of our franchise and so easy to root for.

He's so likeable.


"BBMF'ers"

[fatlever]

Thats a great point about playing at different speeds. His rookie year was just Kemba flying around at 100MPH with no real idea of what to do. Now he's a master at finding those pockets of space for his shots or tricking defenders into relaxing for a split second and then flying past them. And of course his finishing at the rim is light years ahead of the old days.

And yes, does make me sad to see the lack of progress in MKG compared to what Kemba has done. Maybe next summer will be the magical year for MKG.

[Zombiesonics]

Thats a great point about playing at different speeds. His rookie year was just Kemba flying around at 100MPH with no real idea of what to do. Now he's a master at finding those pockets of space for his shots or tricking defenders into relaxing for a split second and then flying past them. And of course his finishing at the rim is light years ahead of the old days.

And yes, does make me sad to see the lack of progress in MKG compared to what Kemba has done. Maybe next summer will be the magical year for MKG.

MKG needs to figure out a way to be a competent offensive player, last night vs atl the hornets looked so much better offensively with marco out there. But i can't ignore MKG is #2 in defensive rpm for sf's for a reason, he is unbelievable on defense. I think he just needs to be a four , the way crowder is. it sucks he seems to have lost his dunking ability? there are many times he goes into the lane and gets stuffed, back in the day he would be head at the rim.

[yosemiteben]

So far this season Kemba is averaging 33.1 MPG, which ranks 23rd among guards. His career low is 34.2 in 2014-15, which was the season he sat out a month with knee surgery and then was brought slowly back after we traded for MoWill. Pre-ASB in that season he averaged 35.6 MPG.

I really hope we continue to keep a close eye on his minutes.

[fatlever]

http://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/18117035/is-kemba-walker-one-best-point-guards-nba-charlotte-hornets

Anyone with Insider want to summarize?

[fatlever]

http://fansided.com/2016/11/23/nylon-calculus-drivers-shooters/

If we filter down to the real high-usage players, those who have played at least 200 minutes and average at least 15.0 combined drives and pull-up shot attempts per game, we wind up with this group: John Wall, J.J. Barea, Kyrie Irving, CJ McCollum, Isaiah Thomas, Russell Westbrook, Kemba Walker, James Harden, Damian Lillard, DeMar DeRozan and Jimmy Butler. There are a few surprises here — Barea having himself a year, Wall getting consistent on pull-ups — but mostly we’re looking at some of the best perimeter scorers in the league.

[fatlever]

http://www.nba.com/article/2016/11/22/charlotte-hornets-kemba-walker-michael-jordan?cid=nbacomsocial_tw_sf43279589

Hornets' Kemba Walker becoming team's enduring anchor
Can the point guard cast a shadow equal to the owner's?

[_tijo_]

Too much Kemba press. Hope he can live up to it.

And I really hope he doesn't read his own press clippings.

[fatlever]

http://www.atthehive.com/2016/11/27/13747548/kemba-walker-charlotte-hornets-charge-defense

From Lamar

Selfless Kemba Walker taking charge on defense
Kemba Walker’s great start to the season on offense has deservedly received praise. Meanwhile, Walker has also excelled at drawing charges and is, in fact, the best point guard in the league at it.

[Braggins]

Getting some more talent on the team and guys like Cody and MKG developing has really helped with Kemba's trust issues.

[yosemiteben]

Getting some more talent on the team and guys like Cody and MKG developing has really helped with Kemba's trust issues.

Yep

[catch20two]

Getting some more talent on the team and guys like Cody and MKG developing has really helped with Kemba's trust issues.

Facts. Having Batum instead of Hendo has been a godsend and Marv reinventing himself as a quick trigger stretch 4 has went a long way in the previous spacing woes. Lately Belly has been looking good and tryna make me eat crow and hopefully we can find a way to incorporate Lamb as well so Kemba can lead a top 5-10 NBA offense into the playoffs.

[LamarMatic7]

thanks to Kemba for helping my cause

Read on Twitter

[yosemiteben]

Was watching Kemba highlight videos (as one does) and was struck by how often we saw Kemba navigating in a paint with Big Al just chilling on the block. That got me thinking about the offensive sets that we see now and how rarely Kemba is asked to run ISO into a jampacked paint. We've talked about it before, but the combination of running Cody all over the damn place to set and reset screens and then having legitimate floor spacers at other positions gives Kemba so much more space to operate and I think really unlocks his creativity in setting up his defender and planning his moves. He is practically unguardable one on one, but teams play with fire when they try to double him because (a) he has such a tight handle that he can split the double and leave both defenders behind and (b) we have the passing and finishing ability to burn teams when they leave other guys on the floor.

[LamarMatic7]

if we ever need a new title for the thread, I nominate Collins's phrase of "Vertigo Symptoms" from last night's one-on-one spin-cycle he put on Mejri. had to legitimately laugh about that.

[fatlever]

We will definitely need a new title in January after the leap year is over.

Sent from my SM-G920V using RealGM mobile app