The thing that is crazy to me is that MKG doesn't turn 24 until September... He has shown slight improvement in his shooting from range. Even though he took more threes last year in 7 games than he has all this year. Seems like the team refuses to develop him into something more than a rebounder and defensive stopper. Am I saying he should be a 20 shot a night player? No. but I am saying there are ways to produce offense for him, that we just do not attempt. Below is usage percentage for the team so far this year... he ranks near last.
http://www.foxsports.com/nba/charlotte-hornets-team-stats?season=2016&category=ADVANCED&time=0In the NBA there are several ways to create offense.
1. Pick and Roll- handlers- Kemba, Sessions, Batum and Lamb screeners- bigs
2. Post up- Hawes, Hibbert, and Frank
3. Run off pin downs or other screens- Batum, Marco, Lamb and
4. Isolate mismatch- Kemba and Lamb
For the most part the Hornets rely heavily on Pick and Roll with some off the ball screens to free up shooters. If you look at the list MKG does not fall into any of these categories. Almost all his points come off transition, offense rebounds, late clock mid range, and putbacks. How many points can he realistically score with no set offensive plays ran for him?? We need to give him more early shot clock opportunities with designed offense.
Ways to get him easy points....
1. Use him in pick and roll more in early offense, as a screener. Tons of teams run 1-3 pick and rolls and this forces teams to switch and would give MKG a smaller defender on him. Allows him to either post up or muscle his way to rim on drives- think back when he destroyed Monta Ellis earlier this year.
2. Run him off pin down screens, as he catches the ball he should be curling towards the rim with a defender on his back. As our worst shooter that leaves great options for spot up shooters around him to pick and choose if defense helps. Utah does this with their wings very effectively.
3. Play him at the 4 for stretches of the game against bench units. This should be used for small stretches of the game to try and get him some mismatches on the perimeter where he can beat his man off the dribble against backup 4s, who are usually poorer defenders.
4. Give him more catches on the elbow... Marvin in the corner, Zeller in the baseline dunker spot, and Kemba and Batum on wings. This would give him more opportunities to get to foul line and showcase his improved mid range jumper. Easy early shot clock look, if nothing is there you can easily shift out of that set into a late clock pick and roll.
5. More leak out opportunites... this one is tough because he is our best defensive rebounder, but MKG in a semi-leak out in 2 vs 2 situations are net positive plays in my mind. Dude has a bulldog mindset in transition. With Batum, Marv and Zeller there should be plenty of rebounders to let him leak out several times a quarter.
Developing MKG into a slightly more dynamic offensive player would do tons for this team. As of now, Kemba essentially creates all of our good scoring opportunities. Batum is a good secondary play maker, but Marvin is spot of shooter, MKG is a corner dweller, and Zeller is essentially only a rim runner. To take our offense to the next level we need someone else to share the usage and this would take pressure off Kemba. Frank and Hawes are far more utilized than MKG in our offense. I am one who believes he could be, and should be doing more.
