Leap Year - The Kemba Walker Thread III

[catch20two]

Honestly how good do you think Kemba is?

He's more on tier with those players than any PG of note.

I think he's currently middle of the pack PG that's improving. Better than Lowry at this point in his career and comparable to Conley so I'm expecting him to groom into their territory in a few years which will make for a decent contract. I honestly don't see nothing wrong with his contract now since we gotta pay somebody unless you wanna throw Marv and Hendo a few extra mil.

Kemba isn't on no Lin/Collison tier. Compare them and you'd look just as silly as these arguments you keep making. Silly, silly, silly.

OK, but its not really a competition about ranking point guards vs other point guards, right? I mean, most of us agree that Kemba is somewhere in that 15 range when ranking vs his peers, give or take 5 spots for the fan club vs the haters.

For us specifically the discussion should be about fit and style. Since it is unlikely we are trading kemba in the next few years, then how can we improve the fit and style. Whether people like it or not, Kemba is our guy for the next few years.

There might be worse point guards that are better fits for our team and would improve our win total, just like there might be better point guards who are worse fits and would decrease our win total.

Example, Rondo is better than Jameer Nelson, but he was a bad fit for Dallas. Lin was a worse point guard than a lot of dudes, but under DAntoni he worked (for a while) because of fit. Ish Smith seems to be a better fit for Philly, but most wouldnt say he is better than MCW (although we all agree MCW is crazy overrated, right?)

Can't argue about fit when nobody fit on this roster. Lol. Hendo don't belong between MKG and Kemba. Al don't belong with MKG, Kemba, or Hendo. It's a whole entire clusterfuxx of a roster and it's the reason I've been calling Cho on it for what seem like 2-3 years.

[fatlever]

If the team did decide to go another direction who do we get to replace him?

Well that depends a lot on if they decide to keep trying to foolishly build around Jefferson. To be clear, I would much prefer they built around Kemba and MKG, until a better option comes along in the draft or free-agency. Considering Kemba's new deal, I don't see him as being a guy we can trade at least for another 1-2 years, which the new salary cap hits. Even then, I think it will be really hard to find a team that would give up good value for Kemba. There's just too many good PGs out there right now.

I would not be opposed to drafting a PG in the 1st round this year and grooming that player to be Kemba's backup for a couple of years. But that player better have some damn size and preferably a 3pt shot.

You have summed up how I feel better than I could.

Let Al go and keep building around Kemba and MKG. Not because I'm a huge fan but I don't think we really have a choice. The only question I see coming up is what do we do with Al.

I'm still worried that we get stuck with him for a while.

My biggest fear is that Al opts out this summer and we sign him to another long term deal (at even higher salary), yet do not do anything to make the roster fit around Al.

If we resign Al, then we better commit to building around him, we have to at that point. And for me, that would mean finding a different point guard, a bigger defender, who can make 3s and play off the ball more. We would also need to trade Lance and many others to make it work.

[MasterIchiro]

Sik, I think you are giving our front office too much credit if you think they built this team around Kemba. I don't think we have ever had a plan other than Cho trying to acquire what he felt were assets, that he would figure out later. The problem was that we never expected to land Jefferson and everything changed when we did sign him, except we all all these "assets" that made no sense together.

Kemba has been the face of this franchise since we hired Dunlap.

That's by default since Cho has failed to bring in somebody that'll obviously trump Kemba's little face. I also would say that Al was the face by the end of last year until he really stunk it up this year after Cho went out of his way to bring in players like Marv and Roberts that should fit with Alfense.

Marv and Roberts were 100% for Alfense, a short-term fix. Lance was a long-term prospect potentially for Kemba but they gave themselves an out. long-term, defense-only guys like MKG, Biz and Cody isn't exactly catering to his strengths as a dribble penetrator.

[fatlever]

Can't argue about fit when nobody fit on this roster. Lol. Hendo don't belong between MKG and Kemba. Al don't belong with MKG, Kemba, or Hendo. It's a whole entire clusterfuxx of a roster and it's the reason I've been calling Cho on it for what seem like 2-3 years.

Exactly. Which is why I am not sure how any of us can really evaluate our players and even our coaches until we get some players that actually make sense next to each other. The roster is a disaster.

[Braggins]

Kemba is ranked 23rd in the league for PG's in FG%. Right below him is Michael Carter freaking Williams.

Its an issue folks. Its an issue.

His bad shot selection is a problem but operating in the tiniest amount of space in the NBA doesn't resolve it and won't until there is a fundamental change. He's a prolific dribbler but damn. His air supply is choked off like no other PG. Even if he had better shot selection, his good looks would be few and far between.

He has great looks half the time. Great form, great stroke, and it doesn't freaking go down. Mark Price couldn't do anything with Walker. There is nothing to do. His fundamentals are almost perfect. Shoots a fade away when he doesn't need to, but Walker knows that. His shot just doesn't go down no matter how good it looks. Kind of like Hairston.

He has a tendency to fade forward on spot up shots sometimes and he doesn't always catch the ball ready to shoot so that he can go right into his shot smoothly. I don't think he is a lost cause playing off ball though. He played off the ball a decent amount in college. When he went on that crazy run earlier in the season he was getting a lot of off ball screens. He is pretty good off ball in that aspect. He can zip around the court and get open off screens, but he doesn't always get into his shot smoothly. He really needs to work on being consistent with his form when he catches and shoots.

[catch20two]

If Walker is going, and he will be, our starting PG we have to have a pure shooter at the SG position. Danny Green. I want you.

It would be a start by just getting a SG that's confident enough to take a 3 in a defenders face just because he nice like that. And I don't mean poor man's JR Smith in PJ. Even though I sadly wished to see more PJ in the lineup for this very reason.

[Diop]

We hired a coach to maximise Kemba's game, drafted a bunch of players to cover his defensive ineptitude and provided him with the FA he requested...

we've done what we can for kemba and he's still mediocre.

Cho's philosophy has always been to draft the best player available, it has had nothing to do with Kemba.

[MasterIchiro]

Can't argue about fit when nobody fit on this roster. Lol. Hendo don't belong between MKG and Kemba. Al don't belong with MKG, Kemba, or Hendo. It's a whole entire clusterfuxx of a roster and it's the reason I've been calling Cho on it for what seem like 2-3 years.

Exactly. Which is why I am not sure how any of us can really evaluate our players and even our coaches until we get some players that actually make sense next to each other. The roster is a disaster.

Admitting Cho f'd up hurts their argument.

[DY_nasty]

Kemba has been the face of this franchise since we hired Dunlap.

Thats not really saying much. He was the face by default. That doesnt mean they really tried to build around him.

We hired a coach to maximise Kemba's game, drafted a bunch of players to cover his defensive ineptitude and provided him with the FA he requested...

we've done what we can for kemba and he's still mediocre.

I still don't think people are willing to accept that we got Al to match with Kemba specifically.

I mean.... it happened lol

We didn't get Al just because we liked him. We wanted a big FA to match with our PG of the future. A stopgap while we developed the talent behind him.

It happened

[Liver_Pooty]

If Walker is going, and he will be, our starting PG we have to have a pure shooter at the SG position. Danny Green. I want you.

It would be a start by just getting a SG that's confident enough to take a 3 in a defenders face just because he nice like that. And I don't mean poor man's JR Smith in PJ. Even though I sadly wished to see more PJ in the lineup for this very reason.

I should put this in the FA thread, and people will think I am absolutely insane, but Id give Green 10 million a year over 4 years.

And I would do it easily. Without hesitation.

[catch20two]

Can't argue about fit when nobody fit on this roster. Lol. Hendo don't belong between MKG and Kemba. Al don't belong with MKG, Kemba, or Hendo. It's a whole entire clusterfuxx of a roster and it's the reason I've been calling Cho on it for what seem like 2-3 years.

Exactly. Which is why I am not sure how any of us can really evaluate our players and even our coaches until we get some players that actually make sense next to each other. The roster is a disaster.

Agreed to the 3rd power. My evaluation has been on Cho and Clifford more than any specific players.

[fatlever]

Kemba is ranked 23rd in the league for PG's in FG%. Right below him is Michael Carter freaking Williams.

Its an issue folks. Its an issue.

His bad shot selection is a problem but operating in the tiniest amount of space in the NBA doesn't resolve it and won't until there is a fundamental change. He's a prolific dribbler but damn. His air supply is choked off like no other PG. Even if he had better shot selection, his good looks would be few and far between.

Also agreed. I dont think it is really fair to bitch about Kemba's FG% w/out first bitching about the fit and style of the roster and offense. Its a terrible fit for Kemba. If he is our guy, we have to commit to him 100%. Kemba is not the type of guard you can plug into any roster with any scheme and expect him to be productive.

Do you want to change it all for Kemba? That's the question. I think we have to or trade him.

He's an enigma.

[Braggins]

Thats not really saying much. He was the face by default. That doesnt mean they really tried to build around him.

We hired a coach to maximise Kemba's game, drafted a bunch of players to cover his defensive ineptitude and provided him with the FA he requested...

we've done what we can for kemba and he's still mediocre.

I still don't think people are willing to accept that we got Al to match with Kemba specifically.

I mean.... it happened lol

We didn't get Al just because we liked him. We wanted a big FA to match with our PG of the future. A stopgap while we developed the talent behind him.

It happened

That did happen, but you also have to admit that Al is a horrible fit with Kemba. We brought in Al partially to increase our talent and give us a stop gap player while our young guys developed, but also because the thought was that we needed a big to pair with Kemba. That doesn't change the fact that Kemba and Al are an awful pair. Al doesn't really pair well with anyone except spot up shooters, and even that is iffy considering how unwilling he is to pass to open shooters once he has the ball.

[MasterIchiro]

Thats not really saying much. He was the face by default. That doesnt mean they really tried to build around him.

We hired a coach to maximise Kemba's game, drafted a bunch of players to cover his defensive ineptitude and provided him with the FA he requested...

we've done what we can for kemba and he's still mediocre.

I still don't think people are willing to accept that we got Al to match with Kemba specifically.

I mean.... it happened lol

We didn't get Al just because we liked him. We wanted a big FA to match with our PG of the future. A stopgap while we developed the talent behind him.

It happened

We doubled our wins. Now that we plateaued means we need another upgrade, not that we should stop bringing in players who might compliment Kemba's game more than their predecessor. We can do better than Al for the team.

[Elden Payton]

You don't build around short PG's who can't crack 40 percent from the field.

[catch20two]

If Walker is going, and he will be, our starting PG we have to have a pure shooter at the SG position. Danny Green. I want you.

It would be a start by just getting a SG that's confident enough to take a 3 in a defenders face just because he nice like that. And I don't mean poor man's JR Smith in PJ. Even though I sadly wished to see more PJ in the lineup for this very reason.

I should put this in the FA thread, and people will think I am absolutely insane, but Id give Green 10 million a year over 4 years.

And I would do it easily. Without hesitation.

While you're at it you might as well throw in Wes Matthews on the humbug. His value dropped after that injury and that could play right into our hands or be a disaster if he never quite recover from that injury. If anything I think it'll make him a better shooter but lesser at everything else like creating his own shot.

[Diop]

Thats not really saying much. He was the face by default. That doesnt mean they really tried to build around him.

We hired a coach to maximise Kemba's game, drafted a bunch of players to cover his defensive ineptitude and provided him with the FA he requested...

we've done what we can for kemba and he's still mediocre.

I still don't think people are willing to accept that we got Al to match with Kemba specifically.

I mean.... it happened lol

We didn't get Al just because we liked him. We wanted a big FA to match with our PG of the future. A stopgap while we developed the talent behind him.

It happened

we may have, if so it was a mistake and another example of short sightedness by our front office.

thought we need a post presence to help Kemba. Al is good in the post, lets ignore everything else and sign him asap.

done, now Kemba should really be free'd up with a true post presence.

[Liver_Pooty]

Kemba is ranked 23rd in the league for PG's in FG%. Right below him is Michael Carter freaking Williams.

Its an issue folks. Its an issue.

His bad shot selection is a problem but operating in the tiniest amount of space in the NBA doesn't resolve it and won't until there is a fundamental change. He's a prolific dribbler but damn. His air supply is choked off like no other PG. Even if he had better shot selection, his good looks would be few and far between.

Also agreed. I dont think it is really fair to bitch about Kemba's FG% w/out first bitching about the fit and style of the roster and offense. Its a terrible fit for Kemba. If he is our guy, we have to commit to him 100%. Kemba is not the type of guard you can plug into any roster with any scheme and expect him to be productive.

Do you want to change it all for Kemba? That's the question. I think we have to or trade him.

He's an enigma.

Kemba is not a good enough player to change an entire roster for. Hes not a Westbrook or Chris Paul.

When is the last time a team centered and built around a PG won a title? Magic Johnson? Lol even he had Kareem, Worthy, etc. You cannot shape a team around a point guard. Changing everything for Walker would be such a monumental mistake its insane.

[fatlever]

Can't argue about fit when nobody fit on this roster. Lol. Hendo don't belong between MKG and Kemba. Al don't belong with MKG, Kemba, or Hendo. It's a whole entire clusterfuxx of a roster and it's the reason I've been calling Cho on it for what seem like 2-3 years.

Exactly. Which is why I am not sure how any of us can really evaluate our players and even our coaches until we get some players that actually make sense next to each other. The roster is a disaster.

Agreed to the 3rd power. My evaluation has been on Cho and Clifford more than any specific players.

I am 100% ready to see Cho **** or get off the pot. He has to make some moves this summer to fit his coach and players. Its on Cho. He failed miserably last summer, even if he had some good ideas. I can't really totally crap on Clifford until he gets a roster that fits his coaching style and also makes sense. At the same time, Clifford better get his head out of his ass and figure out the best way to use what he has.

[catch20two]

You don't build around short PG's who can't crack 40 percent from the field.

Nobody said that we should. While you're at it tho you should tell Cho since you think he did.