OMFKG! The Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Thread II

[BlackOutBuzz]

Man, my DVR schizzed out and didn't record Game 2 and I am seriously bummed I did not get to see MKG's breakout. Any chance Lamar or someone can put together a vid or MKG's highlights from last night's game would be majorly appreciated.

Co-signed

Sent from my SCH-I535 using RealGM Forums mobile app

[rockmanslim]

Man, my DVR schizzed out and didn't record Game 2 and I am seriously bummed I did not get to see MKG's breakout. Any chance Lamar or someone can put together a vid or MKG's highlights from last night's game would be majorly appreciated.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jwT8dEaO8w[/youtube]


This version is longer and so gives a little more context for each play, but the video is jumpy:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf85zBXgkGo[/youtube]

[Snidely FC]

^ Nice. Thank you.

My favorite basket is his first one of the game. I'd love to see him use the bank shot more, given his unusual release.

[KingExecutive]

Came here first for the video highlights. Y'all are the best.

I love the play where MKG sees Chalmers, posts him up, Kemba immediately feeds him, and finishes the And-1 (might have been offensive foul). But the offensive awareness is great to see, despite how his physical ability (jumpshot) limits his scoring.

If MKG can score through contact with some consistency, he could greatly improve his play time and effectiveness on the court. After his hand injury this year, he struggled with scoring at the basket, but Game 2 was a bright spot for hope.

[ARHornet]

^ Nice. Thank you.

My favorite basket is his first one of the game. I'd love to see him use the bank shot more, given his unusual release.

I noticed that one too. Really liked the play design to get MKG setting a ball screen then diving to the basket. I'd like to see that more.

[Elden Payton]

I love the fact, he did it in front of the world..on the big stage.

This guy is one of the best prospects in the league and that assessment has nothing to do with game 2.

I think people expect too much from him at this stage, and, miss the fact that he anchors a top 5 defense, at 20 years of age.

Which is amazing in itself but unbelievable for a non big.

His offense is nowhere near as bad as people make out and unfortunately for him, the offensive system we have to employ for success is probably the worst fit for him that could be.

MKG has great character and an amazing work ethic and most importantly he's really good at basketball for someone so young and is a world class athlete to boot.

In regards to my opinion of him being one of the best prospects in the league, he's probably my favourite player so people can call me a homer if they want, but, I'd trade him (and Zeller and 50 firsts) for Anthony Davis, I'd trade him (and Zeller and 2 firsts) for Drummond.

I think he's a top 7 prospect in this league. Davis/Drummond/Kyrie/Valanciunas/Gilchrist/Lillard/Oladipo

[Stun704]

I love the fact, he did it in front of the world..on the big stage.

This guy is one of the best prospects in the league and that assessment has nothing to do with game 2.

I think people expect too much from him at this stage, and, miss the fact that he anchors a top 5 defense, at 20 years of age.

Which is amazing in itself but unbelievable for a non big.

His offense is nowhere near as bad as people make out and unfortunately for him, the offensive system we have to employ for success is probably the worst fit for him that could be.

MKG has great character and an amazing work ethic and most importantly he's really good at basketball for someone so young and is a world class athlete to boot.

In regards to my opinion of him being one of the best prospects in the league, he's probably my favourite player so people can call me a homer if they want, but, I'd trade him (and Zeller and 50 firsts) for Anthony Davis, I'd trade him (and Zeller and 2 firsts) for Drummond.

I think he's a top 7 prospect in this league. Davis/Drummond/Kyrie/Valanciunas/Gilchrist/Lillard/Oladipo

good post but olapdio is no where near a top 7 prospect. And Kemba should be put above kyrie just based off of merit. Kemba has led his team to the playoffs despite getting drafted to a historically bad team and having on paper a less talented roster surrounding him. Kyrie is a loser as far as nba goes

[HornetJail]

There's going to be a time when MKG getting 20 and 10 is going to be normal. I think MKG can get to that level. He only hit one jumper. Everything else he did was just raw hustle and good finishing around the basket. A confident (if nothing else) MKG is already a starter in this league without question.

[Liver_Pooty]

There's going to be a time when MKG getting 20 and 10 is going to be normal. I think MKG can get to that level. He only hit one jumper. Everything else he did was just raw hustle and good finishing around the basket. A confident (if nothing else) MKG is already a starter in this league without question.

If he can get to Shawn Marion level Ill be thrilled. Marion is probably the most underrated player in the history of the league, and Im not even joking. He has put up hall of fame type numbers and is still a defensive stopper at the age of 87

[LamarMatic7]

There's going to be a time when MKG getting 20 and 10 is going to be normal. I think MKG can get to that level. He only hit one jumper. Everything else he did was just raw hustle and good finishing around the basket. A confident (if nothing else) MKG is already a starter in this league without question.

If he can get to Shawn Marion level Ill be thrilled. Marion is probably the most underrated player in the history of the league, and Im not even joking. He has put up hall of fame type numbers and is still a defensive stopper at the age of 87

He's the first ballot inductee of the Hall of Very Damn Good.

[HornetJail]

There's going to be a time when MKG getting 20 and 10 is going to be normal. I think MKG can get to that level. He only hit one jumper. Everything else he did was just raw hustle and good finishing around the basket. A confident (if nothing else) MKG is already a starter in this league without question.

If he can get to Shawn Marion level Ill be thrilled. Marion is probably the most underrated player in the history of the league, and Im not even joking. He has put up hall of fame type numbers and is still a defensive stopper at the age of 87

Absolutely.

Well MKG's not going to be 22/12 in his prime, but I really do think he can follow Wallace's career path. Wallace easily deserved 2-3 All-Star appearance and should've been a staple on the All-Defensive teams. Shawn Marion is a HOF talent IMO.

[BeesWax]

There's going to be a time when MKG getting 20 and 10 is going to be normal. I think MKG can get to that level. He only hit one jumper. Everything else he did was just raw hustle and good finishing around the basket. A confident (if nothing else) MKG is already a starter in this league without question.

If he can get to Shawn Marion level Ill be thrilled. Marion is probably the most underrated player in the history of the league, and Im not even joking. He has put up hall of fame type numbers and is still a defensive stopper at the age of 87

Absolutely.

Well MKG's not going to be 22/12 in his prime, but I really do think he can follow Wallace's career path. Wallace easily deserved 2-3 All-Star appearance and should've been a staple on the All-Defensive teams. Shawn Marion is a HOF talent IMO.

GS MIN FGM-A FG% 3PM-A 3P% FTM-A FT% OR DR REB AST BLK STL PF TO PTS
38 24.7 4.4-9.2 .471 0.1-0.4 .182 1.4-1.7 .847 2.1 4.5 6.5 1.4 1.0 0.7 2.2 1.0 10.2

Those are Marion's stats at 21. Looks pretty similar to what MKG put up this season. Main difference is Marion was a more willing attacker of the basket and shooter. If MKG stays aggressive there is no reason to doubt he could have a career similar to Marion's.

[fatlever]

i hope everyone isnt getting too carried away from that MKG game. it was his best game of the season, possibly his career, and he did it vs the heat in the playoffs. it doesnt get any bigger than that. but its still only one game. he has to show that kind of aggressiveness more consistently before i will really get excited.

it was very nice to see clifford give him the minutes though. thats one of the first steps towards MKG putting up good numbers on a more regular basis.

it would not shock any of us to see MKG play 18 minutes on saturday with 3pts, 4rebs, 4 fouls and 1-for-5 from the field.

[BeesWax]

i hope everyone isnt getting too carried away from that MKG game. it was his best game of the season, possibly his career, and he did it vs the heat in the playoffs. it doesnt get any bigger than that. but its still only one game. he has to show that kind of aggressiveness more consistently before i will really get excited.

it was very nice to see clifford give him the minutes though. thats one of the first steps towards MKG putting up good numbers on a more regular basis.

it would not shock any of us to see MKG play 18 minutes on saturday with 3pts, 4rebs, 4 fouls and 1-for-5 from the field.

No but the line I put up was Marion's stat line from his first year when he was MKG's age. Those numbers are very close to what MKG put up this year for the season in which he was being questioned and called a bust. Look at what Marion has done with a broken shot since then. It was just showing that what MKG did the other night may not be a flukey as people want to believe.

[fatlever]

no doubt there is a ton of upside for MKG - comparisons from shawn marion, to gerald wallace, to kawah leonard to a bigger tony allen - are all still in play.

[dmutombo321]

i hope everyone isnt getting too carried away from that MKG game. it was his best game of the season, possibly his career, and he did it vs the heat in the playoffs. it doesnt get any bigger than that. but its still only one game. he has to show that kind of aggressiveness more consistently before i will really get excited.

it was very nice to see clifford give him the minutes though. thats one of the first steps towards MKG putting up good numbers on a more regular basis.

it would not shock any of us to see MKG play 18 minutes on saturday with 3pts, 4rebs, 4 fouls and 1-for-5 from the field.

^ This. MKG had a great game on a grand stage and he deserves the praise that comes with it. It was nice to finally see him take what the defense gave him and make aggressive drives into traffic. I would add however that he finally got the late game minutes because he earned them by not being a liability on offense. Lets hope he builds on this.

Until we see a string of 5-6 consecutive games where he performs like this however, the marion comparisons will continue to be extreme wishful thinking.

Marion's minutes were limited to under 25 per game his rookie season due to having two veteran borderline allstars entrenched in front of him in the starting lineup (Gugliotta and Cliff Robinson), not because of fouls or getting pulled for being a non-factor on offense in favor of guys like Tolliver/CDR. Also, the number's sited are Marion's rookie season - while MKG is the same age, he also has another year under his belt in the league. By Marion's second season, he was averaging 17/11. By his third season, he was almost scoring 20ppg while shooting 39% from the 3 pt line.

I'll take hell freezing over AND pigs flying before I bet on MKG achieving those type of season averages during the either of the next couple seasons, much less prime Marion #s of 22/12

[LamarMatic7]

MKG had a great game on a grand stage and he deserves the praise that comes with it. It was nice to finally see him take what the defense gave him and make aggressive drives into traffic. I would add however that he finally got the late game minutes because he earned them by not being a liability on offense. Lets hope he builds on this.

Exactly. I think some are looking at the whole "MKG playing in the fourth" the wrong way. It's not that MKG always scores more points when given the playing time, it's that Clifford has given him more playing time when he's found his groove on offense and thus scored.

[ball teacher]

MKG had a great game on a grand stage and he deserves the praise that comes with it. It was nice to finally see him take what the defense gave him and make aggressive drives into traffic. I would add however that he finally got the late game minutes because he earned them by not being a liability on offense. Lets hope he builds on this.

Exactly. I think some are looking at the whole "MKG playing in the fourth" the wrong way. It's not that MKG always scores more points when given the playing time, it's that Clifford has given him more playing time when he's found his groove on offense and thus scored.

I disagree 100% with you Lamar. Cliff's not getting a pass on this one. MKG gets benched regardless of how he plays, and for the overwhelming majority of his games, he's been very good in limited minutes, only to be benched late for one dimensional jump shooters. And the reason MKG took over in the playoff game and got aggressive is because we started to fall behind on the verge of getting blown out, and MKG stepped up when nobody else did and played with heart and no fear, and the guys who we normally count on, shrunk and continued to feed off of his energy and game. Every single time MKG went out, we fell behind, and it's usually been like that threw the season.

I have said from day 1 when we all analysed MKG's game 2 years ago before we drafted him, that he is more than just a defensive player. Defensive players dont consistently go coast to coast seemingly at will, or have the handles MKG has, or the moves and body control around the rim like this guy. He's not gonna get 25 points per, but the guy has all around game, just a suspect jumper. Also, the guy makes smart decisions with the ball. You dont see many bonehead plays, like what Gary Neal did that cost us a playoff win, or how Tyrus Thomas used to play, besides MKG's jumper, he is a very polished intelligent player. The little things he does on the floor help us but often times he doesn't get the credit.

As far as Cliff goes, Cliff is not high on MKG. He was high on JT. When he got hurt, Cliff chose Tolliver over MKG. When Tolliver's string of good shooting ended we traded for Neal and called up CDR who became his guys all took over valuable crunch time minutes that shouldve gone to MKG, but only a few of us had a problem with that. For this guy to be 20 years old, and to have no fear of Lebron James ON THE ROAD IN THE PLAYOFFS, and to attack him and D Wade the way he did, and to be as productive as he was in his first real playoff game is no fluke, and I fully expect him to show out this post season. Whether the refs and Cliff slow him down is his only deterant imo.

[mrknowitall215]

Preach 'ball teacher', preach...

Although a two-way street of a player needing to be more mentally tough & a coach needing to be more flexible within his offensive dependencies, Clifford has done a lot to belittle MKG's ability as a scoring threat --- sans the first play of the game 'post All-Star break'

[JDR720]

MKG might be our best all-around player if/when Cliff lets him loose, the only flaw he has is shooting and that should get better especially with Price coaching him