BigKAT
09-30-2016, 04:37 PM
I'm going to do my own personal breakdown of a few Franchise players.
If these threads interest anyone, I might do more.
*At the end I'll give them my personal rating. From 1star (Empty stat padder) to 5 Star (Finals MVP Material)
*I'll do my best to stick to 'Lone Wolves' (Aka Paul George, Kemba Walker, Current James Harden, Gordon Hayward.) It doesn't mean their team is bad, only that they are considered the only 'all star caliber' in the eyes of many.
*This is mostly my opinions. I'll use some data and other articles but I'll mention them at the end.
*Feel free to disagree with me (lol, like you guys need permission for that)
Let's start.
http://www.tsn.ca/polopoly_fs/1.118883.1414550416!/fileimage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/kemba-walker.jpg
Kemba Walker
How did he get to the team:
Picked 9th by Charlotte Bobcats in the 2011 Draft. A draft which featured Kyrie Irving as the 1st pick and Klay Thompson as the 11th. Important to note is that outside of Irving, the next PG to be taken was at 8th. One spot before Kemba. That was Brandon Knight by the Pistons.
What the Team looked like before he arrived:
34-48. Oddly, just three games out of the Playoffs. The Coaching saw a shift from Larry Brown starting the 28th Game where Paul Silas took over. Not a team on the rise by any means, but not exactly fodder. As they were at least in the conversation for the Playoffs. A disappointing end to the season, after making the Playoffs the season before that.
Improvement Graph Over the Years:
Rookie Season:
Started for the Team mostly due to D.J Augstin's injury, but performed rather okay. Nothing extraordinary, 12 Points, 4 Assists and 3 Rebounds. What's perhaps most impressive is his low Turnover ratio for a rookie Pointguard. 1.8. His Field goal percentage however left much to be desired at a measely 36%.
Sophmore Season and onwards:
His scoring has seen a big jump, along with his efficency in his sophmore season. 5 Points and about 6% higher. Range remained an issue and his small form made him a matchup nightmare for bigger guards. He remained the same players from a pure Stat-line angle, the big 'Leap' coming in year 5. What changed? A 3pt shot was properly integrated into his arsenal. Improving to a career high 38% Clip, with his points production seeing a modest increase of 3 points. More impressive is the fact he attempted a career high 6 3pt attempts per game, not only improving in efficency, but also volume.
Contract:
12,000,000 per year. Signed through 2018-2019
Practically a steal. One of the best contracts in the NBA nowdays. Especially considering Mike Conley just signed a 150,000,000 deal.
Strengths:
*Kemba is well liked on the team and in the locker room. Caron Butler praised him sincerely in a piece published in the Players Tribune, arguing that the Point Guard should be named an All star. He is appreciated in the Locker room by the veterans, and admired by the younger ones.
''Kemba’s going to continue to surprise people. With his ability and work ethic, he’s going to continue to raise the bar. I think he’s a guy who looks at competition around the league and says, “That’s what I need to work on.”
(Caron Butler)
*Kemba's Ball handling is right up there. He's not Kyrie Irving, Steph Curry but he is definetly in the upper echelon of the league. Perhaps when you're an undersized guard, the most important thing is being able to create your own shot. As he does here simply by dribbling the ball. As you can see is off the dribble shot is on the mark.
https://media.giphy.com/media/EHY5lOaw8jX2M/giphy.gif
https://media.giphy.com/media/oClvJdNToIxag/giphy.gif
*He's a Solid Off-the-Ball cutter. This is perhaps when being Small isn't always the worse thing on the field. We've seen Steph Curry elude bigger, more athletic defenders if only for the fact he could squeeze between two screens where they could not. A good example is the 'Elevator' scheme Golden state likes to run for Curry so much. Here you can see a good cutting Kemba not only gets free by the screen, but also maintains his composure for a sweet looking J.
https://media.giphy.com/media/2BfKJyPoU8fEk/giphy.gif
*He's small. But he improved on his Attacking Mindset. He averaged a career high 7.6 Free Throws attempted per game. A rather positive stat when considering he shot a career high 84%. Add that to his 2.2 Steals per game and you see a fearless player not afraid to use his speed to his advantage, drawing contact and coming up with the steals.
*WinShares. He averaged 9.9 WS this season. A career high. And considering that this is the 2nd season where the Hornets make the playoff, it show that this time he has a bigger part of it. As opposed to only 5.1 Winshares in their 2013-2014 season where they also made the Playoffs. He's 'The Guy' this time around. In a more defined way.
Weaknesses:
*He is short. Really Short. Listed at 6'1, His coach said that's a stretch. His arms are short as well and he lacks the Wingspan to be an effective defender. Night and night out, he faces Pointguards standing at 6'3, 6'4 and sometimes Shooting Guards at 6'5-6'7 Where the can just shoot over him.
*He may have actually benefited from Nicholas Batum being added to the offense rather then much of an improvement by himself. The addition of Batum allowed him to enjoy a gravitational force which he lacked on the perimeter until now, mostly only having Al Jeffreson in the paint as the main source of attention. This improvement in his shooting may be a blip, rather then a consistent arc.
*He falls in love with his Pull-up Jumper at times. According to NBA.Com He shot only 37% on those pull up jumpers in the 2014 Season. Not enough to justify taking so many, when you're your team's Main weapon.
*Is he really a starter or most NBA teams? Sure. He looks great on the Charlotte Hornets. But how many teams that you put him on actually have a 'Worse' Pointguard? Utah, Denver and Philly come to mind. And with Denver and Utah having their own promising prospect at that position to think of, that leaves him in a pretty secluded club.
Conclusion:
In my honest opinion, Kemba Walker is a Franchise Point Guard. But perhaps not the one you'd want to have. He is good enough that you can't just let him go, or -not- build around him once you have him, but one must wonder if he is destined for medieocry until he is traded to a Contender to become someone's 2nd option. If you're the Hornets, you got to ask yourself. Do I win a Championship with this guy as my best player? Heck. Do I win a Playoff series..? He is still pretty young. And his improvement on 3pt and finishing inside is very promising, time will tell.
Rating as a Franchise Player-
3/5 Stars.
Too good to ignore if you're the GM, but probably not ever taking his team past the 2nd round.
However, his potential and great contract make him a valuable piece to have in the right direction.
I hope you guys enjoyed this.
Credits:
Grantland - The Kemba Walker Concurdum
PlayersTribune - Why I think Kemba Walker should be an All-star
Wikipedia - Charlotte Bobcats Page
Basketball Reference - Stats
If these threads interest anyone, I might do more.
*At the end I'll give them my personal rating. From 1star (Empty stat padder) to 5 Star (Finals MVP Material)
*I'll do my best to stick to 'Lone Wolves' (Aka Paul George, Kemba Walker, Current James Harden, Gordon Hayward.) It doesn't mean their team is bad, only that they are considered the only 'all star caliber' in the eyes of many.
*This is mostly my opinions. I'll use some data and other articles but I'll mention them at the end.
*Feel free to disagree with me (lol, like you guys need permission for that)
Let's start.
http://www.tsn.ca/polopoly_fs/1.118883.1414550416!/fileimage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/kemba-walker.jpg
Kemba Walker
How did he get to the team:
Picked 9th by Charlotte Bobcats in the 2011 Draft. A draft which featured Kyrie Irving as the 1st pick and Klay Thompson as the 11th. Important to note is that outside of Irving, the next PG to be taken was at 8th. One spot before Kemba. That was Brandon Knight by the Pistons.
What the Team looked like before he arrived:
34-48. Oddly, just three games out of the Playoffs. The Coaching saw a shift from Larry Brown starting the 28th Game where Paul Silas took over. Not a team on the rise by any means, but not exactly fodder. As they were at least in the conversation for the Playoffs. A disappointing end to the season, after making the Playoffs the season before that.
Improvement Graph Over the Years:
Rookie Season:
Started for the Team mostly due to D.J Augstin's injury, but performed rather okay. Nothing extraordinary, 12 Points, 4 Assists and 3 Rebounds. What's perhaps most impressive is his low Turnover ratio for a rookie Pointguard. 1.8. His Field goal percentage however left much to be desired at a measely 36%.
Sophmore Season and onwards:
His scoring has seen a big jump, along with his efficency in his sophmore season. 5 Points and about 6% higher. Range remained an issue and his small form made him a matchup nightmare for bigger guards. He remained the same players from a pure Stat-line angle, the big 'Leap' coming in year 5. What changed? A 3pt shot was properly integrated into his arsenal. Improving to a career high 38% Clip, with his points production seeing a modest increase of 3 points. More impressive is the fact he attempted a career high 6 3pt attempts per game, not only improving in efficency, but also volume.
Contract:
12,000,000 per year. Signed through 2018-2019
Practically a steal. One of the best contracts in the NBA nowdays. Especially considering Mike Conley just signed a 150,000,000 deal.
Strengths:
*Kemba is well liked on the team and in the locker room. Caron Butler praised him sincerely in a piece published in the Players Tribune, arguing that the Point Guard should be named an All star. He is appreciated in the Locker room by the veterans, and admired by the younger ones.
''Kemba’s going to continue to surprise people. With his ability and work ethic, he’s going to continue to raise the bar. I think he’s a guy who looks at competition around the league and says, “That’s what I need to work on.”
(Caron Butler)
*Kemba's Ball handling is right up there. He's not Kyrie Irving, Steph Curry but he is definetly in the upper echelon of the league. Perhaps when you're an undersized guard, the most important thing is being able to create your own shot. As he does here simply by dribbling the ball. As you can see is off the dribble shot is on the mark.
https://media.giphy.com/media/EHY5lOaw8jX2M/giphy.gif
https://media.giphy.com/media/oClvJdNToIxag/giphy.gif
*He's a Solid Off-the-Ball cutter. This is perhaps when being Small isn't always the worse thing on the field. We've seen Steph Curry elude bigger, more athletic defenders if only for the fact he could squeeze between two screens where they could not. A good example is the 'Elevator' scheme Golden state likes to run for Curry so much. Here you can see a good cutting Kemba not only gets free by the screen, but also maintains his composure for a sweet looking J.
https://media.giphy.com/media/2BfKJyPoU8fEk/giphy.gif
*He's small. But he improved on his Attacking Mindset. He averaged a career high 7.6 Free Throws attempted per game. A rather positive stat when considering he shot a career high 84%. Add that to his 2.2 Steals per game and you see a fearless player not afraid to use his speed to his advantage, drawing contact and coming up with the steals.
*WinShares. He averaged 9.9 WS this season. A career high. And considering that this is the 2nd season where the Hornets make the playoff, it show that this time he has a bigger part of it. As opposed to only 5.1 Winshares in their 2013-2014 season where they also made the Playoffs. He's 'The Guy' this time around. In a more defined way.
Weaknesses:
*He is short. Really Short. Listed at 6'1, His coach said that's a stretch. His arms are short as well and he lacks the Wingspan to be an effective defender. Night and night out, he faces Pointguards standing at 6'3, 6'4 and sometimes Shooting Guards at 6'5-6'7 Where the can just shoot over him.
*He may have actually benefited from Nicholas Batum being added to the offense rather then much of an improvement by himself. The addition of Batum allowed him to enjoy a gravitational force which he lacked on the perimeter until now, mostly only having Al Jeffreson in the paint as the main source of attention. This improvement in his shooting may be a blip, rather then a consistent arc.
*He falls in love with his Pull-up Jumper at times. According to NBA.Com He shot only 37% on those pull up jumpers in the 2014 Season. Not enough to justify taking so many, when you're your team's Main weapon.
*Is he really a starter or most NBA teams? Sure. He looks great on the Charlotte Hornets. But how many teams that you put him on actually have a 'Worse' Pointguard? Utah, Denver and Philly come to mind. And with Denver and Utah having their own promising prospect at that position to think of, that leaves him in a pretty secluded club.
Conclusion:
In my honest opinion, Kemba Walker is a Franchise Point Guard. But perhaps not the one you'd want to have. He is good enough that you can't just let him go, or -not- build around him once you have him, but one must wonder if he is destined for medieocry until he is traded to a Contender to become someone's 2nd option. If you're the Hornets, you got to ask yourself. Do I win a Championship with this guy as my best player? Heck. Do I win a Playoff series..? He is still pretty young. And his improvement on 3pt and finishing inside is very promising, time will tell.
Rating as a Franchise Player-
3/5 Stars.
Too good to ignore if you're the GM, but probably not ever taking his team past the 2nd round.
However, his potential and great contract make him a valuable piece to have in the right direction.
I hope you guys enjoyed this.
Credits:
Grantland - The Kemba Walker Concurdum
PlayersTribune - Why I think Kemba Walker should be an All-star
Wikipedia - Charlotte Bobcats Page
Basketball Reference - Stats