Can we make a playoff run with Kemba at starting point?

[Cort]

Kemba: Tough, leader, scrappy, contagious competitiveness, volume scorer. I recognize all of these attributes, along with his admiration from the fans. First off, I have much respect for his game and his effort. Here is my issue with him at starting PG.

1) His natural tendency in half court offense is ISO scoring. You can tell me all you want about Dunlap and Cho wishing to "develop" his pure point guard abilities; it doesn't work.
You are what you are, plain and simple. Biz may be a good defensive, shot blocking 4 or 5 who can finish near the rim..but he will never be a Pau Gasol..he may be an improved version of what he is now, becoming an exceptional shot-blocking, defensive oriented center/foward who score inside the charge circle. He may become a great rebounder given his "leap timing instincts." Biz is not genetically gifted with "touch" that allows him to score with baby hooks, turnaround J's...basically the Hakeem/Parish repitior of moves. Shooting is the exception to the rule..if you have marginal touch as a guard or foward..players have been known to revamp their games to accommodate shooting into their game. LeBron in the finals went back to his natural ability, attacking the rim..it proved much more effective than his choice to shoot away like he did against the Mavs.
Kemba is not naturally gifted with court vision and seeing things before they happen like Ricky Rubio..in fact he is no where close to our league's better pass-first point guards in his "pure" point guard abilities. How long are we going to give him before we can really say he gets everyone involved? In my opinion, he makes for a good Harden at OKC type of role..being a spark off the bench and a curve-ball for defenses when he gets in the game.

Here is why I would not take issue with trading him

2) Even though the consensus perception of him is a "leader," let's remember, a leader can mean alot of things. A leader can impose his will on other players, take control of a situation, express his thoughts to other players, perform under pressure. Does that nessesarily mean he specializes in elevating the game of his team-mates and instills a positive attitude in the team? No. That type of leadership was not needed at UCONN as his team was stacked. He could be the leader that took the ball at crunch time and make hussle plays that pumped up his team, so naturally his playoff run started the this brand in Kemba Walker that exconorates his leadership. Yes, players may emmulate his hussle, but would there be anyone else to emmulate that in his absence? Yes, MKG, Hendo, Sessions, Haywood...Dunlap has instilled that fire as well.

This is why he is not the leader that elevates the play of his teammates.

a) He sulks when the team is losing and when his teammates are off his game. Every time the team falls behind, he has this expression that says, "This is bullshit, I'm playing good and you all won't stop sucking...stop sucking..dont suck anymore" as to suggest they should magically become more talented then they are when they step on the court because they are on his team where it's like UCONN and they are better than most of the teams they play. Byron Mullens is one of the most receptive, take constructive critisism type of guys on the team. I've seen Kemba bitch and moan at him on the bench when was trying to understand what Kemba was explaining to him, Mully moving his hands to suggest "so this is what I do when this happens" ...Kemba acting dismissive, shaking his head...there are more effective ways of mentoring teammates, watch Peyton Manning on NFL films talk to his receivers on the bench.

b) I know I said he should stick to his natural tendencies, but instructions are to be the pointguard of the team, and from my understanding, it's currently Jordan, Cho, and Dunlap's priority to develop him into a true point guard. That being said: he is not even honest with his own short-comings; I've never seen him take the owness for performing badly; I've never seen him acknowledge his own deficiencies as a pure point guard. He only says "we need to keep playin hard." You know who also says that? John Wall...like Kemba, he has a big ego and isn't honest with his deficiencies...Wall has yet to improve his shooting game which all the experts said would help his team, and all he did during the offseason was play pick-up games..no shooting drills. And surprise-suprise...Kemba, according to Stephanie Ready, committed his offseason to become a better shooter..heard nothing about passing, which is much less convenient to adress given it's his achilles heel.
When you are assigned to be the point-guard of the future, I want you to act like you give a damn about being a better player for your team..not just being a better player.
***We are bottom three in assists per-game...Kemba keeps scoring, and we keep losing. Inexcusable: we have proven scorers in Hendo, Mullens, Gordon, Taylor and Sessions. Those facts tell me the whole story.

c) He is not what MKG is, which is a "connector," a term used by all the scouts leading up to the draft. Gilchrist does not get negative, bitch at players, or sulks. I only see positive encouragement with him. Not to use outlandish analogies but MKG is like Mitt Romney in a Mitt Romney ad: smiles, looks optimistic and hopefull..wheres Kemba looks like Obama in a Romney ad, neutral or pissed off. That demeanor and attitude in a leadership role does have a psychological effect you know. You would be amazed on how bad body language will effect the morale of a team. Try working at a restaraunt with a complete bitch as a boss, and one with more upbeat, posisitive boss; you will be amazed on how different you feel during the week and how you perform at work. I see consistent, contrasting themes between Kemba and MKG. *I particularly pay attention to the two in losing situations. T

d) Kemba is a Diva. Like Cam Newton, they both were in the limelight in college, winning championships under dominant programs. Both piggy-backed their past credentials to bolster their stock value to both fans and the front office upon arrival in their respective Charlattean teams. Both do not know how to create positive energy in bad situations, they both sulk, bitch, and moan in tough times. No one would dare say anything nasty about Cam last year..the "Super-Man" who is all smiles basques in his spectacular touchdowns with dances...but we saw the real Cam under adversity this year..he grilled his offensive coordinator, and wanted change..from someone else. Give Kemba another year in dumpsville, you will be suprised in what you'lle see.

3) Sesh is a great penetrator, finisher shooter, passer, and floor general. He embodies the same scrappiness Kemba, with an flat-line demeanor that does not waiver under tribulation. He would be a better fit for our offense at PG and in Kemba's absence..Sesh's along with MKG's leadership at the helm will foster a more focused and positive team.

We could get a nice big in return for Kemba and our 1st pick.

[rsxnova]

[ohara831]

If I told you I would give you 1 million dollars for doing absolutely nothing, you would reject it and hold out for 2 million.

We have looked for years for a PG who is a solid NBA starting PG. Ray and DJ were close. We now have one. Kemba is going nowhere. Best PG we have had on the Bobcats, and remember, this is only his 2nd year. He will get even better.

[fan_of_a_fan]

We would be losing by 20+ points every night if it wasn't for Kemba. I guess you're entitled to your opinion, but I'm going to have to disagree with you

[Plowright]

First of all welcome to BCP, but I do have some issues with your post

1) You say Kemba doesnt have court vision and is not a pure point, but does that matter? Is Russell Westbrook a true point? No, but he penetrates, draws defenders, gets bigs in foul trouble and can still pass the ball. Especially when they had Harden, Westbrook was allowed to play off the ball which adds another dimension to his game very similar to kemba.

2) When you say his half court offence is isolation, this is true to some extent but that is normally because the shot clock is winding down and as we say last night, he is our best weapon in that situation.

3) You say MKG doesnt moan at his team, thats because if a rookie was ever to say anything like that the vets would lose respect for him straight away, he has no authority yet, its not his place to be shouting at his team, but it is kemba's he is our point guard and is our leader. Dunlap has put him in charge since summer league so it's his and Gerald's responsibility to bark at people when they dont rotate or get back on transition D. You see other leaders shouting at their guys, it's perfectly acceptable. In fact yesterday saw Kemba encouraging MKG when he picked up his 3rd or 4th foul on the bench saying don't worry about it etc.

4)Just because he won in college does not make him a Diva? You say all those things about Cam... but when has Kemba ever "grilled" our coach and said he wanted a change? He hasn't so don't make assumptions.

5) Sesh is a great guy to have around, I would like to keep him here long term so we can always have a good PG if Kemba were to go down.

[1TruCat]

Kemba is the bright spot on the team. He basically has to take scoring as a priority because no one esle can. The bigs are horrible, made Glen Davis look elite. They can't post up and a none factor in the pick n roll. Most good pg have a reliable big man to compliment each other. You can't play inside out ball what so ever. When we address the big man, watch out for this team.

[spectre]

Last night on that fast break after the steal by MKG he got it out to Kemba and he could have taken it in...but he threw it backwards (no look ftw!) to MKG for the uncontested slam...as a reward for making the play to begin with.

Leadership & maturity.

As fan inferred without Kemba we'd be the exact same team as last year with just a little more promise in MKG & Taylor who neither right now would have gotten us any wins.

It's mind boggling to me that anyone can try and point fingers at Kemba who's been doing everything when the other guys can't seem to nail an open shot to save their lives. Hendo went 0-4 in the 4th quarter. Mully has been VERY sporadic offensively (won't even bring up the D), Taylor is on a major slump shooting and MKG is still trying to develop moves offensively. We have absolutely no offense from the bigs. Gordon? LMAO.

I like Sessions too...but if Kemba was the problem the offense would be running a lot smoother when he's in...and it's not.

[Chef]

As fan inferred without Kemba we'd be the exact same team as last year with just a little more promise in MKG & Taylor who neither right now would have gotten us any wins.

It's mind boggling to me that anyone can try and point fingers at Kemba who's been doing everything when the other guys can't seem to nail an open shot to save their lives. Hendo went 0-4 in the 4th quarter. Mully has been VERY sporadic offensively (won't even bring up the D), Taylor is on a major slump shooting and MKG is still trying to develop moves offensively. We have absolutely no offense from the bigs. Gordon? LMAO.

although not in agreement with the majority or kemba's future, i am in 100% agreement with spec here. kemba has absolutely nothing to do with us losing right now. i also disagree in the sessions analysis. i think sessions and kemba are too similar to have on the same team long term.

[QC Thundercats]

1st reaction: GIT? But not condescending enough to qualify.
2nd reaction: What in the blue hell are you talking about?

I'm one to give everyone's opinion the benefit of the doubt, but this wasn't a critique of Kemba's game; the more I read, the more this turned into a hack job character assassination.

Kemba: Tough, leader, scrappy, contagious competitiveness, volume scorer. I recognize all of these attributes, along with his admiration from the fans. First off, I have much respect for his game and his effort. Here is my issue with him at starting PG.

1) His natural tendency in half court offense is ISO scoring. You can tell me all you want about Dunlap and Cho wishing to "develop" his pure point guard abilities; it doesn't work.
You are what you are, plain and simple.

Fair enough. I don't necessarily agree, but let's see where this goes.

Biz may be a good defensive, shot blocking 4 or 5 who can finish near the rim..but he will never be a Pau Gasol..he may be an improved version of what he is now, becoming an exceptional shot-blocking, defensive oriented center/foward who score inside the charge circle. He may become a great rebounder given his "leap timing instincts." Biz is not genetically gifted with "touch" that allows him to score with baby hooks, turnaround J's...basically the Hakeem/Parish repitior of moves.

True, Biz will never be like Pau or Hakeem (and I assume you meant McHale and not Parish), 99% of big men will never be like them. One thing though, I think Biz actually does have touch - his little right and left hand hooks from 5 feet or so seem to be able to find their way in the basket often enough. Diop is someone who has no touch. But Biz will never be a fluid, consistent scorer - maybe 10-12 ppg is a good goal for him.

Kemba is not naturally gifted with court vision and seeing things before they happen like Ricky Rubio..in fact he is no where close to our league's better pass-first point guards in his "pure" point guard abilities. How long are we going to give him before we can really say he gets everyone involved? In my opinion, he makes for a good Harden at OKC type of role..being a spark off the bench and a curve-ball for defenses when he gets in the game.

You're probably thinking of players like Nash, Paul, Rondo, and Deron, and you're right, Kemba won't be like them. But other then those handful of points, who else is "pure?" The game and rules have evolved, the pass-first guards of the 80s and 90s are gone. Its about playmaking, creating scoring opportunities for yourself and others. Westbrook, Holiday, new boy wonder Lillard - they all are great penetrators who can score at the rim or drop dimes for buckets.

Also, you said players can't keep developing as points? Chauncey Billups turned from a chucking shoot first guard into a Finals MVP. He never even averaged over 6 assists until his 9th year, while Kemba is there in his 2nd. Jrue Holiday averages 9 assists now in his 4th season, but only 4.5 last year.

Fact is, you need playmakers at your lead guard positions, and while Kemba isn't fully developed in his decision making yet, he's as good as you can find for a young player.

Here is why I would not take issue with trading him

2) Even though the consensus perception of him is a "leader," let's remember, a leader can mean alot of things. A leader can impose his will on other players, take control of a situation, express his thoughts to other players, perform under pressure. Does that nessesarily mean he specializes in elevating the game of his team-mates and instills a positive attitude in the team? No. That type of leadership was not needed at UCONN as his team was stacked.

This is why he is not the leader that elevates the play of his teammates.

I'll just address his leadership at UCONN - if you don't think that was leadership, then no one will ever convince you otherwise. UCONN was not stacked that year. They finished in 9th place in their conference at 9-9. Yet, they were the first team ever to win five games and win the Big East Tournament. Then Kemba led them to an unprobable NCAA championship, beating a stacked Kentucky team along the way.

There was only one other pro player on that team, a scrawny freshman Jeremy Lamb. The next season, with the exact same roster minus Kemba, that team finished 20-14.

For such a non leader, Kemba sure led a mediocre roster to win the early season, Big East, and NCAA tourneys. Thats called elevating the other players games, instilling positive attitudes, performing excellently under pressure, taking control of the situations, being clutch whenever the moment called for it.

a) He sulks when the team is losing and when his teammates are off his game. Every time the team falls behind, he has this expression that says, "This is bullshit, I'm playing good and you all won't stop sucking...stop sucking..dont suck anymore" as to suggest they should magically become more talented then they are when they step on the court because they are on his team where it's like UCONN and they are better than most of the teams they play.

First, its called being frustrated with losing, which most true competitors have, and being fiery. Second, how can you infer what you interpret his actions to mean to be exactly what he thinks? So when he furrows his brow, he is telling Diop that he should magically become more talented because it is Kemba's team? Quite a leap there.

You know who else got frustrated with losing and is a fiery competitor? Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, two of the most decorated winners in NBA history. And they are complete assholes who would actually say that out loud. Kemba is nothing like them in that regard, but as a leader of this team, he has every right to address a teammate on what he thinks needs to be done.

Byron Mullens is one of the most receptive, take constructive critisism type of guys on the team. I've seen Kemba bitch and moan at him on the bench when was trying to understand what Kemba was explaining to him, Mully moving his hands to suggest "so this is what I do when this happens" ...Kemba acting dismissive, shaking his head...there are more effective ways of mentoring teammates, watch Peyton Manning on NFL films talk to his receivers on the bench.

I mean, this happens on every roster during every game. Chris Paul will loudly yell with angry eyebrows at a teammate what he should've done or where he should've been. This isn't bitching and moaning, especially if its a player like Mullens who has in fact been out of position multiple times. I like Mully, but he does get lost a lot, and should get called out for it.

As for Peyton, his leadership style works for him. I've also seen him yell at players, call them idiots - is this bitching and moaning too? Same with Tom Brady.[/QUOTE]

That being said: he is not even honest with his own short-comings; I've never seen him take the owness for performing badly; I've never seen him acknowledge his own deficiencies as a pure point guard.

Well see, I have seen this. Its a subjective observation, and for you to think that this must mean he thinks hes the greatest ever and can do no wrong is a very juvenile interpretation of things. There were tons of articles saying that he knows his weaknesses, what he needs to work on, how long and hard he worked all offseason. Just because you didn't see those articles doesn't mean he has no self reflection. There are 168 hours per week, you're exposed to maybe 6, so you know everything he says and does?

He only says "we need to keep playin hard." You know who also says that? John Wall...like Kemba, he has a big ego and isn't honest with his deficiencies...Wall has yet to improve his shooting game which all the experts said would help his team, and all he did during the offseason was play pick-up games..no shooting drills. And surprise-suprise...Kemba, according to Stephanie Ready, committed his offseason to become a better shooter..heard nothing about passing, which is much less convenient to adress given it's his achilles heel.

Wall is nothing near the leader Kemba ever was, and I have never seen Kemba talk about himself as the greatest, or exhibit this great ego you speak of. And Kemba worked harder than anybody on this team during the offseason. He is shooting 43% this year versus 36% last year. 7% is huge. After starting off shooting bad from 3, he has shot 40% from 3 the last 10 games.

And as for not hearing about passing - you're just looking for anything to pick on. He worked on his whole game this summer, not just one thing. If reporters choose not to mention passing, that suddenly means that Kemba didn't work on it and refuses to acknowledge it now? Again, quite another leap you're making here.

When you are assigned to be the point-guard of the future, I want you to act like you give a damn about being a better player for your team..not just being a better player.

What does this even mean? He obviously acts like he wants to be a better player for the team, he has always been a team player. This is becoming more Skip-esque by the moment.

[QC Thundercats]

***We are bottom three in assists per-game...Kemba keeps scoring, and we keep losing. Inexcusable: we have proven scorers in Hendo, Mullens, Gordon, Taylor and Sessions. Those facts tell me the whole story.

Until you prove you are a scorer, you can't be called a proven scorer - so how can you even put Taylor in there when he's barely played 20 games? This is Mullens first year over 10 points, he's not a proven high scorer, and is clearly inefficient at this point by shooting under 40% as a big man. Gordon is a volume shooter who gets points in streaks. Sessions creates his own scoring opportunities with his drives, he's not a spot up shooter or backdoor driver. And Hendo averages only 15 the past couple seasons - this does not mean proven either.

What this proves is that you're trying to stretch your agenda against Kemba. He averages over 6 assists in his second season - great progress. And this is with inefficient scorers. Nothing can change the fact that outside the paint, we don't have great shooters.

c) He is not what MKG is, which is a "connector," a term used by all the scouts leading up to the draft. Gilchrist does not get negative, bitch at players, or sulks. I only see positive encouragement with him. Not to use outlandish analogies but MKG is like Mitt Romney in a Mitt Romney ad: smiles, looks optimistic and hopefull..wheres Kemba looks like Obama in a Romney ad, neutral or pissed off. That demeanor and attitude in a leadership role does have a psychological effect you know. You would be amazed on how bad body language will effect the morale of a team. Try working at a restaraunt with a complete bitch as a boss, and one with more upbeat, posisitive boss; you will be amazed on how different you feel during the week and how you perform at work. I see consistent, contrasting themes between Kemba and MKG. *I particularly pay attention to the two in losing situations. T

One of the most tortured analogies I've ever seen. Not to bring politics into this, but MKG is nothing like Romney, pro-advertisement or not. I'll leave it at that.

Oh and did you ever notice that Kemba and MKG seem like best friends on the team. Would you ever come running into the kitchen to hug your boss after a great meal served? His teammates seem to love him.

d) Kemba is a Diva. Like Cam Newton, they both were in the limelight in college, winning championships under dominant programs. Both piggy-backed their past credentials to bolster their stock value to both fans and the front office upon arrival in their respective Charlattean teams. Both do not know how to create positive energy in bad situations, they both sulk, bitch, and moan in tough times. No one would dare say anything nasty about Cam last year..the "Super-Man" who is all smiles basques in his spectacular touchdowns with dances...but we saw the real Cam under adversity this year..he grilled his offensive coordinator, and wanted change..from someone else. Give Kemba another year in dumpsville, you will be suprised in what you'lle see.

This is just getting retarded now. Okay BCP - maybe I've missed it, tell me these times Kemba acted like a diva. I always thought he was pretty humble for someone with his skills. I've never seen him have a disturbingly bad attitude, just frustration for losing.