UConn in the NBA

[aceboon]

I would like to see Kemba play on a team with a modern offensive philosophy, and with guys who can actually stretch the floor. They look to be taking steps in the right direction, based upon their roster construction and drastic increase in 3 point attempts this pre-season.

From a recent Grantland article by Kirk Goldsberry:

The 2014-15 Hornets ranked last in effective field goal percentage and 3-point percentage and ranked 29th in overall field goal percentage. When you drill down on their individual players, you see how they arrived at the bottom of these team categories. Last season, 172 players (over a third of the league) attempted at least 500 shots. Of that massive group, three of the six least-effective shooters — Kemba Walker, Gary Neal, and Stephenson — played in Charlotte’s backcourt.3

Now that could be dumb luck, or it could be coaching and team philosophy.

While it’s tempting to simply label players like Walker “inefficient,” that’s kind of shallow. Just as shooters are better with assistance from teammates, they need some from their coaches too. Who is assisting the assisters? Who is styling the offense? Coaches have a huge place at this table, and if you’re looking for evidence, look no further than our new overlords in Oakland.

intersting take, I've only seen one preseason game so far and that was the first one against the Clippers in China and I did notice that the offense appears to be more free flowing with more ball movement, and not the iso heavy centric offense revolving around 10 second Al Jeff post ups and Kemba/Gerald Henderson longrange pull-up jumpers. With Lamb and Kemba together I'll be following them a bit more on LP once the regular season starts up.

 

[aceboon]

BG was waived, I wonder if he had any other interest out there because trying to latch onto a deep squad like the Warriors sounded like a bad idea from the jump

 

[champs99and04]

A couple points in Kemba's defense:

1. There was an article released a couple years ago that indicated that Kemba was forced into more high degree of difficulty shots than almost anybody in the league. Having watched a lot of Charlotte, it definitely didn't surprise me. Given Waiters is one of the worst-spot up shooters in the league and can't seem to fit into any offense that does not go to great lengths to put the ball into his hands, I would argue that Kemba's flaws are easier to build a functional offense around than those of Waiters'.

2. Dion Waiters has a career PER of 12.8. Kemba is at 17.2. PER obviously isn't fool-proof, but that's a pretty sizable difference.

I don't disagree that Kemba is probably a below average starting point guard. I wouldn't call him a below average NBA player, though.

Most importantly, I think there is close to a league-wide consensus that Kemba is a player you can win with, whether he's your starter or the first guy off your bench. To the extent that he has been inefficient is likely a product, at least in part, of him being forced into an alpha dog role he's probably not capable of playing.

 

[KingOPancakes]

For those that get YES network, Celtics at Nets right now. Sloan isn't available and Jarrett Jack was ejected to start the 2nd. Boat should get some legitimate minutes tonight.

 

[auror]

LINK
hopefully he makes the squad.

He has a guaranteed contract. Doubt they'd cut him with that many years remaining.

 

[James]

He has a guaranteed contract. Doubt they'd cut him with that many years remaining.

the first two years of a first round draft pick’s contract are guaranteed, while the third and fourth year of the contract are the team’s option. I should have said, Rob hennigan should pick up his 3rd year option ( needs to happen within the next 15 days).