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Draft Profile: Kemba Walker

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    • Dime Mag's Mock Draft 3.0

      5. Toronto – Kemba Walker
      6-1, 184 lbs. PG
      Connecticut, Jr.
      The Raptors haven’t had a franchise point guard in their short history since Damon Stoudamire, and with Walker that all changes. Walker is a winner, a competitor and maybe the player the Raptors have been looking for the past 16 years.
      Source: DimeMag.com

      I have to agree with Dime Magazine and in a draft where there is so much doubt he seems like a very safe selection.

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      • The pick - Trade it or keep it?

        http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=20073

        Nice read, makes Kemba look ever more enticing. He really was the first and second scoring option, but as mentioned is actually a great passer, too. Kelly didn't sound very enamoured with Knight at all, basically only talking about his athleticism.
        @sweatpantsjer

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        • this probably could have just been put in the kemba thread, it doesn't really talk about trading the pick at all
          @sweatpantsjer

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          • ceez wrote: View Post
            this probably could have just been put in the kemba thread, it doesn't really talk about trading the pick at all
            Done.

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            • thanks doc
              @sweatpantsjer

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              • you've got to love this guy's competitive spirit. I love the fact that he went up again Fredette in Utah. it shows he is willing to go against tough competition and push himself above it

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                • Both he and Jimmer seem a lot more secure in their abilities as PG's because they're willing to be tested in workouts.

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                  • ESPN article saying Kemba is better than Knight

                    Walker had a 1.5 PPR in college. It also took him only 18 minutes per game to get a steal or block and he was able to score inside. His upside is the same or slightly better than Knight's, but he is definitely a safer pick -- his chance of failing is less than one out of 10. There are no red flags on Walker, making him a one-out-of-three shot of becoming a good player at the next level.

                    Knight, meanwhile, has a one-in-four chance of being good, but the numbers suggest that his chances of success ride heavily on his shooting ability, not his passing. Knight had a minus-1.4 PPR in college, which is extremely low for a point guard -- lower, in fact, than any NBA starting point guard’s college PPR except for Stephen Curry, who did not play point guard until his third and final year at Davidson.

                    Knight’s youth and specific metrics on steals and rebounds also raise red flags. In short, studies show that point guards with his characteristics don't live up to first-round expectations. Knight has about a one-in-three chance at failing -- he is an NBA player, but he is a poor risk for a lottery team.
                    Source


                    I'm leaning towards Kemba over Knight as well.

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                    • yeah, ive always been in the knight camp but i think im going to tip toe over to kemba's side. i still like knight, and think he'll be a solid pro in a couple years, but i think kemba's better now and going to be a special dude.
                      @sweatpantsjer

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                      • Above ALL else, in my opinion anyway, people have to remember that Kemba Walker is a Winner. All he does is win.
                        Dude was the Dirk of the NCAA last year; carrying a 'mediocre' team, with no other real go to guys, and making them the best team in the Country.

                        Weak draft or not, the fact that we have a legit chance at nabbing THE BEST Point Guard in the NCAA last year (winner of the Bob Cousy award), and arguably THE BEST player in the NCAA, (Jimmer won the Naismith trophy, but Walker got more than a few first place votes, and was All-American first team.) is unreal. Brandon Knight shouldn't even be on our short list.

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                        • joey_hesketh wrote: View Post
                          Above ALL else, in my opinion anyway, people have to remember that Kemba Walker is a Winner. All he does is win.
                          Dude was the Dirk of the NCAA last year; carrying a 'mediocre' team, with no other real go to guys, and making them the best team in the Country.

                          Weak draft or not, the fact that we have a legit chance at nabbing THE BEST Point Guard in the NCAA last year (winner of the Bob Cousy award), and arguably THE BEST player in the NCAA, (Jimmer won the Naismith trophy, but Walker got more than a few first place votes, and was All-American first team.) is unreal. Brandon Knight shouldn't even be on our short list.
                          Kind of like Gordon Hayward, Rumeal Robinson and many others? Winning is certainly a nice asset, but it isn't everything. Bobby Hurley was a winner. Christian Laettner was a winner. Sometimes these things don't translate to a great NBA career. We all know Kemba won the NCAA Championship, but I'd like to see way more than that.
                          Read my blog, The Picket Fence. Guaranteed to make you think or your money back!
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                          • Tim W. wrote: View Post
                            Kind of like Gordon Hayward, Rumeal Robinson and many others? Winning is certainly a nice asset, but it isn't everything. Bobby Hurley was a winner. Christian Laettner was a winner. Sometimes these things don't translate to a great NBA career. We all know Kemba won the NCAA Championship, but I'd like to see way more than that.
                            ... ok ... but ... huh? Hayward didn't win the Championship..?

                            And what more could you expect to see from a guy in college? He single handedly led his team to not only the NCAA Championship, but the Big East Tournament Championship, of which he was the MVP, as well as the Maui Tournament Championship. He was the Most Outstanding Non-Freshman in the NCAA for the season.
                            Thats not just fluke run at the Championship. Or fluke shot, once in a lifetime.
                            Thats greatness, Tim. In my opinion.
                            Thats unique ability to come through for your team when they need a win.

                            Robinson NEVER had the kind of season that Kemba did. Not even close.

                            And of all the guys you listed, MAYBE Laettner can be compared to Kemba, and while with Minnesota and Atlanta, Laettner was a VERY solid player.

                            And seriously? You're going to Put Bobby Hurley in there? Really Tim? The guy that almost DIED in a car accident in his rookie season and suffered CRAZY injuries..? Really? Ok. Sometimes almost dying doesn't translate well to a good career.

                            ADD And why not name guys like 'Carmelo Anthony' and 'Mario Chalmers' and 'Joakim Noah' and 'Shane Battier' and 'Richard Hamilton' ... I could keep going.
                            You throwing those guys out is like how some guys throw out 'Gilbert Arenas' and 'Manu Ginobili' as proof that all Second Rounders are going to be good picks.

                            I'd say the Majority of guys who win Championships in the NCAA, and are the Main Guy on the team, go on to have Above Average Careers in the League. But I could be off on that.

                            And further more, I'd say the majority of guys that have seasons like Kemba did, more often than not, go on to be successful. But, again, I could be off on that.
                            Last edited by Joey; Thu Jun 16, 2011, 08:19 PM.

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                            • Tim W. wrote: View Post
                              Kind of like Gordon Hayward, Rumeal Robinson and many others? Winning is certainly a nice asset, but it isn't everything. Bobby Hurley was a winner. Christian Laettner was a winner. Sometimes these things don't translate to a great NBA career. We all know Kemba won the NCAA Championship, but I'd like to see way more than that.
                              Joey did say "above all else", implying that there was obviously more than just the winning.

                              joey_hesketh wrote: View Post
                              ADD And why not name guys like 'Carmelo Anthony' and 'Mario Chalmers' and 'Joakim Noah' and 'Shane Battier' and 'Richard Hamilton' ... I could keep going.
                              Glen Rice, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, James Worthy, Bill Russell and Isiah Thomas...

                              Al Horford, Carlos Boozer, Grant Hill, Ray Allen, Emeka Okafor, Raymond Felton, Jason Richardson, Caron Butler, Mike Bibby and Jason Terry.
                              Last edited by Apollo; Thu Jun 16, 2011, 09:05 PM. Reason: Terry, not Stevenson. :)

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                              • http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/pos...ight-vs-walker

                                Kemba Walker might be the most polished collegiate player in this year's NBA draft. He won the 2011 NCAA title with Connecticut, he finished fourth in Division I scoring (23.5 points per game) and won numerous individual awards -- All-American, Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four and Big East Tournament, Cousy Award -- and he had his number retired at UConn before he even declared for the draft.

                                Brandon Knight, the next in the line of one-and-done John Calipari-coached guards, was a first-team All-SEC player and set Kentucky freshman records for scoring and 3-point shooting.

                                Which point guard would you choose?

                                One of the many questions that key NBA decision-makers will face in the draft (June 23 on ESPN, 7 ET) is how to measure the experience of Walker, a 21-year-old junior, against the potential of Knight, a 19-year-old freshman.

                                To help us, let's use one of the key metrics for evaluating point-guard prospects: pure point rating (PPR), which calculates assists and turnovers into a single number projection of how a particular player will fare as a distributor in the NBA. The average PPR of all current NBA starters while they were in college is 1.2.

                                Walker had a 1.5 PPR in college. It also took him only 18 minutes per game to get a steal or block and he was able to score inside. His upside is the same or slightly better than Knight's, but he is definitely a safer pick -- his chance of failing is less than one out of 10. There are no red flags on Walker, making him a one-out-of-three shot of becoming a good player at the next level.

                                Knight, meanwhile, has a one-in-four chance of being good, but the numbers suggest that his chances of success ride heavily on his shooting ability, not his passing. Knight had a minus-1.4 PPR in college, which is extremely low for a point guard -- lower, in fact, than any NBA starting point guard’s college PPR except for Stephen Curry, who did not play point guard until his third and final year at Davidson.

                                Knight’s youth and specific metrics on steals and rebounds also raise red flags. In short, studies show that point guards with his characteristics don't live up to first-round expectations. Knight has about a one-in-three chance at failing -- he is an NBA player, but he is a poor risk for a lottery team.

                                Other guys have succeeded with such a low PPR; for example, Gilbert Arenas and Jerryd Bayless are point guards who are better as shooters than distributors. But it takes more than 40 minutes for Knight to get a steal or block, far more than either of these guys. And while his shooting is probably good enough to keep him around, Knight's defense could prove to be a problem, too.

                                After looking at advanced metrics it seems clear that Walker, whose Huskies beat Knight's Wildcats twice last season, wins again.
                                @Chr1st1anL

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