Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Name: Kemba Walker
Position: PG
Age: 21
Hgt: 6'1"
Wgt: 184
College/Country: Connecticut
Class: Junior
10-11 Stats: 37.6min 23.5pts (.428 .330 .819) 5.4reb 4.5ast 1.9stl 0.2blk 2.3TO
Projected Draft Position: #5-#7
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Kingfans Scouting Report #1:
Kemba Walker: A 6'1", in shoes, 184 pound, Junior PG. As he had nothing left to prove at UCONN, taking his team to the national championship, he declared for the draft. Walker is more quick than fast, but make no mistake, he is fast. He uses his quickness to create his own shot just about anytime he wants. Of all the top PG's in the draft, none run the pick and roll as well as Walker does. He seems to be able to get to the basket whenever he wants, but has trouble finishing at times. Which could be attributed to his size. However, he has a terrific mid-range game and can stop on a dime for a pullup. He has an a complete arsenal of shots around the basket from floaters to little teardrops.
Its from behind the 3 pt line that his game needs some work. He started off the season as hot as anyone in college basketball. For almost a third of the season he was shooting over 40% from behind the line. Considering that shot 27.1% his freshman year, and 33.9% his sophmore year, it looked like had really worked hard to improve that part of his game. Unfortunately, he slowly came back to earth and ended the season at 33.0%, and only shot 42.8% overall. The disturbing part was that quite a few of his 3 pointers where wide open shots. Its possible that he had tired legs toward the end of the season since he played a lot of minutes per game, and he never stops moving. And while he handles the ball a high percentage of the time, he's also excellent at playing without the ball. Some have called him selfish, or ball dominate, but I think he was just doing what he had to do to win.
While I think Walker has good PG instincts, and certainly all the tools to be an excellent PG, I would still call him more of a shoot first point guard. He averaged 23 PPG, and 4.5 APG, while turning the ball over only 2.2 times a game. He has very good basketball IQ, and good court vison. Walkers only deficency on defense is his size. At the next level he could have trouble guarding some of the taller PG's in the league. But it won't be for lack of effort. He's tenacious on defense and will pester the heck out of anyone he's guarding. He's blessed with excellent lateral quickness, and is very good at keeping his man in front of him. He averaged 1.9 steals a game this past season, and 2.0 steals his sophmore year. So other than some matchup problems, I think Walker will be a good defender in the NBA, and could be a nightmare to guard at the other end of the floor.
I like Walker. He's a warrior that never stops battling. No one gave UCONN a chance at the title coming into this season. They came into the Aloha tournament unranked to start the season. Walker led them to a win in that tournament, and never looked back. So whatever his flaws may be, and despite his diminutive size, he's a winner.
-- Courtesy of KF Scout bajaden
Kingfans Scouting Report #2:
Position: PG
Age: 21
Hgt: 6'1"
Wgt: 184
College/Country: Connecticut
Class: Junior
10-11 Stats: 37.6min 23.5pts (.428 .330 .819) 5.4reb 4.5ast 1.9stl 0.2blk 2.3TO
Projected Draft Position: #5-#7
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Kingfans Scouting Report #1:
Kemba Walker: A 6'1", in shoes, 184 pound, Junior PG. As he had nothing left to prove at UCONN, taking his team to the national championship, he declared for the draft. Walker is more quick than fast, but make no mistake, he is fast. He uses his quickness to create his own shot just about anytime he wants. Of all the top PG's in the draft, none run the pick and roll as well as Walker does. He seems to be able to get to the basket whenever he wants, but has trouble finishing at times. Which could be attributed to his size. However, he has a terrific mid-range game and can stop on a dime for a pullup. He has an a complete arsenal of shots around the basket from floaters to little teardrops.
Its from behind the 3 pt line that his game needs some work. He started off the season as hot as anyone in college basketball. For almost a third of the season he was shooting over 40% from behind the line. Considering that shot 27.1% his freshman year, and 33.9% his sophmore year, it looked like had really worked hard to improve that part of his game. Unfortunately, he slowly came back to earth and ended the season at 33.0%, and only shot 42.8% overall. The disturbing part was that quite a few of his 3 pointers where wide open shots. Its possible that he had tired legs toward the end of the season since he played a lot of minutes per game, and he never stops moving. And while he handles the ball a high percentage of the time, he's also excellent at playing without the ball. Some have called him selfish, or ball dominate, but I think he was just doing what he had to do to win.
While I think Walker has good PG instincts, and certainly all the tools to be an excellent PG, I would still call him more of a shoot first point guard. He averaged 23 PPG, and 4.5 APG, while turning the ball over only 2.2 times a game. He has very good basketball IQ, and good court vison. Walkers only deficency on defense is his size. At the next level he could have trouble guarding some of the taller PG's in the league. But it won't be for lack of effort. He's tenacious on defense and will pester the heck out of anyone he's guarding. He's blessed with excellent lateral quickness, and is very good at keeping his man in front of him. He averaged 1.9 steals a game this past season, and 2.0 steals his sophmore year. So other than some matchup problems, I think Walker will be a good defender in the NBA, and could be a nightmare to guard at the other end of the floor.
I like Walker. He's a warrior that never stops battling. No one gave UCONN a chance at the title coming into this season. They came into the Aloha tournament unranked to start the season. Walker led them to a win in that tournament, and never looked back. So whatever his flaws may be, and despite his diminutive size, he's a winner.
-- Courtesy of KF Scout bajaden
Kingfans Scouting Report #2:
A 6 foot lightning bolt of a guard who led a depleted UCONN team to a national championship this year. Very quick with the basketball, uses crossovers and hesitation moves to get into the lane or free up his jump shot. He simply cannot be defended one-on-one at the college level. He’s also very strong for his size and uses that strength to take contact in the lane and finish. He doesn’t always look as focused on defense as he does with the ball in his hands, but he does come up with a lot of steals by jumping the passing lanes thanks to his quickness and anticipation.
His biggest limitation on defense though is going to be his standing reach. He does a good job of sliding his feet to stay in front of his man, but he doesn’t have the length to adequately contest taller guards. This is a problem especially when rotating to close-out shooters where he has to over commit at times and can put himself out of position and vulnerable to the drive or the foul.
He can still be a streaky shooter, especially from long range, though he’s improved dramatically since his freshman year. The biggest question mark, aside from how well his size will play at the next level, is whether he can be effective as a facilitator. It’s not so much a question of willingness, but rather style of play. He’s shown that he can be a good and willing passer at times but he plays with such an aggressive scorer’s mentality that I wonder if he can still be effective in a role with doesn’t require him to score. For this reason he may be best utilized as a scoring guard off the bench or a 4th quarter “closer” like Ben Gordon in Chicago.
Not a great rebounder because of his size, but he is active in going after rebounds. To his credit, even as a freshman he was not at all afraid to get in the paint and mix it up with bigger players. And that’s ultimately what stands out the most about Kemba – he plays with the swagger and intensity of a much bigger player. He might remind Kings fans of Bobby Jackson in that regard. He seems to be a natural born leader on the floor and he's absolutely fearless with the game on the line.
-- Courtesy of KF Scout hrdboild
His biggest limitation on defense though is going to be his standing reach. He does a good job of sliding his feet to stay in front of his man, but he doesn’t have the length to adequately contest taller guards. This is a problem especially when rotating to close-out shooters where he has to over commit at times and can put himself out of position and vulnerable to the drive or the foul.
He can still be a streaky shooter, especially from long range, though he’s improved dramatically since his freshman year. The biggest question mark, aside from how well his size will play at the next level, is whether he can be effective as a facilitator. It’s not so much a question of willingness, but rather style of play. He’s shown that he can be a good and willing passer at times but he plays with such an aggressive scorer’s mentality that I wonder if he can still be effective in a role with doesn’t require him to score. For this reason he may be best utilized as a scoring guard off the bench or a 4th quarter “closer” like Ben Gordon in Chicago.
Not a great rebounder because of his size, but he is active in going after rebounds. To his credit, even as a freshman he was not at all afraid to get in the paint and mix it up with bigger players. And that’s ultimately what stands out the most about Kemba – he plays with the swagger and intensity of a much bigger player. He might remind Kings fans of Bobby Jackson in that regard. He seems to be a natural born leader on the floor and he's absolutely fearless with the game on the line.
-- Courtesy of KF Scout hrdboild
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