Kemba on the Knicks

[navery12]

 

[tykurez]

Oof. Really wanted the return to MSG to work out but so far it’s not been good.

Burks is the same draft class as Kemba, btw. He’s just so much bigger and is having a good shooting year.

 

[tykurez]

Fyi this a Nets reporter....

Why is this all on Kemba? Kemba starts with 4 other guys and they are facing the other teams starters. Fournier has been very spotty, Randle has been up & down & Barret has been bad....the starters haven't been great in general, not all on Kemba.

Kemba may have the worst +- on the team and he's not very good on defense but none of the starters have been great on D.

Kemba still has the 6th highest PER on the roster, just behind Burks, but he’s not even top-100 in the league anymore. I agree though, Barrett and Fournier have not been good (and their PER reflects that), it’s just that they’re not also a defensive liability.

 

[aceboon]

sad that his best years were wasted on those Charlotte teams but its over. Guys on here were throwing out every useless advanced stat in the book to try to justify his play in the playoff bubble after the Philly series but it was clear he was trending down.

 

[elmcityboy]

sad that his best years were wasted on those Charlotte teams but its over. Guys on here were throwing out every useless advanced stat in the book to try to justify his play in the playoff bubble after the Philly series but it was clear he was trending down.

yep. count me among the deluded celtics/uconn fans who watched him all last season and were hopeful all along that he had more in the tank. from a c's fan perspective, it was a relief when the they finally traded him. horford is clearly the better player at this point in time.

kemba can clearly still shoot it (41% from 3 on 5 attempts/game) but he doesn't have the same athleticism and is awful defensively. in that sense, his fit on a defense-first thibs team was always a bit of a question-mark. maybe he can carve out a bench role on a different team if someone is willing to give him a shot.

 

[auror]

Fyi this a Nets reporter....

Why is this all on Kemba? Kemba starts with 4 other guys and they are facing the other teams starters. Fournier has been very spotty, Randle has been up & down & Barret has been bad....the starters haven't been great in general, not all on Kemba.

Kemba may have the worst +- on the team and he's not very good on defense but none of the starters have been great on D.

Not just the worst +/- on the team...

 

[awfuldan]

Burks is the same draft class as Kemba, btw. He’s just so much bigger and is having a good shooting year.

Burks has also played almost exactly half as many minutes as Kemba throughought their careers, 12.5k vs 24k. Kemba played big minutes almost every game of every season in Charlotte and obviously had a super high usage rate.

Huge bummer for Kemba. Really wanted it to work out with the Knicks. Hope he's able to figure something out somewhere but, if not, he had a great NBA career.

 

[awfuldan]

Pretty shocking stuff. Small-ish sample size, but still.

 

[superjohn]

Oof. Really wanted the return to MSG to work out but so far it’s not been good.

Burks is the same draft class as Kemba, btw. He’s just so much bigger and is having a good shooting year.

Injuries happen, Kemba's knees are done unfortunately.

Burks isn't half the player Kemba was but Burks is healthy.

 

[billythekid]

I feel confident that there is still more of the Kemba story to tell with the Knicks. It is a long season and they will look to him at some point to contribute and he can still have an impact on the Knicks' season.

The biggest issue is that Kemba's greatest strength is his quickness and ability to create his own shot. That is what has always set up his 3-point shooting. He was never a brilliant set-up shooter of the Ray Allen variety. His injuries have sapped him of what made him so successful and that brings greater visibility to some of his deficiencies.

 

[Kenny11]

Kemba is still quick with the ball on offense. But he’s much worse on defense and he can’t jump at all anymore. He used to be able to make layups after blowing by a guy. That doesn’t happen much anymore. At his size, the smallest amount of separation matters and losing his ability to jump has made things so much harder on him. He can still cross the crap out of someone but they can recover enough to bother his shot now.

 

[Hi-Low]

I've seen all the Knicks games and Walker isn't the only issue. I don't think Thibs is a great coach, he's fine, but not great....too much of every game is life & death. He played around too much with Kemba's minutes so that it was almost impossible to get a rhythm & develop chemistry. That said Kemba hasn't looked great the past 2 years either so the Knicks knew what they were getting...a small guard, with bad knees.

Kemba can still score enough points if he gets consistent minutes but he's a bad fit on the Knicks...they already had veteran PG's in Rose & Burks and a young PG in Quickley. Kemba isn't the Hornets Kemba anymore but on the right team he can still have a positive impact.

 

[Scrappy3]

I’ve watched every Knick game
Kemba by far and away has not been bad
He’s had good games
But he does not fit thibs defense first and the Knicks have gotten off poorly on many starts. Love kemba but the fit is poor

 

[Ratso]

Ben for kemba + the Kentucky kid

 

[Kajik]

Haha they would have to swap starting unit to cover Ben's 144 mil contract,nice try though

 

[Thirty Three]

Unfortunately Kemba has been cringeworthy the last couple of years. Likely because of his knees.

 

[Kitaman]

I can see Derrick Rose having AARP conversations (injuries, surgeries, doctors, whatcouldofs, etc.) with Kemba.

Just saying, Derrick Rose is doing well, so Kemba has someone who walked his shoes to talk to.

 

[aceboon]

I can see Derrick Rose having AARP conversations (injuries, surgeries, doctors, whatcouldofs, etc.) with Kemba.

Just saying, Derrick Rose is doing well, so Kemba has someone who walked his shoes to talk to.

Derrick Rose has had knee surgeries but Kemba has a bone on bone/arthritic condition in his knee, that's not going to get better. Dates back to him have his meniscus snipped prior to his junior season. It got him back on the court quicker and UConn fans should be eternally grateful for that title, but he's paying for it now.

 

[Kitaman]

Derrick Rose has had knee surgeries but Kemba has a bone on bone/arthritic condition in his knee, that's not going to get better. Dates back to him have his meniscus snipped prior to his junior season. It got him back on the court quicker and UConn fans should be eternally grateful for that title, but he's paying for it now.

Kemba has the type of personality/character and determination to be successful off of the court. He has more stories to tell than many other ballers his age. His MSG experience and the BE/NCAA Championship run will forever be one of the greatest feats in college basketball.

Just saying Kemba is one bad dude with a bright future and if the end is near he will be just fine in whatever he chooses to do. One of UConn's best.

 

[Lefty2one]

Unfortunately it is the right decision but it's still hilarious that Thibs bailed on Kemba so quickly when he was in love with trash pail Elfrid Payton for two whole seasons.

 

[fatlucy]

Retirement after making all that money sounds like FUN!

 

[huskyinfl]

Anytime UConn guys get paid I am happy. If they get more money than they're worth even better

 

[Horatio]

Injuries happen, Kemba's knees are done unfortunately.

Burks isn't half the player Kemba was but Burks
is healthy.

Hate to see it. I’ve had people tell me that the NYC asphalt caught up with Kemba.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Alec Burks had the worst +/- on the team last night outside Quentin Grimes, who played for 2 minutes.

 

[AntG168]

Alec Burks had the worst +/- on the team last night outside Quentin Grimes, who played for 2 minutes.

Alec Burks had 25