"Kemba was more than just a teammate," Napier says, "he was like a brother.

[husky99]

http://blogs.courant.com/uconn_mens_basketball/2011/09/shabazz-napier-following-kemba.html

 

[ford82]

The great leaders have an impact even after they leave, through what they have taught others.

 

[husky99]

Napier loves kemba

 

[ctchamps]

You almost have to feel sorry for Shabazz. Like it or not some people are going to be comparing him to Kemba and hold him up to Kemba's standards. Hopefully most of the Boneyard will avoid this.

On the other hand, he has an NC and he worked alongside one of the all time great college guards. So he has that experience to play off of. Good luck this season Shabazz.

 

[champs99and04]

You almost have to feel sorry for Shabazz. Like it or not some people are going to be comparing him to Kemba and hold him up to Kemba's standards. Hopefully most of the Boneyard will avoid this.

On the other hand, he has an NC and he worked alongside one of the all time great college guards. So he has that experience to play off of. Good luck this season Shabazz.

I highly doubt it. If they do they should be executed.

 

[aceboon]

I highly doubt it. If they do they should be executed.

lol, you've been posting here long enough to know that it will definitely happen.

 

[intlzncster]

lol, you've been posting here long enough to know that it will definitely happen.

I just wrote the exact same thing and thus deleted it. This is a guarantee: "Bazz is no Kemba."

 

[husky99]

Looking at freshman walker, did you think he was going to get this good.....thank god jennings did not go to uconn

 

[progrocks]

I am hoping for 90% of Marcus Williams, but well behaved

 

[Robertelamin]

I am hoping for 90% of Marcus Williams, but well behaved

90% Marcus Williams with good behavior works for me!

 

[ctchamps]

I am hoping for 90% of Marcus Williams, but well behaved

Ok. So I'm wrong. People will compare him to Marcus and say he's no Marcus. You just increased the ammo against the kid.

 

[progrocks]

Ok. So I'm wrong. People will compare him to Marcus and say he's no Marcus. You just increased the ammo against the kid.

good thing Marcus didnt have any ammo, or who knows when he would have played for us!

 

[M_Funkhauser43!]

JC mentioned in an article a few months ago that he was going to "mold Shabazz into one of the best point guards in America" this season. Could be JC hyperbole, but he always talks about focusing on the potential of all the players, so I don't think he'd say it if he didn't think it was a possibility. Shabazz has a reputation for being a listener, so I'm sure he'll learn and improve a lot as the season progresses. I'm thinking it'll be a bumpy ride for him at first and he'll catch a ton of flak, but he'll be peaking, along with the rest of the team, as the BET approaches.

 

[Kitaman]

Bazz is putting us on notice that he is not Kemba as he's said this a couple of times before. I do think that in a couple of years he will have made his own mark.

 

[TheChamps990411]

anyone that compares bazz to kemba is flat out delusional. i dont want bazz to be kemba i want bazz to be the best bazz he can be and thats good enough for me.

 

[ctchamps]

IMO Bazz has the potential skills to be a player with the combinaton of the best qualities of Kemba and Marcus.

He is fast like Kemba He isn't as strong as Kemba, at least for now, and I have yet to see him hit the midrange shot consistently, never mind that awesome pull back jumper of Kemba's. But he can get to the hoop like Kemba did Kemba's freshman season.

And he hasn't quite set up players like Marcus. But that is more the result of a young team that had limited options in the interior and had a superstar that took and should have taken a significant proportion of shots.

But I think he is the perfect blend of these two players. I'm not equating him to either. I just see the skills in both those players reside in Shabazz. It remains to be seen if that translates into achievement of those skills and it remains to be seen if it translates this season.

Kemba struggled frequently his sophomore year without AJ.

 

[Scot-e]

That is true. But Kemba did not have the cast of players that Bazz will this year. AO as a Junior. RS and JL at the 2 and 3. While I think this is by far our best three man class on paper and you never know what might happen- these 3 young pups look they may be able to help out from day one. Hopefully that means he can spend his time being a point guard and is will take some of the pressure off Bazz vs Kemba would did not have a ton of help.

 

[huskyhal]

This team is not going to need Napier to be the scorer that Kemba was. What we need from Bazz is for him to be more of a traditional point guard, distributing and getting everyone else involved, which is what I believe JC was getting at. In fact, I would say that if Bazz tries to be Kemba, it will do serious harm to this team's chances.

 

[mets1090]

I've always thought Bazz would turn into a KEA type. Not necessarily style of play but in demeanor, attitude and leadership.

 

[sparky]

Loved Kemba. His smile illuminated everything, but Bazz is the real deal. He will be mentioned up there with Kemba, and the rest of the uconn great guards. I hope he remains a quality young man as well. I hope we get to see a Kemba-like step back shot too real often.

 

[rw005]

anyone that compares bazz to kemba is flat out delusional. i dont want bazz to be kemba i want bazz to be the best bazz he can be and thats good enough for me.

It would be nice to think, right?

 

[mets1090]

When Bazz's career is all said and done, we will likely be more worried about the next PG being compared to Shabazz and Kemba. I hope for his sake he has a distinct first name. Seems like the quickest way to develop an identity.

 

[Buzzyboy]

I agree that all you want from Shabazz is to be the best he can be. We've already seen that if he can do that, that'll be pretty darn good. He's bound to eventually shoot the ball a bit better but the more important thing is to develop in terms of distributing the ball. As has been mentioned, there is some serious talent on this team and that should allow him some opportunities to score some major assists.