Who is this year's Kemba Walker? | The Boneyard

Who is this year's Kemba Walker?

Silk31

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This is obviously a trick question right...

But seriously, this list is pretty poor. Play making guards tend to be able to carry a team on their backs come tourney time. As good as guys like Happ and Colson are, they can't even sniff Kemba's jock when it comes to elimination play time
 

Drew

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Semi for SMU is legit. I'd be scared to play them in March.
 
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No one. But ESPN article asking the question: The players who could take over and win a national title all by themselves

I hope in 30 years the same question is still being asked because that run he went on should never be forgotten.
Thank you espn.

articles like this will keep Uconn relevant. So to respond to the question, HOPEFULLY no one....So Uconn can remain relevant for longer, long enough to get back to semi dominant seasons.

By the way, I did not see the article mention 11 wins in a row, but I did skim it so perhaps I missed it.
 
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The closest thing to Kemba Walker since Kemba Walker has probably been Shabazz. I know I'm saying that just because they're UConn guys, but I can't think of anybody else who resemble them.

Adams is a little different. You could see him playing at Kentucky or Kansas because of his size, whereas the other three guys weren't recruited by any of the blue bloods, IIRC (not sure on Kemba, but I don't think Duke, UK, or UNC targeted him).

Closest non-UConn guy to Kemba Walker in the last few years has probably been, I don't know, Russ Smith? Obviously there have been stud big men like Davis and Towns, but they don't fit the mold of ball-dominant, vocal leaders. Tyler Ulis and Kris Dunn seemed to be that sort of guy last year. Hield was a different type of player.

Frank Mason and Josh Hart are the closest, I think, to those guys this season, but they're both on great teams. Evans of Oklahoma State would be a good bet if he had a better surrounding core.
 

Matrim55

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Mason and Josh Hart are the closest, I think, to those guys this season, but they're both on great teams. Evans of Oklahoma State would be a good bet if he had a better surrounding core.
The kid from Creighton would've been the obvious one if he hadn't blown out his knee. Damn shame, too, because he's a baller.
 
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Jalen Adams.
I think that Jalen if he can shoot to Kemba's standard especially from 3 can do it for us next year. He'll have Gilbert setting him up, there will be less stress and strain.
 
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The kid from Creighton would've been the obvious one if he hadn't blown out his knee. Damn shame, too, because he's a baller.

Right on target. With Watson Jr. I think Creighton had a legit shot at the title. He was that instrumental in everything they did. The leadership intangibles were off the charts. Similar to Kemba.
 

Matrim55

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I think that Jalen if he can shoot to Kemba's standard especially from 3 can do it for us next year.
What's far more important is for Jalen to have elite defenders/rebounders in the paint a la AO & Roscoe.
 

Dove

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5 wins in 5 days!! Never forget.
 

Mr. French

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No one. But ESPN article asking the question: The players who could take over and win a national title all by themselves

I hope in 30 years the same question is still being asked because that run he went on should never be forgotten.

Thank goodness your personal answer and first 2 words ended the debate, as I was going to: No one.

But I guess I could see Allen/Kennard, Monk, Jackson/Mason, maybe Ball make a nasty little run. But no one this year and perhaps ever will be "this year's Kemba" -- that wasn't something that gets duplicated much, if ever, through history.

Think back on the last time, before our guys (KW/SN) where as a good, average college hoops fan you'd say "that's the [insert player] tournament!" THEN, compare it to the Kemba run and all the circumstances, and you see that's close to once in a lifetime.

So amazed still that the team I loved for 15-20 years have given me entire years like that. Trying not to get cheesy, but I got pretty lucky in that regard.

I had/have no ties to UConn, I simply chose them in the early 90s as a beginner basketball player.
 
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In the beginning of the year I thought that player could easily be Monte Morris (PG Iowa State). Then it turned to Mo Watson Jr. after the emergence of Justin Patton.. Edmund Sumner (X PG) was also a great candidate until he tore his ACL.
 

Mr. French

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It physically caused me pain to see Grayson Allen listed as a potential Kemba Walker.

I liked this, and i obviously HATE Duke and don't love his BS crybaby act, but I've always LOVED his game.

It wasn't a surprise when he played well as a frosh in that FF, their class was so loaded he was like their 4th best frosh, but he's got a great, smooth game.
 

intlzncster

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The closest thing to Kemba Walker since Kemba Walker has probably been Shabazz. I know I'm saying that just because they're UConn guys, but I can't think of anybody else who resemble them.

Adams is a little different. You could see him playing at Kentucky or Kansas because of his size, whereas the other three guys weren't recruited by any of the blue bloods, IIRC (not sure on Kemba, but I don't think Duke, UK, or UNC targeted him).

Closest non-UConn guy to Kemba Walker in the last few years has probably been, I don't know, Russ Smith? Obviously there have been stud big men like Davis and Towns, but they don't fit the mold of ball-dominant, vocal leaders. Tyler Ulis and Kris Dunn seemed to be that sort of guy last year. Hield was a different type of player.

Frank Mason and Josh Hart are the closest, I think, to those guys this season, but they're both on great teams. Evans of Oklahoma State would be a good bet if he had a better surrounding core.

UK kicked the tires on Kemba for a bit, but went with somebody else (memory fails me there). Calipari still calls it one of the biggest mistakes of his career--I'm sure he's blocked out vacating all those wins.
 

Dream Jobbed 2.0

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IMG_1639.JPG
 
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answer: none of the clowns listed here

i do love semi's game though. ball is obviously an otherworldly talent, but he doesn't have the experience kemba did. non-uconn fans might forget that he was part of an FF run as a frosh
 
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UK kicked the tires on Kemba for a bit, but went with somebody else (memory fails me there). Calipari still calls it one of the biggest mistakes of his career--I'm sure he's blocked out vacating all those wins.

I think it was Tyreke Evans. He was still at Memphis at the time. He had a better freshman year than Kemba so I guess you can't really fault him given he would take the UK job a year later. Think that was the year Memphis lost to the Missouri, who would eventually lose to us.
 
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Responses above, I think you all nailed it. Kemba was what Kba was because he had time to be seasoned. It was before the expected 1 or 2 year max (and no doubt he needed that third year of seasoning, despite the immense talent he sometimes showcased in his rookie year). But, seriously, the way he carried that team was insane. We'll never see a guy like that. Ray Ray was more talented, but, not in that way. Donyell was fantastic, again - not like him. Every other of our teams to get it done had other stronger pieces. Oriakhi was a monster, and one of the least appreciated huskies given contribution (I get the transfer thing). But, every other of the Calhoun title teams had a college star to help the superstar. Oriakhi was a really good star assistant. napier's team was just an all glue team- really an incredible piece of coaching by Ollie. (So anybody who says he can't coach, look back at those players and tell me if you honestly think Calhoun would have reached the elite 8 with them). Maybe.
Sorry, I digress. Kemba's lore during this era should be magical - I don't think of anybody who has single handedly done anything close for his team. And, there's no way Shabazz would have gotten that leadership calling without seeing Kemba.
 

ctchamps

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Kemba won every tournament game his junior season. Yes he had support but he was the guy with the energy that carried the team both on offense and defense. Just an unreal performer when it came to one and done situations. The five games in five days in the BE tourney were incredible considering the energy he had to exert. Jalen struggles to keep his energy in just one game with several days off. Not a dig on the kid. Just some perspective with Kemba.

So people may someday remove Kemba as the benchmark but I doubt anyone could match the performance he had in the BE tournament.
 

gtcam

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its got to be someone who has the ball in their hands 75% of the time and I don't see anyone in the game this year who does have the ball that much with the desire/onions that Kemba had
Ball at UCLA maybe but that team has so many offensive weapons he wont be able to have that opportunity
Since Kemba I've only seem 1 guy come close - Bazz
 
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The next Uconn guy I think of after KW and SN in terms of having that dominant take over a game ability was Caron. He never made it to a FF, only because they ran into that Maryland team in the E8
 

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