Saturday, June 11, 2011

Kemba is winner. Plus - Thompson, Dunn, Hurtt & Balbay

Kemba "All I Do Is Win!" Walker
Kemba Walker was the biggest reason that Connecticut won the NCAA Championship. He is a small guard with the ability to create his own shot due to his fabulous footwork. He owns a 39.5" max. vert. (DraftExpress.com), and has great speed, and ball-handling skill. …Not afraid to go to the hole. …He competes. …Stays in plays defensively. …Crafty. Good in transition. …Can make a play one on one in crunch time. ...He has a nice stroke that is consistent and reliable. ...Quick hands. ...Alert. He will be among the steals leaders wherever he plays. ...He uses his off hand well (left). …Willing to accept a challenge. ...From the Bronx, NY.

Walker played for the USA Basketball Select team that practiced against the USA Men's senior National Team in the Summer of 2010. The concern with Kemba is his overall field goal percentage for his career at U-Conn. He shot just .428. And his three-point shooting could only be called "acceptable" at .330 this season. His 1.78:1 assist-to-turnover ratio is also just "okay" for a Point Guard. ...Despite any concern, I like Kemba Walker. He is a winner.

I see some Yogi Stewart in Tristan Thompson's game. 
Tristan Thompson is a player I am having a hard time trying to visualize in five years. Is he a special BIG or is he such a bad shooter that he will never develop? The Canadian that balled at Texas this season is a mobile lefty BIG that has a real ability to maintain his focus and follow through when converting shots around the hoop. ...Great length. His standing reach is over nine feet! He will dunk anything close to the rim. He's a good offensive rebounder that will dunk in traffic. ...He understands how to seal his man and get good position in the low post but his post moves are a work in progress. ...He can finish in transition. He was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team as a freshman. …The issue with Thompson's game right now is his horrid fee throw shooting. He also has more turnovers than assists. ...McDonald's High School All-American that transferred away from St Benedict's where he was said to have clashed with Dan Hurley. He wound up at Findley Prep and led that team to the high school "national championship". ...The upside here is tremendous.

I soured on LaceDarius Dunn this season but does that mean he should be totally disregarded?

Dunn is too good a scorer to be dismissed.
LaceDarius Dunn is a shooting Guard that finished his career at Baylor as the all-time leading scorer in Big 12 history! He really came alive in the N.I.T. Tournament at the close of the 2008-09 season. He is a scorer that does have a questionable shot selection but he also makes things happen with his aggressiveness. This season he averaged 19 points, four rebounds and two assists per game. In a "down" year for Dunn as a Senior his percentages were still better than most SG prospects. He shot .398 from beyond the arc, and .826 at the line. ...He is good at splitting a double team with his dribble. He is an  excellent shooter. Right handed. ...He has good speed. ...He will get a technical foul now and again. ...A red flag on Dunn's resume was that he was suspended for the first three games of 2010-11 due to an arrest for aggravated assault stemming from a domestic incident. ...Dunn reacts quickly and sometimes gets by on his athleticism as opposed to moving without the ball. ... I also think he could be more alert as a defender. ...Overall though - I like Dunn as a big shot taker and maker - and in the current landscape of NBA SG's where Tony Allen and J.R. Smith rank among the top-ten in efficiency - I don't think you can overlook Dunn. ...In high school: Led Excelsior Christian School (Monroe, La.) to 118-9 record and one state championship over final three prep seasons.

Justin Hurtt will be among those working out in Sacramento Monday. The Tulsa Senior is a lefty, high-riser that became a better shooter as his career progressed. He shot between 36% and 39% from three-point range during his last three seasons. He is a 80% free throw shooter. However - Hurtt is another guard that has more turnovers than assists (career), and shoots a low field goal percentage (42%). …He is a good athlete; he won a Kansas City All-Star slam dunk contest after his high school Senior season.  ...Check out this video to get a better idea about Hurtt's hops.


Dogus Balbay from Turkey earned some love in several articles about day one of the Adidas EuroCamp. He played at Texas for three seasons and convinced us he is a real point guard that defends well, and finds the open-man with consistency. In each of his three seasons as a Longhorn he had a better than two-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio. His problem is that he just isn't much of a scoring threat at all. He ever averaged more than four points per game a Texas. That said, there is no doubt that Balbay can run a team, and provide leadership by example. He doesn't take plays off. ...But the NBA is the NBA and a Point Guard needs to be able to light up the scoreboard more than four points per game.

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