The Kemba Crusade #3- The Home Stretch & March Madness

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With 8 games left to go in the 2013-2013 NBA regular season we have hit the home stretch. This is the part of the year where teams are clinching playoff berths and printing tickets for the postseason. It’s an exciting yet very stressful time for fans as playoff matchups are being determined and scoreboard watching is very frequent. As a fan you want the best matchup for your team in the playoffs and depending on your perspective and confidence in your team a good matchup can vary between different amount of people’s preference.

Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Bobcats are a virtual lock for the playoffs being the 7th seed in the eastern conference at 36-38. There are 8 games left for them and they are 5.5 games in front of the ninth Knicks who only have 7 games left on their schedule. It’s been a year of development and improvement for the Bobcats and now Kemba and company are slowly but surely shifting their attention towards what will be the Bobcats 2nd playoff appearance in franchise history in their last season until the Hornets name comes back.

Success Versus Elites

Today on “The Kemba Crusade” we discuss how the point guard from UCONN has been playing these last few weeks as well as some more big time wins versus the likes of John Wall, Deron Williamas and Damian Lillard. I Mentioned in the last crusade how important those games were to not only the team but him as an individual. So lets jump right into it.

As I mentioned in TKC #2 Kemba had some matchups with the “elite” point guards in this league and he wound doing pretty well against them. The most impressive performance from him against the leagues upper echelon floor generals came on March 22nd in a game versus Damian Lillard and the Portland Trailblazers. Kemba collected 26 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal in a 124-94 blowout win over the Blazers. Alomg with a great stat line Kemba did his job on the defensive end holding Lillard to 7-19 shooting which is no small feat.

In his matchup versus Deron Williams the improved pick and roll game of Walker really shined through as he dished 11 assists in a game where he shot 8-21 from the field. His energy and activity on the defensive end was really key in securing a 116-111 overtime win over the hottest team in the NBA since January 1st. He did a great job of getting the switch on pick and rolls into matchups that favored him and it pay dividends throughout the course of the ball game.

In his 2 matchups with so-called “best point guard in the East” Kemba rose to the occasion and defeated John Wall in and the Wizards twice, once in Washington and once in Charlotte. In the first game on March 12th in Washington John Wall committed what would become a controversial foul call on Kemba Walker as he was taking a 3-pointer. It led to a technical foul on Wizards head coach Randy Wittman and the ultimate demise of the Wizards at the Verizon Center as the Bobcats won 98-85 in DC.

Matchup #2 between the Eastern Conference standouts would feature some sintulating basketball and yet another win for Kemba Walker and the Bobcats. On March 31st the Wizards came to Charlotte for the rematch and make no mistake about it the game was rather ugly from an efficiency perspective. The former AAU phenoms would combine to shoot 10-38 from the field. The difference in the game would come down to which point guard could impact to other areas of the game in the 4th quarter. Kemba Walker was money when it mattered as he earned himself 9 points, 5 assists and 0 turnovers in the 4th quarter. John Wall on the other hand was a non-factor in the 4th with 0 points, 0 assists, 0-3 shooting and a turnover. Kemba put the clamps on him and ultimantley finished with the better night getting 21 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block in a 100-94 Bobcats win over the Wizards.

Yes Kemba didn’t make the All-Star game but he sure has a knack for beating them as he is now 8-2 this season versus Kyrie Irving, John Wall, Damian Lillard and Stephen Curry who were all-stars this season. So while he may not have the recognition of being an all-star on his list of accomplishments he his showing that he can not only compete with those guys and beat them on a nightly basis.

Kemba Walker in a spoke about his improved pick and roll game recent interview with Bobcats.com. In a very humble tine Walker stated that “The whole game has slowed down for me just being more poised and seeing the floor more”. Kemba has done a better job hitting the role man as well as probing with the basketball to help set his teammates for easy baskets. “I’m much more in that aspect of my game just knowing that when I draw a defender someone will be open and its my job to find them” Walker said. His maturation and improvement in the pick and roll game are a huge reason his assists are slightly up and have a chance to finish above 6 per game this season.

Highlight Of The Week

This time on the Kemba Crusade the highlight of the week comes in the form of a throwback. With all of this talk about the Shabazz Napier and UCONN Huskies making it to the final four I thought we would take a trip down memory lane all the way back to the 2011 as the UCONN Huskies took on San Diegoe State. In a game which featured 5 NBA players (Kemba Walker, Jeremy Lamb, Kawhi Leonard, Malcom Thomas, Jamaal Franklin) Kemba lit up SDSU for 36 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in a 74-67 win for the Huskies that would send them to the elite 8.

Shabazz Napier was a foot note in that game and is now the focal point to UCONN success now in 2014. Kemba Walker got angry after Jamaal Franklin got in his face and snapped off for 22 of his 36 points in the 2nd half of this game. It was a signature performance en route what is arguably the greatest run to a tournament history. Just vintage Kemba Walker that we are slowly but surely beginning to see in the NBA. Good luck to Shabazz Napier and the UCONN Huskies in the rest of their March Madness journey.

Final Thoughts

As it stands now Kemba Walker is 8 games away from embarking on his very 1st voyage known as the NBA playoffs. It may be uncharted territory for him but as we all know big stages aren’t and the Bronx native has proven on numerous occasions that he performs very well under pressure, just go look up his name along with the word “clutch” after it and your bound to find some visual evidence of his late game heroics. For him its vital to continue to improve his pick and roll game these next 8 games and get his team over 500 by the end of the season. Lots of winnable games are coming up and its there for the taking.

From an individual perspective Kemba has a chance to average 18 points and 6 assists which are very solid numbers for any point guard in the league. I think its vital for him to finish with 18/6 to cement the improvement of his game in people’s minds. The Bobcats still don’t who they are facing come playoff time but when that time comes and the game is on the line you can count on “Cardiac Kemba” to deliver the goods.

Stat Of The Week: Kemba Walker has a higher assist to turnover ratio (+2.5) than Russell Westbrook (+1.7), Stephen Curry (+2.2), Damian Lillard (+2.3), John Wall (+2.4), Kyrie Irving (+2.3) and Goran Dragic (+2.1)