The Kemba Crusade #4- Shock The World

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For the first time since 2010 the Charlotte Bobcats are in the NBA playoffs and Kemba Walker’s improved play this season as a facilitator to thank for that. The Bobcats finished the regular season ranked as the NBA’s 4th ranked defense allowing only 97.1 points per game. As the #7 seed in the eastern conference the Bobcats will have the pleasure of playing LeBron James and the defending champion Miami Heat in round 1. Many experts have already predicted a sweep and have blantantly disrespected one of the most improved teams in the NBA but we will get to that later. It should be a great series and a large platform for Kemba Walker to show the entire basketball world what he is made of. Before we get into that lets relive some of his better performance in the last month of the regular season.

It’s been a few weeks since I last crusaded for Kemba and since TKC #3 Kemba recorded the 4th triple-double in Charlotte Bobcats franchise history in a 91-80 win over the Orlando Magic. It was the first triple-double any Bobcat player has recorded since Kemba Walker did in his first career start back in january of 2012. Walker is one of only 3 players in franchise history to accomplish that feat (Stephen Jackson, Boris Diaw). The win put the Bobcats at 38-38 and put them on the fast track to having a winning record.

On the last night of the NBA season Kemba and company would be heavily tested versus the Chicago Bulls who boast the NBA’s 1st ranked defense. Al Jefferson was held to only 10 points so it was imperative that Kemba step up and take control for the Bobcats and thats exactly what he did for his team. With 22 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal and 1 block Kemba turned in a virtuoso performance versus Joakim Noah and a defense that has set a hallmark standard for the rest of the league. Like many nights Kemba didn’t shoot so well from the field but found other ways to get it done.

Kemba went a near perfect 10-11 from the free throw line the Bobcats 91-86 overtime win over the Chicago Bulls. He was money when it mattered in crunch time as he scored 8 of the Bobcats 11 points in overtime including the game winning lay up to seal the 43rd victory of the season and bring Michael Jordan to his feet as you can see in the video above. Kemba’s field goal percentage is down nearly 3% but he’s been able to counteract that by shooting a career high 83.4% from the free throw line. All in all it was a great way to close out the season against one of the most battle tested teams in the eastern conference now.

Alright so let’s get to the nitty-gritty of what this article is about, the Bobcats 1st round matchup against the Miami Heat. These 2 teams haven’t even set foot inside of the gym to warmup and the “experts” are already writing off the Charlotte Bobcats having any chance this series versus the Miami Heat. The prognosticators have already said the Heat will either sweep or win this series in 5 games with little to no consideration of the ability or mental make up of the team from the queen city. Gone are the days where the Bobcats are cotton candy soft and get beat in every facet of this game. This team plays hard on the defensive end, takes care of the basketball and knows their identity. The National media talks about the Bobcats like they are still the same 7-59 team from 2 seasons ago but the fact is only 4 players from that roster remian (Gerald Henderson, D.J White, Bizmack Biyombo and Kemba Walker).

The fact is that the Bobcats haven’t beat the Heat in their last 16 games in the regular season games. Kemba Walker’s team has never defeated the Heat since he’s worn a Bobcat jersey so it would be crazy to the overly rational thinkers in the mainstream media for someone like me to sit here and say the Bobcats will make history and dethrone a team that has won the last 2 NBA championships, I’m not a rational thinker though.

Despite what the world may think I have a strong belief that Kemba Walker and this Charlotte Bobcats team can make history and dethrone LeBron James and the Miami Heat. OH BRENDAN’S ON DRUGS HE SAID THE BOBCATS CAN BEAT THE MIAMI HEAT?!! Yes that’s exactly what I’m saying and I believe Kemba Walker will be a huge reason why the Bobcats not only have more than a punchers chance in this series but a great chance at sending the champs home early and doing what no eastern conference team has ever done beat them in the playoffs.

As I sit here and at 12:06 AM typing this we are less than 18 hours away from the 1st playoff game in the young career of Kemba Walker. He rarely ever gets recognition nor has he ever made the all-star team but he is a proven winner at every level of basketball and anyone who watched him during his first 2 seasons in the league knew that the Bobcats struggles were not indicative of his individual performance. Kemba is known for his clutch performances, back in 2011 he led the UCONN Huskies to one of the most improbable runs we have ever seen in basketball and captured an NCAA title. He cemented himself as one the greatest champions of our time and provided some signature moments along the way. It’s no secret that he plays better the larger the stage is and what bigger stage than versus the Miami Heat?

This Bobcat team has progressed in stages as the year has went on and Kemba has been at the forefront of that. His overall stats versus the Miami Heat this year aren’t the best though, he was very inefficient versus the world champs in his 4 game sample size. In 4 games Walker is averaging 15.5 points, 6 assists all while shooting 38.2% from the field. Thats a cool little stat line for him but it’s not going to get it done versus the Miami Heat. If the Bobcats have any chance they are going to need him to duplicate his performance in their 98-99 loss back on December 1st. With 22 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds on 10-22 shooting he was arguably the best player on the floor that night. I’m not saying he has to do that every night but big time performances from the UCONN great are a must for the Bobcats.

Before the season started I actually had the chance to speak one on one with Kemba Walker himself at Charlotte Bobcats media day . We spoke about signing Al Jefferson, his summer workouts with USA basketball, working with Mark Price and more. He had this energy to him like he was ready to play on that day in September. Little known fact about what proceeded in the video above is that Kemba and I had a 10 minute conversation before we split up to go our separate ways for the rest of the media proceedings. We talked about everything from hip-hop to sneakers and a bunch of other stuff. The most ironic thing about our conversation was that one of the last things I said to him was “Anytime you play the Heat make sure you crush their souls bro” ironically that’s what he has to do for the Bobcats to win.

Kemba is a special player, he is the type of guy who loves to play with the world against them and I can’t think of a better stage for him to remind the world of how great he is. Throughout the entire season Kemba has been overlooked by other guards in his own conference such as Kyrie Irving, John Wall and Kyle Lowry even though he has a winning record against all of them. Even in the success of Charlotte he seems to get less credit then he deserves because people are so focused on Al Jefferson so if you ever overlooked Kemba Walker this season he is about to remind you how great he is later today starting at 3:30 PM against the Heat, so if you don’t know then later you will.

Time to go shock the world! #Playoffs2014 — Anthony Tolliver (@ATolliver44) April 17, 2014

Huge shout out to Bobcats sharpshooter Anthony Tolliver for inspiring the title of this article