[bballfan84]

yea im excited that the hornets are back..have a pretty fun team to watch..i love me some kemba walker

[LUnpretty11]

Yep, that opening night game in '88 was a 40 point loss, but the place was still packed until the final buzzer and the fans still gave a standing ovation. Unreal. Then they continued to sell out 364 straight games, which sounds right for football, but that's just crazy for basketball.
lynchburgwildcats - Spurs debunk your theory. That is a phenomenal team - I'm not stupid, I know they have stars, but nothing like LeBron or Melo etc.
Bucks are definitely better than they were last year. The East is not going to be nearly as bad this year as last.
Defense is a weakness for Kemba and everyone knows that, something he has to improve.
Winning 43 games last year was a miracle, now you want 55+? C'mon, this is a team that won a combined 28 games the previous 2 seasons (before last years 43 win season). Coach Clifford took the worst defense in the league to a top 5 defense in the league. Something to be said for the coaching staff as well.
Mallet - I'm convinced you aren't following the East very closely - 7th seed last year. Projected 3-5 seed by most ESPN "experts" for this year. At what point do you consider a team to be "truly competing for some time"? I would have agreed with that statement 2-3 years ago.

With all that said, it's a wait and see game. Enjoy the season and the Hornets return everyone!

p.s. #beatthestupidhose

[TDDance234]

In a league where players like Jimmy Butler are going to get $12m per season - Kemba Walker at that deal is going to be a steal for the Hornets. He may be in the top-10 for PG's right now.

[NG33]

Spoken like a loyal employee.

[lynchburgwildcats]

He may be in the top-10 for PG's right now.

He's nowhere close to top 10 PG. No one who is a rational observer would put him top 10. He's not even top 15.

1. Paul
2. Westbrook
3. Curry
4. Parker
5. Lillard
6. Kyrie
7. Dragic
8. John Wall
9. Rose
10. Lowry
11. Conley
12. Rondo
13. Bledsoe
14. Lawson
15. Deron Williams

And you can argue Jeff Teague, Isaiah Thomas, and Jrue Holiday are better too.

[bluedevilflame]

As a native North Carolinian, it does my heart good to see the Hornets back! The Bobcats never really sat right and were always doomed from the start, just glad a 12 year wrong has finally been righted!

Ive definately been a critic of MJ's for quite sometime (leaving the whole UNC/Duke thing out of it, that's a whole 'nother conversation) as an NBA executive. The man doesn't know how to build a basketball team, which was shown by his time in DC and first few years in Charlotte. Now that he has given the reigns over to Cho, someone who does know what they are doing, Charlotte basketball shows a lot of promise. I personally like the deals we got for Stephenson and Kemba. Stephenson's was great for the team, the guy can ball and if his attitude doesn't change, they've given themselves an out by adding the 3rd year team option. Kemba may not be an All Star PG but he is a darn good one and a solid, consitent piece in the starting 5. I also liked the aquisition of Marvin Williams in the offseason, I think he'll be a solid option of the bench along with a developing Vonleh and Zeller. The only guy I worry about is Hairston. This guy has bad news written all over him and as a Hornet fan, I worry about his attitude and his antics more than I ever will Lance, hopefully he can get it together and contribute in a meaningful way off the bench.

[LUnpretty11]

He may be in the top-10 for PG's right now.

He's nowhere close to top 10 PG. No one who is a rational observer would put him top 10. He's not even top 15.

1. Paul
2. Westbrook
3. Curry
4. Parker
5. Lillard
6. Kyrie - Still not convinced. He may be 1 or 2 spots ahead of Kemba. Just look at their matchups from last year.
7. Dragic - Debatable
8. John Wall - meh
9. Rose - When healthy
10.Rondo - ya
11. Kemba
12.
13.
14.
15. Deron Williams - maybe 2 or more years ago. Not anymore.

And you can argue Jeff Teague, Isaiah Thomas, and Jrue Holiday are better too. - No you can't.

You can't go off of Kemba's first 2 years anymore (where he had no supporting staff). We are talking about right now. He's a very good PG.

[lynchburgwildcats]

Debatable on Dragic? He was Third-Team All-NBA last year, and all the guards are lumped together when voting for All-NBA. He finished ahead of guards such as DeRozan, Wall, Westbrook, Lowry, Kyrie, Wade, Conley, Joe Johnson, Lance Stephenson, Ty Lawson, and Monta Ellis.

How many votes did Kemba Walker get for All-NBA? ZERO. It's not even a debate for Dragic vs. Walker.

[thepostman]

A year or two from now this debate may look a bit different but wildcats' list seems pretty spot on to me. All your response does, pretty, Is scream homer.

[lynchburgwildcats]

A year or two from now this debate may look a bit different but wildcats' list seems pretty spot on to me. All your response does, pretty, Is scream homer.

Yes, I just took that list from ESPN's #NBArank. The ranking was compiled by ESPN's NBA Forecast Panel which has over 210 members, so yeah I think it's going to be fairly reflective of what reality is and should remove most biases since one person rankings aren't even worth 0.5% of that players total.

Technically they had Dragic listed as an SG, but that's only because they were sticking to the concept of a traditional lineup featuring a PG and SG. He actually pretty much splits time at "PG" as the Suns really are just running a two-PG lineup.

Kemba was ahead of the three guys I had listed as arguable, but they were all ranked pretty close together. I would have put them over Kemba, but I pretty much hate players that can't shoot or finish at the rim effectively unless they are elite at something else like Rubio is at passing and defense.

[LUnpretty11]

Debatable on Dragic? He was Third-Team All-NBA last year, and all the guards are lumped together when voting for All-NBA. He finished ahead of guards such as DeRozan, Wall, Westbrook, Lowry, Kyrie, Wade, Conley, Joe Johnson, Lance Stephenson, Ty Lawson, and Monta Ellis.

How many votes did Kemba Walker get for All-NBA? ZERO. It's not even a debate for Dragic vs. Walker.

Well he is a SG and not a true PG. And you can't just throw in a bunch of SG/SF in a PG discussion. Dragic had a breakout season last year, but again... not a true PG. Amazing season last year, great player, debatable whether he can be considered a better PG since he is a SG.

[LUnpretty11]

A year or two from now this debate may look a bit different but wildcats' list seems pretty spot on to me. All your response does, pretty, Is scream homer.

Nothing homer about it. I'm not saying Kemba is a top 10 PG or the best in the league. He is, however, not far from becoming a top tier player. Time to stop thinking of him as a sub-par PG on a horrible team. There just isn't as much separation as there used to be.

...

Granted, this year hasn't exactly started off on the right foot for the Hornets/Kemba.

[LUnpretty11]

http://www.nba.com/hornets/hornets-open ... cap-1/1/14

[lynchburgwildcats]

Debatable on Dragic? He was Third-Team All-NBA last year, and all the guards are lumped together when voting for All-NBA. He finished ahead of guards such as DeRozan, Wall, Westbrook, Lowry, Kyrie, Wade, Conley, Joe Johnson, Lance Stephenson, Ty Lawson, and Monta Ellis.

How many votes did Kemba Walker get for All-NBA? ZERO. It's not even a debate for Dragic vs. Walker.

Well he is a SG and not a true PG. And you can't just throw in a bunch of SG/SF in a PG discussion. Dragic had a breakout season last year, but again... not a true PG. Amazing season last year, great player, debatable whether he can be considered a better PG since he is a SG.

1) Small forward is not a guard
2) By ALl-NBA lumping point guards and shooting guards together, it just goes to show how good of a season Dragic had last year because he had to compete against players at two positions instead of just the one.

[lynchburgwildcats]

A year or two from now this debate may look a bit different but wildcats' list seems pretty spot on to me. All your response does, pretty, Is scream homer.

Nothing homer about it. I'm not saying Kemba is a top 10 PG or the best in the league. He is, however, not far from becoming a top tier player. Time to stop thinking of him as a sub-par PG on a horrible team. There just isn't as much separation as there used to be.

...

Granted, this year hasn't exactly started off on the right foot for the Hornets/Kemba.

He's pretty far off from being top-tier. He has never even been considered for All-NBA or the All-Star game. He's not subpar, I agree with you there, but he is barely above average. He's got a long, long way to go to be even on the cusp of being top-tier.

He's a mediocre shooter that is just flat out terrible at finishing off the drive, which is not a particular good combo. He shot just 39.8 percent on drives, according to SportVU tracking, which ranks 54th among the 58 players with at least five drives per game. He was only 36.6% on all jump shots last season, 50.4% on layups. Of all players to attempt at least 50 layups (not including dunks) last season, Walker ranked 237th out of 283 in field goal percentage. Only 15 PGs ranked worse that qualified. Of the 236 that ranked above him, the following PGs (based on the position they are listed as by basketball reference) made the list:

Patty Mills
Goran Dragic
Cory Joseph
Isaiah Thomas
George Hill
Nick Calathes
Chris Paul
Eric Bledsoe
Louis Williams
Nate Robinson
Jose Calderon
Darren Collison
Rodney Stuckey
Kyle Lowry
Tony Parker
Leandro Barbosa
Deron Williams
Will Bynum
John Wall
Stephen Curry
Jeremy Lin
Nate Wolters
Monta Ellis
Mike Conley
Jeff Teague
Jameer Nelson
CJ Watson
Ty Lawson
Dennis Schroder
Randy Foye
Mario Chalmers
Shelvin Mack
Kyrie Irving
Greivis Vasquez
Devin Harris
Avery Bradley
Ish Smith
Brandon Knight
Jarrett Jack
Reggie Jackson
Patrick Beverly
Russell Westbrook
Mo Williams
Jerryd Bayless
Ramon Sessions
Kendall Marshall
Jrue Holiday
Raymond Felton
E'Twaun Moore
Norris Cole
Rajon Rondo
Brandon Jennings
Ray McCallum
Trey Burke

[LUnpretty11]

Debatable on Dragic? He was Third-Team All-NBA last year, and all the guards are lumped together when voting for All-NBA. He finished ahead of guards such as DeRozan, Wall, Westbrook, Lowry, Kyrie, Wade, Conley, Joe Johnson, Lance Stephenson, Ty Lawson, and Monta Ellis.

How many votes did Kemba Walker get for All-NBA? ZERO. It's not even a debate for Dragic vs. Walker.

1) Small forward is not a guard - Obviously. You listed players who are SG and play the SF position as well i.e. Lance Stephenson and Joe Johnson.
2) By ALl-NBA lumping point guards and shooting guards together, it just goes to show how good of a season Dragic had last year because he had to compete against players at two positions instead of just the one.

Dragic is a better guard, sure, my point was since he isn't listed as a PG it's debatable on how accurately you can compare the two players. I understand your point about All-NBA and all of that. I'm fully aware on how good you have to be to be considered top echelon. Walker isn't there yet, but it's a matter of opinion on if you think he is close or far away. My opinion is he isn't far from being a top 10 PG especially if he continues to progress and be more efficient. I would say efficiency is his #1 downfall right now. His ability to compete and his skill set are equal to the best of the best. What separates greatness from goodness is consistency, so I do not believe he is far from being a great PG (top 10).
There are a lot of different stats that can be thrown out to prove an argument. It can be argued Kemba is better than Kyrie because Kemba outplayed him 3 of 4 games they played against each other, so stats can be misleading in either direction to how good a player truly is.

[rhezick]

They may not be off to a great start, but the Hornets are definitely giving fans quite a show with another buzzer beater in OT, this time by the hated man himself....

http://www.nba.com/hornets/video/channe ... play6.nba/

[lynchburgwildcats]

20 games in, Kemba is shooting 36% overall, 27% from three, 14.94 PER which is below league average and currently the worst PER of his career. Ranks dead last among all qualified PGs in both field goal % and three points %. Shooting under 40% on two pointers which is just absolutely pathetic for a guard that is known for his penetration ability.

NBA is in trouble if that is the resume of a top-10 PG.

[thepostman]

The hornets suck. Stephenson is a cancer.

[Purple Haize]

The hornets suck. Stephenson is a cancer.

I believe I mentioned that earlier

[lynchburgwildcats]

The hornets suck. Stephenson is a cancer.

ANd he's been performing dreadfully on the court. I thought he'd at least bring it there, which is why I said it wasn't a 100% horrible move. But yeah it has been 100% horrible so far.