Walker Vs. Knight: The Apollo/Mango Bet Thread

[Apollo]

To recap:

Kemba and Knight play each other in the next round, can't wait for it. I'm on team Knight too, don't see how his draft stock gets hurt unless he really shits the bed in the tourney and/or has awful workouts.

Kemba is going to run wild all over him. Book it.

Knight is more of a combo guard. People need to recognize that come draft night. Walker has better tools to one day be a top notch PG. He shoots a lot now because his team doesn't have depth. He gets a lot of dimes still.

I don't know about that. Knight's really fast too. I think he can keep up. Avatar bet?

What do you have in mind?

If Walker destroys Knight, I'll change my avatar to Walker for a week. If Knight gets the best of him, then you gotta rock a Knight avatar for a week.

It's on. Alert the media.

Link: 2011 Draft Lottery: Who do the Raptors take?

Who do you think is the better PG? Who do you think will win the battle? Please see the poll at the top. It should be a classic showdown even if it's one sided.

[JoePanini]

Knight has a size advantage, but he isn't exactly a point guard. He has been playing off the ball way to much for a PG, yes he's been clutch but so has Kemba. I take Walker over Knight because Walker has more experience, is actually an underrated playmaker too. Many see him hitting many shots, whilst not having a very high fg/assist ratio. But he doesn't really have a very good team around him, and he is being asked to take the shots. He has the skill-set to become a pretty decent PG. Knight, looks more like a 2 to me, more than Walker.

[Apollo]

Walker has a sick A:T compared to other PGs ranked high in this class.

[heinz57]

avatar bet is weak.

bet your first born children.

[grindhouse]

walker goes off for 30

[jeff_hostetler]

Good money on Walker. I want to see the continuance of the legend. Walker has basically steamrolled UCONN through any team that's been in in their way. His assist numbers are significantly lower than they should be quite obviously due to his teammates not hitting their shots. Just watch one of their games and that becomes quickly apparent. No sense in dishing off to teammates at the end of close games when a) they haven't been hitting their shots consistently, and b) you're the best shooter and scorer on the team anyways. And he often takes his shots - and makes them - when the shot clock is down and a shot needs to be put up.

Also, it doesn't make sense for anyone to want Knight over Walker because Knight is clutch. If Kemba Walker isn't clutch, the term has no meaning.

However, that doesn't mean I think UCONN is going to win the game necessarily, just the battle between the two.

[MangoKid]

Good money on Walker. I want to see the continuance of the legend. Walker has basically steamrolled UCONN through any team that's been in in their way. His assist numbers are significantly lower than they should be quite obviously due to his teammates not hitting their shots. Just watch one of their games and that becomes quickly apparent. No sense in dishing off to teammates at the end of close games when a) they haven't been hitting their shots consistently, and b) you're the best shooter and scorer on the team anyways. And he often takes his shots - and makes them - when the shot clock is down and a shot needs to be put up.

Also, it doesn't make sense for anyone to want Knight over Walker because Knight is clutch. If Kemba Walker isn't clutch, the term has no meaning.

However, that doesn't mean I think UCONN is going to win the game necessarily, just the battle between the two.

So instead of "Just pass it to Will", it's just pass it to Kemba? LOL.

[grindhouse]

mango i think you backed the wrong horse lol

[e2thed]

Kemba is a beast, nuff said , bet is pointless.

[Joey]

Just watch one of their games and that becomes quickly apparent. No sense in dishing off to teammates at the end of close games when a) they haven't been hitting their shots consistently, and b) you're the best shooter and scorer on the team anyways. And he often takes his shots - and makes them - when the shot clock is down and a shot needs to be put up.
Also, it doesn't make sense for anyone to want Knight over Walker because Knight is clutch. If Kemba Walker isn't clutch, the term has no meaning.

All Fact. Nicely put.

[RaptorsFan4Life]

Walker will never be a star PG let alone a start PG in the league. He's not a great passes (even if he gets assists), short (5ft10/11) and volume scorer. Knight has the same probs but Knight is much bigger (6ft3/6ft2). Even though he's slightly slower he's very athletic for his size. You guys will all see Knight contain and outwork Kemba. Mark my words.

Walker is going to have serious probs scoring over the size in the NBA consistently and defending the point guards.

[jeff_hostetler]

Either way it's going to be awesome to watch. Probably the best two point guards to have going at each other, given that they're both fighting for lottery position.

This is the first year I've really paid any sort of attention to NCAA b-ball, and I got to say it's kinda great. Maybe I'm just finding it refreshing watching real people (as opposed to spoiled millionaires) play games that have real consequences to their futures.

My biggest concern with Walker is that he, kinda like Jerryd Bayless, always seems to be taking difficult shots. They go in of course, but I wonder how consistently he'll be able to hit those fadeaways-in-traffic-from-the-top-of-the-key in the NBA.

That said, everyone criticises Walker because he isn't a pure point guard, he isn't a good passer, etc. The following is from Draft Express concerning Brandon Knight,

While Knight's mid-range game is impressive, it unfortunately plays into some of his problems as a player, namely his incredible tendency to turn the ball over, as he's averaging [3.2] turnovers per game compared to just [4.2] assists thus far. Knight frequently gets into trouble forcing dribble penetration, either losing control of the ball in a crowd or over-penetrating and tries to bail himself out with a last second pass, one that usually isn't successful.

Knight's passing game in general is a major cause for concern based on what he's shown very early on in college, as he rarely looks for teammates when creating his own shot, getting most of his assists by simply moving the ball around the perimeter in the flow of the offense.

Can't dribble in traffic, doesn't look to pass the ball, and when he does, he's almost as likely to turn it over as he is to hit his man for an assist. What about that makes anyone think he'll be a better PG prospect than Walker, who gets more assists and turns it over less? Because he's bigger? So is Leandro Barbosa. Knight also gets 0.6 steals per game compared to Walker's 1.9.

So. Walker is the better scorer, passer, defender and dribbler, yet Knight is the better prospect?

[Joey]

Walker will never be a star PG let alone a start PG in the league. He's not a great passes (even if he gets assists), short (5ft10/11) and volume scorer. Knight has the same probs but Knight is much bigger (6ft3/6ft2). Even though he's slightly slower he's very athletic for his size. You guys will all see Knight contain and outwork Kemba. Mark my words.

Walker is going to have serious probs scoring over the size in the NBA consistently and defending the point guards.

COMPLETELY disagree. Like 100%. I'm not sure you've watched him play enough ... or perhaps you have and just aren't seeing the same person I am. ..And weren't you saying the Jimmer was going to be a star PG in the league?

[Apollo]

The thing I find funny about it is that one of the main arguments against Walker that people use is his size. They then to basically call him a chucker.

Last time I checked Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo have no problem at their short stature. One of the greatest guards of all-time, Allen Iverson, thrived at his pint size for a decade. Size can be important but talent, athleticism and intelligence trumps that a million times over. Walker has immense talent, he may be the fastest most athletic guys in NCAA basketball and he's one of the smartest kids playing the game. He's so bright and ambitious that he's going to finish college a year early, this year. Most regular people in college aren't able to do that, let alone players who have huge amounts of time dedicated to practice and working out.

Second, his team stinks. He's carrying them. Seriously, he shoots a high volume of shots because his coach wants him to and because his team needs him to. While doing a large bulk of scoring he has one of the best A:T for PGs in the NCAA and drops a lot of nice dimes.

[MangoKid]

What's the point of arguing the same point lads? It's a waste of time. You could argue the virtues of the player you side with till you're blue in the face and it's the exact same argument each time. Let's just see what happens on Saturday. Should be fun.