Winning playoff story with nothing but Kemba highlights:
Walker, Lin combine for 55 as Hornets beat Heat
Walker, Lin combine for 55 as Hornets beat Heat
Kemba
- Thread starter the Blades
- Start date
The Hornets have played well all year when they had both Lin and Walker starting or playing together. They both attack the rim. They should start the two at guard the rest of the series and see what happens.
Coach Cliff has been using Lin off the bench as a spark with some good results. This team will drive you nuts if you watched them all year. Late in the year they started the whole Husky thing of letting a team get a lead and then making runs to get back in it. They didn't do that in game 3 but reverted to that last night. Thanks to stellar defense they won the game though. But back in Miami I am not sure that will work again so well. The loss of Batum is really showing now with Kemba having to jack up so many shots. I agree with you that they should both drive like crazy, though Lin seems to be better at getting calls in the lane than Kemba has been. Dude gets assaulted in there and no whistle, hell last night he even had a cut after one drive, and no call.
That's the way Lin and Kemba play, they attack the rim and there is going to be fouls and some no calls. They have to play that way to be effective because neither one is a shooter on par with Stephen Curry who can stay out on the perimeter and hoist 3s. The smaller attacking guards are always gonna get hammered. Kemba used to get hammered when he was at UConn too. In the NBA the hammering is done by bigger and stronger bodies. This is what made Allan Iverson so unique- he was exceptionally strong for his size. Kemba is more mental toughness than physical strength. He plays through the contact well which a lot of guys don't do well- Hamilton last year for example.
Covering Kemba has become a serious problem for the Heat, one that was acknowledged by D-Wade, who said that Kemba was "crafty", and "we can only do so much with him on the pick and rolls." Miami is having to give him more attention which should open things up for Lin and others. Lin fans should be rejoicing because this is his chance to shine as he is the most likely beneficiary of this defensive attention Kemba is getting.