Kemba: The King of the Grizzlies

Nants ingonyama bagithi baba…..Sithi uhhmm ingonyama. Anyone recognize? How about now?

Now, let me make a few alterations and….Voila! Nants inKemba bagithi baba….Sithi uhhmm inKemba. Translation? There comes a Kemba…..Oh yes, it’s a Kemba. At least I think that’s how it translates. Anyways, Kemba Walker was the King last night. King of the court. King of the Grizzlies. And King of the hearts of fantasy owners everywhere…..at least the ones that had him on their squads.

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
46	3	4	1	0	2	10/14	13/18	10/10

He did all of that in 28 minutes, outscoring the Grizzlies 17-14 in the first quarter. He almost outscored them for the half, but fell 7 points short of the feat (42-35). The Kembas defeated the Grizzlies by 61 points! 140-79. Insert Ron Burgundy impressed meme. For all the other contestants in the 2018 Tankathon, take notes and watch the tape. That’s how you tank. As for Kemba, he had been struggling a bit, failing to eclipse the 25 point threshold in eight straight games. With that said, he does have three 40-burgers on the season, so the potential is always there. I’m just not sure he’s going to get crazy run down the stretch, as the Hornets are out of the playoff picture and will want to get the young kids more playing time.

Here’s what else I saw last night:

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With Dwight Howard serving a one-game suspension for his 16th technical foul, Willy Hernangomez got the start at center.

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
10	12	2	0	2	0	0/1	5/11	0/1

Freed Willy only got 19 minutes of run, though. I think a 60 point lead had something to do with that.

Grizzlies……smh. No blurbs for you!!! As I wrote in yesterday’s recap, can’t trust anyone on this team.

Joe Ingles:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
18	10	6	0	0	2	3/5	7/10	1/1

Jingle bells. Batman smells. Robin lays an egg. Do you know what Stan Son tells? Triple-dubs are coming. You have been warned.

Donovan Mitchell:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
26	5	4	3	0	1	1/6	11/22	3/4

I think the most impressive aspect of Mitchell’s season has been the consistency. You can pretty much pencil him in for 20 points a night with 5 boards and 4 dimes. He has a 40-burger and a couple of 30-point games, but he rarely accesses his ceiling. Just the system that he’s in.

JJ Barea:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
23	2	8	0	0	0	5/7	9/15	0

With DSJ out due to injury, Barea got the start again and played 28 minutes. He’s played 30 minutes once this season, so his minutes ceiling is pretty much established. It don’t matter with JJ, though. A professional scorer.

Yogi Ferrell:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
20	4	3	1	0	1	3/6	8/16	1/1

Played 26 minutes. I don’t think Yogi is particularly good, but he gets minutes and opportunities. Second on the team in shot attempts last night.

Blake Griffin messed around.

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
21	10	10	2	0	4	1/7	9/22	2/3

A. __. C. Played 42 minutes in an OT game.

Andre Drummond:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
17	20	1	1	1	3	0	6/13	5/10

Dre Day was back, but as mentioned above, it was in an OT game. Since Lake came to Detroit, Dre Days have not been as robust.

Reggie Jackson:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
4	3	0	1	0	0	0/6	2/13	0

Got the start but only played 20 minutes. Probably 20 minutes too many.

Ish Smith:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
18	8	3	0	1	2	2/6	8/14	0

Played 33 minutes. Ish Smith made a wish. For jumpers to swish. So he can flourish. And make Reggie look foolish and squirm like a fish. SVG will more than likely make the point guard shituation a 50/50 affair.

Luke Kennard:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
14	4	2	2	0	2	0/5	6/11	2/2

No Chris Paul, so James Harden moved to the point with Eric Gordon starting at shooting guard.

Harden:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
21	8	5	2	2	3	0/8	4/20	13/18

Gordon:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
22	3	5	2	0	4	3/9	8/19	3/4

And the Rockets still managed to win. I mentioned it a few weeks ago, but the Rockets are no longer the uptempo team. They have been playing at the third-slowest pace and are 12th in defense for the month of March.

Joe Johnson:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
11	3	0	2	0	0	2/7	4/11	1/1

Played 30 minutes. Prior to last night, JJ played 15, 0, 14, and 15 minutes.

Dennis Schroder was ruled out, even though he wasn’t on the injury list that was released by the team earlier in the day. Anyways, Isaiah Taylor got the start and played 26 minutes.

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
18	3	3	2	0	1	1/3	7/10	3/4

Taylor had been getting around 23 minutes of run even when Schroder was starting. While he will chip in some assists, he doesn’t really contribute in much else outside of points.

Damion Lee:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
13	2	4	3	0	2	0/1	4/8	5/5

Got the start at shooting guard and played 22 minutes. With Kent Bazemore done for the season, Lee has been starting and getting around 24 minutes of run a game. He can shoot from downtown and chip in some boards with the occasional dime and steal. Shooting around 8 times a game. Not great, but not turrable.

Dewayne Dedmon:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
13	10	0	1	1	1	1/3	4/9	4/5

Played 26 minutes. Is the only reliable front court player with John Collins out.

Taurean Prince:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
7	4	4	1	0	0	1/5	3/10	0

Fitting that the Kings bottled up the Prince, no?

Skal Labissiere:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
9	10	3	0	2	3	1/3	4/14	0

Got the start at power forward and played 30 minutes. Has potential, but like my momma always told me, potential don’t mean shit. Plus, the minutes haven’t been consistent. Neither has the production.

Justin Jackson:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
20	2	0	0	0	0	4/4	7/8	2/2

Played 26 minutes. The 20 points were a season high. Still don’t understand why the Kings selected Jackson. He is so meh. I think they thought it was Josh Jackson.

De’Aaron Fox:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
4	5	4	1	0	2	0/2	1/11	2/2

Played 20 minutes. My momma also told me to not say anything when you have nothing nice to say.

Frank Mason III:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
16	7	8	1	1	3	0/1	7/13	2/2

Played 30 minutes, the most since December 29th. For one night at least, the Kings turned the dial to FM.

Kosta Koufos:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
14	11	3	4	4	0	0	7/11	0

Played 32 minutes. He won Willy Cauley-Stein’s money.

Bogdan Bogdanovic returned from injury and played 18 minutes.

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
11	2	3	0	0	2	0/1	4/6	3/3

Buddy Hield:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
16	2	2	2	0	2	2/4	7/15	0

Played 28 minutes. I think the minutes and shot attempts will be secure for Buddy. 15 shot attempts and around 28 minutes a game sounds about right. He had been grabbing around 6 boards and dropping 5 dimes over the past four games. Unsustainable. Last night’s line is more likely what you will see going forward.

Dario Saric:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
10	10	0	1	0	1	1/2	3/7	3/4

Mario with the D finally delivered, bringing satisfaction to both women and men. Only played 22 minutes, though. PHI defeated ORL 118-98.

Ben Simmons:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
6	11	10	3	1	4	0	3/4	0/2

Calling Dr. Hopla. Dr. Hopla. Your services are required in Philly.

The only starter for the Magic to score in double figures was Aaron Gordon with 10. Hezonja with 9. Iwundu with 8. Vucevic with 7. Augustin with 6. Ha! That’s cute. All you need to know about the Magic last night was Rodney Purvis played 22 minutes and led the team in scoring with 19 points.

Julius Randle:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
23	10	2	0	1	2	0	9/16	5/8

Top 50 player over the past month. Only thing he doesn’t do is shoot from downtown.

Brook Lopez:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
23	6	1	0	0	2	1/2	9/12	4/5

Played 30 minutes. Averaging 30.5 minutes, 19.4 points, 1.7 blocks, and 2.1 downtowners in the month of March.

Lonzo Ball:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
6	13	9	0	2	3	1/12	2/15	1/2

PAGING DR. HOPLA!!! Screw Philly. You are required in Los Angeles ASAP!

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
28	4	2	0	0	1	8/11	9/15	2/2

The 8 downtowners tied a season-high. For the month of March, 38.2 minutes, 14 points, 7.1 boards, 1.5 steals, and 2.5 downtowners.

Anthony Davis:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
33	9	1	3	2	0	0/2	12/20	9/10

Third game of a back-to-back-to-back. Impressive.

Rajon Rondo:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
24	2	10	3	0	3	1/3	11/18	1/1

The points are often on R & R, but the dimes have been fairly consistent recently. While the pace of play has slowed down recently, the Pelicans are still running at the fifth-fastest for the month of March.

Jrue Holiday:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
26	3	6	1	0	0	1/4	12/16	1/3

JrueTV.

Nikola Mirotic:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
5	6	1	2	0	2	0/2	1/7	3/4

Played 16 minutes. There was no need to worry about Mirotic, as he was getting plenty of run and opportunites. Well…..it’s time to start worrying.

Ian Clark:

PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	3PT	FG	FT
13	2	1	3	0	0	1/3	5/10	2/2

Played 23 minutes. Continues to get consistent minutes and is hoisting up shots when he’s on the court.