When it was reported that the NBA Champs had grabbed Kansas State’s sophomore Bill Walker for cash considerations, I’m pretty sure that was the favourite draft night moment for many Celtics fans – at least in these board there was a vocal majority wanting him to be drafted with the #30.
While I don’t dislike picking him in the 2nd round – quite the contrary, it’s the kind of gamble I appreciate and we can afford in our current situation - I’m not as entirely sold as many over here and I’m happy we didn’t wasted the 1st round pick with him. I’ll try to explain why, identifying what I personally see as gnawing flaws in Walker’s game :
His shooting mechanics are a mess. I’m not a “shooting form” nazi, I’m far from being a “purist” (I myself had a very good-looking shooting form but was such a lousy shooter that I could rarely hit the basket, in spite of mine textbook mechanics). If a player has unorthodox shooting mechanics, I’m not worried a bit as long as he displays consistency and his shot is accurate. But Walker doesn’t do either of these. I’ve read lots of analysis in draft sites stating that his shooting skills have been improving and his mechanics being cleaned up blablabla, but I never saw that. His lack of elevation is probably the “best” part of his jump-shot and that says something about his arms work. One can argue he’s not exactly a terrible shooter, that he can hit some big shots in any given night. I agree, but he has to rebuild his mechanics or otherwise he’ll never be more than a streaky and inconsistent jump-shooter in the NBA. He doesn’t need to become Ray Allen, but he needs a reliable mid-range jumper, particularly coming off the dribble, to keep his defenders honest. He doesn’t need a beautiful stroke, but he needs a jumper with more elevation and to release the ball higher (and maybe slower, if that helps him) in order to make up for his lack of height as well as some consistent mechanics that make him comfortable, even if it doesn’t translate into the prettiest jumper.
I’ve read lots of praise for his slashing abilities, but I see a player that when he drives drops his head and doesn't see the floor well. Also, I don’t think he has a great first step, and that’s evident seeing how sometimes he struggles to close out shooters in the defensive side when he’s help-defending. I think Bill Walker needs to develop some change-of-pace, stop-n-go moves to be an effective slasher in the NBA. Step jabs, turnarounds, that kind of things. Paul Pierce can help here. His dribbling and ballhandling are also very subpar. He bounces the ball too far away from his body and he has the bad habit of keeping a high dribble. He’s not good changing directions while driving, perhaps as a consequence of his knee injuries. In college he was able to overpower opponents with his athleticism, explosiveness and body strength, using the 2 dribble power-drive, but he’ll face far more athletic and better defenders in the NBA, as well as serious help defense in the lane. In the NBA, he’ll need more “trickery and deception moves” in his penetrating skills in order to score. Walker is a reasonable finisher around the rim, although his technique and touch is only ok, but he compensates that being fearless, a ferocious dunker and having good body-control in the air.
I see Walker as one of those players who frequently think “Ok, now that I have the ball on my hands I’m attacking the rim and there’s nothing you can do to stop me”. I like that attitude - fans tend to love it, but the sad truth is that this kind of mindset is only effective when we’re talking about phenomenal players like our own Captain. Walker is not on that level (at least not yet), and sometimes he… tries too hard, taking contested shot after contested shot when he’s missing them, instead of helping the team doing other things. It’s a pity, because when he’s not in that kind of “mental zone”, he looks a smart player, an accurate passer, competent enough reading the defense and taking advantage of double-teams on his team-mates. But it happens too much.
He takes very large steps when driving and running off the ball. That’s good, but not always, because sometimes he finds himself in trouble reading and reacting to screens and very recurrently he gets off balance when the ball arrives to his hands when cutting. Maybe he should consider lowering and shortening his steps. He should also stop staring at the ball when coming off of cuts. Once in the air he has great body control and strength; contact doesn’t bother him.
He’s very good posting up for a SF. I think he has a better footwork in the post that most analysts are giving him credit for. Of course he could use a couple of additional inches here, but considering his strength, leaping ability and the fact that he seems to enjoy playing in the post, I think it’s one of his more undervalued assets. He’s terrific playing screen/rolls in the lane. He’s also a very good screener, hitting his opponents hard. Sometimes he looks like a PF in a SG body.
Defensively, Walker is a mixed bag. He has a very good and quick basic defensive stance, although sometimes he losses focus and doesn’t hold it during the entire possession through the game. As happens in the offensive side, he tends to overplay frequently, gambling too much and then having trouble going back to position. He’s okay fighting screens when he’s focused. Sometimes he contests the outside shot with the wrong hand, a bad habit that is also visible in his shot-blocking attempts. Generally speaking, he’s got the effort, the awareness and the quickness to be a good defender, but he wastes his athleticism due to his tendency to play out of control and lack of fundamentals.
Walker is a very good rebounder, aggressive and able to read the flight of the ball. He does a good job boxing out in the defensive board as well.
Now, let me say that all these flaws I’ve pointed out are very correctable – except the long-range jumper, that will take time to develop, if ever; and his tendency to overplay, that will require intense team-play practicing and playing time. Most of the others are correctable in the short-term, given good coaching. In fact, even a Summer of hard work can help a lot.
The reason I think moving to Europe – as he can’t go back to college – would be a great move for him is that he’d be drilled intensively in the kind of individual fundamentals he needs to improve and he’ll still be able to get playing time against better competition, something that would force to put his new acquired skills in practice in game situations, which is very useful to solidify fundamentals. Also, players so physically gifted as Walker tend to rely on athleticism when facing lesser competition instead of playing smart. I believe Walker is the kind of kid who spent more time practicing the windmill dunk than basic dribbling drills. The fact that he was so often injured during his first year in college certainly didn’t help him. Walker is said to be a very hard-working and smart kid, with a huge desire to be great. If that’s accurate, and considering he’s only 20 years old, there’s no reason he can’t improve his overall skills very quickly, barring enduring effects from his injuries.
So, this is my opinion on Bill Walker. Being aware that Walker has so many fans over here – and I’m one of them since he was drafted, dissents are welcomed (and I apologize for writing such long texts in my poor English).
Vs. Kansas; @ Kansas; vs. Texas A&M; @USC; @ Wisconsin
Topic: Analyzing our rookies: my take on Bill Walker (Read 6846 times)