Kemba Walker: Mature Beyond His Years

Written By: Trevor Kapp
Bouncemag.com

UConn’s Kemba Walker is having a solid freshman campaign. Photo: tommymac.com.

Now I realize I’m not exactly breaking news when I say UConn point guard Kemba Walker’s future looks bright. I’ve seen the Bronx native play in person a few times now (at last year’s McDonald’s game and at West 4th a couple times this past summer). But I can’t describe how impressed I was seeing “EZ Pass” first-hand at Wednesday’s UConn Marquette game.

Walker’s numbers didn’t stick out: a pedestrian nine points, three assists, two steals. But the Rice HS product played solid D, only had one turnover and did a tremendous job of orchestrating the offense and getting the ball into the hands of A.J. Price (36 points) and Stanley Robinson (19) in front of a raucous sell-out crowd on the road.

Perhaps this was to be expected, as Walker has played in front of boisterous crowds all over New York City his entire life. Nonetheless, his poise was something that it seems Big Apple point guards have lacked recently.

I can’t help but feel that if Louisville’s Edgar Sosa took a similar pass-first shoot-second approach, the Cardinals would be a much more potent team and Sosa’s NBA prospects for the 2010-11 season would be a little brighter.

So my question is, can Kemba Walker give rise again to the NYC point guard or is his style more an exception these days than a rule?

Photo: Syracuse.com