Just stumbled across Notes from the Hawaii jumpoff and figured never too late but here's a Kemba piece I penned a little while ago, before UCONN embarked on their traditional cupcake non-conference schedule.
If you left briefly to use the rest room or cop a soda during 37 minutes of UConn's 89-73 victory over Vermont, if you left your seat for more than 35 seconds during the second half 83-79 victory over Wichita State, you likely missed a few Kemba Walker buckets.
The Bronx Boy and Gauchos product has been scoring the rock at a frantic pace lately, stuffing the stat sheet like a Thanksgiving Turkey.
Walker dropped 29 points in the the final 20 minutes at the Lahaina Civic Center in cushy, surf culture-dominated Maui Monday night. The direct result was a needed victory that prevented Jim Calhoun's face from turning beet-red, as it instantly did following a Niels Giffey turnover at the XL Center last week.
Wichita State could be in dire need of the deep tissue massages that Hawaii is known for, given the immense stress constant chase of the blink-quick Walker may have caused in that second half.
Walker was saddled with early foul trouble in the first half. He finished with a game-high 31 points in 23 minutes. He managed to score 31 points on 16 shot attempts.
Against Vermont, Walker--one of the few point guards to perform at the Apollo, Rucker, and Madison Square Garden--scorched the nets to the tune of a career-high 42 points.
Walker, a high-motored playgroundball adherent, was once pigeonholed by a house-load of haters as a jumper-lacking question mark.
Now the 6-foot-1 Walke is dissecting, dominating, devouring, and dicing up defenses as if it is another day on Gotham's streetball circuit. Kemba poured in a lifetime-high 88 points in a local hood tournament while he was getting his baller's teeth cut as a young'in.
While the feat of hanging an 88-spot on a team may seem largely unattainable, the one-time Apollo performer is certainly no amateur.
Walker was rendered unguardable against a Witchita State team that seized a 60-51 edge on a Toure' Murry layup with 9:54 remaining, instigating a full timeout from fiery, longtime game general Jim Calhoun.
With a relentless arsenal of forays to the cup and a few pull-up jumpers, Walker scored 15 of the Huskies' ensuing 24 points during a seven-minute power surge. He was an accurate depiction of a buckets-bagger with a swagger. As Rick Pitino once described him, Walker was "hell on wheels."
The highlight of Walker's individual 7-2 streak was a deep trey ball whch knotted it up at 76-all with 2:46 remaining.
His focus never drifted. Walker's bulging, burning eyes were pasted on the prize of fighting to live another day in this highly-competitive tournament.
Sure, the Huskies have not faced cream of the crop competition yet. Still, Kemba's eye-opening and stat sheet stuffing antics have proven one vital truth: This youth-laden Huskies team will go as Walker goes.
That was evident in the victory over a Vermont team that features one of the most underrated players in the country in forward Evan Fjeld. Walker scored 36 points in the game's first 30 minutes. He unveiled the new ratchet, draining 4-of-9 from beyond the confines of the arc. He shot the rock at a scorching 15-for-24 clip. During one possesion, Walker misfired on a three and chased down a tipped ball around the rim, recovering the rock just in time to bank home an open lay-in.
No question, Walker is playing like the best point guard in the nation. He leads by action, intensity, and encouragement. He pushes the younger players' development. He's one of the team's top students, maintaining a 3.0 GPA he recorded last semester.
Wait, you have five daughters? Meet Kemba and you may just tell the Rice HS product he's entitle to any one he chooses.