The Utah Jazz Walker Kessler Problem

The Utah Jazz Walker Kessler Problem

Walker Kessler has been one of the biggest bright spots for this Utah Jazz roster in recent memory and he’s been seen as a really big Cornerstone piece of their rebuild now it’s very interesting that he ended up being the next man up after the trade went out

With Rudy goar who presents himself as a very similar Prospect with defensive upside the likes of which very few centers can compete with and also a sense of an offensive upside that even Rudy gobear didn’t present with that being said we’re going to be covering that today in this video thanks for

Tuning in this video it’s your boy rth hoops make sure to like the video subscribe and turn on post notifications to pump this video out towards more Utah Jazz lovers like you and myself with that being said let’s go ahead and get into this one now the biggest thing to

Look at for Walker Kessler is the question mark that comes down to what role he’s playing on the roster this year at the beginning of the Season it seemed like he was going into a sophomore season slump but then it came out that he actually sustained an elbow

Injury against the Sacramento Kings in the regular season opener now overall he ended up in a position where he was starting but ended up getting switched down to the bench and plays roughly 20 to 24 minutes on a nightly basis while being swapped in and out for John Collins it’s surprising

That they elected to do that and in many situations a lot of people question why they would even be willing to do that considering the fact that obviously Walker Kessler is a superior Defender but the ability of John CLS to shoot the three ball very effectively allows him

To stretch the floor and put a lot of strain on opposing defense in starting lineups meanwhile Walker Kessler’s role on defense and his ability to protect the rim at an elite level the likes of which we’ve only ever seen with Rudy goar in the league allows

For him to play alongside the likes of Keon George Jordan Clarkson and Kelly oen who aren’t known to be the most elite of Defenders but have a lot more offensive upside than Walker kler tends to show with that being said oai abaji also runs off the bench alongside Walker

Kessle which allows him to have a little bit of help on the wing but in most situations you’ll see the likes of konay George or Jordan Clarkson funneling their man downhill at The Rim in which case they are met by Walker Kesler who ends up forcing a near 15% reduction and

Shot attempt efficiency at The Rim only beat by Rudy goar who’s putting on his very own case for Defensive Player of the Year this season in order to understand just how decent this season has been for Walker Kastle we need to look back at last season with that being

Said he played in 74 games and started in 40 of them eventually most of his starts came after they shut down the stars and ended up just going ahead and seeing what they had on the roster to fill things out as they went into a full

Tank mode but we really got to see what he was capable of now he played 23 minutes in those matches he averaged 9.2 points 8.4 rebounds 0.9 assists point4 steals 2.3 blocks and only8 turnovers per game this was done on 72% shooting from the field and roughly 51.6%

Shooting from the free throw line on only only 2.1 attempts per game this was a very solid rookie season for him more so because he showed what they really needed on defense they needed a stifling presence in the paint that could provide Elite Rim protection and also provide a

Good Rim Runner that could also be used in many pick and roll situations and finish with contact Above the Rim this season to date he’s played in most games with the exception of the few that he’s missed with injury and overall he’s played 34 Games Starting in 13 of them

Which came at the very beginning of the season ever since they elected to go ahead and break away the duo of Collins and Walker Kessler at that power forward in Center Spot they found themselves in a situation where the starting five is actually outscoring opponents by7 points per 100 possessions and surprisingly

Enough the second unit led by Walker kler on defense is actually outscoring opposing teams by 24 points per 100 possessions which is quite honestly phenomenal now with that in mind he’s playing 23.7 minutes per game averaging 8.6 points 7.6 rebounds 7 assists .5 Steals and 2.6 blocks to go along with

Only one turnover per game this season he shoots 64.9% from the field 25% from three and 48.9% from the free throw line on only 1.4 attempts a game now the most ideal thing for Walker Kessler going forward is going to be him finding his shooting touch we’ve seen him change his jumper

Over the offseason from more of a catapult motion outwards towards one that requires much more of a wrist flick and seems a little bit more natural for a shorter player to use he is also beneficiary of playing alongside Kelly oen and Larry Markin that are two of the best perimeter Shooters at their

Respective Heights with that being said it’s important that he learns that skill sooner rather than later because that will allow them to offensively spread out a lot more with him on the court than they do currently that’s one of the main reasons why John KH has been able

To be a starter for the team because he allows for that extra spacing that Walker ker simply does not at this point in his career with that being said Walker ker still been willing to shoot some threes every now and then and while this season he only averages 0.5

Attempts per game that’s significantly higher than these zero attempts that he averaged last season now the big thing about Walker Kessler aside from his three-point shooting and his overall shooting from the field is going to be his ability to hit free throws while he doesn’t get very many of them because of

His particular play style and the way that they initiate the usage of him in the offense it’s still important that he finishes at The Rim through contact and makes the most of the opportunities at the charity stripe that the referees warrant him to be deserving of now to

Put things into perspective he’s been pretty effective as a starter and as a bench member but more so known for his overall bench Authority with that being said he started in 13 games so far this season before moving to the bench in those 26 minutes per game he averaged

9.2 points 8.3 rebounds 0.7 assists 0.5 steals a whopping 2.8 blocks and only 1.2 turnovers per game now he did this while shooting 60.9% from the field 33% from three and 58.8% from the free throw line on 1.3 attempts so far off the bench this season he’s actually played

In 21 games where he’s averaging 22.2 minutes per game and in that time period he’s averaging 8.3 points 7.1 rebounds 0.8 assists 0.5 steals 2.5 blocks and .9 turnovers per game to go along with shooting splits of 67.8% from the field 14.3% from the three-point line and

43.3% from the free throw line on 1.4 attempts overall it would seem like his shooting numbers take the biggest hit with him coming off of the bench but the most interesting thing is the simple fact that he’s completely been able to turn around his box score plus minus by

Coming off the bench and assisting those guys that have a scoring punch and weak defense with a strong finisher at the rim and Elite Rim protection to help make their lives easier on that side of the floor with that being said he went from in his starts being a total of a

-42 box score plus minus to a plus 68 in the 21 games he’s come off the bench with that being said the most important aspect to Walker Ker’s game the simple fact of the potential that he has to get better on the offensive side of the ball

At worst everybody projects him to be Rudy goar at best they see him as being some sort of a demigod that provides that same level of elite Rim protection ction and honestly a much smoother mover on the perimeter that can in certain situations keep up with smaller guards

And even smaller forwards that are tend to be quite quick as well as having the offensive upside that Rudy goar quite simply never had and hasn’t seemed to develop at any point in his career with that being said Walker Kessler is already a solid finisher at The Rim he

Has the ability to dunk he has soft touch enough to get a floater off but he’s expanding his game so that he can hit more mid-range jumpers and we’ve seen him roam a lot more outside the three-point line now the percentages earlier that I said didn’t seem to be

The most entertaining naturally but the simple fact of the matter is Walker Kessler is currently willing to shoot threes a little bit more than he was at any other point with that being said the next step that ores needs to take with his offensive game is hitting his free

Throws and being willing to take even more threes from outside the three-point line not so much so that he becomes a detriment and ends up shutting down the offensive possessions by him jacking threes but more so being with to take one to two threes on a nightly basis so

That he can get up a quality sample size and he doesn’t necessarily need to even shoot 36 37% from three realistically if he can shoot 33 or 34% that makes him enough of a viable threat to where bigs can’t simply sink under his screens every time he picks and Pops that also

Provides a larger array of possibilities when it comes to Chris Dunn as your starting point guard or Off the Bench when he has Keon George and Jordan Clarkson as his primary guards whatever the case may be it’s clear that the Utah Jazz need Walker Kesler in their future

And despite the fact that he’s having a rather up and down season that has seen him finally come alive Off the Bench a lot of people will really look at that and say oh he’s not starting games so he must not be playing well when it’s quite the opposite actually he’s playing so

Well they found a role with him off of the bench to where he can affect the game so dramatically in only 20 to 24 minutes that it’s quite honestly uncanny and in some ways never seen before with that being said I believe that while they’re exploiting matchups and allowing

John conin to start at the five there’s going to be some games where Walker Kessler does see another start simply because it allows them to do more things defensively and set the tone early on but until that happens we’re going to see a lot of Walker Kessler coming off

Of the bench which is completely fine because he’s doing his job to the best of his ability when he’s put in that position to help the Utah Jazz win games with that being said you guys let me know what you think about Walker kler coming off the bench and let me know if

He is in a sophomore slump this year or if you think he’s roughly at the same page and he needs to take that next step forward as always thanks for tuning in this video it’s your boy wraith Hoops make sure to like the video comment your thoughts below subscribe and turn on

Post notifications and become a member to catch the videos faster than everybody else and support the Channel with that being said shout out to sain Fred this video and as always good morning good evening good night no matter where you on on the globe watching thanks for tuning in and I’ll

Catch you guys in the next one peace

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In this video we discuss the recent lineup change of Walker Kessler coming off of the bench and making sense of his sophomore campaign with the Utah Jazz as a whole overall. The season did begin rocky for him, but since returning from injury and being moved to the bench there has been tremendous improvement in play not just from an individual standpoint, but from the team play overall. With slightly less than half of the season to go it will be interesting to see how much improvement he will make and if free-throw shooting remains his main need for growth going into the next offseason.

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