Is Michael Kidd-Gilchrist primed for a breakout NBA season?
I’m sure you all remember the 2011-12 NBA season, as it was not only a lockout season, but a season where the Charlotte Bobcats had a historically bad 7-59 record. With a .106 winning percentage, Charlotte edged out the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers’ .110 percentage after they ended their season 9-73. That’s right, in a full 82-game schedule, the 76ers won nine games.
It wasn’t all bad, however, as Charlotte managed to win the second overall pick in the 2012 draft (that’s what the lottery system gets you, even after only winning seven games). With the pick, Charlotte selected Kentucky’s Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. The athletic small forward would pair up with Kemba Walker, whom spent his rookie season suffering through the Bobcats’ woeful year.
With Kidd-Gilchrist, the Bobcats managed a 21-61 record in the 2012-13 season, which did consist of a full 82-game schedule. Kidd-Gilchrist, however, didn’t help contribute to Charlotte’s improvement as much as Michael Jordan would have hoped for. Playing 78 of those 82 games, Kidd-Gilchrist scored 9.0 points (.458 percent shooting), 5.8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game. Being a young rookie, struggling with a team as bad as the Bobcats were, wasn’t all too bad. Heading into his sophomore season, Kidd-Gilchrist should have improved, right?
Not exactly.
Kidd-Gilchrist’s stats actually worsened for the most part. In 62 games, the sophomore dropped to an average of 7.2 points (.473 percent shooting), 5.2 rebounds, and 0.8 assists per game. His free throw percentage dropped from .749 percent to .614 percent and his three-point percentage dropped from .222 to .111 percent. All these stats were bad in the first place, and Kidd-Gilchrist didn’t ascend as most high-rounders do, but instead fell on his butt and decided he didn’t want to get up.
The worst part of it all: Kidd-Gilchrist’s usage rate went down from 17.9 percent to 15.2. Maybe he struggled because his teammates weren’t involving him enough. Or maybe they weren’t involving him because they didn’t want to bury Charlotte’s postseason hopes, watching him clank open jump shots with his funky form.
Now that I bring that up, that’s a good place to shift gears a bit.
Kidd-Gilchrist, if you haven’t seen, has an odd jump shot. He has a hand on the bottom and top of the ball, with both elbows facing to his left. As he rises, it almost looks as if Kidd-Gilchrist is just going to throw the ball out of bounds. Instead, he rotates his right elbow under the ball at the last second, yet still misses most of the time.
In fact, Kidd-Gilchrist’s shooting percentage wouldn’t even be that bad if he never took mid-range to long jump shots. Within three feet of the basket, Kidd-Gilchrist has shot .620 percent in his two seasons. Anything longer than that, he has shot no better than .313 percent. Adding up all the numbers (two-pointers), Kidd-Gilchrist is a career .469 percent shooter. Add in the three-point numbers, however, and that’s where the numbers start to fall.
So this seems like an easy mistake to fix, right? Just attack the rim more and take less shots from longer than three feet! That could work, as Kidd-Gilchrist somehow only attempted 5.5 2-point shots per game last season, but this has become a shooters league, and if he wants to be anything more than a bust (what he has been labeled already), he’s got to add some sort of mid-range game, at least.
As most–if not all–players with shooting problems, it’s all about fixing the mechanics. Kidd-Gilchrist has problems with his, as you may have seen. To fix these problems, Kidd-Gilchrist worked with Hornets assistant coach Mark Price, who was quite the shooter in his day.
It’s not surprising to see Kidd-Gilchrist working with a shooting coach of some sorts, as most guys with shooting problems do, including his new teammate Lance Stephenson. Stephenson worked on his shooting last summer with the Pacers, and showed some major improvement on the court.
With his athleticism and defense that helped Charlotte make the playoffs last season, Kidd-Gilchrist can really make a leap this season if he at least shows improvement with his shot. He doesn’t need to change his playstyle much, but just have a good enough mid-range game to keep the defense honest. Sounds a lot like Stephenson, huh? Pop a few jumpers here and there, but stick to attacking the basket. That’s pretty much a definition of Stephenson’s offensive game if you had to give one.
With Stephenson and Walker teaming up in the backcourt together, Kidd-Gilchrist’s usage rate might continue on a downward trend. That doesn’t have to change things, because all he has to do is make more of his possessions and he can be effect. The shooting percentage can improve (especially from three) and he could simply take more shots. I make it sound so easy, don’t I? Well, with the work Kidd-Gilchrist has put in, it may be that simple.
Kidd-Gilchrist may not turn out to be a star in this league, and that’s OK. With so much talent on the Hornets, the ball will go elsewhere. As long as Kidd-Gilchrist is aggressive and confident (has been both in the preseason for what it’s worth), he can be an important piece to a Charlotte team that could end up making a run this season and years ahead.
Kidd-Gilchrist is only 21, ladies and gentlemen. Don’t give up quite yet.
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