Periodically final season, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl reiterated to Walker Kessler some recommendation that appeared unusual on the floor: Play smaller. Really? Kessler is 7-foot-1 and 255 kilos. He has a 7-4 wingspan and blocked extra pictures by himself than all however 13 Division I groups. In his case, wouldn’t larger be higher?
“What Bruce meant was just because you measure seven feet doesn’t mean you have to move like a 7-footer,” Tigers assistant Ira Bowman says. “Because Walker can actually play like someone who is 6-7. He can move like somebody a lot smaller. That’s one of his gifts, so Bruce was always telling him, ‘Be the athlete that you are. Play quick and athletic, not slow and lumbering.’”
Whether Kessler can try this in opposition to NBA expertise will decide if the Minnesota Timberwolves made the correct name once they chosen him twenty second within the draft Thursday evening. How properly he strikes — and shoots — on the perimeter will resolve his ceiling as a professional. But that sheer dimension and what Kessler can do with it units the ground fairly excessive.
The former McDonald’s All-American who performed lower than 9 minutes per recreation as a freshman at North Carolina loved a serious breakout after transferring to Auburn for his sophomore season. He and No. 3 decide Jabari Smith have been complementary twin towers as Kessler patrolled the paint and his accomplice performed away from the bucket like a 6-10 guard. They each thrived, Smith profitable nationwide freshman of the 12 months and Kessler sweeping each defensive participant of the 12 months award because the Tigers received an SEC championship.
Kessler averaged 11.4 factors, 8.1 rebounds and 4.6 blocks, led the nation in pictures swatted and defensive plus/minus (+8.0) and posted school basketball’s finest block proportion (19.1) in 14 years. He blocked at the least six pictures in a recreation 11 instances and recorded triple-doubles in opposition to LSU and Texas A&M with factors, rebounds and blocks. It didn’t take lengthy for Pearl and his employees to search out good methods to make use of a nimble big.
“Right away, you see that size and that wingspan and that reactionary ability,” Bowman says. “He had some moments that really got your attention: catching balls that no one else would catch, getting to rebounds that no one else could get to, going and getting shots that no one else could block — never mind the numerous others he altered. He doesn’t stand back and let people come to him. He goes and gets them on the move.”
That’s the piece of his recreation that completely interprets to the NBA. What he’ll be offensively on the subsequent stage stays very a lot TBD. Kessler tried to indicate off some taking pictures vary in school, however he solely made 11 of 54 profession 3-pointers (20.4 p.c). His profession free-throw proportion (57.7) isn’t any extra encouraging. Seventy p.c of his pictures final season have been taken on the rim. Still, the oldsters at Auburn swear he’ll finally reveal a extra fashionable ability set.
“He shot it well in practice. In drills, he was really good. It’s just a matter of time,” says Bowman, who had a cup of espresso within the NBA himself. “When the game slows down for him, he’s going to be a great shooter. He was constantly trying to do what we needed him to do to be successful, and shooting 3s wasn’t something we really needed from him. We needed him to do other things, and he did those very well. The team that drafts him is getting an unbelievable teammate, a selfless hard worker, a guy who instantly makes you better on defense — and then they’re going to be surprised how good an offensive player he is. I really believe he can be a five in today’s NBA who plays like most of them do, facing the basket.”
That stays to be seen, however Kessler received good genes and a excessive basketball IQ from his 6-foot-8 father, Chad, and 6-11 uncle, Alec, each of whom starred at Georgia and have been NBA Draft picks themselves. Great dimension, good really feel and one elite ability is loads to play for an extended, very long time.
“He’s going to work and be a student of the game and embrace the city and fan base wherever he goes,” Bowman says. “He’ll be a good piece for someone who is building toward a championship. For us, even when he was putting up those crazy block numbers, people a lot of times just won’t believe it until it’s them on the other end of it. So people still challenged him. But that was the beauty of the player that he became: As the moments got bigger and people tried to figure him out and attack him, he just kept getting better and better.”
(Photo: John Reed / USA Today)
What the Minnesota Timberwolves are getting in Auburn shot-blocker Walker Kessler
Source: Panapanahon News
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