"THE WALKER RULES"

During my playing career, I built my reputation as a defensive stopper. Cats knew that when they played against me, they were going to have a battle on their hands. I always tell the story of how my dad Eric Harris Sr. advised me when I was younger to "bring a different skill to the table-this in turn will make you a valuable asset to your team." That team was the Gauchos. If your a NYC basketball historian-you know how good those Gauchos teams were back in the late 80's and early 90's. The "Biddies" and "Midget" teams I played on were stacked. You had guys like Tyler Brown, Dennis Keenan, Wally Lynch, Camron Giles, Gary Saunders, Shammgod Wells, Stephon Marbury and Felipe Lopez-just to name a few. We're not talking about beginner level players. All of these guys had an advanced fundamental skill-set @ 12/13 years old. Our coaches Mr. Paige and Dave Jones did a great job of developing us. So had I not been receptive to what my dad told me, I would have been lost in the shuffle on those teams and never reach my potential as a Division 1 student-athlete. Don't get me wrong, my offensive game didn't resemble Ben Wallace's-but that's not what my team needed. Conversely, Ben Wallace figured it out. He realized that in order to get to the league, be successful in the league, and make a lot of money-he had to do one or two things really well. His two specialties happen to be playing defense and rebounding the ball. This leads us to our topic of the day: how do you stop Bronx product Kemba Walker?

Kemba's rags to Riches story is one of legend. A kid that goes to a basketball powerhouse (Rice H.S.) and is kind of unsure of himself to the point where he thinks of quitting the game to be a dancer. Luckily, he continues to play and his game flourishes from competing against guys like Edgar Sosa and Curtis Kelly everyday @ practice. Having coaches around like Mo Hicks, Duane Mitchell and Rasheen Davis around didn't hurt his chances either. "I remember how hard he competed everyday in practice. He never backed down from Edgar Sosa. His thing was about shutting down people on the defensive end", said current Xavier assistant coach Rasheen Davis. "We played a game against Christ The King and I'll never forget it. Kemba gets stripped by Erving Walker (University of Florida)and Erv finishes on the other end with an and 1. We wound up losing the game by 2 or 3 points. A light bulb went on for Kemba that day-he wasn't going to be inferior to anyone else again", said Davis. At press time, Kemba is halfway thru his junior year @ UConn. He's currently the 2nd leading scorer in the NCAA with a 24.4 scoring average. You can attribute his overall improved outside shooting to one thing and one thing only. Kemba made the choice to put the time in the gym this summer. The easy thing to do is to come home and be with family and friends over the summer-instead Kemba paid the price to be successful. As a Freshman @ UConn, when he took a jump shot, you didn't expect it to go in. Last year when he pulled up for a J-you would give him a 50/50 chance of making it. I noticed his progression in that area from the year before. This year you can forget about it! You expect everything the kid throws up to go in. I don't care if it's a 1 or 2 dribble pull up, fade away, step back or a buzzer beater 3 with the game on the line. I give it up to the young man for dedicating himself to his craft. He's a "throwback" type of player. Someone that I would of loved to have competed against. His offensive game has caught up to his defensive game and now he's a threat on both ends.

With that being said, how do you stop Kemba Walker? I reached into my "Triple Threat Athletics" defensive stopper grab bag and pulled out a few things. These are what I call "The Walker Rules." For those of you too young to know-these rules are named after the Jordan Rules. A strategy that the "Bad Boy" Detroit Pistons used to slow down Michael Jordan (The Greatest Ever) in the late 80's and early 90's. College coaches all over the country should be reaching out to me for this how to guide.***Disclaimer***Kemba Walker is a highly conditioned/highly skilled athlete with the heart of a lion. Before you try to use these rules against him, be very prepared for the consequences. The rules work depending on the player trying to implement them. One man can't stop a player like Kemba by himself, you need help.

Walker Rules
1) Pray and get a lot of sleep the night before the game.

2) Get your work done early. -You have to deny Kemba the ball before he gets it. Whether it be in a full-court or half-court situation. You're @ his mercy once he catches it, so deny, deny, and deny some more. He can't hurt you if he doesn't have the ball. Don't let him touch it!

3) Be Physical with him.-Bump him, give him a forearm shiver and even hold him from time to time if you have to. Definitely make him taste the paint when he drives the basket. This will eventually wear him down. Compete hard without any malicious intent. College basketball is not as physical as it used to be. It doesn't matter with Kemba, if you knock him down he's gonna get back up!

4) Use your offense as a defense.-The worse thing you can do is allow a great offensive player to rest when he's guarding you. You have to be a threat @ all times and make him work. This in turn will make him consume lots of energy on both ends of the court-which will make those jumpers come up short in crunch time. Also, being aggressive gives you the chance to get him in foul trouble.

5) Take away his strengths.-Any great player is considered great because they put in the time to hone all areas of their game. Kemba's game isn't perfect, (no player's game is) so you can still try to put him in situations that he isn't as comfortable in. He is right-handed, so try to force him left and look for help. The fact that he can knock down the jumper @ a high clip keeps you off balance. You have to make him beat you from the outside as opposed to giving up lay-ups. It's easier said than done though. Kemba is cat quick and he handles the ball with the best of them.

6) Hope that he has an off night.Ultimately, Kemba Walker is having a great Junior year @ UConn. Not only is he having success individually, but he willed his team to a top 5 ranking. Based on the team that UConn had returning-I would have never guessed that in a million years. Kemba will have a 13 year career in the NBA because he works hard, pays attention to detail, and is disciplined, humble and a good kid. Keep doing your thing K Walk!

Contact me for individual or group basketball instruction."IN ORDER TO BE SUCCESSFUL ON THE COURT AND IN THE GAME OF LIFE, YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE FUNDAMENTALS"-ERIC HARRISPosted by Eric Harris at 12:10 PM 0 commentsEmail ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook