Charles Lee wouldn’t even let me finish my question before he interjected with a one-word review about Ryan Kalkbrenner’s performance last night.
“Huge,” said Lee when I modestly referred to Kalkbrenner’s game as just “big.”
The second-year center’s fingerprints were all over the win against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, a career-high 15 rebounds (including 10 offensive rebounds, also a career high), a steal, and three blocks.
The Hornets’ head coach was effusive in his praise of Kalkbrenner when he was asked about how his two-way impact affects the team.
“[It provides] Added confidence to know that we have a guy that impacts the game in a lot of different ways. He’s helping us control the paint, dominating the paint with his defensive activity. That blocked shot he had at the rim, and then all of a sudden it turns into great offense for us…you watch that and then Coby [White] is picking up at half court on an after time out play, and we’re getting deflections, and then Peyton Watson can’t get it to the guy he wants to so then he drives and misses a layup…it just becomes contagious. I love what Ryan is doing on that end of the floor.”
The play Lee alluded to, an stanchion-rattling block by Kalkbrenner with 8:45 left to go in the second quarter, was the perfect distillation of the former Creighton Blue Jay’s night.
Naz Reid closed out hard on Mobley to dissuade him from attempting a corner three-point shot and force him to drive — a gamble he can make with confidence knowing that Kalkbrenner is waiting in the paint to affect Mobley’s attempt at the rim.
Kalkbrenner viciously rejected the shot and the Hornets got out in transition — something they haven’t been able to do with much frequency or success this season.
After Grayson Allen missed a corner three on the other end, Kalkbrenner soared into the paint from seemingly out of nowhere and ripped an offensive rebound out of James Harden’s hands, creating another possession for the Hornets which eventually ended in two free throws from Allen.
“On the offensive side of the floor,” continued Lee post game, “Moussa [Diabate] is usually our energizer bunny on the offensive glass. And so without him (Diabate missed the game with quad tendinopathy), Ryan was like ‘I’m going to be the seven-foot Moussa tonight,’ and did that in a major way. That tip-in that he had at the end of the game was a major bucket too.”
Kalkbrenner has been awesome to start the season. It is still far too early to put a ton of stock into on/off splits, but his net rating differential is loud.
Charlotte is better by 35.6 points per 100 possessions when Kalkbrenner is on the floor, by far the best on the team and among the best for bigs across the NBA. He also boasts the sixth-highest EPM on the Hornets, trailing only Kon Knueppel, Coby White, Brandon Miller, Moussa Diabate, and Grayson Allen.
Last night’s game was the culmination of everything we’ve seen from Kalkbrenner since the season tipped off in October. He is rapidly answering the questions Hornets fans had about his ability to withstand physicality and dominate the glass, and by answering those, he’s stamping his name in Charlotte’s long-term plans at center.
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