KCP

If you missed it, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope played in a wild one last night.  He poured in a career high 30 points in a really entertaining duel with Kevin Durant.

Most reading this already know what KCP is capable of, having watched him play two seasons for Georgia.  He has struggled in his rookie season to put it together, though.

The big story in Detroit when Caldwell-Pope was drafted was the fact that the Pistons didn't take Trey Burke.  At that point, a rivalry neither player particularly wanted was born.  By almost all measurables, Burke had the better rookie year, but it was nice to see KCP show his wares last night, and I still believe the future is bright for him.

So what went wrong?  A lot can be traced to the team that drafted him - and their point guard.  I had a chance to watch some of the Pistons - Bulls game last week, and what I saw was depressing.  Brandon Jennings is a veritable black hole on offense.  If the Pistons were running offensive sets, it was not evident.  Most possessions came down to Jennings or Rodney Stuckey hoisting a bad shot when the play clock got under 5 seconds.

Jennings can be a very dynamic player, but he takes way too many bad shots, and that takes away potential good shots for guys like KCP.  Jennings took almost 15 shots per game on the season, and made just over 5 of them (not great).  Almost 6 of those shots were three pointers, of which he converted only 2 per game (definitely not great).

KCP definitely has things to work on, but much of his growth will depend on Jennings' growth as a point guard.  It is unfortunate that the 30 point burst came in the last game of the season.  I would have liked to see if he could build on a game like this.

Either way, congratulations to Kentavious.  Way to go out on a high note.