When Charlotte drafted Michael Kidd-Gilchrist second overall in the 2012 NBA Draft, they expected to see a lot of nights like the one he had on Saturday in the Bobcats 101-97 overtime victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
It’s no secret that the rookie out of Kentucky has the quickness and agility to get to the rim at the NBA level; through three games he has gotten into the paint for 6.6 of his 9.2 shots per game.
Kidd-Gilchrist takes such long strides off the bounce that it is difficult to contain him when he’s committed to attacking the rim, and the scary part is that he’s just five games into his NBA career.
Kidd-Gilchrist might be finding a groove a little bit earlier than some might have thought.
Second-year point guard Kemba Walker and Gilchrist – players who have made names for themselves by being high character winners – seem to be getting acquainted with each other quite well. Walker’s penetration and passing were catalysts for a few of Kidd-Gilchrist’s easy buckets, one of which came on a backdoor cut with 5:35 left in the second quarter (begins at 24 seconds in the video above).