Kamorea Arnold: Tale of the Tape
KK Arnold KK Arnold 5'10" | PG Germantown | 2023 State #8 Nation WI is the number 1 recruit in the state of Wisconsin representing the 2023 class. She’s highly skilled, quick, and her brain seems to operate twice as…
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Continue ReadingKK Arnold KK Arnold 5'10" | PG Germantown | 2023 State #8 Nation WI is the number 1 recruit in the state of Wisconsin representing the 2023 class. She’s highly skilled, quick, and her brain seems to operate twice as fast as that of her opposition. The junior point guard has wowed at the state, national, and international level. Here’s her tale of the tape:
“KK” is most evidently a ball-dominant guard who’s always in attack mode. Her ability to get to the paint combined with her ability to read where the help defender is coming from is nigh unguardable — especially given the plethora of shooters that surround her at Germantown High School. Much of the offense at the high school level is structured to get her the ball on the wings and let her go to work. Her handles, footwork, and athleticism make her dangerous, but her decision-making is what makes her lethal.
As I said earlier, she knows where the help is coming from, and when Arnold has the ball on the offensive end of the floor there is always going to be a helper if not a full-on double-team. She makes her decisions early and accurately, knowing that opposing defenses are locked in on her as Germantown’s offensive focal point. The next clip demonstrates this perfectly.
https://youtu.be/V8qdScmrPg0
Arnold cooks four defenders on this play. The help never arrives, she uses a simple feint to open up a highway to the paint, gets three sets of eyes on her, reads the play at hyperspeed, and drops off a perfect pocket pass for the easy deuce. At that split-second moment, the defense has two options: press Arnold, or stay home on the big on the low block. In other words, their options are to give Arnold an easy two or force her to make the right basketball play. Her IQ in the halfcourt beat four Kimberly defenders and got her team the best possible shot. Arnold knows she draws the attention of the entire defense, and she manipulates that attention to make the right play.
This high-level decision-making introduces us to the facet of her game where Arnold is at the peak of her powers — on the fastbreak. While Arnold can pick you apart with her handles, finishing, and decision-making in a half-court set, where she breaks your will is undoubtedly on the break. Take this clip, for example:
https://youtu.be/woidf8Lc-0A
Her speed turns a two on two into a one v. one the second she touches the ball. She capitalizes on this advantage by delivering a pinpoint pass that sets up her teammate for the best shot possible on the break. And that’s what makes Arnold such a terror. She’s fast but doesn’t rush. She’s strong but doesn’t need to bully you. She can get a clean look for herself in any fastbreak context, but why would she when she can deliver magical passes and make her teammates better? This kind of vision and trickery, alongside the plain and simple accuracy of her passes, makes Arnold extremely dangerous on the break. It creates a constant threat for the opposition after every make, an extremely valuable tool for any offensive scheme.
But Arnold wouldn’t be nearly as troublesome if she didn’t have the scoring capacity that she does. Every head coach in the state knows she wants to get in the paint and do her damage from inside but she makes their jobs as difficult as possible. With a combination of feints and hesitation — and a signature right to left crossover — Arnold is often too quick for her opposing defender. Take the clip below as starter points.
https://youtu.be/KRQVQFimi7A
This is a classic example of Arnold’s right to left crossover. Its effectiveness is two-fold. It amplifies her raw quickness — just look at the way she blows by her defender– and accentuates her ability to absolutely gobble up space. One crossover takes her from 25 feet out to the free-throw line where she takes a gather dribble and finishes dominantly over the top of the defender for the potential three-point play.
However, KK isn’t a perfect player. Though a highly refined playmaker, she has two fundamental flaws on the offensive end: her deficiency with her offhand, and her inactivity off the ball.
Arnold can beat most players in the state with just her handles and her quickness, but defensively disciplined teams will have the right help coming in at the right time, forcing Arnold to her left. When this happens, Arnold’s default settings get her in trouble. In almost all contexts Arnold chooses to try and finish with her right hand, rarely utilizing her left in situations where basketball fundamentals dictate that it would be the right thing to do. This leads to bad shots and decreased efficiency. There are times where her strength and skill bails her out but she would be an even more devastating player with the implementation of a consistent left hand.
The second worry I have is in regards to her off-ball activity — in that there isn’t a ton. Arnold is a playmaker and primary ball-handler, so it makes sense that she isn’t as adept at cutting to the basket or setting a ton of off-ball screens. When off the ball Arnold spends a lot of her time either floating around the perimeter waiting for an opportunity to get back on it or trying to get the ball in the post against a smaller opponent. Considering the heliocentric nature of her game this makes complete sense, but it also poses an opportunity for Arnold to be even better.
As previously discussed Arnold tactfully uses her quickness to blow by defenders and get to the rim seemingly at will. And she’s a good enough shooter to command the opposition to close in on her. It’s slightly mindboggling that Arnold doesn’t use her physical attributes and her IQ to find the right gaps and explode toward the rim on a cut or locate the open spaces of a defense and find herself an open look from deep. She’s more than talented and skilled enough to do so — and these are elements of her game that can be easily built up.
Arnold most recently announced her top-12 re college recruitment and there are no doubts that she is ready for the next level. Her highly refined offensive skill set will make her a plus player the day she steps foot on campus, and though she has some deficiencies, I see these as exciting opportunities for an extremely talented player to get even better.