I like his game, but he is a third option on a championship team, as is Scola, as is Brooks. imo Yao is a second option on a championship team...imo
Even aside from Carl Herrera's point that there's no basis for this assessment... a few fans on a message board aren't exactly the most reliable sources around... why is it so important WHEN he scores? If Kevin Martin gets his highly efficient points in the first 3 quarters, allowing players like Yao, Brooks, and Scola to take it easy on offense, why does it matter if he's relegated to spot up 3 duty in crunch time? The game of basketball is 48 minutes long. Just because "heroes" are created at the end of games, doesn't mean the guys who contribute all game long are worth less.
I agree. The Detroit Pistons is the closest championship team we can emulate in terms of doing it by committee of solid offensive players instead of a superstar leading the way. They're not worthless, they just have much lower chances of winning championships than if they were a guy who steps up in the clutch, because the playoffs are like one big clutch moment.
I think the geek community has been debating if there is such a thing called "clutchness" objectively speaking. And I think I read somewhere that Morey did not believe clutchness had any statistical significance, but I am not sure. The only thing clutch stats might signify is how well a player performs under pressure. But if the overall stats remains the same, does that mean the clutch players play less effective than average when the pressure is low? The extreme case example is of course Big Shot Bob. At the other end may be Carmelo Anthony. Anyway, I debated with durvasa a few months back on whether the last second winning shot contributed more to winning the game than all the other shots in the game. I am not going to get into that again.
We all would like to see Kmart play some better D on a consistent basis and rebound. He's 6'7" and doesn't appear to expend much energy on the defensive end. Kmart we need your D also.
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Yeah, the whole clutch thing in my mind is pretty much impossible to debate. But my point is that even if the whole clutch thing does exist, and that Martin is not clutch, that it STILL DOESN'T MATTER. See, the reason is because this team has players that I'm sure fans would deem "clutch". Everyone feels Brooks is clutch. And probably Scola is clutch. Or Yao's clutch(to a certain extent). In which case, why does Martin needs to be clutch? It's well established that every high usage player needs to take plays off over the course of the game. So if our clutch players take plays off early, let Martin handle the offense, wouldn't they be fresher when it comes to clutch situations? So suppose Martin really is a guy who can't handle the crunch time. But in the previous minutes he's played, he gave Rockets an extra 5 points because of his insane scoring ability, and the Rockets cling to a 5 point lead down the stretch. So Adelman brings in Lee instead as a spot up shooter. And he let the offense work through Brooks/Yao/Scola, who are presumably fresher for not scoring so much earlier. Allowing them to perform at their peak rather than gasping for breath. Wouldn't Martin still have contributed greatly to the team overall? Even without being "clutch"? In essence, I don't really care about Martin's supposed disappearing act. This would only matter if every Rocket disappears down the stretch. That we have no one to finish games. But we obviously do have them. So it's a moot point.
I think this team when 100% can win 56+ games. Something we will have is efficiency with Martin instead of Tracy who was rather horrible with efficiency. With Yao in the post, nobody will leave out perimeter guys open except for Lowry. We have guys who can play off the ball so well. I'm hoping Patterson is a real stud and can bring what Carl brings. Landry was Mr. 4th quarter. I think Martin can (if 100%) give us what Ray Allen gave Seattle 26ppg. If he can put up Tracy numbers and Yao returns back to Elite status after recovering and getting some rest this team is kinda scarry with or without Anthony. This for sure will be a very good season and my fingers are crossed about Yao returning.
I don't understand this second, third, or fourth option stuff. There are 5 players on the court and only one ball. Yao will get his 20, as will Martin and Brooks. Scola and Battier are great role players. The Rockets have a team full of players that can score and create match up advantages on the offensive end. I don't think you need an Hakeem and Clyde to win a ring.
Refs have a tendency to swallow the whisle in the 4th and since Kevin gets a lot of his points at the line, we need to go to Yao, Scola or Brooks for our 4th qtr points. His disappearing may be because he's not getting the calls or he knows he won't get the calls.
I think the reason he might seem to disappear in the 4th quarter with the Kings is because he is the Kings #1 option. With the game on the line, the defense is going to make sure the #1 option doesn't beat them. When Yao & T-Mac were in the game at crunch time the defense couldn't double both of them & our offense was smoother. With 1 of them out, the other got doubled or even triple teamed. I think Martin fills the T-Mac role(as scorer, not 1 on 1 option). Plus Scola, AB & Lowery are better options than we had 2 or 3 years ago. I'm really excited to see what this team can do!
I think Martin is a perfect compliment to Yao. I think he's the ideal 2-guard for our team given our style of play. the concern i have about Martin is primarily linked to his ability to stay healthy (and perhaps in smaller part, his defense). With the pickup of the capable Courtney Lee, to cover minutes when Martin is injured, I think our 2-guard position is probably our strongest position on the team. I really think we've got to give Yao and Martin a full year to work together and see what happens. So no, I do not undervalue Martin. Would I trade him for Melo straight up? Probably, but that's about the extent of it. He's only really worth trading for a superstar. Him and Yao together, with strong play from Brooks and Scola could be western championship material depending on health.
That,and his health. He also isn't clutch in the 4th. He is better than Brooks,but Aaron was our go to guy down the stretch. Martin faded away in those situations,most of the time.
That is absolutely correct. He is a scoring specialist. As such he is best utilized playing next to a do-it-all player. Ironically, McGrady was precisely that kind of player, and I wonder if our interest in him was borne in the McG era. More relevant is our interest in Anthony, another do-it-all player.
I do think its important when you score, and like Easy mentioned there was a long debate on that topic some months back. But this is a separate issue. If there is a pattern of him shrinking in 4th quarters, then to me that's an indicator that he's not going to be a big-time playoff performer.
