Thing is, even with Kevin having a sub-par year, who are you going to replace him with? The shooting guard position is incredibly weak right now league wide, if you want a complete 2-guard, you've got Wade, Kobe, Joe Johnson and maybe Harden in 2 years. Otherwise, you've got Jesus Shuttleworth, injured Manu, and Monta Ellis, who's just as bad at defense as Martin, and a whole mess of guys like Afflalo, Matthews, Lee, Fields...it's brutal, and there's no superstars coming out of the draft next year unless you really like Lamb or Veal err... Beal.
I give him credit for what he has done. As a matter of fact guy has worse shooting slumps than anybody in this league and you have to consistently worry about his body. Iggy is a defensive superstar... he scores 13, 14 points a game, 6 rbs. 5 assists, impacts the game on the defensive sid. Another extreme.
You can get a Thabo Sepholosha, a defensive SG..... Get an aging Pierce, Granger, whoever there is second tier SF until Morris arrives
Ray Allen for his first 8 seasons (same as Martin has been in the league) averaged less points per minute than Martin has. If you just look at games started, Martin averaged more PPG as well. Martin also had a higher true shooting % than Allen.
It is a testament... that he had such a long career. Look beyond the score numbers, Ray had near 5 rbs and 4.5 assists in those 8 seasons, was a more complete player, he wasn't a good defender though he was more athletic, shorter than Martin even 6'5 they went to the Eastern Conference Finals. Martin never had his opportunity but he never worked as hard. Does not mean he is lazy, he works his butt off in Ohio, I know but as a very late first rounder he is not as talented shooting wise. Just take a look at their shooting form. Ray's shooting is just picturesque.
Martin can score and that's about it...he is overall a slightly above average starting two guard. With a dominant post scorer his value increases exponentially ... we need a big man to demand a double team and Martin will be back to 22 points a game.
Now if Kevin can just do it for 7 more games. I'd chant "MVP" when he takes FTs, too. Hell, I'll even vote for him to become honorary Asian.
How exactly is Sefolosha a complete player? Is it his 5 ppg, or his 32% 3pt shooting? Again, the SG position is incredibly thin with these mythical "complete players" that you think are so easily attainable. Pierce will retire a Celtic, and Granger is seemingly the only young player off that World Championship team in 2010 to get demonstrably worse. I like Granger, but he's just a SF version of Martin, and as I said before, a good SG is more valuable than a good SF right now in the NBA. Again, Martin's not a guy you build your team around, but unlike Scola, there's not an immediate replacement available, or easily attainable.
He averaged 0.6 rbs and 1.6 ast more per 36 mins. And shooting form is only bad if the shot doesn't go in. Trust me, no coach is working on Kevin's shot in practice. And you're right, KM can't touch Ray Allen's athleticism, that makes his scoring more impressive. I'm not saying he's better but he's comparable, and he's never had anywhere near a good team to play with either.
Lin is doing more than just scoring points but as long as Rockets are in the playoffs with this team and have a better record than knicks it's all good.
That Bucks team wasn't full of talents either, Cassell, Robinson I just felt they were well coached overall. You were born with the shot, well you worked in high school, college. When everybody is saying Ray's shot is beautiful, and the others are saying Kevin's looks awkward. There is truth behind it. Also, 10 allstar appearances are not fake, Martin is really close but I don't see him being that good, his handles, his court vision, his Defense, his Inner drive to be the best, fundamentals, all seems to be lacking. I am surprised nobody saw that. All he does is scoring, streaky shooting, running off the ball. He has nights where he can assist but that was on a Adelman's system. He is a system guy, one dimensional. That statistics for 36 min. is fluke because Martin disappears in the 4th, especially when the venue is not Toyota Center or Arco Arena, he just flat out sucks on the road. Remember we had Tmac, he was a roadkiller, killed on the road.
If Martin can do this every night or contribute anywhere else he'd be worth the money he is getting paid right now.
