Kevin Martin ... What am I missing?

For me he keeps the scoreboard ticking over when our offense isnt producing.

He doesn't get the recognition he deserves because he is humble and gets on with his game without shouting his mouth off like most.

Not a leader i suppose, but with an inside scoring threat he is a great guy to have open off the double-team.

 

We need a guy that will go win the game for us. Either that or the whole team needs to take part in going a getting wins when they aren't there. Kmart is not the guy that will take charge, but I think he can be amongst the guys that can do so collectively. For me, the next step is backing that up. Start winning when winning isn't in the books with 2 minutes to play.

 

Martins Biggest problem is he was coached by Rick Adelmen to long.

Let me explain

Rick knew that Kevin's skill set was offense so that is the aspect of his game he coached and encouraged him on.

Little known fact, Both Kevin Martin and a young man by the Name of Matt Barnes where both rookies on the same team coached by Rick Adelman.

Both players have a pretty similar body type and play similar positions. The one key defense between the two was one excelled at defense the other excelled on offense.

One player became a Journey Man player making mid level salary kind of guy. The other player makes over 10 mil a year and is a starter in the league.
Can you guess who is who?
Now think about this. if you where the guy who was making over 10 mil a year would change your style of play?

My friends this is why Kevin Martin is not good at defense. In his mind if we focused his energy on defense would just be Matt Barnes.

My hope is Coach KM can get him to commit to better play on defense. If not I think he will find him self on the Bench in crunch time or traded.

 

How is it fair to tell the younger guys OH it's defense, you have to play D or you don't get minute and then let Kevin Martin go do what he wants. That has to stop. Kevin Martin needs to step up and play D and lead if he wants the kind of respect he seems to want. If he doesn't, he shouldn't be surprised when we trade try to package him. Not because he's a terrible player who isn't wanted, but because he just isn't as valuable as a defensive stopper.

 

I love Kevin Martin. He's one of my favorite Rockets and I was super stoked when we got him.

With that said.... He's a one-trick pony. He can score and that's it. Granted he's very good at doing it.

He's been on the cusp of top 5 but he's about to be bumped out with the newer/younger talent arising. Martin is already 28 so I'm not sure "already top 5" are the right words to describe him. Plus he moved up by default with the recent retirement of Brandon Roy who was firmly 3rd behind Kobe and Wade.

I don't think Martin will ever be an All-Star unless there was a plethora of injuries at the 2 guard spot. He's coming up on his 8th year in the league and while his stats have been there his popularity just isn't there. If it were to happen for him it would have already. His best chance would have been last year had Yao been around. I was really looking forward to the Yao/Martin experiment. We would have won more games and he would have had the Chinese vote.

Here's how I would rank the top 2 guards in the league:

1) Kobe
2) Wade
3) Joe Johnson -Will probably be over taken for 3rd best soon.
4) Eric Gordon -I love his game. Too bad he wasn't a few inches taller.
5) Iggy- I view him as a 2 guard even though some consider him a 3.
6) Tyreke Evans- Ball hog, selfish, hated on Clutchfans. Yet he's only 22 and Still better than K-mart in every facet of the game except shooting 3's.
7) Monta Ellis- Very fun to watch and is explosive. If he was more disciplined on D I think he'd actually be very good.
8) DeMar DeRozan- Maybe the highest upside out of all the guys outside of Kobe and Wade. I think this kid will be special and he might quickly jump up to the number 3 spot.
9) Kevin Martin
10) James Harden, Wes Matthews, Evan Turner etc. whoever steps it up.
11) Jason Terry, Manu, Ray Allen (These guys are way up there in age).

 

I think one could reasonably argue that Martin is no. 3 on that list, or at least top 5. Some of those guys are really point guards or small forwards.

 

DeMar DeRozan just turned 22 a few months ago. He's still figuring the league out. He's 6'7 and 220 perfect 2 guard build (Clyde Drexler anybody?), has freakish athletic ability and he actually plays defense. He's coming into his 3rd year and I think he's really going to establish himself this year. He showed great signs last year.

How can you NOT have DeRozan above Martin? Wait till the season is over and revisit this thread...... You'll know what I'm talking about.

 

Is your list based on potential or current ability?

 

Both. Those are my rankings/projections going into this season.

 

Because when things arent perfect, people need a villian.

This happens every season. People try and put all the teams problems on one person. Was Rafer, then McGrady, then Battier, then Brooks, and so on and so on.

The mob is already lining up Martin as its next scapegoat.

 

This one is not on Martin. He is strictly an Adelman player. One can only assume that he would struggle once Adelman left.

 

Oh wow. So you think Manu is going to decline from being a top 4 SG last year, to having Tyreke, Monta, Derozan,Harden, Matthews, Turner all being better than him?

Your a dreamer. Manu is all class and has been a lock for top 5 shooting guards the past few years.

 

Kevin Martin is not an All-Star because he isn't a complete player. He is too much of a shooter, not good of a rebounder, not that good of a passer. He can make All-Star team if Rockets are winning and his other numbers are up. I really like Martin because last year, he went to the FT line a lot and his FT pct. is Nash-like.

 

Basketball is not a discrete series of separate events. It is a synergy of 5 human beings against the synergy of 5 opposing human beings. Sometimes, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and sometimes it is less than the sum of its parts. Depending on the players around him, Martin can be a top-notch scorer and passable defender, or a liability in crunch time on offense and a player that opponents isolate against on defense.

 

It's way too early to predict, but if the Rockets keep Martin it will be interesting to see how his game might change (especially defensively) under McHale's coaching. We saw Martin under Adelman, but I suspect McHale will ask for more defensively and perhaps end up a better coach at setting up the defensive-mindedness of his players. If they don't make a trade involving Martin, I'm looking forward to seeing how this aspect of the Rocket's player mentality and ability plays out and how Martin might be required to adjust his game.

I like Martin on our team unless we get some REAL value for him in trade...and I do think he's underrated. He's an exciting player to watch and I hate to lose that (basketball is entertainment, after all). I love his ability to score, and despite rule changes I think he will continue to do so. When on offense the guy's got uncanny ability to read the defensive player's body language and adjust/time his shots accordingly (despite having an outside shot that looks like it should be blocked about half the time...a shot that he still gets off, regardless).

 

Because he disappears in the 4th quarter. He can score 50 in the first 3 quarters but in the 4th he is non existent. This happens why?

-- He gets most of his points from drawing fouls and going to the free throw line (which is why he scores 25 points on 10 shots but is 15/15 from the FT line.) In the 4th quarter of games refs tend to not call the pity fouls they do in the first 3 quarters. Thus making Martin no where near as effective as he is in the first 3 quarters.

 

He is boring. BORRRRRRIIIIINNNNG!