I have said it once and I will say it again this team has transgressed big time. We traded Stevie Franchise, Mobley and Cato because the trio with Yao was just a joke. Now we've brought that back with Brooks, Martin and Hill. Trade all of them and get something GOOD!
Good insight. But I think we're seeing the Sacramento Kings version of Kevin Martin, the number one scoring option. We're freakin' 5th overall PPG. That number has got to come down closer to 100. I think the pace of the game is just too fast. Plus I'm still waiting for Yao and Martin to get some experience playing together. With two guards who can beat you inside and out, Yao is going to make him all that much better. Theoretically anyway. Your point is well taken though. But we already knew far before the season Martin and Brooks were defensive liabilities. A big guy, like a 7'6"er was supposed to be here protecting the rim. I can live with guys getting open looks from time to time. Less than 50% will fall anyway. Its those baskets 7 feet away that are killing us.
Definition of TRANSGRESS intransitive verb 1 : to violate a command or law : sin 2 : to go beyond a boundary or limit LMAO. We have SINNED! Let us repent.
Uhh, not sure where you're coming up with this but I never said all a coach has to do is say "play defense" and the players play defense. This isn't some r****ded sports movie, in the NBA you actually have to coach defensive sets and your players have to be well-aware of where and how their teammates rotate and other such things. This coaching staff isn't doing that well enough, it's as simple as that. Also, if you actually watch the Celtics and note Allen's game, you will see that Ray Allen doesn't expend any less energy on the offensive end than he used to. His game is predicated on high motion, off screens and such. He can't score if he doesn't work hard on offense. This is common knowledge, I don't even know why I'm debating this with you, Ray Allen is a well above average defensive guard in this league when he used to be the (defensive) laughing stock.
Great defense of Brooks. If only Brooks has half the defense that DD is doing for him then the Rockets might be in better shape than it is.
I liked that Adelman limited Martin's minutes in the 4th quarter. Martin might be leading our team in scoring, but his play has not warranted the minutes he's getting. Keep him as a starter, but if he doesn't improve his defense than limit his minutes in the second half.
Wrong thread stay on topic...please. Great observation Durv, If that is what it takes then good job Rick Adelman. DD
I agree with durvasa as well. Late in the game the defense tightens up and the refs swallow their whistles. When Martin has over 20 points by the 4th he is most likely tired so limiting his minutes is a good idea. DD has a unique insight on the game, but I do not think Martin is fool's gold. You are thinking of Joe Johnson.
I told you "Stop Snitchin" campaigns are more accepted when the person's giving effort and winning. If Kevin Martin was in a "Pimpin Pays" video, but playing sturdy defense, making clutch shots helping the team to a top 3 seed, would anyone give THAT much of a crap?
You're giving Melo way too much credit. I don't think KM is fool's gold at all, not everyone can be a clutch player. But in that game when his shot wasn't falling he managed to hit 14 out of 15 fts. As long as you don't pay him the max (and we're not) KM's a nice player to have on the team. Durvasa's right about his defense though. Question is, would you rather have a solid two-way player like Lee? Or offensively superior but defensively inferior Kevin Martin? Honestly at this point I'd pick Lee. Martin with his speed should be able to play good D if he actually cared about it.
Lee is a better option if you're defending a lead, as we were that got him those extended minutes, ideally you don't really want to deal with clutch time when you're so bad at it...
I understand and agree with what DD try to points about martin's lack of effort in the defensive end. But actually I have a problem with the meaning of the "fool's gold" thing. I guess it's a phrase, but what does it exactly means?
Several points: - Martin is, at best, the 3rd best player on a championship team. He plays best off the ball imo, rather than needing to create for himself. Asking him to be the 1st option (and Scola for that matter) means your team is not very good. And looking at the Rockets record confirms we are not very good. - Martin leaks out because he is asked to do so. We have a coaching staff that emphasizes the fast break and getting out and running for easy scores because we want to play fast. We do not emphasize team rebounding or team defense. - Martin was also brought to the Rockets for his ability to draw fouls. This was important for Morey because he has stated repeatedly that Yao is the most efficient player in the league when the Rockets are in the bonus. Unfortunately for Morey, Yao cannot stay healthy. - I'm not sure what fool's gold means for Martin. We are getting the player we traded for. Efficient on offense, bad on defense. Now if we had some interior defensive help, I guarantee you a lot of his deficiencies would not come out as much. But when your best interior defender is Chuck Hayes, and your best weakside shot blocker is Shane Battier, your team defense is going to suck.
No, he's one of the most efficient scorers in the league. Scores 20 points without having to take 20 shots, gets to the foul line while getting his opponent in foul trouble, and he hits his foul shots. Brought in for his efficient scoring and that's what he's giving us.. He's not like former players that showed flashes and then were traded or dropped from the team.
I don't think anyone can really deny that Martin is a valuable offensive weapon. However, I am starting to think that his overall value is greatly diminished by his inability to defend. I think as fans we all tend to focus on what's happening on the offensive end more than the defensive end. But, it's easy to see that we are no longer that team that used to play great defense. If you look at our season last year, you will remember that we got off to a great start, and seemed to be playing like that scrappy team that took the Lakers to seven games in the playoffs. However by the end of the season we seemed to have lost something. I know we didn't have a real center, and I know we had injuries, but we didn't seem to be the same team after we made the trade for Martin. I thought we were just having problems getting the new pieces to fit, but maybe the new pieces really don't fit, and maybe they never will fit. I really hate that we have become a team of all offense and no defense.
