Yup, agreed. Kevin would have have been incredibly scary If we still had Yao as the go to horse. I know some might disagree, but I would LOVE to see what a Lowry/Martin/Granger combination could do.
He's closer to Kevin Marin than Kobe, LeBron, Rose, etc. So is Bosh. Sure he's a better player than Martin but who cares. He can't be a #1 just like Martin, that's all that matters. There's a reason that Aaron Brooks has led his team out of the first round as many times as Bosh + Anthony have, because they only play one side of the ball. That's "time and time again"? One playoff run in seven years and one game sandwiched in between two losses to the worst team in the NBA where he got lit up by Alonzo Gee and Luke Harengody? I just have higher standards for my superstars I guess.
Only examples, and when the playoffs roll around again he's likely to do it again. Rather have a player who can play defense when he wants to than a player who even when he wants to can't. This is silly though, anyone thinking that Kevin Martin and Melo are on the same tier are being homers. You won't see this discussion any where else but a Rockets forum. You keep saying that Melo has only been out of the first round once, how many times has Martin been out of the first round? How many times has Martin been to the playoffs? How many times has Martin been to the all-star game? What about All-NBA teams? Lets be real here, Carmelo is a true franchise player. You are right that he has been past the first round once, and guess what...so has Yao-Tmac but they were still franchise players. You have to think about the circumstances, the West has been tough then. Melo wasn't playing against scrubs and also the face that Melo was playing on a young inexperienced team that was not supposed to win against top seeds. You're saying he should have won against the Spurs as a 8th seed? The 6th seed against the Clippers? 6th seed against the Spurs again? 8th seed against the Lakers? The next season they got Billups who is a great player in his own to help out and they went to the WCF, then last season they lost in the first round but remember the circumstances too. They did not have their head coach and Anthony was far from the reason they lost to the Jazz.
But Kevin Martin is doing this on a lottery team. According to many here (when other, non-Rockets' players are brought up), they say it's easy to put up stats on bad teams and lottery bound clubs.
KMart is probably the greatest shooter in rockets history, having an unbelievable shooting year. I've really enjoyed watching him this season. it makes me sick to think where we would be if Yao stayed healthy
Guys the problem with the Rockets is this. 6'1 6'7 6'7 6'9 6'6 we have a college sized starting lineup, with the shortest center in NBA history....this is a team of overachievers. Kevin Martin is not the problem. I like Hayes alot, but he plays below the rim...
- If you add in the mone they're making, I would take Martin over Melo. - If I have to choose one as my franchise player to build around, it's Melo (IMO, he's the lesser of 2 evils for that role). Not top tier, but no doubt higher than Martin. - If I have to choose one to be the 2nd best player on my team, I'd choose Martin. I don't know if Melo could handle it (playing 2nd fiddle), or for how long, and once again, Martin makes less, which means there is more money available for other players. This list could go on and on, but these are a few things that stand out to me. Pugs
Plenty of excuses I see here, none of them come close to Martin's bad teams though. Martin was playing with Mikki Moore as his center. Btw, the Clippers lol? If you aren't even facing a 50 win team you can't claim being overmatched. Anthony couldnt even get his team over 90 pts in any of the losses. Anyway, I already said Anthony is better than Martin. I said that doesn't matter because if Anthony is your best player your team isn't going anywhere anyway. So I'd rather discuss the second option-type player, and Martin wins hands down.
I have always been a fan of KMart. He is smooth as silk, can light up a game with points in bunches, and is amazingly consistent. With a big man requiring a double team, he would be lethal. He would be what TMac was supposed to be with Yao. I can just see him making the post pass getting it kicked out a time or two and then nailing the J. Again and again. He is a complimenting player without the player or players to compliment.
The problem is that if you take all the other aspects of the game that SGs need to be good at, like defense, playmaking, and a bit of rebounding, Kbrick is only average on the whole. It's a shame he can't work on those parts of his game a bit and bring them up to even mediocre level because then he could be a top 25 NBA player. He is having a better season than I expected though. The lack of injury is surprising.
I don't understand this kind of logic. If you are good enough at one aspect of the game, the other aspects of the game doesn't have to be as up to par. Kevin Martin absolutely is a top 25 player in the league already just because of his sheer offensive prowess. Let's put it this way: a 4' 6" midget, let's call it Snooki, can do nothing else on the court except shoot threes and it hits 40/40 threes every game without doing ANYTHING else and literally not even playing defense and camping at the 3 point line. Even though, Snooki can literally do nothing but shoot 3's, Snooki would be the best player in the league.
No he wouldn't because he would easily be shut down if he wasn't a threat to drive or pass. He would not be able to get his shot off. The other team would score 140 per game playing legit 4 on 5 on the other end.
None of that is excuses, it's just fact. You are blaming Anthony for not beating the likes of the Lakers and Spurs...the only two teams to even win championships coming out of the west for the last decade or so...so you might as well blame every other player not on the Lakers or Spurs and put them slightly above Kevin Martin. Also laughing at the 06 Clippers just shows a lack of knowledge when it comes to the NBA. They were a good team then, the 3rd best team in the West and took the Suns who were Contenders then to a 7 game series so IDK how you can LOL at that team unless you are thinking the modern day Clippers. Well you're wrong there, Carmelo was the best player on that Denver team that went to the WCF so i'm not sure that is going nowhere, the Denver team this year wasn't so bad either before Melo fled to NYK. Just because Melo couldn't beat championship Laker and Spurs teams doesn't make him less of a player, with that logic I guess Charles Barkley, Iverson, Stockton, all great players who never won anything in the end were just never really first option players then either huh?
Good for Kevin. He seems to be trying a bit harder on the Rockets to be a better overall player. Perhaps this #1 listing will boost him even farther and will inspire him to work on the weaker aspects of his game off-season? Nice to think he might, at least.
I dont think it would be that different. Remember last year prior to martin with ariza and battier as the 2 and 3? The rockets arent any better this year than they were last year.
