This is why i feel that Martin should play SF sometimes so that he and Lee can be on the floor at the same time.
Who's gonna guard Carmelo, Roy, Kobe, LeBron or Durant or Pierce? Lee is too small for them and Martin sucks at defense.
That's why the rockets said Lee could possible run point for some stretches....that's a lot more realistic and likely than playing SF. However, the way things have been going Lee may be primarily seeing time next to budinger. It's been working well so far.
Seems like a misleading headline for an article ...I can easily see his quote being taken out of context...seems like an attempt at dry humor to me...sure there is truth behind the quote. But Martin can't possibly be so stupid to be unhappy with his playing time when it's only preseason.
Exactly my point. Martin sucks on defense, so it doesn't matter who he's guarding. With him at SF and Lee at SG guard, i think it would be better than our current starting line-up. Better scoring.
im pretty sure i would rather have martin guarding a bad player than a good one...so it does matter. I'm not understanding the fascination with scoring even more points...we have enough scorers in the starting lineup.
Look at it this way. When Martin is in the game he is already guarding the other teams best SG. His defense is not up to par anyway, so let him start at SF and Lee at SG. Currently, our starting line-up has only one true defensive threat other than Yao and thats Battier, who we all agree has lost a step. Having Lee start would give us a better 2 way player, just at the 2 instead of the three.
So we let him slide over from SG, where he would have been given a tough time, to SF where he'll be completely killed by taller and stronger players? But it's ok because he'll give up 30, but score only 20, since Lee, whos got an offensive game also, will take some of his touches and shoot 44% and 33% from three I think i rather let Martin keep his touches, shoot a higher percentage, and let battier guard the three. Lee can do his full court thing alongside Budinger, which is going to give him higher percentages than if he played the halfcourt. It's not like Martin's having trouble getting shots off. Let the man score all he wants.
I was just about to post exactly what RV6 posted. Battier fits the offensive mold of the starting 5 and Lee fits the offensive mold of the bench. It wouldn't make much sense to switch them around.
Battier is the offensive concrete of the starting 5. His bricks are building houses. Meanwhile Kobe is still scoring 30 and 40 on him a night. Martin? Kobe scores 35. Battier? He only scores 33 on but hey? Battier hit that one three and Martin all he did was draw fouls and score 25 points. I see. its reverse psychology. Give up so many points and dont score as much. That means we are better because he is a better defender. Now i get it. We lose scoring in double digits with Battier for him to hold the opposition to one less basket.. Ok it all makes sense now.
His defense is 33 points game elite. His offense is 8 points a game weak. The eliteness of the 33 outweighs the measly 8 points and low shooting percentages though..
Meanwhile, back in reality the rockets and lakers play each other. It's a team game, not a one on one matchup. No one has shown the ability to contain kobe consistently. Not battier, not Ariza, not barnes, not pietrus, no one. Dwelling on Kobe getting his most of the time, when he does it against everyone, is pointless. He's Kobe freakin Bryant. No coach's game plan is going to consist purely on stopping bryant, especially in a 7 game series. And there's also more to the NBA than the Lakers..let's worry about beating the Kobe-less teams too, otherwise we'll never see the Lakers in the playoffs. And you're dreaming if you think Martin is only going to give up one more basket than if Battier was guarding him. Put Martin on Kobe, and assuming his knee isn't falling apart, he's going to start salivating and ask for the ball more than usual.
If Kobe takes 30 shots to do it I'm totally cool with it. As exampled 2/4 times last year here: http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=291115013 and here: http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=300105013 It's about efficiency..if Kobe scores 30 on martin only only 12ish shots, then 33 on 30 shots is much more preferable.
You guys whining about Battier and Kobe still scoring on him are completely clueless. It is because we can guard Kobe 1 on 1.....and it forces him to do EVERYTHING out there.....that is why the Rockets play them so tough, because we do not have to double Kobe....and force everyone else on their team to watch...... Battier may not be what he once was, but he does allow us to match up better than most other teams in the league. DD
I thought all of this time we were trying to trade him for a offense guy like Carmelo Anthony.. Silly me. Defense is more important. I get it. I guess those top scorers in the league Kobe, Jordan, Durant, Shaq, Iverson, Carmelo is what got it done all of this time? Well that one lone Detroit fantasy team for every nerd arguing ultimate team work is the example of the needle inthe haystack defense wins everything argument i guess. I guess the Lakers Showtime never won anything..
Don't compare lee, martin, and Melo as equal offensive players. Melo is the only one who can actually score on people and close out a game. That is what Houston was mainly trading for, not just general offensive production. And if they managed to get Melo they were probably going to give up brooks, surely not just battier, so they would be replacing offense lost, not just piling it on like you want them to do. That would likely give lowry, a defender, a spot in the starting lineup to balance things out some. Everyone knows defense wins championships. Your argument is about stockpiling offense and forgettgin about defense almost completely and none of the teams you mentioned were built that way. What do you mean those scorers "got it done"? Got what done? Half those guys have never won a ring. i think you're forgetting the goal isn't to score 200 pts, it's to win a championship.
With the players we have on the team, we have the luxury of putting out a more balanced offensive, defensive line-up.
