I am beginning to think that Battier should start over Ariza when Yao comes back. There are couple reasons for this: Battier has been playing with Yao Scola and Brooks for a long time now. Battier is solid and fundamentally sound on defense Battier does the little things on court like hustling and taking charges. Battier is a BETTER 3pt shooter than Ariza imo...just look at the stats. Battier does not attack the basket but we have Martin and Brooks to do that...and that's more than enough. Ariza coming off the bench to provide offensive spark which fit what we need because Battier wouldn't be able to do that. Ariza and Lowry is PERFECT off the bench.
And Battier expires next season with Yao, in case the team needs to rebuild on the fly. It is why I think Ariza should be traded over Shane. DD
I'm not that surprised about Martin. Always been a fan of his style of play. Although, I am surprised of his ability to draw fouls. He's been getting to the line at will. He's very crafty in the way he gets players to foul him.
2005-6 Playoffs vs SA he had a couple of games where he got to the line at a good rate and a couple where he went 2 and 4 times but also played less minutes. This was as a second year guy so I will assume he has picked up a few tricks since then, overall he will be fine in the 2010-11 playoffs. :grin:
Yes, but I doubt we get 42 foul shots in a playoff game. The Refs tend to let them play more and call less ticky tack fouls. It is why Lowry sucked so bad in last year's playoffs. DD
True but I also assume Martin will get a heck of a lot more "STAR" calls then Lowry and considering Martin is known for getting calls the refs will be more willing to blow their whistle at a more liberal rate. Hopefully Yao, Martin and "Mystery" guy will eliminate the need for 42 foul shots.
Fair point.....an interesting comparison would be Lebron or Kobe, or another star player in the regular season vs playoffs....taking into account a usage index. DD
lowry , martin, and yao. i wouldn't be surprised if we see someone on the opposing team fouling out every game. lol
Will Kevin Martin draw fouls at the same rate with Yao Ming clogging up the paint? Will Lowry? That remains to be seen.
I would like to throw in Dwayne Wade... Lebron does get a lot of phantom calls. Believe it or not, although Kobe does get Star treatment, the calls he gets pales in comparison to the other two. I believe I read somewhere that Lebron managed to foul others 3 times in the span of like 5 games. The sample size maybe off, but Stern's protective mitt is at full display.
Well, at least we can have someone that can blow by his man to attract Yao's defender over. Pretty much what T-mac did a few years ago, except that Martin actually has a mid range game whereas Tracy didn't...
Lowry only attempted 3.3 free throws per game for the Rockets in the regular season. That did dip in the playoffs some but I still don't think it's a good comparison. Martin has a repertoire of moves which gets him to the foul line.
Best part is all the fouls he draws, Let's say we're in a series against the Lakers, Kobe will probably play Martin, MArtin loves to makek contact and after a while Kobe starts racking up the fouls and eventaully gets fouled out.
If it was that easy to play Kobe...everyone would attack hard. http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=bryanko01&p2=martike02 Kobe averages under 3 fouls, and 31/6/7 on 49% from the floor, and 39% from distance. Granted it includes a young Martin too, it's pretty much the same thing in recent games too.
I like Martin because he plays the game the way it should be played, at least on the offensive end. Lots of slashing and lunges at the basket, which is really old-school NBA. Kinda reminds me of Reggie Miller, EXCEPT, Martin can create his own shot, whereas Miller had to be open and recieve the ball from someone else to be effective. Martin also doesn't concentrate on 3's, which is what Miller tended to do after a while. (Brooks seems to have gotten 3-Fever lately, which is not what we neccessarily want from anyone).
if he's healthy, he's this good of a scorer. the problem is can he stay healthy? but yes, he's really good.
