does it matter? as long as we have scola on the floor, we're going to score some points. and lowry had it going. martin doesn't do anything defensively anyways.
battier had the stomach flu though, which can be gone as soon as 24 hrs or when you pass whatvr you ate...he's not likely to be as sick as Martin Bad timing on the thread. Could just be Martin not feeling well one game and needing D the other game.
If his shot is falling, then he should be in the game during the fourth. But if he's relying upon initiating contact and getting to the line to get his points, then I don't think it's a bad idea to have him riding pine down the stretch. Defensive pressure ramps up and guys get more physical in the fourth, refs start letting more contact occur and are much less willing to bail Martin out and send him to the line again and again in the fourth quarter. If his jumper's not falling, then he really is a three quarter player.
Well, its hard to build confidence in the 4th when you keep getting benched. How is he suppose to prove that he is a closer, by being on the bench?
Lowry and Lee is a strong finishing backcourt. They both defend and can play within Rick's offense although both make one or two boneheaded mistakes like jacking up shots early in he shot clock. Hopefully he sticks with this lineup after Brooks gets back so we don't revert back to the bad 4th quarter defensive sieve we used to be.
Are there any sites that break down 4th quarter stats? I'd be interested to see how he fares in the 4th quarter vs. the rest of the game. It always seems like he becomes more timid offensively and doesnt get to the line as frequently as he does in the first three quarters of the game. I actually dont think its a bad move to sit him for the fourth. If Lee is playing with more confidence and better defensively, why would you sit him over Martin?
RA didn't want to interupt the flow of the game because the last units were playing very good on both ends for the last 6 minutes or so.
Yes. It does matter. Why are we paying a guy 11M+ a year to not play when the game is on the line? If this trend continues, I expect to see Martin on the trading block.
Correct. He's playing D with more focus. In Sac, he was the only/main scorer on the team and expected to be the highest scorer in every game, thus he focused more on offense. In Houston, with better supporting players, he has been able to increase his assist average and focus on defense as well.
he is sending a message to Martin, saying your defense is so bad we will bench you even though your one of our best scorers. He's saying you better play defense and give more effort or your benched. It's a huge message and it's totally intentional.
RA is actually learning how to use the 'deepest' team in the NBA. This team needs to work like a college team, every player has a role and what they can do best. RA is finally learning this. JJ, he does have a role on this team. Just like Hayes defense on low-post Forwards, JJ can play great defense on face up guys like Odom, Prince etc. If we need a scoring punch we have Martin, if we need a defensive backcourt next time we play warriors we can play Lee and Lowry more mins than expected.
Interesting article on basketball-reference: http://www.basketball-reference.com/blog/?p=8353 Kevin Martin is ranked as the 8th most one-dimensional offensive player in NBA history.
What a stupid article. If you look under the covers, he's measuring defense by measuring how much the TEAM lost and just giving the play a percentage of that. The Kings sucked on defense night in and night out.
Interesting but not really relevent...lots of hall of famers on that list....and Ralph Sampson with ZERO win shares? That tells me that win shares is a bogus statistic. DD
