It's not just this game, it's not the same as lowry syndrome, where maybe he doesn't get the same type of calls he gets in the first 3 quarters. We all know that his game is predicated on drawing fouls, however, in crunch time in the 4th, he doesn't even try to make moves, he just defers. crucial possession this game, rockets down by 3, 1:15 to go, Martin gets the ball on the right win, he has Scola on the left ready to do a 2 man play, 10 seconds left on the shot clock. He surveys the scene for 2 second and then passes to brooks 40 foot away from the basket. Brooks can't do anything because the shot clock is in the red zone and after some dribbling throws up a 30 foot brick. Why the hell didn't Martin do something, even if he throws up a brick, offensive foul, turnover pass, off balance shot, do something, to defer in that situation is really mentally weak. He seems to do this over and over again in the 4th, passing up opportunities to attack that he would have taken in the first 3 quarters, it has to be some sort of mental problem with him
He was like this in Sacramento, Morey knew what he was trading for when he decided to pull the trigger. Don't forget Martin is injury-prone as well, and is probably bound to miss 20 games this season.
at this point, if Martin is not going to attack, you might as well sub in either Battier or Lee for him, at least you get great defense. Just play Martin heavily in the first 3 quarters and then bench him for the 4th.
Kevin Martin has always been a disapperaing act. Aaron Brooks can't close consistently because he does not get to the free-throw line, which is critical to being a closer. Yao has always been a 1st and 3rd quarter player. Your move Daryl. We need better defensive personnel and we need to control tempo, If we want to win.
I have a feeling these things will need to be brought up multiple times throughout the season, so seperate threads make easier to bump
It's an interesting thing about Kevin Martin, trugoy. He looks an awful lot to me like a guy that's trying to fit in and not step on anybody's toes; that's weird for a guy who was going to fix what was broken at the 2-guard spot for the Rockets for the past 4 or 5 seasons all by his lonesome. I'll go out on a limb and say that Martin is a borderline all-star level player; he certainly is offensively. But if we could learn anything about Martin from his time in Sacramento... ...it would be that he's probably not the best of players when it comes to taking over a game. The Kings were unable to do anything significant when Martin was the featured player (and I know he was hurt a good portion of the time). But if Martin was the engine you look for to drive your team, he'd have gotten the Kings out of park and into the postseason once or twice. All that being said, I don't think Martin isn't going to work out here. At least, not until it's decided one way or the other what you're going to be able to expect from Yao Ming. This season is essentially the second consecutive season in which everything is up in the air, form players to playing styles to availability, in my opinion. Everybody's trying to fit in a much different way than the majority of them had to last season, because Yao Ming is back, more or less. You's going to be the guy who will be expected to finish games for the Rockets. Martin's here to help Yao do that. The sooner Yao's up and running (for more that a few minutes a week), the quicker Martin, and everybody else, can fit into whatever roles they need to fit into. In the meantime, I wouldn't Martin (or anybody else) grabbing games by the throat that are there to be won and win them. No time like the present......
Morey seemed to be thinking he was trading for a pillar of efficiency...yet this year Martin's ppg and FG% look a lot like a volume chucker.
Players that RELY on a 3rd party for their success, ie the Refs are always going to struggle late in games. Refs are not going to call those fouls you have to be able to MAKE SHOTS !!! That is why Martin and Lowry are not late game players. As JVG used to say, this is a make or miss league......our 3 best options to close a game are AB Yao, and Luis, and they are struggling a bit right now. KMart is a super scoring ROLE player.....nothing more. Again, NO ONE gets a call late in games, even superstars, you have to MAKE SHOTS ! And Max......Melo doesn't want to come to Houston.......so.....no one is walking through that door, this is it....the coaches have to get it done with what they have, the talent is there, but is the will to hurt feelings and bench players there? We shall see.... DD
Wouldn't a Statistical Genius, such as yourself, point out the small sample size? Or are you just speaking up so you can be run off again?
I don't think we should be blaming Martin, I'm starting to think Adelman needs to tell Martin to take over, I believe RA is telling this team to move the ball in the 4th quater and find the open man, instead he should be telling his Superstar to take over the game and get agressive. Maybe it's time for a coaching change?
Martin can not TAKE over, he is not capable of beating his man on the bounce consistently, there is only one guy on the team that can do that, it is Aaron Brooks. DD
I think Yao was a great closer his last season (08-09). Brooks should help, but Yao has to be our go-to-guy as soon as possible. (Obviously he needs some time).
I don't remember running many plays for Martin down the stretch. There was a lot of dribbling and messy sets.
