Kevin Martin averaged 23.5 points in only 32.5 minutes last year, placing him 9th in the league in scoring. Kevin Martin played the least minutes of every player that ranked in the top 20 in scoring. My question is: should the Rockets continue to limit Kevin Martin's minutes? The benefits of this is the Rockets keep him fresh and reduce the possible wear and tear a season can have on a player. In 2011, Martin tied a 2006 career high of playing in 80 games while also averaging the least minutes since his 2005 sophomore season. The Rockets also have Courtney Lee and Chase Budinger, two young players who are undoubtedly deserving of playing time. The thing is.. neither player is truly on Martin's level, so Martin shouldn't have to sacrifice his minutes to lesser skilled players. On the flip side, we're not fully utilizing our best offensive player. Even Kobe Bryant, who skips practice and rests any chance he gets, averaged more minutes than Martin this year. There were times throughout the season where I wondered if there was a clause in Martin's contract preventing Adelman from playing him in the fourth quarter. In the final seven games of the season (April), the Rockets were desperately pushing for the playoffs and played Martin close to 40 minutes a game. He put up 27 PPG in that seven game stretch. People constantly mention how Martin is young and just now entering his prime -- is it time for the Rockets to turn him into a 38-40 minute player instead of the 32-33 minutes he received this past season? Or is the minute disparity just a byproduct of Adelman struggling with how to deal with the Rockets 2-deep depth at the guard/forward positions?
Dude is a scoring machine. I'm fine with his minutes and would be hesitant to deal Lee bc of this very reason.
He averaged 36 MPG after the trades. He wasn't getting PT because AB got PT, there's no other reason. And almost all of his games after the deadline where he didn't get minutes were because of blowouts.
I like the fact that Martin is an efficient scorer but he's also a defensive liability so the coach needs to consider both when allocating minutes to him.
I honestly doubt how much better Martin would become. It's not that I'm putting down on him (of course not, considering how good he is already). I think he will always be an efficient scorer and it's great however on a better team I don't think he'll get as many minutes as he has atm. I could be wrong but I'm one of those guys who values a lot on defense. To me he looks more like an efficient backup guard who can boost bench scoring and offload pressure from the starters' shoulder on a consistent basis on a championship team.
After the allstar break he averaged over 35 minutes a game, and that is how much I think he will average next year. Honestly, the deadline deals that we made this year will make McHale look a lot better than he actually is. Not that I don't think he would be a very good coach anyways. But out of the gate he will be forced to play our best players big minutes in Lowry and Martin, in addition to not having to wait 30 games before letting Patterson step onto the court. I think the combination of those things will contribute to a lot of our improvement next year, and not necessarily McHale's coaching ability. But don't tell that to anyone when I start rubbing "McHale > Adelman" into people's faces.
I hope they trade him while his stock is high, we need 2 way players.....over one dimensional ones like him. DD
As good as he is on offense the law of diminishing returns comes into play because he's not a very good defender. It doesn't matter how good you are offensively if your opponent is going to pop off as well. I love Kevin Martin but he is who he is... A highly efficient natural scorer who can't defend well enough to play more minutes without experiencing adverse results. With that said... I love the fact that we have Lee as a backup to KM. He is the perfect compliment to spell Martin and I think Martin's minutes are fine. If anything I wouldn't mind if they were cut by even 5 minutes or so to get Lee more playing time because we know Martin will "get his" in an efficient manner and we can rest him more without giving up too much defensively.
I guess this is why the team played so poorly after the allstar break when Martin's minutes increased?
Think they limit his minutes in the final few minutes because he is so reliant on fouls and they call less fouls in crunch time. Personally, I'm fine with that.
Martin has pretty good hands, he can be a useful defender when he's playing up in their face going for steals etc, but he's terrible playing off them, and while we have a giant void in the middle, we don't really have the luxury of playing in their face.
Bottom line...the reason Adelman didn't play him more minutes was a combo of keeping him healthy and the fact he is a worthless defender. Its great to score a ton of points but if you get destroyed by Peja and Randy Foye then those points are less effective.
now's the time. he had one of his best seasons... if not his very best. not to mention he stayed healthy for the first time in a long time. anyway you look at it, its down hill from here. off topic, but i feel the same about scola. considering his age and contract i think his value will drop every year he gets older and his contract goes higher.
Which 2-way player are you thinking of? Because the ones I'm thinking of are worth more than the entire Rockets roster. And I feel the only 2-way players available are ones that can't even beat out Courtney Lee for a starting job. The only good trade for Martin is a high lottery pick.
hmm...lets get rid of bosh and amare...the rockets should have always gone after "two-way" players. pg-spanoulis sg-brooks sf-budinger pf-landry c-hill is this your ideal "two-way" lineup ? hmm
I think he should stay at 32 mpg depending on his production. If he is shooting the lights out of course. He should play more, but the 32 would not only keep him healthy, but it would create more time for reserves, keep him rested, and keep his efficiency up
Disagree. Martin's ability to draw fouls on the opponent and make them work their asses off on defense is far more valuable than what we could get from any "2-way" player at the same salary. He's not just a decent scorer, he's elite. Besides, I watched him and Bud sharing minutes on the floor as we made our run last season and I gotta say, if there's one thing posters do a lot on this board, it's overestimate a player's deficiencies. Dude is not that bad and is one of our best at playing passing lanes. Has some trouble fighting through screens, but it's not like every team is the Miami Heat (who he dropped 29, 5, and 5 on, by the way), with 2 great offensive swingmen. Most have a guy he can cover with no real problem.
