http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_y...vLYF?slug=ap-nuggets-martin&prov=ap&type=lgns DENVER (AP) -- Kenyon Martin was unhappy about his limited playing time in Denver's playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers. Now he won't be suiting up for the Nuggets at all. The Nuggets suspended their forward indefinitely on Tuesday night for what they called detrimental conduct. "This is an internal matter that we will deal with in-house," coach George Karl said in a statement. Martin, who has been bothered by knee tendinitis all season, was dejected over his limited playing time in Game 2 Monday night, when he played sparingly in the first half and sat out the second half of Denver's 98-87 loss to the Clippers. Martin didn't arrive on the Nuggets bench until several minutes into the third quarter and then sat with a towel over his head. He left the arena without comment, but teammate Ruben Patterson suggested Martin felt he could have played and was frustrated that he had been held out. Hours before suspending him, Karl seemed miffed that Martin was upset over his benching. "I will talk to him and see what's happening," Karl said Tuesday afternoon. "He told me and the staff at halftime that he couldn't go. Now, there's stuff filtering out that there's frustration there. We'll see." Martin apparently banged his bothersome left knee in the first half while going against Elton Brand. "He's got a heck of a matchup," Karl said. "The guy is a very physical player. I don't think people understand how big that man is. He's 260, maybe 270 pounds. I'm sure he not only hit Martin's knee, but probably hit a lot of other parts of the body." Besides, "it's been a year of frustration for everybody," said Karl, who watched forward Nene go down for the season with a knee injury in the opener, then had to juggle his lineup all season with injuries to Martin and center Marcus Camby. "We've always worked through it. We've always picked ourselves up," Karl said. "I trust this team is going to do the same thing on Thursday." Before deciding to suspend Martin, Karl was asked why he wasn't giving him more minutes. "Well, it is hard for me to visualize him actually playing 20 minutes of basketball again because he doesn't participate in practice very often. He just wants to play in the games," Karl said. "That philosophically doesn't make any sense to me. I think he has a big-time heart. I think he is a big-time competitor and he did a heck of a job in the second half against Brand for Game 1. "Right now I evaluate all my players. I think Carmelo is going to go a lot of minutes, Andre (Miller) is going to get a lot of minutes, Marcus is going to get a lot of minutes. After that I have no idea who is going to get the minutes. It's the guy who earns the minutes and who plays the way we want him to play." Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Thursday night at the Pepsi Center. The Nuggets are accustomed to playing without Martin, who has been bothered all season by his surgically repaired left knee and began regularly sitting out games over the last month in hopes he'd be better for the playoffs, where he has traditionally stepped up his game. He had six points and two boards in the Nuggets' 111-109 loss in Game 1, and was scoreless with one rebound in just under seven minutes in Denver's loss in Game 2.
I have a strong feeling that he will be traded this summer and that some team will severly overpay for him (via players and draft picks) because of his potential to be the beast he once was. In my opinion Martin is injury prone and pretty much done as far as an upper echelon player. He will never reach the level he was once on. What he will do is eat up a lot of a teams cap and keep their benches warm for the majority of the season.
Nuggets4, after the Clips close out the Nugs, please do me a favor and write a synopsis on their season. Because of job issues, I wasn't able to closely follow as many NBA teams as the year before, Nuggets included. Just tell us all what exactly happened, when the cracks first started showing and why the Nuggets season was such a failure despite Melo's great year. If you don't mind, please wait until they are eliminated from the playoffs. I'm no better than anyone else at pre-season predictions, but my total miss on the Nuggets kills me because I still don't know exactly why. I don't think the injuries to Nene & K-Mart explain it all. Maybe Camby's missed games are the reason. Did Karl lose the team? What happened with Earl Watson? Were Karl and Kiki at war with each other? Was it the weakness at SG?
Their only hope is the knicks. No one else is stupid enough to take on that contract and those knees.
I'm surprised about the Nuggets season. They are a very good team - well coached with great talent. FAst and big. Lot of injuries though
He'll be traded, but not for much. This 'opens' opportunity to re-sign Nene and Elson. Denver is likely landing spot for an AI trade, if indeed AI leaves Philly.
Although the Clippers will still take the series, with KM out, they actually can win 2 games. I am never a fan of KM, his gambling for spectacular blocks etc. He just hurt the Nuggets on the court.
In a different article, Ruben Patterson dropped that Martin only talks to him and DeMarr Johnson (former Bearcats) among the Denver players, which I found interesting. I would suspect that Martin soured on the team when he discovered the team was shopping him this winter. Denver now has Nene (restricted) and Evans as upcoming free agents, and Martin might be persona non grata. Could be an interesting summer, especially with Kiki recently telling the Denver press that he plans on making significant moves with the roster. Evan
Two very scary red flags: -max contract (5 years and $71 million remaining) -microfracture surgery club member 17 and 9 guy in his absolute apex with Kidd's running make-you-look-good system, looking more and more like a career 15-7 guy, which is paltry for your PFs. Gets eaten up when he faces top tier 4s (Duncan embarrassed him in the Finals) despite his defensive rep. He's all piss and vinegar, but his game is slipping in a hurry. I personally think it's karma for his being a jackass to Alonzo about his kidneys. -->Somewhat of an improvement over Howard, but with a far worse contract, shakier long-term health forecast, and none of Juwan's professionalism. Evan
George Karl's pattern, if the Sonics and Bucks are any indication, tends to be initial success followed by underachievement, which degenerates into sniping, griping and feuding with his players. I wouldn't be surprised if things continue to go sour.
I am in front with improving at the 4 and finding a more apt home for Juwan. However, he does bring lots to the table while other, (possibly) more talented 4s may actually bring less. K-Mart is a 'less' factor IMO (for many more $$$s!).
Nah nah nah nah Nah nah nah nah Hey hey hey GOOD BYE! I will continue to eat crow on this board because of the K-Mart signing. I thought it would work out. I was wrong. Very wrong. At least with K-Mart out now, we have a chance to win. We're 29-8 without the jackass. Most interesting comment has to be: So long jackass. I'm so glad that I will no longer have one of my top five most disliked players on my favorite team. Will do.
my question is, how do they possibly move him with that contract? If we can't move Juwan, how are they going to do it? Isaih is always a strong possibility, but even he might be reluctant to take him.
Ring, Ring Hello. Hello, Zeke? Yeah This is Kiki. Yeah, I know. Hey, you remember that deal we were talking about with Kenyon and Stephon?
Your right, It would take a really stupid move by a team to take on Martin with all his issues plus that massive contract
He's always been very overrated...he should be thanking Jason Kidd that he has a max contract. I mean, he's not a bad complimentary player (all character issues aside), but he shouldn't be the first or second option on a team.
