Yeah, because, you know them "points" things? eh, they have little influence on who wins the game....
Martin is EXTREMELY overrated! The guy is a good shooter, and that's it! He doesn't do anything else, besides flop like a b**** and shoot, that would be considered above average. He can't handle the ball, he sucks at creating separation in iso situations. I mean the only thing that makes him the scorer that he is, is his stupid little fake foul crap that he does. He is the absolute definition of "fools gold". If we were to ever make the playoffs with this roster, Martin would be exposed for what he is, a role player and nothing more.
Here's silly old me, thinking shooting was in important part of the game... If you name me the players you consider the top superstars in the league, they use fouling in the same way as Kevin to rack up points. It has nothing to do with flopping, it has to do with having both a dangerous shot and a quick first step. You can't get fouls with "flopping" if no one bites on your shot. And you can't get fouls in the lane if you aren't quick enough to get around people. The difference between Kevin Durant and Kevin Martin's scoring is that Martin looks ugly doing it.
No the biggest difference between Durant and Martin is that Durant doesn't have to rely on referee's down the stretch, because he has the ability to create space off the dribble. He can get his shot off when ever he wants. Martin doesn't have that ability, he tries to get you off balance with the pump fake's, to either get fouled or go by you. Thats his only way at creating for himself in iso situations. Which isn't that effective when facing discipline defenders or in the playoffs, when they let petty contact like that go.. Also other star players that use fouling like Martin, don't need to rely on it like Martin does. They, like Durant, can create for themselves and not have to get to the foul line as frequent. Now don't get me wrong I never said Martin sucks, I just think his no where near superstar material or even star material for that matter. His just a very good role player, so people need to remove their blind folds and stop taking about him like his some sort superstar.
If two players have scoring averages in the same order of magnitude, and get a similar percentage of those points from fouls, doesn't that mean they are relying on foul shots the same amount?
Is there a bigger myth on this BBS than the one people keep repeating about Kevin Martin being unable to beat his man off the dribble? How the **** do you people think he gets to the basket so much in a half court set?
I think that is a weak argument at best because NBA games are often won or lost in the last few minutes of a game. The ability to put team on your back in the last several minutes of a game is precisely what makes you a superstar in my opinion. Dream could put a team on his back on the offensive end, defensive end as well as dominate the boards in the last few minutes of a game. Jordan, Kobe etc... could all dominate on both ends of the floor in the closing minutes of a game. Melo can dominate on the offensive end of the floor (but not the defensive end) during the closing minutes. Martin typically does not dominate on either end of the court during closing minutes. Martin is one notch below that and he has kept us in many games and won some games for us. He is someone that you would be a great part of a championship team but not someone to build around IMO. Much better than a role player but not a superstar either.
Martin is a fantastic player and anyone that thinks otherwise is fooling themselves. He is not a superstar but to think he is a mere role player is ludicrous and shows a lack of knowledge for the game. Keith Bogan's was a role player, Brad Miller is a role player and you can most of the players on the Rockets are role players but Martin is much more than a role player.
While in no doubt Kevin Martin is a superstar, in my eyes; efficiency-wise, what happens when he stops getting those calls from the refs? I want to go out on a limb here and might suggest that although it's great what Martin does in a regular season.. Stern and his 'minions' frown upon this technique come playoff time. Whatever it takes to win games right-- although it makes for below average viewer ratings and causes more stress than glamour. You can hint from more current games referees are starting to swallow their whistles.. I love Martin and applaud him for what he does.. We still need a legit superstar stud however.
Some time back Bleacher Report claimed Robert Horry was arguably the best role player in the history of the NBA. Hmm, I think I'd take Martin.
Pump fakes, and its not that he can't beat his man. The guy cannot create space from him and his defender off the dribble. Which is a big advantage in late game situations. I did say his a very good role player, an "above avg. role player" if you will. His in the same category as Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, Monte Ellis, borderline all-stars that are missing a fundamental to their game(effort, defense, etc.) to put them in the 'star' category. Hence "the above average role player" title, but still a role player, just a very good one...
Kevin Martin is more than just a ft flopper, which is why I'm constantly amazed at how much posters here don't know their own player. First of all he's a great shooter, even if refs swallow their whistles he can still shoot the ball and score. Secondly he has been playing solid defense as of late, at least even if the refs aren't biting he's not a liability as before. Finally, while he's not a superstar like DH or LBJ, I'm pretty sure KM is already at the "star" level, calling him a role player when the truth is he's outplayed Carmelo Anthony all season long is pretty much an indication of your lack of basketball knowledge. He's not capable of carrying a team by himself, but the truth is no one is capable of carrying teams by themselves anymore, so I don't see how he's a mere roleplayer for not willing the team to win when there's no one-man team in the league anymore. Guys like Durant or Lebron have allstar quality teammates on the team too, Martin doesn't.
He's basically a clone of Ray Allen. So whatever Ray Allen is, Martin is as well. Btw, Martin is the 3rd best iso player in the NBA.
Late game situations only happen in the late game, so if you look at possessions as a whole its like 2 possessions out of 97. Also, even guys like Kobe or Lebron have low conversion rates in those late game situations, their impact (much like Martin) is felt throughout the other 95 possessions of a 97 possession game. That dagger at the end of the game is just icing on the cake, if Kobe or LBJ hadn't been playing at a superstar level the entire game they wouldn't have been in that position in the first place. Above average roleplayers would be someone like Battier, not players like KM who put up 30 pt games on occasion. Borderline allstars are not role players, unless you only have two categories for players: Superstars and roleplayers. Meaning Rondo, Kevin Love, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire are also roleplayers.
Neither was Aldridge or Love when the initial reserves were announced. We all know how much they suck ! 23 ppg on 15-16 shots per game at 12 million per year. Yeah I'll take that all day, everyday.
It's not a coincidence that the Knicks have lost to the Cavs twice and the Nuggets are playing their best ball of the season since Anthony was traded. If you're going to compare Martin to a superstar, then at least compare him to a superstar.
Superstar or not, does it really matter? Martin scores as efficiently as anyone who has played the game, is the most unselfish player on the team, and doesn't come with any drama. He puts up 30 point games without taking anything away from the rest of the players on the team. I couldn't care less if he's a superstar, as long as he keeps doing what he's doing.
