[Video] Kevin Martin scores 32 in first half vs. Cavs

...not for 11M. The truth is, if you have a Kobe or Lebron perimeter superstar you'll probably look to pair him with a good big and from there you'll need some defensive minded role players. By the time you get around to 1-dimensional scorers there just isn't enough money left. That role is usually taken by lower salaried guys. Take an honest look at the championship teams. The closest thing to a 1-dim scorer getting paid that kind of money (and having a large role) is Ray Allen but if you're familiar at all with his days with the Bucks and Sonics you'll know he's been counted on to make plays/rebound/make clutch baskets throughout his career. He can do those things for the Celtics when needed, and he has.

As durvasa has already pointed out in this thread, what Kevin Martin does as a single player can be done by the team as a whole with a good offense. The lakers play well with Kobe and Shannon Brown/Matt Barnes/Ron Artest. They don't need a single player's efficient scoring because they can get it with good ball movement and superstar playmaking BUT they need those other guys for their solid defense.


Let's be honest, we all thought Martin's personal shooting efficiency would have a larger positive impact on this team. It just hasn't. Can we atleast admit to being disappointed? If anything, Martin's great numbers are a great lesson in how little stats mean without perspective.

 

Kmart is great, and to have him along with Brooks will be nails......we need an efficient scorer at that position.

DD

 

I feel bad for you. You are a very pessimistic person. (in before realist retort)

I encourage you to follow and enjoy the Timberwolves though. Perhaps you can derive some excitement from them, since there seems to be very little about the Rockets you can enjoy.

 

Not sure there was close to enough evidence to deem that as fact. Not a bad working hypothesis though.

From what I gather(just as much if not more proof), he has had a sizable boost in the Rockets's offense. Now if we can just shore up the defense and rebounding(hopefully Yao or someone else taller than 6'6) we should be good to go.

If your expectations were for Martin to somehow impact our defense and rebounding too, then no wonder you are disappointed.

 

I don't know how true the claim is that you can use a committee of players to replace a single player for efficient offense. Commonsense seems to suggest that if you have three mediocre offensive players, using them by committee will result in mediocre offensive output.

If your argument is that better ball movement will improve a mediocre offensive player's efficiency, then fine. But then why do we even want good offensive players. All we need is good ball movement, right?

 

The lakers have the top rated offense in the league right now, they're the best offensive team in the league, and they do not have a Kevin Martin level efficient perimeter scorer to compliment their superstar playmaker and star bigs. Yeah, i'm sure if you added Kevin Martin to the mix they'd be better, better than the best (the bestest?) but it's just not a high priority. They'd much rather add those defensive role players that I mentioned earlier. When you have superstars that efficient scorer role just isn't that important. Those guys make their teammates good enough to make up for it. Why pay Martin 11M when you can get close to that scoring efficiency out of Shannon Brown for 2M with much better defense? I'm not saying Brown's anywhere near as good as Martin but the point is Kobe/Pau make that fact irrelevant by getting easy opportunities for their role players.

And, I was never making the point that you don't need good offensive talent to win it all in this league. You need great offensive talent, you need superstars (playmakers and bigs). Once you get the superstars you find role players who can contribute without touches. Guys who can defend and rebound.

Actually, the expectation (or hope) was that he wouldn't impact defense and rebounding. Unfortunately, he has.

 

We allow less than 3 points per 100 possessions more than last year. Our opponent eFG% is slightly better than last year, and rebounding rate is nearly identical.

Nearly everything on the defensive end has been comparable, not sure what numbers you are looking at.

 

Compare it to our defense last year before trading for Martin. There was a big drop late last season.

 

The loss of Battier and Lowry contributed to that as well. And yes simply swapping Ariza with Martin will impact defense and rebounding, but not so much as to negate the boost in offense.

Arguing why he is "disappointed" in Martin, when Martin is putting up career highs in PER, TS%, AST%, ORtg, 3P%, FT%, PTS/36, WS/48 shows a fundamental misapprehension of what Martin was brought here for in the first place.

Quite frankly, Martin is KILLING it. He clearly contributes to winning. The fact that he is not good enough on his own to carry a team to wins in the actual score column should not take away from that. He is not paid enough for that to be a "disappointment".

 

For how much, then? Or do you just not want the guy at all?

He has had a impact on this team. The team's offensive efficiency has been higher this year than it has been for a whole decade.

The record isn't as good as one would hope because of the D, particularly earlier in the season. Not sure if anyone reasonably expected Martin to be a positive difference maker on D. The bigger story on that end of the court is still the lack of an true interior stopper. The disappointing part is that Yao, who is the one guy on the roster with experience at that role, has not been healthy and productive.

 

Cherry Picking is now a bad thing? LOL!!!

About free throws, look at the top scoring shooting guards in the league and you'll see that a lot of their points come from free throws. Kobe averages 8.9 free throws a game. Kevin averages 9.0. Is anybody complaining about Kobe getting those "easy points"?? Well, yes, I complain because he seems to get them everytime he goes to the basket and somebody breathes on him, but I think Laker fans think he's pretty great for getting to the line that much.

But Rockets fans are whining about Kevin getting free throws and putting the other team in the penalty sooner? Unbelievable.

As for this 4th quarter thing, Adelman plays Kevin most of the 1st quarter, but only about half of the 2nd quarter, half of the 3rd quarter and even less in the 4th quarter. Gee, I wonder why his numbers are higher in the 1st quarter? Could it have to do with the fact that he's on the floor for almost 12 minutes instead of 6?? Simple math, more opportunities.

Another interesting stat, Kevin's field goal attempts are very low for such a high scorer. Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, and Monta Ellis all average 20 or more field goal attempts per game. Martin averages.... 14.4!!

Do some of you only watch basketball on ESPN highlights? Do you ever actually watch full games? Disappointed? You've got to be kidding me!

 

Oh, and this nonsense about Kevin "disappearing" in the 4th quarter. Do you actually watch what's happening in the 4th quarter? Do you not see that most of the time, late in the game, Kevin's defenders are now doubling him often keeping him from either getting the ball in the first place, or keeping him from getting a shot off.

Adelman's offense is to have the ball in the hands of a center or forward at the elbow looking for the open man. Late in games, it takes longer to get the ball into that elbow position and that leaves less time on the shot clock to make decisions. That's why Scola and Miller take a lot of shots in the 4th, they have the ball in their hands.

But, watching just the ESPN highlights, you probably won't pick that up.