Interesting Theus quote Re Martin

[Kingster]

“I’m sure it’s happened before, but it doesn’t happen very often. He’s playing like a gazelle right now – his quickness, he’s jumping, he’s feeling good. The thing that I like about what Kevin’s doing for us right now is he’s laying it all out, he’s blowing it all out, and then when he gets tired he looks over and we get him out of the game. That you can appreciate – he’s not worried about his minutes, he’s worried about his wind – and that’s all he really cares about. That’s what he told me in the locker room, ‘I’m going to put it out there coach, and when I get tired, I’ll just come sit down until I build my stamina back up;’ and that’s the way it should be.” -- Coach Theus, Sacto Kings web page.

That is the way it should be, whether you are coming off of injury or not. What interests me most about this is the theme of minutes vs. effort. As a fan, I'd rather see a player go balls out for for fewer minutes (ala Kevin Martin recently) rather than pace themselves; then get a breather and have the bench guy come in and play balls out. If Theus is going to have a problem with distributing minutes to several players playing the same position, his quote above implies the solution that I'd like to see him implement - play as hard as you possibly can for as long as you can, but as soon as I see you coast, I'm subbing for you. No coasting allowed.

 

[LPKingsFan]

Kevin Martin for energy 6th man off the bench?

LPKingsFan runs and hides

 

[VF21]

Instead of running and hiding, you might want to check out the grades thread from last night. It's already being mentioned...

 

[Kingster]

Instead of running and hiding, you might want to check out the grades thread from last night. It's already being mentioned...

What are you talking about - "running and hiding"?

 

[uolj]

Read the post just above that one that VF was responding to:

Kevin Martin for energy 6th man off the bench?

LPKingsFan runs and hides

 

[Bricklayer]

Kevin Martin for energy 6th man off the bench?

LPKingsFan runs and hides

Been mentioned several times in the last 48 hours, and wiht some reason.

Thing is with ego and money involved, its bordering on impossible -- its the sort of thing that fans talk about but you just don't see done. And as of a week ago it wasn't even on the radar -- last time we had seen Kevin off the bench he had been erratic and struggled with the role, his agent was pissed that Reggie was yabbering about him having to earn his spot back, and I imagine Kevin wasn't too keen either. But two great performances and an entirely different mentality and all of a sudden the idea is very intriguing. Still likely impossible. But I will say right now that IF Kevin could maintain the same mentality (even though obviously it won't always go so smoothly) I like Salmons as a starter and Kevin as a 6th man better than any other possible combo at those positions. Plays to everybody's strengths -- John is the better rounded starter, and only middling off the bench, Kevin is more one dimensional but also more explosive. Would easily give us one of the league's most explosive 6th men, and would largely keep defenses from keying on Kevin from the get go -- you spend a lot of time preparing for the other team's starters, but its harder to do so for the reserves because you never know when they are going to enter the game. Barbossa is more versatile, but it is very much the same idea of a super-explosive tempo changing 6th man who plays more minutes than the starters some nights.

 

[uolj]

Isn't Ginobli the obvious example for such an arrangement?

 

[Bricklayer]

Isn't Ginobli the obvious example for such an arrangement?

Different sort of player, but yeah, maybe. Thing is that a) he plays for the 4x champions, and sacrifices will be made under those circumstances that would not be otherwise -- BJax would have been less willing to go along with the plan as well if we were a middling team. And b) good as he is is still clearly in the shadow of the franhcise player and doesn't have an agent whispering in his ear about endorsements etc.

But hey, like I say, if Kevin could keep the attack mentality, I like the idea. I might even go so far as to say it could be the best thing that could happen for Kevin -- as a starter/talked up as franchise player type guy, there will inevitably come mounting pressure and then disappointment when its clear he's not Kobe and you aren't riding him to a title. There will always be competition for shots, and the concerns about the roundedness of his game will not go away -- people will talk defense, passing, etc. But have him come in gunning as a 6th man and all of that goes away. If he atatcks of course. But if he did, if he came in firing everytime, there would be no bad for him. Defense? Eh, not what he's in for. The team falls short? Eh, not Kevin's fault -- he's doing his job well at least. It makes him bullet proof, makes him widely lauded and rarely questioned. Barbossa isn't much of a passer and plays shaky defense himself. But how often does somedy say somehting neagtive about him, or point to him as the problem with the Suns? Almost never. All the pressure is on Amare and Marion and Nash. Could be the same here.