Kevin Martin and playing time

[HndsmCelt]

NO argument that for new palyers to get good the HAVE to play. AND in general I think it would be preferd for Keven to paly more BUT, palying a new guy requires that either the player be talented enough for his short commings to be off set in play or that the TEAM be able to nures them along. Keven is good but he is also too skinny, and needs to develop both his passing game and his defense. Idealy he would get 10 min or more each night with 4 solid other players, but for that to happen the Kings need to have and hold leads and have four solid players on the court (the other option is garbage time in blow outs). Kevin IS averaging jsut over 10 min per game, so more play is some what unlikely baring injuries to other gaurds.

 

[ovrush]

Give me an example of a player who become great by sitting on the bench.


Jermaine O'neal speant a ton of time on the Blazers bench behind Brian Grant on contending teams before he got traded and turned into the stud everyone thought he could be the moment he hit the floor for the Pacers. The real question is without playing time will a young guy ever develop for the team he is drafted by? Additionally, does this mean there is a dearth of talent to be found on contending teams benches? certainly Hedo and Gerald could be steals for other teams. Is a guy like John Bender waiting to explode when he finally gets off the Pacers bench?

 

[VF21]

Martin got a few minutes tonight and did pretty well. If he keeps on doing that, and continues to work hard in practice I'm pretty sure he'll be seeing more PT in the future. As a second year player, I could see him getting a sizeable jump in minutes.

 

[iheartBrad]

yeah thats what i was thinking^

 

[Kingsgurl]

Kevin is cool. He is learning, soaking it all in, grabbing what experience he can, from practice and from games. I think he probably likes the break from having to be The Man on his high school and College teams and just learn. Smart kid, good attitude, works hard, good skills. He will have a nice career, hopefully for the Kings.

 

[Evenstar]

i'd love to see him get as many minutes as possible. i'd love to see him develop into a good player in this league for the kings. that would be awesome.

i bet he gets more minutes next year as he continues to improve and adjust to the league

 

[Fillmoe]

kevin is 19? just wondering, sorry if its off topic

 

[Kev.in]

Some players do get "rented" out to Euro teams to help in their development. As far as actual playing time, I would think it could do nothing but help. The actual games are a lot different than practice from what I have heard through player interviews.

You're right about the practices. I remember hearing about how good Jerome James looked in practice when he was here. When you consider that he was going head to head with Vlade in most of those scrimmages, you figure Jerome was going at full speed and Vlade was just going throught motions.

You need game experience because the biggest adjustment is to the size and speed of everyone on the floor in the NBA. If Kevin Martin just sits and watches and his only experience playing with NBA'ers is in the summer and in practice, he'll miss out on the chance to make that adjustment to the speed of the NBA. I think tonight we saw a good example of what Kevin has learned. He snuck up behind one of Memphis' guards (I think it was Watson) and stripped him as he went up for the shot. Then, later in the game he took a pass and went right at Battier on the break and stuck a tough layup. Back in October/November, those are plays that he would've been too passive to make. I think he's shown gradual improvement as he's gotten playing time here and there.