Kevin Martin

BALLER4LIFE

G-League
i have a question

why does kevin martin get soo few touches? he is our team leading scorer, the leader in field goal percentages, but he has virtually no plays ran for him. why? i watched the game closely even though he made some mistakes, most of the time when he touched the ball something good happened. he can drive in the lane and A) get a lay up. B) shoot his running jumper or C) pass the ball to an open teammate. kmart is a great playmaker but NEEDS to touch the ball more!​
 
I would like to know the same thing. On a play in overtime i believe instead of running a play for our best 3pt shooter, muss brings in a cold douby to try a 3. muss just boggles my mind on this. dude scores 20 points a game and barely has any plays ran for him.
 
i have a question

why does kevin martin get soo few touches? he is our team leading scorer, the leader in field goal percentages, but he has virtually no plays ran for him. why? i watched the game closely even though he made some mistakes, most of the time when he touched the ball something good happened. he can drive in the lane and A) get a lay up. B) shoot his running jumper or C) pass the ball to an open teammate. kmart is a great playmaker but NEEDS to touch the ball more!​


Not entirely true -- Kevin actually has shown limited ability to beat his man one on one. You can't just throw it to him ala Kobe and tell him to beat his guy straight up, or chances are he won't even try, or will get out of control. What he excels at is slashing and scoring off of cuts and picks. That's what you have to run for him. Set plays designed to get him open. Thing is those can get discupted by the other team, and our best big at working with Kevin and making others better (Brad) was out for this game.
 
It's pretty bad when even Marv Albert and Charles Barkley make the same comment over and over and over again.

This isn't the first time Musselman has ignored Martin; it's not even the second or the third time.

Just one more reason to question Musselman's abilities as a head coach...
 
Kevin seems to have struggled a bit with his shot the last two games. But what I'm wondering a bit, is whether Kevin's in the doghouse with Muss? Pulling him in the last game and never putting him back in and, almost clearly, not running any plays for him.:confused: On the other hand, Kevin got didn't seem to be playing aggressivly when he did get a chance, at least in the first half.
 
Bit entirely true -- Kevin actually has shown limited ability to beat his man one on one. You can't just throw it to him ala Kobe and tell nhim to beat hsi guy, or chances are eh won;t even try, ro will get out of control. What he excels at is slashing and scoring off of cuts and picks. That's what you have to run for him. Set plays designed to get him open. Thing is those can get discupted by the other team, and our best big and working with Kevin and making others better (Brad) was out for this game.


kevin still MUST touch the ball more... the kings will go 10+ possessions with out having martin touch the ball... i disagree with you because kevin is a great playmaker, but even if you say hes not he still must have some plays ran for him... kevin has the ability to beat his man off the dribble and has a silky smooth running jumper..
 
i have a question​



why does kevin martin get soo few touches? he is our team leading scorer, the leader in field goal percentages, but he has virtually no plays ran for him. why? i watched the game closely even though he made some mistakes, most of the time when he touched the ball something good happened. he can drive in the lane and A) get a lay up. B) shoot his running jumper or C) pass the ball to an open teammate. kmart is a great playmaker but NEEDS to touch the ball more!​

Three reasons Bibby, Artest and Brad; as long as these guys are on team they will get more shots and deserve it because they are proven. And same thing could be said about Sar he shot 50% from the field last season and pretty good scorer in the paint but he only gets 8 to 10 shots, far less to be effective. I just accpt the fact that bibby, artest and brad will get most of the shots and everybody will get scaps just to many scorers on this team.
 
IOn a play in overtime i believe instead of running a play for our best 3pt shooter, muss brings in a cold douby to try a 3.

That play was so mind-boggling. What a TERRIBLE play. Yeah, Douby is a good shooter, BUT... asking a rookie, who barely touched the floor, in a pressure situation, to hit a corner three?? Really? that was the play? Shoot me.
 
Not entirely true -- Kevin actually has shown limited ability to beat his man one on one. You can't just throw it to him ala Kobe and tell him to beat his guy straight up, or chances are he won't even try, or will get out of control. What he excels at is slashing and scoring off of cuts and picks. That's what you have to run for him. Set plays designed to get him open. Thing is those can get discupted by the other team, and our best big at working with Kevin and making others better (Brad) was out for this game.


Watch that drive he had late in OT when (if I recall correctly) the Kings were down 4 and tell me Kevin has a limited ability to beat his man one on one. He got by his man, spun around 2 more, and layed it in easily. He's shows a lack of willingness to beat his man, but that doesn't mean he can't do it.
 
That play was so mind-boggling. What a TERRIBLE play. Yeah, Douby is a good shooter, BUT... asking a rookie, who barely touched the floor, in a pressure situation, to hit a corner three?? Really? that was the play? Shoot me.


when the season started i liked muss.... but now i begin the question.. how would the kings be performing if adelman were here. we know the offense would be better and i think he would have the kings playing more like a team instead of 5 guys who look like they are playing pickup ball...

another thing is the kings need ball movement... im sick of watching players making no passes and taking bad shots... for a team to be a team, players must trust each other and MOVE THE BALL!
 
Watch that drive he had late in OT when (if I recall correctly) the Kings were down 4 and tell me Kevin has a limited ability to beat his man one on one. He got by his man, spun around 2 more, and layed it in easily. He's shows a lack of willingness to beat his man, but that doesn't mean he can't do it.

Lakers gave him that play
 
I just want to add: Kobe Bryant was guarding him a large portion of the game. And he doesn't suck on defense.
 
Watch that drive he had late in OT when (if I recall correctly) the Kings were down 4 and tell me Kevin has a limited ability to beat his man one on one. He got by his man, spun around 2 more, and layed it in easily. He's shows a lack of willingness to beat his man, but that doesn't mean he can't do it.

I wouldn't cite that play as the one showcasing Matin's ability.

Like Piksi said, the Lakers gave him that layup. Game was over at that point. The Lakers might have even been surprised he took it to the hole and basically didn't even want to come near him to avoid a silly foul.

Martin is great when he's aggressive and when things are going right for him. But when he's passive, Muss has to call plays to get him going. Man-to-man or creating his own shot is not his strength. He's great at cutting, getting easy layups, or fastbreak points, though.
 
Watch that drive he had late in OT when (if I recall correctly) the Kings were down 4 and tell me Kevin has a limited ability to beat his man one on one. He got by his man, spun around 2 more, and layed it in easily. He's shows a lack of willingness to beat his man, but that doesn't mean he can't do it.


No. But it does raise enough legitimate concern that you might not want to rely on it too heavily.
 
Whenever Kobe was on him Martin just gave it up, he wasn't very agressive most of the game, he fears Kobe.

Or maybe, just maybe, what he "fears" is getting called for another foul or maybe not being pefect defensively and being sent back to Siberia ...

Kobe is in a class by himself, arguably the best in the game today. Martin is a third-year player who is starting this year but is being shown NO confidence by his own coach.

The fact that Martin may not know what he's suppposed to do without "fear" of being yanked from the game cannot be ignored.
 
I don't get it either. The entire 1st quarter Kevin was never put in a position to make a play. And I DO think he is the kind of player you can say "take the ball and get one the free thrown line". This could be the skill that sets him apart from many comparable players at this point.

Kevin should have shot 20 free throws tonight.

Then again I can see whey they didn't go away from the Bibby/Big Nasty pick and roll.
 
I think that the matchups did not suit him, especially with bryant and Luke in the game. You could put him on bryant and watch him foul out, or let luke post him up. Its not like you could put him on smush and move bibby to walton. So i understand why Musselman took him out in the third.

But on the offense, ill leave that to you guys.
 
Watch that drive he had late in OT when (if I recall correctly) the Kings were down 4 and tell me Kevin has a limited ability to beat his man one on one. He got by his man, spun around 2 more, and layed it in easily. He's shows a lack of willingness to beat his man, but that doesn't mean he can't do it.

I agree. Kevin broke Kobe's ankles on one move. Kevin is set on playing "within the offense" and not being agressive on offense. He's stated almost as much when asked by reporters if he should get more shots. He says no, that there are veterans on this team who need those shots.

I'm not that unhappy with the attitude, it's an appropriate respect for veterans, however, I think there must come a time when Kevin takes more on. I'm not sure when that will be. But I'm looking forward to it.
 
I think that the matchups did not suit him, especially with bryant and Luke in the game. You could put him on bryant and watch him foul out, or let luke post him up. Its not like you could put him on smush and move bibby to walton. So i understand why Musselman took him out in the third.

But on the offense, ill leave that to you guys.

Walton is listed at 235 pounds.

Martin is listed at 185 pounds and that has to be soaking wet.

Having Martin guard Walton in the post is giving up 50 pounds!

Corliss is listed at 245! No wonder he hampered Walton in the post better.

I just didn't get that match-up at all. Kevin can guard Kobe better than Walton, and in the limited time he did guard Kobe, he was effective.

But why pull Martin and not just reassign the defense? Martin was HOT in the 2nd half of the game where he scored all his points. He was unstoppable for a stretch there until they decided to screen roll with Bibby/Corliss.
 
I see the problem as twofold:

1) There are no plays run for Martin and he is basically expected to just get his points as he can.

2) His teammates, (save for Brad Miller) simply don't look for him. They don't pass up shots to give Martin a shot, they don't get him the ball in places he can score... they hardly pass to him at all. I'd have to check the tape, but I think the time Artest hit him on the backdoor was the first time Artest has passed to him all season.

And now that Bibby's shooting well there are even less shots for Martin. But really the solution is simple. GET HIM THE BALL.
 
i figured muss was just not running anything for martin last night because kobe was on him.

what i want to know is...how come kevin isn't shooting our technicals and such? isn't he a better shooter than bibby from the line?
 
The thing about Kobe guarding Kevin is that Kobe isn't as tough on defense as he used to be. He was just overplaying the passing lanes and preventing Martin from getting the ball. That shouldn't have stopped Martin's offensive game, but again, no plays called to free him and a bunch of teammates who would rather shoot than pass to Martin.

Once Martin had the ball, Kobe couldn't keep up with him. I'm not sure that Martin realized this until the second half, but still, Kobe guarding him should not really have been that much of an excuse. Whenever Martin tried to drive he never had a problem.
 
Last edited:
I see the problem as twofold:

1) There are no plays run for Martin and he is basically expected to just get his points as he can.

2) His teammates, (save for Brad Miller) simply don't look for him. They don't pass up shots to give Martin a shot, they don't get him the ball in places he can score... they hardly pass to him at all. I'd have to check the tape, but I think the time Artest hit him on the backdoor was the first time Artest has passed to him all season.

And now that Bibby's shooting well there are even less shots for Martin. But really the solution is simple. GET HIM THE BALL.

Even when they do on rare occasion pass the ball to him, it's to make the entry pass into the post to SAR or Corliss or someone. And being the good team player he is, he passes the ball inside.

At some point, he will have to be more aggressive. Although, I agree, the coaching staff shouldn't have to wait for a player to rebel against them to be effective. GET HIM THE BALL!
 
Kobe was on Martin virtually the entire game. Kobe may not be the defender he was a year ago but he is still in the top echelon. He played Marting tight all night. Sure KM is quicker but I think he was intimidated too.

Everyone is right. There doesn't appear to be any plays set for KM. He also wasn't open much either and has not yet developed ability to make his own shots (except for the runner in the lane).

Free Throws cost the Kings the game.

KM missed 5 and Bibby missed 4.

End of story.
 
Note Kobe's simple solution to guarding Kevin -- something to watch for. He overplayed his right hand with baseline help to the left.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top