Martin is more than a scorer

[K F Jay]

Kevin is perceived to be only a scorer who doesnt play defense by nba fans including Kings fans. I think he is an average defender (I don't feel safe for saying that), average rebounder for his position and since his return he's made an effort to pass more and is getting more assists. Of course this is just my opinion. Right now I'm looking at his stats and in the last three years he's averaging a little over 4RPG, around 2.5APG and improving and just a little over 1 steal per game. I don't know if his stats prove me right or wrong so I'll leave it at that.

 

[Aenadin]

he has a chance to showcase that he is an average defender, rebounder and ball handler now that the scoring load is off of him with tyreke and omri on the team. but if it still hinders the teams overall process... like the team still struggles then theres no other option but to trade him.

i would love to see him develop an on court chemistry with tyreke and the other guys along him if thats the case its a matchup nightmare for the other team on the backcourt

only time will tell and if management has something in plan

 

[jcassio]

I like Kevin's game and I like Reke's game. However, having them paired in the backcourt means the Kings don't have a creative distributor who will get other players involved (and producing). So what we have right now is a formula for generally boring basketball.

 

[Nighthawk1]

As much as it pains me to say this, but the possible solution if we want to keep KMart + Tyreke paired up is to trade for Hedo.... Yes we have a logjam at SF, and Hedo has a huge contract and is old, but it's either bring someone in that can distribute the ball with Tyreke and KMart on the floor without us losing size or someones got to go in order to get that distributor (eventually I think 'Reke will be just fine at it).

 

[Aenadin]

As much as it pains me to say this, but the possible solution if we want to keep KMart + Tyreke paired up is to trade for Hedo.... Yes we have a logjam at SF, and Hedo has a huge contract and is old, but it's either bring someone in that can distribute the ball with Tyreke and KMart on the floor without us losing size or someones got to go in order to get that distributor (eventually I think 'Reke will be just fine at it).

hedo would complement those guys very well.... shooter passing.. though we'd have to give up some one for him and too old

 

[mac]

When Garcia returns if Martin is still on the team do you think Garcia starts with Martin and Tyreke? I kinda wanna see how that goes. But right now I think tyreke and garcia would be the best starting combination, with martin traded for a big.

 

[FaStRmAn]

I think that you can start Martin and Evans together if you have someone who can play a point forward like Cisco or maybe even Casspi in the future. It is also entirely possible that Evans develops even more at the point than many give him a chance to be. I think too many people are assuming that Evans can never be an effective point guard because he seems like a score first pass second point guard. Chris Paul is a score first pass second point guard and he does well at it.

I think it is just a matter of time before 'Reke is able to fill the role of point guard in a way that enhances the Kings backcourt. Only time will tell if Evans is able to fill this role. He had 7 assists in his last game when he was injured and did not have his usual explosiveness to get to the rim. This shows that he CAN BE an assist maker, if he puts his mind to it. Also the addition of Cisco would probably take some of the point guard burden off of Evans and help to make the starting 5 a more fluid group that passes and causes matchup problems for most teams to deal with. I think Petrie is more concerned with the defensive hole we have at the center position than he is with the cohesiveness of the backcourt. Most glaring problems first.

 

[ESP47]

Martin's game has grown old on me. Last night was the final straw, I'm finally on the trade Martin bandwagon.

When the guy first came into his own he was one of the better spot up shooters in the league. Almost 50% from the floor and 40% from 3pt. Since then, he's turned into "try and draw a foul Martin" which has dropped his FG% down to 40% (and falling). He went from one of the most efficient players in the league to one of the least by trying too hard to draw fouls. He blew it last night by going to the well way too many times. He doesn't have a cross over and can't really beat guys off the dribble. So he gets a 1/4 step on them, runs into them, jumps backward and throws the ball up with one hand. He probably did it about 10 times that I counted last night. About 2 of them went in, a couple got called foul and the rest were just missed shots that had no chance of going in. I'm tired of seeing him score 20 points by going 3-12 from the field. It does the team no good because for every 1 time he gets to the line, he misses another 2-3 shots on wild errant throws, that someone else could have taken and hit half the time.

 

[Prince_XY]

I think Petrie is more concerned with the defensive hole we have at the center position than he is with the cohesiveness of the backcourt. Most glaring problems first.

Hmmm.

So, you still think Petrie is not that dumb and lazy to put that MOST GLARING PROBLEM on the very top of his priority list?

That most glaring problem ( defensive hole at the center position ), which can also be said as inadequate frontcourt, had been seen by Westphal and a lot of fans since drafting Evans.

And remember how Petrie addressed and seemed to ignore that problem?

We needed a back-up center, and Petrie got us the outside shooting, useless, and undersized ( over-sized/over-weight or whatever ) May.

And then came Mason, Udoka, and just recently Armstrong. Most fans knew these guys will not be able to help a bit in solving our most glaring need and they were proven right. Mason and Udoka actually were way-off as answers to our so-called most glaring problem! Those 2 signings were actually seen as aggravations of another problem of having too many swingmen!

Unless Petrie makes a big move to "really" address that glaring and "perennial" problem in this team before the trade deadline, I wouldn't bet my dollar on Petrie as being smart enough to be able to know what is needed to balance this team.

Back to the topic: I don't think that Martin has ever been more than a scorer. We all know that Martin is a one-dimensional, pure scorer with no defense type of player, unless he can successfully change his style.

 

[Kingsguy881]

I thought I was going to pull this thread up and it was going to say "Martin is more than a scorer........he is also a flopper". Boy was I disappointed.

 

[TheFifthMookie]

I thought I was going to pull this thread up and it was going to say "Martin is more than a scorer........he is also a flopper". Boy was I disappointed.

I can see why you'd expect that, since there's been so much vitriol thrown around here these days it's almost common.

 

[Kingsguy881]

I can see why you'd expect that, since there's been so much vitriol thrown around here these days it's almost common.

Ah HA! You caught my sarcasm! Yeah, no doubt, it's getting pretty bad around these parts with the player-hate getting thrown around, however you used a better word (vitriol). Look, if you don't like the players, thats fine. But quit incessantly harping on the same crap, this is a young, inexperienced team that is going to go through highs and lows. Right now, they are going through a low. Back in December, they were on a high, and this site was rockin with the player love. It's almost as if some of the Kings fans need to be on anti-depressants or something, like we were going to make the playoffs this year and have a chance or something

This is building for the future. A very talented group of youngsters who just need to keep playing and finding their way. Last season we were getting blown out of almost every game. This season, we are competing. We are taking steps, YOU JUST HAVE TO BE PATIENT. And my guess is our fanbase is not made up of the same patient fans of the late 80's 90's.

 

[Bricklayer]

I just assumed the thread was clearly a joke.

Without wasting too much time on it, no he's not, and the only area where you can say he's been on and off average is as a rebounder. But its fair to say that he has been giving a better effort this year, and seems conscious of his own one dimensionality. At times he has almsot appeared at war with himself trying to compensate. Think it may even be responsible for some of his ugly games. Which is of course the problem -- you rarely see guys change who they are in mid career, and Kevin has two decades of basketball behind him being the one dimensional guy. We need him to be something else for this to ever work at even a low level, he may even know that, but its a bit like asking an opera singer to take up hip hop mid career.

 

[Gary]

I just assumed the thread was clearly a joke.

OK Trolly McTroll.

 

[kennadog]

Unless Petrie makes a big move to "really" address that glaring and "perennial" problem in this team before the trade deadline, I wouldn't bet my dollar on Petrie as being smart enough to be able to know what is needed to balance this team.

Its rebuilding. You can't fix everything in year. It's not like there was multiple great options out there for the Kings. We may have to depend on the draft to get a great big man. I don't seem to read about any great big men wanting to come here or stay here, or likely to come as free agents.

I like Kevin. But ever since Theus told Martin to get to the line more often, I've grown tired of Martin trying harder to draw fouls sometimes than make the actual basket.

I do see him trying on defense more, but he just may not be cut out for it enough to make a signficant difference. Of course, we might not be so bothered about it, if we had a serious, intimidating person in the paint.

 

[Alacron]

Technically, every player is more than a scorer/rebounder/defender/shooter, since they're bound to do some other things while on the court. That said, Martin is just a scorer.

On a COMPLETELY unrelated topic, I wonder if anyone keeps track of the number of times players have the ball in the final moments of a close game and try to draw a foul rather than try to make a shot, and I wonder who leads the league in those attempts. </sarcasm>
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