http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/14243736p-15062441c.html
Ailene Voisin: Hurt and hobbling, Martin still presses on
By Ailene Voisin -- Bee Columnist
Published 2:15 am PDT Saturday, April 15, 2006
The loose balls and long rebounds. The 94-foot sprints and ensuing dunks. The friskiness. The flashbacks to the days when fast breaks were common occurrences, before watching the Kings labor to score became a combination of doing time and doing penance.
That's why a healthy Kevin Martin is missed. Why Kevin Martin matters.
As the Kings trudge erratically toward the finale of the regular season, they do so with their best athlete ailing and his feisty sidekick (Francisco García) slowed by injury, with the two playoff neophytes forced to learn on the fly - assuming they can get enough lift.
"My strides aren't as long," said Martin, his right thigh still sore and swollen since injuring it last month. "I don't have the explosiveness I had. I don't have any push to chase for loose balls. But these next couple of games are really important, and I really want to (experience) the playoffs."
As his surprisingly swift, if recently disrupted maturation continues, the next phase features another fundamental element: figuring how to be effective when less than 100 percent healthy. It's not as if the wiry, 6-foot-7, 185-pound Martin, with legs and ankles that appear about as wide as the lid on a water bottle, has much cushion to soften the blows. Even inadvertent elbows strike vital organs.
Nonetheless, as NBA players such as Reggie Miller and Richard Hamilton have long demonstrated, toughness is calculated in intangibles - by the degree of effort, energy, resilience - not finite numbers on a scale.
"I just have to go out there and stop thinking that I'm going to pull something again," Martin said. "I was on a roll before I got hurt. That's what's so frustrating. Early in the season, I'd have one good game, then five bad games. I just kept on showing flashes. I wanted to get to the point where I did it on a regular basis, and before I got hurt, I was close to that."
Besides contributing a noticeable boost in scoring (13.7 points), field-goal percentage (51 percent) and rebounding (4.7) while starting during Bonzi Wells' lengthy injury absence, a healthy Martin provided a second dimension to the low-post-oriented: balance. He spreads the floor because he can play on the wings, slash to the basket, curl into the lane for short, one-handed floaters, convert open jumpers. He improves the Kings' continuity and ball movement by cutting back-door, darting underneath for stickbacks and loose balls, willingly and capably delivering passes to open teammates.
Mostly, he runs. Runs for dunks. Runs for layups. Runs for the rim. Runs for fun.
"I used to watch the Kings play, when they had Vlade (Divac), Doug (Christie)," said Martin, "and that's the way I like to play. That's kind of more my game."
If his game exudes promise, his attitude has its own upside. This is a youngster who wants to be good, who hasn't been corrupted by the corporate climate, by money or fame, or any of the other terminal illnesses that debilitate professional athletes.
Rather, he has attached himself to Pete Carril, and routinely can be observed seeking information from the longtime assistant and storing the input like a human computer. Keep your shooting hand to the right of your face so you don't obstruct the view. Get comfortable with the release on your shot, and then imitate the motion. Develop a sense of aggressiveness. Guard your man. Don't lose concentration.
"And I told Kevin that he has to kill himself on his dribbling this summer," added Carril. "Work on his dribbling, hard. Harder than he has."
With a wry grin, the former Princeton coaching legend reaches out and grabs a reporter's pen and notebook. As he begins sketching on a sheet of paper, Martin, seated alongside, howls with laughter; he has seen the images of the three heads before, one progressively larger than the other.
"When guys start off, they are humble as hell," cautions Carril, "but when it's all over, they don't know who you are. Now with Kevin, it's up to him. The thigh injury is his latest test of character. 'What are you going to do? Lay down and die? Or are you going to get up and do something about it?' He has to play through it. He has to fight it, has to have courage."
Martin, who winces visibly when asked about being left off the Kings' 2005 postseason roster, says he is pushing hard to avoid a repeat, is more concerned with reaching the playoffs than tending to individual cuts and bruises. He has the summer to heal. His Kings need him now.
"I know it's going to hurt," he said, "but it's like coach (Carril) said. I can still do some of the things. I want to be out there."
About the writer: Reach Ailene Voisin at (916) 321-1208 or avoisin@sacbee.com
Ailene Voisin: Hurt and hobbling, Martin still presses on
By Ailene Voisin -- Bee Columnist
Published 2:15 am PDT Saturday, April 15, 2006
The loose balls and long rebounds. The 94-foot sprints and ensuing dunks. The friskiness. The flashbacks to the days when fast breaks were common occurrences, before watching the Kings labor to score became a combination of doing time and doing penance.
That's why a healthy Kevin Martin is missed. Why Kevin Martin matters.
As the Kings trudge erratically toward the finale of the regular season, they do so with their best athlete ailing and his feisty sidekick (Francisco García) slowed by injury, with the two playoff neophytes forced to learn on the fly - assuming they can get enough lift.
"My strides aren't as long," said Martin, his right thigh still sore and swollen since injuring it last month. "I don't have the explosiveness I had. I don't have any push to chase for loose balls. But these next couple of games are really important, and I really want to (experience) the playoffs."
As his surprisingly swift, if recently disrupted maturation continues, the next phase features another fundamental element: figuring how to be effective when less than 100 percent healthy. It's not as if the wiry, 6-foot-7, 185-pound Martin, with legs and ankles that appear about as wide as the lid on a water bottle, has much cushion to soften the blows. Even inadvertent elbows strike vital organs.
Nonetheless, as NBA players such as Reggie Miller and Richard Hamilton have long demonstrated, toughness is calculated in intangibles - by the degree of effort, energy, resilience - not finite numbers on a scale.
"I just have to go out there and stop thinking that I'm going to pull something again," Martin said. "I was on a roll before I got hurt. That's what's so frustrating. Early in the season, I'd have one good game, then five bad games. I just kept on showing flashes. I wanted to get to the point where I did it on a regular basis, and before I got hurt, I was close to that."
Besides contributing a noticeable boost in scoring (13.7 points), field-goal percentage (51 percent) and rebounding (4.7) while starting during Bonzi Wells' lengthy injury absence, a healthy Martin provided a second dimension to the low-post-oriented: balance. He spreads the floor because he can play on the wings, slash to the basket, curl into the lane for short, one-handed floaters, convert open jumpers. He improves the Kings' continuity and ball movement by cutting back-door, darting underneath for stickbacks and loose balls, willingly and capably delivering passes to open teammates.
Mostly, he runs. Runs for dunks. Runs for layups. Runs for the rim. Runs for fun.
"I used to watch the Kings play, when they had Vlade (Divac), Doug (Christie)," said Martin, "and that's the way I like to play. That's kind of more my game."
If his game exudes promise, his attitude has its own upside. This is a youngster who wants to be good, who hasn't been corrupted by the corporate climate, by money or fame, or any of the other terminal illnesses that debilitate professional athletes.
Rather, he has attached himself to Pete Carril, and routinely can be observed seeking information from the longtime assistant and storing the input like a human computer. Keep your shooting hand to the right of your face so you don't obstruct the view. Get comfortable with the release on your shot, and then imitate the motion. Develop a sense of aggressiveness. Guard your man. Don't lose concentration.
"And I told Kevin that he has to kill himself on his dribbling this summer," added Carril. "Work on his dribbling, hard. Harder than he has."
With a wry grin, the former Princeton coaching legend reaches out and grabs a reporter's pen and notebook. As he begins sketching on a sheet of paper, Martin, seated alongside, howls with laughter; he has seen the images of the three heads before, one progressively larger than the other.
"When guys start off, they are humble as hell," cautions Carril, "but when it's all over, they don't know who you are. Now with Kevin, it's up to him. The thigh injury is his latest test of character. 'What are you going to do? Lay down and die? Or are you going to get up and do something about it?' He has to play through it. He has to fight it, has to have courage."
Martin, who winces visibly when asked about being left off the Kings' 2005 postseason roster, says he is pushing hard to avoid a repeat, is more concerned with reaching the playoffs than tending to individual cuts and bruises. He has the summer to heal. His Kings need him now.
"I know it's going to hurt," he said, "but it's like coach (Carril) said. I can still do some of the things. I want to be out there."
About the writer: Reach Ailene Voisin at (916) 321-1208 or avoisin@sacbee.com
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