Zanesville paper: Kings should build around Martin's talent

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Blackburn: Kings should build around Martin's talent
By SAM BLACKBURN
TR Sports Writer
Jan, 25, 2007


Zanesville's Kevin Martin has one big weakness, and it's not his spindly build or unorthodox jump shot.

It's his unselfishness.

They say basketball is the ultimate team sport, where it generally takes five players performing their duties well in unison to enjoy consistent success.

For teams to get layups in half-court sets, it usually means players are setting good screens, maintaining good spacing and making good passes after drawing the defense in penetration. That's real basketball, a concept whose very standard was built upon team play superseding individualism.
Martin, the Sacramento Kings' third-year shooting guard, understands this concept. Unfortunately, many of his esteemed teammates don't.

A few weeks ago, I watched Zanesville's boys team play a game at Winland Gym. The Blue Devils performed each of the aforementioned well, from screening, to spacing, to penetrating and passing. Cedric Harris deserves a medal for his skills as a point guard.

Then I watched a Kings game.

A team once known for their trademark high-post offense, with Chris Webber and Vlade Divac feeding cutters with brilliant passes, has amazingly turned into a "me first" group, with the likes of Mike Bibby and Ron Artest feeling they should be focal points.

Meanwhile, Martin and his 20.6 scoring average usually have to wait for Bibby and Artest to give the ball up - a rather substantial reason why Martin is attempting nearly three less shots per game on average than in November, when he averaged 23.2 points and shot 52.7 percent from the floor in 13 games.

It's no small coincidence that the Kings (16-23) are steadily falling out of contention in the Western Conference as a result.

In the NBA, when teams start losing, players start thinking about contracts. Players start focusing on themselves to ensure their values on the trade/free agent market, where they can still net a bundle of money. You don't need to be a winner to cash in, just merely productive.

Martin is on track for one of those deals. When the Kings picked up his fourth-year rookie option in June 2006, it basically assured him of a spot in the league for years to come. And that was before he became the team's most consistent offensive player.

That's also part of the Kings' problem.

The better Martin plays, even if the team is winning as a result, the chances are still good that Bibby and Artest will start to play for themselves, and ultimately, dip into Martin's chances to score.

That's bad news for the Kings, who can't decide whether to build around the young, explosive Martin, and give him the majority of the shots, or to tailor the offense around Bibby, who can shoot the 3 and create off the dribble.

Bibby shouldn't be the guy anymore. Shoot first, pass second point guards rarely win at any level of basketball. With Bibby, you know he's going to hoist perimeter shots with alarming regularity, and if he doesn't get going early, he keeps shooting until he does.

He's taken at least 10 shots in 38 of 39 games this season and at least 15 during seven games in January. He was shooting only 29 percent from 3-point range entering Wednesday's game against Milwaukee.

Bibby's mentality is the antithesis of Martin's, who prefers to attack the basket and pick his spots to shoot 3s, rather than keep shooting until he gets hot. When he's not on, he simply attacks the basket and forces teams to send him to the line.

Guys like that don't stay in prolonged scoring slumps. They'll always find ways to score, even if their perimeter shots aren't falling.

And Artest? He's a defensive whiz when his creaky back doesn't flare up, but offensively he's not quick enough to get to the basket with consistency, and he's just not the same player when he's not making shots.

Artest will always have a place in the league because of his willingness to defend, but he's not the kind of player you build a team around.

Martin will never be a Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant type, with the ability to go for 50 or 60 points on any given night. But he's a rare talent who can get his own points, while making teammates better because of his willingness to pass if someone else is open.

Unfortunately, it seems the Kings would rather choose veteran loyalty over an up-and-comer.

And they'll probably keep losing because of it.

About the writer: Sam Blackburn writes for the Zanesville Times Recorder. Email him at sblackburn@nncogannett.com
 
Well I know the Zanesville Times Recorder is obviously the picture of impartiality on this point. ;)
 
The funny thing is that, according to "reliable sources" ;) Blackburn used to really take a lot of swipes at Martin.
 
http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder....0125/SPORTS/701250310&SearchID=73270385605934



Martin will never be a Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant type, with the ability to go for 50 or 60 points on any given night. But he's a rare talent who can get his own points, while making teammates better because of his willingness to pass if someone else is open.

About the writer: Sam Blackburn writes for the Zanesville Times Recorder. Email him at sblackburn@nncogannett.com

i see martin as a great person to have to build around someone else...
 
I will go along with the last two posts. Martin is a very good foundation piece, but is not/should not be the cornerstone piece.
 
If he continues to progress, he may have the potential to be a franchise player, but it is to early to build a team around him.
 
to be a franchise player, martin has to expand his skillset beyond a middling efficient scorer. his passing is alright, but he doesnt really show the vision of a playmaker. his defense is alright, but not a stopper. at this point, martin is still pretty one dimensional in that he basically scores a couple times out of the night. he goes away a lot, then scores 9, then goes away, and scores some more. martin needs to be more of a consistent force. this is partly coaching, partly his deferring, and partly the teams fault. right now, he doesnt seem to have a franchise player mentality, but more of a peja game, as in i see his ceiling to be one of the best complementary scorers.

with that said, i hope i am wrong. maybe in offseasons he could develop his dribbling, passing, and a better way to create for a midrange shot besides his runners which always seem weird till he actually makes it.
 
to be a franchise player, martin has to expand his skillset beyond a middling efficient scorer. his passing is alright, but he doesnt really show the vision of a playmaker. his defense is alright, but not a stopper. at this point, martin is still pretty one dimensional in that he basically scores a couple times out of the night. he goes away a lot, then scores 9, then goes away, and scores some more. martin needs to be more of a consistent force. this is partly coaching, partly his deferring, and partly the teams fault. right now, he doesnt seem to have a franchise player mentality, but more of a peja game, as in i see his ceiling to be one of the best complementary scorers.

with that said, i hope i am wrong. maybe in offseasons he could develop his dribbling, passing, and a better way to create for a midrange shot besides his runners which always seem weird till he actually makes it.

I am sorta with you. I see that he clearly needs to become a playmaker. He is definitely stronger than Peja already inside. And he can easily become as effective as Peja on a good day from the outside. His passing and ability to make a shot for himself are clearly the things that he needs to work on. He is only in his third year - this is why I say he has potential to be a franchise player. If that is so, I sure hope that it is for the Sacramento Kings.
 
I have to disagree on Martin being better than Peja on the inside. Frankly if he didn't have a Bibby and Artest to distract a defense he'd have a hard time scoring big points.

IMO He's a good "other" option. Building a team around him would leave you about 17-26.
 
There are a lot of "truths" in that piece. I have seen Artest and Bibby take turns making bad shots all year long. So far, however, they've only done that in spurts.

Also, part of the reason Martin's shot attempts have gone down is he's spending a lot of wasted time on the bench taking a seat when he's 4 for 6 so we can get Garcia and Salmons in to go 2 for 16.
 
I have to agree with the posters who have said he's a great "other" piece on a true winner.

My dad and I argue about this, he thinks Martin should be the franchise player, and I argue that he doesn't have the special "it" that you need to be a franchise player...No killer instinct...And thats usually something that isn't learned...I see him as a really good number 2 player.
 
I have to disagree on Martin being better than Peja on the inside. Frankly if he didn't have a Bibby and Artest to distract a defense he'd have a hard time scoring big points.

IMO He's a good "other" option. Building a team around him would leave you about 17-26.

but look at the kings teams that peja has played with.

the golden era kings >>> bibby + artest.
 
Like a Scotty Pippen type IMO.

Er....no, not really. Unless you're just using Scottie as a synonym for prototypical sidekick.

Difference is that Pippen was the ultimate sidekick because he did everything, filled in every gap. Ran the offense like a PG, was an All League defender, 20ppg scorer etc. An all in one #2. Kevin right now is just a scorer. A useful commodity, and somebody has to score for you. But unless he tremendously ups the versatility of his game, he's actually a pretty weak #2 at this time. Could be a #2a to another players #2b, and would make a nice #3 star behind two multifacted/multitalented #1 and #2s. But at this point he is, like Peja before him, just a scoring #2. That puts tremendous pressure on your #1 to have to really be able to do everything else at a high level. If Shawn Marion is the #2 in Phoenix, or Josh Howard the #2 in Dallas, or Lamar Odom in L.A. or TMac(!) in Houston, you can see how those guys are great versatile players that fill in many different holes for you. Much closer to the Pippen model.

Right now, if sane, Artest could be that Pippen #2. Kevin could be a very useful wildcard scoring #3 -- the extra weapon that puts the team over the top and can't be accounted for by other teams focused on your #1 or #2. But of course all of the above matters not at all until you actually find that #1.
 
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Er....no, not really. Unless you're just using Scottie as a synonym for prototypical sidekick.

Difference is that Pippen was the ultimate sidekick because he did everything, filled in every gap. Ran the offense like a PG, was an All League defender, 20ppg scorer etc. An all in one #2. Kevin right now is just a scorer. A useful commodity, and somebody has to score for you. But unless he tremendously ups the versatility of his game, he's actually a pretty weak #2 at this time. Could be a #2a to another players #2b, and would make a nice #3 star behind two multifacted/multitalented #1 and #2s. But at this point he is, like Peja before him, just a scoring #2. That puts tremendous pressure on your #1 to have to really be able to do everything else at a high level. If Shawn Marion is the #2 in Phoenix, or Josh Howard the #2 in Dallas, or Lamar Odom in L.A. or TMac(!) in Houston, you can see how those guys are great versatile players that fill in many different holes for you. Much closer to the Pippen model.

Right now, if sane, Artest could be that Pippen #2. Kevin could be a very useful wildcard scoring #3 -- the extra weapon that puts the team over the top and can't be accounted for by other teams focused on your #1 or #2. But of course all of the above matters not at all until you actually find that #1.



Brick would you say that the old Kings were kind of like this?
Chris Webber=#1 guy
Doug Christie=All around sidekick
Peja=2nd scorer
 
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