The Hand and the Hammer... Why Minnesota should hope for an injured Kevin Martin.

[Jakapoo [enjin:6588675]]

I haven't posted sense the beginning of this forum, but I have lurked a bit and decide to join back by bashing Kevin Martin. Simple actions taken by Martin, but also ones that are often overlooked on why his twenty point nights range primarily from net negative to net neutral, rarely being positive.

The primary reason of Kevin Martin's incompetence that makes his stats worthless in all aspects of a National Basketball Associated Game is the fact that he is abused on the defensive end due to poor footwork, lateral quickness, and effort. An excellent example of this is shown through off-ball screen action that many teams utilize; this includes flare screens and your standard off-ball screen. Kevin Martin has shown an inability to fight through your common off-ball guard screen, but what makes him truly so incompetent is that he does not even show a simple desire to switch, and to grab the help defenders man. If you watch the off-ball action between Rudy Gay and Ben Mclemore in the last Minnesota Timberwolves vs. the Sacramento Kings, you will notice that Brewer plays off of Rudy Gay to prevent penetration, but when screened, he was out of position to fight through. This is where Kevin Martin's primary objective should be to switch on to the defender, therefore denying the catch in deep position, but this is where he fails to do so every time. This is why, while his points were all and good, his points were neutralized by the 20 first half points of Rudy Gay, fourteen of which solely on his shoulders. The second half was different only due to the lack of playing time Kevin received, and the complete inability of the Sacramento Kings to maintain in game stability. It is of no coincidence that Rudy Gay gained four points to his total while Kevin Martin was put back into the game.

The second reason has to do with his offensive set that revolves around a limited ball handling ability, but the necessity of isolation. This reason leads to many off balance shots, which of course being poor shot selections, lead to his patented 3-16 nights. As previously shown by Kevin Love his unique ability to put the ball on the floor, draw fouls, hit the three ball, hit the mid-range, and post up beautifully, at a much higher rate than Kevin Martin I should add, makes Kevin Martin not only a complete effigy of Love, but also unnecessary in the simple offensive sets. With Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio's otherworldly passing abilities, doesn't it seem a bit strange that another isolation player would be added to the roster? Is it a coincidence, just a mere fluke, that the team became a more complete not only defensive, but offensive team with both Kevin Martin and Nikola Pekovic off of the floor? Was our success only on the inability of the sub .500 teams we faced? I will leave that for you to decide, but my opinion is clear.


Remember that the question is not based on contractual obligations.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Hmmm...I agree with much of your post, jakapoo...very well-presented case. But I still voted the other way. I noticed what you noticed last night about Martin's defense...it was really bad. But the problem is that we don't have any better options to give major minutes to at SG, so as our roster is currently configured, I see Martin as an asset. Adelman tried Bud while Martin was out, but he really struggled defensively too, and he doesn't have the ability to score in bunches like Kevin can. Martin's injury forced Adelman to free Shabazz, so it had its positive aspects. But I don't need to watch Bud trying to guard SGs anymore this season. Maybe next year if his knee fully heals, but not now.

[bleedspeed]

He is pretty good value for a 6.5M contract. He is not perfect, but we are not paying him enough to be perfect. I think he might be better off coming off the bench after seeing how we did without him in the starting lineup.

[all_day_88 [enjin:6666373]]

The wolves are lucky to have martin, end of discussion. Is this really what we are talking about? F#$%ing dumb.
Seriously people are really going to bitch about the best shooting guard the wolves have had in as long as I can remember (i'm only 26). Year in year out I've longed for the wolves to have a quality SG and now we finally do. Leave it alone

[Squishypoo [enjin:6648839]]

The wolves are lucky to have martin, end of discussion. Is this really what we are talking about? F#$%ing dumb.
Seriously people are really going to bitch about the best shooting guard the wolves have had in as long as I can remember (i'm only 26). Year in year out I've longed for the wolves to have a quality SG and now we finally do. Leave it alone

I agree seems pretty silly....Maybe they like JJ playing SG or luke...

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I think it's normal for folks to focus on an established player's weaknesses and ignore their strengths. Martin scores in volume and with efficiency. There aren't many players out there that can do both, yet this gets taken for granted by many fans.

I do agree that Martin's defense leaves a lot to be desired. I also think he should eventually become our 6th man offensive punch off the bench. The problem with that in the short-term, as LST mentions, is that he and Shved are our only pure SGs on the roster. And Shved is a train wreck. Assuming we keep our draft pick, I'd like us to target the most talented SG available, unless there is someone at a different position that is heads and shoulders ranked higher.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I think it's normal for folks to focus on an established player's weaknesses and ignore their strengths. Martin scores in volume and with efficiency. There aren't many players out there that can do both, yet this gets taken for granted by many fans.

I do agree that Martin's defense leaves a lot to be desired. I also think he should eventually become our 6th man offensive punch off the bench. The problem with that in the short-term, as LST mentions, is that he and Shved are our only pure SGs on the roster. And Shved is a train wreck. Assuming we keep our draft pick, I'd like us to target the most talented SG available, unless there is someone at a different position that is heads and shoulders ranked higher.

Nik. Stauskas. :geek:

Lol I agree with your entire post, though. I actually think Martin's defense is better than what the league reputation says about him (people called him the worst defender in the NBA; not true). I understand that doesn't mean his defense is good, though. He's a scorer, and he does it well. He's also making $6.5M this year, which is a bargain for the production he's given this year.

Shved's just a warm body at this point. He looked like he could have been something useful for us last season. Right now, I'm just waiting for his contract to expire. I will miss saying "ALEXEYYY! YES!" and "Shveddy good", though. :cry:

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Cam, I know you are a Stauskas guy. I honestly don't have any strong opinion as of right now because I just haven't seen enough of these guys play. But it does seem like there are at least 4 or 5 solid SG prospects in the range that we're drafting. Odds are that less than half will ever pan out to be even average NBA players, and perhaps one becomes consistently above average. We need to figure out who that one guy will be.