Kenyon Martin comments on the 10-minute restriction

[ctorres]

http://www.msg.com/videos/index.html?vid=2415830429

In regards to playing a few more minutes than Coach Woodson anticipated...

I'm fine. Y'all and Woodie making this out to be bigger than it is, man. You know what I'm sayin? Everbody's being pre-cautious, which I understand but I'm fine. I'm a warrior. I'm not gonna let whatever sort of ailment that's bothering me get in the way of how hard I play and whatever minutes I get, I'm gonna make the best of it.

In regards to being fine with playing 17 minutes tonight and the 10-minute cap...

Why wouldn't I be (fine with it)? Who said that? It's whatever man. I'm not gonna keep going back and forth about this, man. Whatever the minutes are, I'm gonna play. If it's 5, 10, 20, whatever it is, man. I'ma play 'em. I'ma play 'em hard. So, whatever it is, man. I've been doing this too long. I didn't play with worse things than a little ankle injury, man. It's nothing. It's mind over matter. Whatever it is, man. It's 3 minutes, 5, 16, 25. Whatever they need me to do, I'ma do and we'll deal with it tomorrow. Bottom line.

I typed up what Kmart said pretty much word for word, but please watch the video for context, as well as for Kmart's answers to other questions from the media.

You won't find these quotes in news articles online yet because this is a ctorres exclusive. Crazy how I'm all the way in Florida and I can get this done faster than the actual reporters in New York who have access to the team in the locker room and get paid to do this for a living.

[Mr_Perfect]

I'm not really sure what the point of this is.

[mrcalzone]

I'm not really sure what the point of this is.

Gotta preserve his knees for retirement.

[ctorres]

I'm not really sure what the point of this is.

The quotes speak for themselves. Kmart couldn't care less about the minute restriction. He wants to play, so let him play. That's what the point of this is. Lift the minute restriction and let him get the minutes he's supposed to play, which could be anywhere from 12 to 20 minutes a night.

I can understand a $20 million a year investment in Amar'e getting a minute restriction. However, a guy like Kmart who is signed for the minimum and plays every game like it could literally be his last, you can't treat his situation the same.

[Thugger HBC]

I honestly dont see the point of this either.

If he's good, why is he talking?

Maybe because he isnt good with it and threw his coach under the bus while at the same time admitted he has ailments.

K-Mart broke down last year and didnt even play half the season.

Shelve him, we dont need him now, at best he's redundant with Chandler.

[blueNorange]

countdown to #COLEWORLD

[ctorres]

I honestly dont see the point of this either.

If he's good, why is he talking?

Maybe because he isnt good with it and threw his coach under the bus while at the same time admitted he has ailments.

K-Mart broke down last year and didnt even play half the season.

Shelve him, we dont need him now, at best he's redundant with Chandler.

When did Kmart break down last year? He played big minutes during the final stretch of the regular season played every game of the playoffs. He didn't have the same injury issues last season that Tyson did.

Also, he's not redundant with Chandler because he never plays next to Chandler. Chandler can't play 48 minutes. Tyson is averaging 33 mpg. We could use Kmart out there for the 15 mpg than Tyson isn't on the floor. We're not 3-0, we're 1-2. We can't shelve him, we do need him now.

[Thugger HBC]

I honestly dont see the point of this either.

If he's good, why is he talking?

Maybe because he isnt good with it and threw his coach under the bus while at the same time admitted he has ailments.

K-Mart broke down last year and didnt even play half the season.

Shelve him, we dont need him now, at best he's redundant with Chandler.

When did Kmart break down last year? He played big minutes during the final stretch of the regular season played every game of the playoffs. He didn't have the same injury issues last season that Tyson did.

Also, he's not redundant with Chandler because he never plays next to Chandler. Chandler can't play 48 minutes. Tyson is averaging 33 mpg. We could use Kmart out there for the 15 mpg than Tyson isn't on the floor. We're not 3-0, we're 1-2. We can't shelve him, we do need him now.

The coaches words, not mine.....

“When Kenyon came in, man, all our bigs were down,” Woodson said. “And he was happy to be back in the league and I played him and probably played him too much. He ended up breaking down somewhat toward the latter part with his ankle. But this year I just have to be cautious.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/woodson-guard-knick-players-gassed-article-1.1477505

And he certainly is redundant, the fact he cant play WITH Tyson establishes that.

He's also not a center and doesnt rebound nearly as well as he used to.

[ctorres]

He's also not a center and doesnt rebound nearly as well as he used to.

His career per-36 rpg and ppg averages are 8.0 and 1.3. He was at 7.9 and 1.4 last season. I would say that is relatively near to where he used to be. At this stage of his career he's a 6'9 back-up center, which he is better suited for than being a power forward. Against most 2nd units, Kmart would be fine. I personally think it's great he can play almost identically to Tyson off the bench. That allows for the Knicks to keep a consistent game plan defensively.

[[GR]]

He was better than Chandler towards the end last year. So if that was breaking down, the whole team should get ankle injuries.

[TheGarden]

He can play with Tyson

Woody won't do it though

[ctorres]

He can play with Tyson

Woody won't do it though

Defensively yes, but offensively no. Then again, if Houston has managed to make it work with Asik and Howard in the starting lineup, then I guess anything is possible.

[TheGarden]

He can play with Tyson

Woody won't do it though

Defensively yes, but offensively no. Then again, if Houston has managed to make it work with Asik and Howard in the starting lineup, then I guess anything is possible.

I'd rather be able to stop a team than struggle scoring

playing 2 defensive bigs allows you to handle the defensive lapses of Ray Ray and Timmy

Melo typically holds his own outside of bad fouls

[shmeakone]

K-Mart's a very important player for us because we don't have a backup Center that can get rotation minutes right now. I can guarantee you guys that Aldrich won't be logging much minutes in the important games, that's why we gotta preserve Martin because he gives us a big edge on defense coming off the bench.

[Pharmcat]

his ankle didnt heal in the OS, very concerning

totally cool with time restriction

[MaseInYourFace]

Kenyon wants to play so I'm not surprised he said that. But Woodson can't go around trying to make everyone happy he has to try to manage the team with a long term focus.

[keyindabox]

"MAN"

That's all I got from this.

[IMAN5]

just being cautious with him, and him showing people he's still gonna fight no matter what.

[seren]

17 mpg is where he should be at even when fully healthy. We are a better team with keeping him strictly as Chandler's backup. I think we have the best chance to win games if we go like this:

Felton 36 / Pablo 12
Shump 30 / JR 12 / Pablo 6
Artest 30 / JR 18
Melo 36 / Bargnani 12
Chandler 32 / Kenyon 16

If Bargnani can't produce in those limited minutes, I would take him out of the rotation completely and give his minutes to Hardaway JR.

[MaseInYourFace]

17 mpg is where he should be at even when fully healthy. We are a better team with keeping him strictly as Chandler's backup. I think we have the best chance to win games if we go like this:

Felton 36 / Pablo 12
Shump 30 / JR 12 / Pablo 6
Artest 30 / JR 18
Melo 36 / Bargnani 12
Chandler 32 / Kenyon 16

If Bargnani can't produce in those limited minutes, I would take him out of the rotation completely and give his minutes to Hardaway JR.

I like that but i'd probably lower Kenyon's just a tad and give them to Bargs. I think it will be hard to get a lot out of Bargs if he's depressed and barely playing. He's an all or nothing kind of guy unfortunately. Not someone you can just plug in sparingly and can still be effective.