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Last night was one of the few nights we saw Kevin Martin close out a game, let's hope this continues. But aside from that, he's quietly having a very historic season in terms of efficiency.

23.4 PPG on FG 45.1% 3PT 44.8% FT 91.7% (63.5% TS) --- all of this in just 31.8 MPG

All of this while leading the league in 3PT FGM with 65 at the moment, and FTM at 220.

Aside from that, Martin's playing the LEAST amount of minutes this season since his 2nd season in the league This is by far arguably on pace to have the best season of his career.

wow i didn't know he leads in 3PT FGM and FTM
his min is lesser because we can't rely him to play good defense at crunch time
if only he can improve his defense

Yeah, I can see them keeping his minutes low also due to injury related issues. But yeah it's pretty insane to see him lead the league in both categories, while hitting both 3PT FG and FT at such a high efficient rate.

He's also 2nd in points per 48 (he's catching up to Kobe), 1st in TS% among 20 pt scorers (he just passed Dirk), and first in FT%.

he has been proving to be worth his contract

scola and lowry have proven to be worth their contracts too

When his feets are set, he is money from the 3point line.

And he is the only one i trust shooting free throws at the end of regulation.

Guy986 wrote:When his feets are set, he is money from the 3point line.

And he is the only one i trust shooting free throws at the end of regulation.

yup
brooks can shoot but he's not clutch down the stretch shooting free throw
don't even think about lee

MaxRider wrote:

Guy986 wrote:When his feets are set, he is money from the 3point line.

And he is the only one i trust shooting free throws at the end of regulation.

yup
brooks can shoot but he's not clutch down the stretch shooting free throw
don't even think about lee

Courtney Lee and clutch don't belong in the same post...

Or Brad Miller for that matter... smh.

But I have been loving this efficient play we're displaying. We're quietly 8-3 in Dec. We could easily finish the year 3-1. That would put us right at .500, primed and ready to make that New Year push. I know a lot of us are skeptical about this squad (and for good reason), but I really think with some health (wishful thinking) that we can be at anybody come play-off time. We may not have superstars, but we also don't have cancers either. We can make some real noise this season.

^^ it sounds like a lot of you ignore this, maybe cuz you're tired of yao ming getting injured, i dunno. but there's no way this team gets past the first round w/o a defensive big to protect the paint (getting to the first round is a stretch but not impossible). the defense will always be inconsistent until we get a guy who can defend the paint. unless we had michael jordan, we can't do that much w/ this current roster. i'll be surprised if we finish the season ranked top 15 in defense. one of our biggest weaknesses. we got lowry, lee, shane, hill and hayes who can benefit a lot from a 7 foot defensive big. if morey's gonna make a move he better get a big black guy or white guy or european get someone to block some shots for us

wont have to sacrifice development of our young players, just have to trade some of our never ending depth which should be easy.

roxfashoballin wrote:^^ it sounds like a lot of you ignore this, maybe cuz you're tired of yao ming getting injured, i dunno. but there's no way this team gets past the first round w/o a defensive big to protect the paint (getting to the first round is a stretch but not impossible). the defense will always be inconsistent until we get a guy who can defend the paint. unless we had michael jordan, we can't do that much w/ this current roster. i'll be surprised if we finish the season ranked top 15 in defense. one of our biggest weaknesses. we got lowry, lee, shane, hill and hayes who can benefit a lot from a 7 foot defensive big. if morey's gonna make a move he better get a big black guy or white guy or european get someone to block some shots for us

wont have to sacrifice development of our young players, just have to trade some of our never ending depth which should be easy.

Woah woah woah... where is roxfashoballin, and what have you done with him? The real rox would never request a white guy.

But I do feel you on this. We definitely need that defensive presence to take us to the next level. But shoring up that perimeter would stop a lot of that penetration too. And that's a lot easier than getting a BBG.

it's easier but not as effective as a defensive big with size. we have enough perimeter defense w/ lee, lowry, and shane. most teams would kill for that trio. unforunteatley we can't use their defense to the fullest because we have no real defensive presence inside.

Now that's it pretty sure we won't be signing Yao to another big contract I say go for Emeka Okafor.

Brad Miller + Jared Jeffries for Okafor is almost an even swap salary-wise this year but the Hornets save a ton of cash in the next 3 years with this deal and still get a decent big man in Miller and a defensive specialist in Jeffries whose contract is expiring. With the Hornets' financial situation they would be foolish not to do this.

Emeka this season is averaging 10 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks on 56% shooting from the field (and from the free throw line unfortunately). He'll never be confused with Hakeem but those are solid numbers.

Next year's Rockets financial commitments
Martin - $12m
Scola - $8.5m
Lowry - $5.7m
Hill - $2.8m
Williams - $2.3m
Lee - $2.2m
Budinger - $880k
Smith - $788k
Patterson - $2.0m
($37m among 9 players, $49.5m if you include Okafor)

Brooks will likely become a RFA so I didn't include him.
Hayes and Battier will be unrestricted free agents but I can see one of them coming back,

Okafor is making $11.5m this year and he will earn $12.5m, $13.5m and $14.5m
for the remaining 3 seasons of his contract.
It's a big commitment to one player but he provides defense and strength.

i'll take him but he shouldnt be at the top of our list. also i dunno if it's still true, but awhile ago there was some talk about him being overrated, that he's not a real defensive presence in the paint, on ball defense sucks, most of his blocks are off ball. dunno if that's still true, i dont watch much nba outside of rockets

Emeka's contract is WILDLY out of touch with his production levels. Even if he does fill a need, and I'm not sure he does, he's a bad bargain.

Hell to the nah on Emeka Okafor. Team would be better off going after Tyson Chandler in the off-season if anything. Or of course Yao.

K-Money is benifiting tremendously from Kyle Lowry. As does the rest of the team. We are winning games now and one of the hottest teams in the league. ABs injury was a blessing in disguise. The beast that is Kyle Lowry has been unleashed.

AB doesn't look the same coming off the bench. Maybe if the team would realize now that Terrance Williams could run the offense off the bench and AB could play off the ball would maximize the strength of the bench.

KiDdFrESh wrote:Hell to the nah on Emeka Okafor. Team would be better off going after Tyson Chandler in the off-season if anything. Or of course Yao.
.

I think the majority of fans don't want to deal with the Yao drama any more.
Just let him retire before he goes Favre on us.
if he does come back he should sign for the league minimum salary,

Okafor had 21 pts and 10 rebounds in New Orleans' win over the Nets last night.
We don't need him to score much but he can if necessary.
Jordan Hill showed last night he's still too weak against strong, athletic big men.

Okafor hasn't missed a game since 2006.
Chandler missed 31 games last year, 47 games the year before, 3 games before that.
He's never played a full season and who's to say he won't ask for an outrageous contract too?

How come all our threads get derailed with trade ideas

Aaron Brooks wrote:How come all our threads get derailed with trade ideas

texasholdem is obsessed with trades. in 5th grade when we all had pokemon cards he traded the most. sometimes he would stalk us to the bathroom, and when we start to pee he'd go to the stall right next to us and offer a trade. looking straight at our face with his eyes wide open like he just smoked some crack. at first i thought he was gay, but i later found out he clearly wasnt.