What's been up with Kevin Martin?

[Joseph17]

He's usually one of the more consistent players on this team. In the month of February he's been inconsistent. Does anyone have any explanation for this?
He was:
Horrible vs. Charlotte
Good vs. Atlanta
Good vs. Portland
Horrible vs. Houston
Excellent vs. Memphis (1st half)
Horrible vs. Memphis (2nd half)
Horrible vs. Golden State
Great vs. Utah
Horrible vs. Seattle
Great vs. Chicago
Good vs. New Orleans

I don't get it.

[KingInExile]

He's cursed because he's in your fav-five. You are bad luck.

[BMiller52]

I have no idea to be honest. He just seems to get his confiudence rattled easily I guess. To be honest ever since he came back from the injury he's been wildly inconsistent. At first he was great, then he had a couple horrible games, then it's been off and on. Pretty soon he's gonna earn the name light switch, because he's off and on so easily.

I actually think a lot of it has to do with his ball handling, which he should really try hard to improve this summer. Teams put quicker and smaller guys on him and then he can't slash to the rim because his quickness advantage is gone. If he would just learn to handle the ball better and add some more muscle and a turnaround J that would go a LONG way to fixing the problems he has against certain teams. The guys who have shut him down or given him trouble aren't your typical great perimeter defenders like Bowen, Bell, Roy, etc. It's small quick guys like Ronnie Price, Monta Ellis, Ray Felton, Kyle Lowry, Earl Watson, etc. If he adds some muscle and a turnaround J he could just back them down a little, turnaround and be able to shoot over the top of them from like 15 feet out. If he'd improve his ball handling he'd be able to get by them too.

So that's pretty much where his career is at IMO. He can either improve on those things or he can stay where he's at offensively. I mean his jumpshot is good, his athleticism is good, his off the ball movement is good and he's a smart player so that stuff I think he's pretty much at his ceiling. He has a lot to improve on the areas I mentioned though like ball handling. He's an unselfish player, but if he could get defenses to collapse on him a bit by backing down these midgets they put on him he'd get like 2 more APG. If he could handle the ball more that gives him more drive and dish/kick out opportunities. If he adds more muscle and improves the ball handling, his ISO game would really improve and he couldn't be shut down. If he even improved that stuff to a point where he's decent at it instead of bad-mediocre he'd improve a ton. Right now he gets by on athleticism, off the ball movement, getting to the FT line, and his J.

[Joseph17]

He's cursed because he's in your fav-five. You are bad luck.

If Turkoglu wasn't in my fav-five, he would have been an all-star. I'm about to put my least favorite players in my fav-five.
1. Jason Kidd 2. Richard Jefferson 3. Kenyon Martin 4. Steve Francis 5. Ben Wallace

[RoyalCourtJestr]

He's cursed because he's in your fav-five. You are bad luck.

+1

Take him out for a game and see how he does.

[pillwenney]

I think it's partly what BMiller said, but also partly that he's just in a slump. His jumper isn't falling like it usually does. But I expect him to snap out of it soon enough. This stuff happens.

[Joseph17]

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+1

Take him out for a game and see how he does.

He's out until the Bulls game starts. I don't want Gooden to have a bad debut.

[Ballings7]

Against Memphis it was combination of the Grizzlies defense and himself.

[King Baller]

At this point Kevin is a really good player, other teams focus their defense on stopping him. When That happens other players can take advantage of the unbalanced defense and score. Then if the defense adjusts Kevin will score. Even when his shot is off, he is getting to the line and playing good D on the quicker players. KMart will be alright:)

KB

[Smills91]

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If Turkoglu wasn't in my fav-five, he would have been an all-star. I'm about to put my least favorite players in my fav-five.
1. Jason Kidd 2. Richard Jefferson 3. Kenyon Martin 4. Steve Francis 5. Ben Wallace

No! It your fav 5 of least favorites SHOULD look like this!

1) Kobe Bryant 2) Kobe Bryant 3) Kobe Bryant 4) Kobe Bryant 5) Kobe Bryant...that way he has a career ending injury.

[sackings916]

Im interested to see what the Kings will work with Martin this offseason. What does everyone think they'll work on with him? Ballhandling has to be one, the main priority IMO, then getting stronger/faster, and maybe getting him used to physical play/mental toughness. He should come back a better player next year.

[Joseph17]

Im interested to see what the Kings will work with Martin this offseason. What does everyone think they'll work on with him? Ballhandling has to be one, the main priority IMO, then getting stronger/faster, and maybe getting him used to physical play/mental toughness. He should come back a better player next year.

Faster? Is that even possible? I don't think strength is the issue either. He just needs to put on some weight and improve on his handles. I also think he needs to develop some form of a back to the basket game like Kobe.

[Dustin5566]

During the Charlotte game he looked as if his head just ws not in the game. He looked very passive and was not running as hard as he seems to always does. On the coaches interview after halftime the coach said they had to get on him at halftime to run his cuts better and hustle more. Things I have never heard them say he needed to do better.

Hopefully all is well in his personal life.

[Smills91]

I'll agree the next thing Kevin needs to add to his game is a decent post up game, that way teams won't be able to put their REALLY quick guys on him cuz he could just back them down then. Which would force the teams to put bigger/slower players on him and he'd have a mismatch no matter how they slice it.

[sackings916]

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Faster? Is that even possible? I don't think strength is the issue either. He just needs to put on some weight and improve on his handles. I also think he needs to develop some form of a back to the basket game like Kobe.

Adding weight makes you slower. If he puts on weight while still working on speed and strength he can maintain or even add to his speed.

[pillwenney]

Yeah that's the tricky thing. You don't want to add too much weight, because his quickness is one of his biggest strengths. But I think he may be able to develop a post game without adding too much strength.

[PetrieUnderstudy]

No offense I think you all have it wrong. Kevin Martin doesn't need to get faster. He's slender built so he's not going to get that much stronger. His dribbling and post skils could stand some improvement. But the biggest thing by far more than anything holding Kevin Martin back is his personality/toughness. Nothing against homosexuals but I laughed my ass off when my Dad said "I think he's gay." He's feminine and has his game in kinda WNBA'ish. Not trying to bash the guy but in order for him to maximize his abilities he needs to get tough physically and mentally.

[KF10]

No offense I think you all have it wrong. Kevin Martin doesn't need to get faster. He's slender built so he's not going to get that much stronger. His dribbling and post skils could stand some improvement. But the biggest thing by far more than anything holding Kevin Martin back is his personality/toughness. Nothing against homosexuals but I laughed my ass off when my Dad said "I think he's gay." He's feminine and has his game in kinda WNBA'ish. Not trying to bash the guy but in order for him to maximize his abilities he needs to get tough physically and mentally.

Umm, that's interesting?

[KingInExile]

No offense I think you all have it wrong. Kevin Martin doesn't need to get faster. He's slender built so he's not going to get that much stronger. His dribbling and post skils could stand some improvement. But the biggest thing by far more than anything holding Kevin Martin back is his personality/toughness. Nothing against homosexuals but I laughed my ass off when my Dad said "I think he's gay." He's feminine and has his game in kinda WNBA'ish. Not trying to bash the guy but in order for him to maximize his abilities he needs to get tough physically and mentally.

Ok, I think I have now officially seen the most ridiculous argument ever posted on these boards.

[SacTown Kings]

Get outta here with this feminine stuff. Martin has a laid back personality, he's not a girl.