Sacramento Kings @ Miami Heat

[SacKingZZZ]

Oh, and that Hilton Armstrong dunk was S-I-C-K!!!

[Wolfay]

Kevin's not at fault here, but he's got to start playing like he's capable of, no excuses.

My thoughts pretty much. Martin needs to start looking like he's adjusting and getting into game shape. So far he hasn't shown like he's a part of the team much at all.

[RoyalCourtJestr]

We're playing like ****, everyone in purple including Kevin. (minus Tyreke, 90% of the time)

Kevin needs to work on that conditioning. But he didn't make us play like crap, we were doing that before he got back. XD

[darkadun]

I don't think its the losing thats so frustrating. Its the way they are playing. I'll take a loss if its like the ones we had against cleveland or LA. The way they were playing in losses was so encouraging. They played hard, banged with people and made teams respect them.

Now, I have no idea what the hell im watching out there, on both sides of the court. There is no intensity, no hustle, no passion, no swagger. All of that made us optimistic early in the season, and now I can't even watch the games because they put me in such a bad mood.

[ICMTM]

How many more games do we need to play before it's apparent to EVERYONE that Kevin Martin isn't going to be a significant piece to our positive win/loss total? Just throw out a number please!

[cuad]

The Nets just lost to the Jazz 83 to 116. That's right folks. We are as bad as the Nets!

[RekeHavoc]

How many more games do we need to play before it's apparent to EVERYONE that Kevin Martin isn't going to be a significant piece to our positive win/loss total? Just throw out a number please!

0, He just doesn't fit well with these guys. His game doesn't compliment theirs. He needs to go IMO.

[SacTownKings4Life]

Lets get real here. THEIR OWN GAME does not compliment their game right now. Can anybody sit here with a straight face and honestly say that we could have won ANY of these last 6 games even IF Martin hadn't been in the lineup? With the way we were playing?

I mean seriously, did Keven Martin rape your sisters or something? I mean I've never seen so much bitter hatred and animosity towards one guy who hasn't especially done anything wrong. The guy is not a headcase, not an ego maniac, NOT A BALLHOG, not a drinker and driver, not a pothead, not a dope dealer, hell, he doesn't even get into ANY kind of trouble on or off the court, unlike half of the entire league. Yet everybody is ready to jump all over him and crucify him every single day. It's like everyone has some kind of PERSONAL vendetta against him, not just as a player, but as a man. They just don't LIKE the guy...

I admit he's not playing NEARLY his best game right now, but who else is? Casspi? (Mr 2nd in command for rookie of the year) Negative. Green? Negative. Thompson? Negative. Hawes? Negative. Udrih? Negative. Nocioni? Negative. Udoka? Negative. Wow! I just dam near named half the roster!
With so many players NOT playing up to par, ALL AT THE SAME TIME, how exactly do these last 6 losses get to be "ALL Martin's fault"? Can someone please explain that to me? (with some kind of intelligent reasoning, please?)

[Wolfay]

Lets get real here. THEIR OWN GAME does not compliment their game right now. Can anybody sit here with a straight face and honestly say that we could have won ANY of these last 6 games even IF Martin hadn't been in the lineup? With the way we were playing?

I mean seriously, did Keven Martin rape your sisters or something? I mean I've never seen so much bitter hatred and animosity towards one guy who hasn't especially done anything wrong. The guy is not a headcase, not an ego maniac, NOT A BALLHOG, not a drinker and driver, not a pothead, not a dope dealer, hell, he doesn't even get into ANY kind of trouble on or off the court, unlike half of the entire league. Yet everybody is ready to jump all over him and crucify him every single day. It's like everyone has some kind of PERSONAL vendetta against him, not just as a player, but as a man. They just don't LIKE the guy...

I admit he's not playing NEARLY his best game right now, but who else is? Casspi? (Mr 2nd in command for rookie of the year) Negative. Green? Negative. Thompson? Negative. Hawes? Negative. Udrih? Negative. Nocioni? Negative. Udoka? Negative. Wow! I just dam near named half the roster!
With so many players NOT playing up to par, ALL AT THE SAME TIME, how exactly do these last 6 losses get to be "ALL Martin's fault"? Can someone please explain that to me? (with some kind of intelligent reasoning, please?)

And I've never seen anybody take criticism about a player so personal. Chill out.

So he's not a thug, big deal, and what does that have to do with anything anyway? There's no vendetta against Martin; it's all in your head buddy. Many of us just believe the team is better off without him, and so far, that has been the case.

[SacTownKings4Life]

Lets get real here. THEIR OWN GAME does not compliment their game right now. Can anybody sit here with a straight face and honestly say that we could have won ANY of these last 6 games even IF Martin hadn't been in the lineup? With the way we were playing?

I mean seriously, did Keven Martin rape your sisters or something? I mean I've never seen so much bitter hatred and animosity towards one guy who hasn't especially done anything wrong. The guy is not a headcase, not an ego maniac, NOT A BALLHOG, not a drinker and driver, not a pothead, not a dope dealer, hell, he doesn't even get into ANY kind of trouble on or off the court, unlike half of the entire league. Yet everybody is ready to jump all over him and crucify him every single day. It's like everyone has some kind of PERSONAL vendetta against him, not just as a player, but as a man. They just don't LIKE the guy...

I admit he's not playing NEARLY his best game right now, but who else is? Casspi? (Mr 2nd in command for rookie of the year) Negative. Green? Negative. Thompson? Negative. Hawes? Negative. Udrih? Negative. Nocioni? Negative. Udoka? Negative. Wow! I just dam near named half the roster!
With so many players NOT playing up to par, ALL AT THE SAME TIME, how exactly do these last 6 losses get to be "ALL Martin's fault"? Can someone please explain that to me? (with some kind of intelligent reasoning, please?)

And I've never seen anybody take criticism about a player so personal. Chill out.

So he's not a thug, big deal, and what does that have to do with anything anyway? There's no vendetta against Martin; it's all in your head buddy. Many of us just believe the team is better off without him, and so far, that has been the case.

Dude, it's not just one criticism. It's the fact that YOU CAN'T GO ONE THREAD without everybody piling on him trying to make the case that HE IS THE SOLE REASON why we're losing. After so many threads and so many months, it kinda gets a little sickening.
Most people who do believe that they are better without Martin point directly to these last 6 games as "proof" that Martin is somehow some kind of cancer to this team (while COMPLETELY ignoring the fact that the rest of the team has fail to show up in these same 6 games). Like we were doing all this "winning" without him, and that he is now ruining our winning ways.
We were 15-21 up until his comeback. 3-13 on the road. Hardly the definition of an elite team. We had previously LOST 8 of our last 10 games up until his comeback. And I asked you to explain how each of these last 6 losses get to be ENTIRELY Martin's fault. (as everyone is implying)

Whenever I ask a question which defies popular opinion regarding Kevin Martin, everybody conveniently becomes distracted by something else unrelated so as NOT to answer the question at hand. As if I wouldn't notice...
How is it ALL Martin's fault?

[SacTownKings4Life]

But hey, I'll give you this much. When the team actually starts competing again, and we are in a position where we have possession of the ball and can win the game ON said possession, if Kevin Martin ever decides he wants to go one-on-one against the opposing defense, and the Kings end up losing the game as a DIRECT result of his actions, I will cease my defense of Martin. Fair?

[Draino]

How many more games do we need to play before it's apparent to EVERYONE that Kevin Martin isn't going to be a significant piece to our positive win/loss total? Just throw out a number please!

+1

[pillwenney]

If Kevin keeps playing like this, I don't expecting him to contribute to the team winning.

I don't expect him to continue playing like this though.

[Wolfay]

If Kevin keeps playing like this, I don't expecting him to contribute to the team winning.

I don't expect him to continue playing like this though.

What do you expect from him and by when?

[RoyalCourtJestr]

When he actually gets conditioned, and when the team as a whole stops playing like ****.

[pillwenney]

If Kevin keeps playing like this, I don't expecting him to contribute to the team winning.

I don't expect him to continue playing like this though.

What do you expect from him and by when?

Well I should first off say that I thought he played relatively well in his first couple of games back. I'm more talking about the last couple of games. He just looks to be in a funk, just like the rest of the team. I think the whole team needs to get into a bit more of a rhythm. But for Kevin, it's largely about shaking off rust. Outside of the last two games, he was playing pretty well, even when he wasn't shooting well.

I expect him to learn to fit in with this team. Before the Florida games he was playing off the ball, and largely passing when he needed to, and he was making a clear effort on the boards. His shot hasn't been on, but he hasn't really been able to practice shooting normally for months, so that's to be expected. Once he gets back into the swing of things there, I expect to play as he is capable of--a great, extremely efficient off-the-ball scorer, a good rebounder for a guard, and an improving passer.

[SacTownKings4Life]

If Kevin keeps playing like this, I don't expecting him to contribute to the team winning.

I don't expect him to continue playing like this though.

What do you expect from him and by when?

Well I should first off say that I thought he played relatively well in his first couple of games back. I'm more talking about the last couple of games. He just looks to be in a funk, just like the rest of the team. I think the whole team needs to get into a bit more of a rhythm. But for Kevin, it's largely about shaking off rust. Outside of the last two games, he was playing pretty well, even when he wasn't shooting well.

I expect him to learn to fit in with this team. Before the Florida games he was playing off the ball, and largely passing when he needed to, and he was making a clear effort on the boards. His shot hasn't been on, but he hasn't really been able to practice shooting normally for months, so that's to be expected. Once he gets back into the swing of things there, I expect to play as he is capable of--a great, extremely efficient off-the-ball scorer, a good rebounder for a guard, and an improving passer.

Exactly. Besides Evans, how many other guys played BETTER than Martin on this road trip? Anyone???

I mean, I don't know where all this "Kevin Martin ball dominator" stuff came from, but I do know of at least one other guy who DOES fits that description. That being said, IF Evans' jump shot were HALF as good as Martin's, I might be inclined to agree with Martin's expendability. However, this is VERY far from the case. I believe that this team (at the moment) NEEDS a player with the shooting prowess of Martin to open up the lane FOR a Tyreke Evans to drive like he needs to. This will continue to be the case until the time comes where Evans does something with his jumper.

As I have pointed out before, the reason why Martin took the amount of shots that he did last year was because he was the ONLY player who could shoot worth a damn. So OF COURSE he's gonna have the ball in his hands a lot. When the coach is drawing up plays for YOU to shoot, what exactly are you supposed to do? That is NOT ball dominating, it's called following the coach's instructions.

And it appears that even the mighty Tyreke Evans has moments in which constantly carrying the load night in and night out seems to wear on him. So similar to Martin's role of last year, it would appear as though he IS human afterall. He DOES get tired sometimes. Everybody does, don't they?