When the whistles are swallowed, Kevin Martin hasn't looked so good
One would think there would not be much to dislike about a guy who can give you 25 on five shots, but moreso than any current Rocket, Kevin Martin personifies this team’s total identity transformation. It was painful watching Stephen Jackson abuse the pencil-armed shooting guard in the post, as if the latter were a small child, the other night. Via SynergySports, overall, opponents are shooting 45% against Martin. For comparison, they are shooting 33% against Chase Budinger, the Rockets’ backup also not known for defensive prowess.
Perhaps more troubling are Martin’s fourth quarter woes. Whether it’s due to a fragile psyche or suddenly less friendly authorities (the whistles don’t seem to blow as much late in close games), Martin almost always reverts to his shell when the team needs him; his disappearing acts are rather shocking for a player so highly talented.
Can the Rockets hope to win big with one of the league’s greatest sieves on the perimeter? I still think so. The problem right now is that while you can mask one poor defender, you can’t hide three. (For now, we can at least stop fooling ourselves into thinking K-Mart will improve on that end or that his troubles were due to the system in Sac.) And as Daryl Morey has often pointed out, baskets earlier in the game are just as important as those coming late – they help get the team to that point in the first place; the Rockets will just need to find a “closer” in some other form.
What do you think? Is Martin part of the problem or a piece of the solution?
