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After knocking down four fourth quarter 3-pointers against Philadelphia last week, Kevin Martin thought he had shaken off a mini shooting slump.
Except he went to Toronto and shot 5-12, including 1-6 from 3. Then he went to Washington and hit just 3-12, including 0-6 from 3.
“I guess it snuck into my suitcase,” he said.
There’s a saying in basketball: The bench doesn’t travel. And for Martin, who has been adapting and adjusting to a new role of coming off the bench for really the first time in his career, that saying has sort of played out true.
Here are the splits: At home this season (21 games) Martin is averaging 16.8 points on 47.1 percent shooting, including 50.0 percent from 3 and 93.0 percent from the free throw line. On the road though (13 games), Martin is averaging 13.0 points on 38.5 percent shooting, including 34.4 percent from 3 and 92.0 percent from the free throw line.
That’s quite a difference.
What’s interesting about it is that nothing is really different in Martin’s game home to road. He takes roughly the same number of shots (10.8 home, 10.0 road), he takes roughly the same number of 3s (5.1 home, 4.9 road) and gets to the free throw line about the same (4.3 home, 3.9 road).
The big difference is, shots aren’t dropping on the road. At least not at the high percentage Martin typically enjoys.
I’ve wondered if Martin’s struggles could be tied to the fact that he relies so heavily on the 3-point line. This season, about 48 percent of Martin’s shots have come from 3. Before joining the Thunder, he took just 33 percent of his shots from deep. He’s obviously become more of a spot-up shooter, more of a specialist in a role. Something he says he’s very comfortable with.
“I’m loving the role. I know when I have to be a scorer and I know when I have to be a shooter,” Martin said. “Like I’ve been saying ever since I got here, it’s such an easy life for me. Like you mentioned, [48] percent of my shots have been 3s and as long as I’m hitting them at a high percentage I’ll continue to do that and take care of my body … because you know, back in the day I had to get to the hole to try and draw some free throws to get some rhythm back.”
Why the change though? Is it by design? Just by default of playing with Durant and Westbrook?
“I think it’s just with KD and Russ, beginning part of the second quarter I’m probably more of a scorer,” Martin said. “I go back and forth between being a scorer and then fourth quarter I’m more of a shooter playing with those guys. It’s just about adapting and sticking with it.”
Next thing to adapt to: the road. It’s not something Martin has struggled with in his career until this season. Remove last season where Martin was injured, and his home-road splits are almost identical across the board. The new piece in the equation is that he’s coming off the bench.
It’s something James Harden had issues with too for a while, if you remember. It’s an unexplainable phenomenon in basketball, but bench players often don’t consistently contribute.
Why is this especially relevant? Because the Thunder are about to head out on their most significant road stretch of the season, playing nine of their next 10 away from The Peake. Which honestly could be a good thing for Martin. Longer stretches away from home, more opportunities to get settled and find a comfort level.
Because the Thunder have to have Martin, home and away. When he scores in single-digits, the Thunder are just 4-3 on the season. When he scores 15 or more, the Thunder are 20-3.
Something to think about when you’re packing, K-Mart.
Kevin Martin right now averaging 14.0 in this month so far. Every players has their slumps and when there game comes back , they are the same person they have been. Unstoppable or clutch. Martin going to fix his shot, even if he take over 100 shots after practice. Make sure he wont go 0-6 again. He has to start changing when the playoff comes he cant be missing alot . Martin see if his shots not going in, he should start giving assist . Let his teammates work with him.
If Lakers lose tonight vs OKC they must go 32-14 to have a reasonable shot at playoffs.
@BallSoHard How did you come up with that number? Due to the number of middle level teams in the west they could probably only win 45 or 46 games for the 8th seed, but I don't think they will get there.
Kevin Durants' +/- was worse with Kendrick Perkins on the court because the starting unit struggled. FF_Pickups probably likes to blame Perkins for this, but it actually makes a lot more sense to blame Thabo:
http://bkref.com/tiny/UN3y5
Those are all the lineups Perkins was in during last year's playoffs. The starters were bad. But look at the second most used lineup. It was positive, a difference of 12 points per 100 possessions actually just by replacing Thabo with Harden. I know, impossible, no way any lineup with Perkins in it can be effective, but there you go.
In fact, four of the five most used lineups with Perkins in there were either neutral or positive. Brooks just played our bad starting unit so much it made everything look bad (especially in the Finals). Especially when you consider that the starters were -17 points per 100 possessions in Miami and that accounts for 1/6 of Perkins' total playoff minutes or thereabouts.
Perkins had value in the playoffs in lineups that were not the starting unit. Is it his fault Brooks played the ineffective starters a lot?
@justin_mia what are Thabo's +/- without Perkins though? Why not just blame the starting unit rather than one player
@supreme35 @justin_mia That's the point. I'm not really blaming Thabo, just saying the numbers could be construed that way if you take them as gospel (i.e. Perkins -19 means Perkins is horrible). I agree that it's the unit.
@justin_mia I definitely feel that Perk as some value under the right circumstances. But I also feel that you're right, Brooks uses Perk in horrible situations. It's almost not fair to Perk how Brooks has him on the court at the worst times. Perk is definitely a "matchup" kind of player, and more of than not, he's outmatched in the starting unit. I thought the last game when Perk only had 13 mins really helped expose this.
@justin_mia often than not*
@justin_mia Stats don't win championships. Ask the Oakland A's... The stats say KD is a good defender, which he is not.
@justin_miaWas that because of Perkins or in spite of Perkins though? You throw me in there with Westbrook, Harden, KD and Serge and I've got a chance to be positive. If you watched the Heat or Spurs series though you could see the problem. He didn't bring anything.
@okcjim That's the question, isn't it? Unfortunately, these are questions that are difficult to answer with such small samples and little comparison data. I was just putting out the opposite view point because I saw +/- being used to make Perkins look bad - when it just really makes the starting lineup look bad more than anything last season.
@justin_miaI'm not trying to blame Perkins for everything. When you discuss improving the team though he's a pretty obvious place to start. Others have weaknesses too. I think Brooks is as much to blame as Perk for the finals. We weren't ready for what they brought and didn't adjust well at all. Perk is just the most obvious and would be the easiest way to improve the team so he gets the majority of the attention. I think Perk is a situational player. He making too much (not his fault) and he plays too much (again not his fault) for what he can bring.
@okcjim Perkins is the worst offense player. Look we all know Perkins has his weaknesses, I just don't think he should be blamed for every issue the Thunder are having under the sun. The starting unit was bad in the playoffs for reasons that go beyond "Perkins sucks", and even filter into the inadequacies of Thabo and Ibaka, for example. It would have been just as easy to fix the starting unit by switching Thabo and Harden as it would have been to switch Collison and Perkins.
@justin_mia
Thabo is at least a threat. Ibaka is at least a threat. Perkins is not even a threat.
@justin_mia
But he can't rebound or protect the rim near as well when James and Wade go to the basket.
@justin_mia
Who is the worst offensively of that group? By far
@okcjim Perkins can defend Bosh just fine also.
@justin_mia yeah but if we went small ibaka wouldn't have been guarding battier
@okcjim The reason we score better with him out is because we're not playing Perkins-Ibaka-Thabo together as often among other lineups.
@justin_miaPerkins can't rebound or protect the rim. To play Perk means Ibaka is either out of the game or out on the perimeter which means we have nobody to protect the rim and nobody to rebound. Plus Ibaka defends Bosh well. It's was pretty obvious to me.
@justin_miaAnd as efficient as the offense is you have to think the reason we score better with him out is because Russ and KD don't have to beat their man and his to score. 4 on 5 on that end.
@okcjim Again was it Perkins that killed us or Ibaka? Perkins wasn't guarding Battier and co.
@justin_mia
He defended Duncan pretty well at times. He just killed us against the Heat.
@okcjim Perkins can and does play good defense in the right circumstances.
@justin_miaI think that's where +/- isn't as helpful and you have to look at what he actually brings otherwise. Is he rebounding, defending, etc... He's not going to rebound or score so if he isn't defending well and teams can double our other guys because he's not a threat then it's obvious he's not helpful.
@okcjim i.e. whose fault was it that the starting lineup was bad against the Heat? Perkins? Or Ibaka? Ibaka was defending the three point shooters usually that went off. Bosh didn't have a dominant series against us. People like to bash Perkins for the Finals but it wasn't his fault that 85% of his Finals minutes were spent with another big on the court with him.
If the Kings move to Seattle how do you think any division realignment would look?
I would put the Sonic-Kings in the Northwest and move the Thunder to the Southwest. That leaves either Memphis or NOLA going to the Southeast and Washington moving up to the Atlantic.
@desatt who moves out of the atlantic, toronto? move them to central and move Milwaukee to NW so they have a close team in the wolves?
wow
http://www.nbadraft.net/2013mock_draft
@okcjim Good thing I don't believe they take team needs into effect until just before the draft because that is a god awful pick.
@FezzySurprised Mclemore moved all the way up to #1 and Alex Polythress isn't even on there.
@Fezzy @okcjim Tony Mitchell to the Nets would be huge for them, in my opinion.
@okcjim Just for clarification's sake and in case you don't know, it's just because they're assuming that he won't come out until 2014, not that noone would draft him.
Noel would be best possible pick.
#ImpossiblePrestiMagic
@FezzyI don't think he'll make it to us.
Houston was trying to get from 14 to 8 last year to get Andre Drummond and they couldn't get there. Remember, they were able to package that stuff for Harden but they couldn't move to #9.
#things that make you say hmmmm
@FF_pickups yeah but Kevin Martin wouldn't be in a trade for Drummond.
Say we end up with the 8th pick via Toronto. By trading our own pick plus Charlotte and Dallas, how far do you think we could move up?
@Fezzy#7 haha
Critics Choice Awards got it right last night. Argo wins Best Picture. Ben Affleck wins Best Director. Daniel Day Lewis wins Best Picture. Affleck not even nominated for an Oscar....what a travesty! The Academy of Motion Pictures must have an amalgam of Jenni Carlson types who have no idea how to cast a vote. Saw Life of Pi last night. Very good movie, but not quite on the level of Argo and Lincoln.
@El Prez Not that it has anything to do with this year, but I watched "In Bruges" the other night. What a great film.
@BallSoHard @El In Bruges was awesome. Such a great mix of comedy and drama. Colin Farrell's best role to date.
@El Prez I liked Argo a ton, but here's my current Top 10 of the year. The only frontrunners I haven't seen yet are Zero Dark Thirty and Amour. I'll be seeing ZDT tonight. Not that I think that anyone particularly cares, but I'm in the process of ranking all 125 movies released in 2012 for my blog, so I just happened to have just finished my Top 10 and wanted to post it. :)
1. The Intouchables
2. Les Miserables
3. Lincoln
4. Django Unchained
5. Boy
6. End of Watch
7. Argo
8. Bernie
9. Life of Pi
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Honorable Mentions:
The Amazing Spider-Man
Thunderstruck
Moonrise Kingdom
Safety Not Guaranteed
Beasts of the Southern Wild
@TempBoy Brandon @El PrezYou think all of those movies are better than The Avengers? I'd rather sit down and watch the Avengers than any of those.
@okcjim @El Prez That was my "best of" list. If it was strictly a "favorites" list, Spidey, Thunderstruck and The Avengers would have all made my Top 10.
@TempBoy Brandon @El Prez Wow Dark Knight and Avengers not even on your list? Spidey mentioned over both of those? You're entitled to your opinion, but in mine, there's no way the Spiderman was better than the Avengers. Dark Knight kinda pigeon holed into a dumb story line since Heath Ledger died, but I thought it was still better than Spiderman.
@thunder_mike @El Prez Yeah, I was so disappointed in Spider-Man 3. I loved the first two and I loved the reboot, but part 3 was just so overstuffed with storylines that none of them were good, they made Peter Parker a crybaby, and the emo sequence, while I know it was supposed to be funny, came off as just really lame. I'd say it's safe to assume that I felt the way you did about that with TDKR. I started laughing aloud at all of the awful plot holes and contrivances. My friend and I spent half the movie whispering to each other, making fun of it. I liked Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, but TDKR was just awful.
@TempBoy Brandon @El Prez lol i meant DK* not DN
@TempBoy Brandon @El Prez Im gonna assume you felt the same away about Dark Knight Rises as I did about Spiderman 3. I actually started booing in the Theater during the Peter Parker emo sequence.
And ya being a big comic book nerd when I was a kid, it really annoys me that they had to make up such a stupid story line and list of characters for DN. It's Batman, arguably the greatest and most realistically written comic book of all time. They could've easily just adapted straight from comic to screen.
@thunder_mike @El Prez Actually, I should have included The Avengers on my honorable mentions. Meant to, as a matter of fact, as one of my "fun" picks with Spidey and Thunderstruck. I loved The Avengers. As far as Spidey goes, like I said, I've been a Spidey fan since I was 3 years old, so I am really biased.
But don't get me started on The Dark Knight Rises. I thought it was quite terrible. Plot hole after contrivance after plot hole after dumb, dumb character decisions and motivations and actions. If you really want my true opinion of The Dark Knight Rises, just watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQJuGeqdbn4
@El Prez If I were being honest, I'd put Spidey and Thunderstruck as #1 and #2, as the kid in me loved them more than anything else this year. Spidey was my hero when I was a kid, KD is my hero now. :)
@El Prez I loved argo.
@El Prez Breaking news: Award Voters Suck
Agreed. The do gooders of the world. Like giving Jenni Carlson types a Heisman vote. God...I hate to write this because it might come off as Traberesque...and I'm anyting but Jim Traber, but we have become a society of do gooders and feel gooders, who get lost in the morass. It doesn't matter to me though, I love movies and books because at the end of the day...either a beautifully written and acted story is there to be cherished and valued for what it is.... or it isn't.
@El Prez
You just like saying "morass", don't you? :)
@DudeBeAGangsta @El Prez Breaking News: None of that crap matters.... at all.
Carry on.
@Tronchaser @DudeBeAGangsta @El Prez
Careful, Tron! In the grand scheme of things, movies matter about as much as . . . basketball. :)
edit.. Daniel Day Lewis wins Best Actor.