Tuesday Bolts – 9.17.13
Kevin Martin came in 73rd in SI.com’s top 100 players list and here’s what Ben Golliver said about him: “Martin isn’t particularly strong, he isn’t a natural distributor, he definitely isn’t someone you can rely for rebounding and he most definitely isn’t an impact defender. What does that leave? At this stage of his career, an efficient complementary scorer with great range and, until injuries hit in 2011-2012 and his role narrowed in 2012-13, the ability to get to the free-throw line early and often. Last season, after being acquired from Houston in the James Harden trade, Martin was the sixth man and No. 3 scoring option on a Thunder team that ranked No. 2 in offensive efficiency. Oklahoma City posted a better offensive rating and a better net rating with Martin than at any point during the Harden era. There’s no question that Oklahoma City missed Harden’s playmaking ability when Russell Westbrook went down with a season-ending knee injury in the playoffs, as Martin failed to step up into a secondary scoring role behind Kevin Durant. That turn of events shouldn’t erase the Thunder’s top-notch body of work in the regular season, and Martin’s role in it. Minnesota made Martin a very generous offer this summer, and he will reunite with Rick Adelman, who oversaw some of Martin’s best work in Houston.”
Henry Abbott of TrueHoop: “He’d go dozens of minutes without launching a shot, as commentators said things like “this has got to be Durant’s time.” And so it was. On NBA.com/stats I just noodled around with the stats and found in the last five minutes of a game within five, the Thunder’s two stars combined to take 176 shots … to Martin’s 12. Their shooting was crummy — both below 40 percent — but Martin barely missed. My suspicion, in seeing Martin’s killer numbers was: That’s because Martin didn’t get the ball unless he was wide open.”
A tease of what SportVU is, featuring the Thunder.
The Brooklyn Game previewing the Thunder: “Outside of their big 2, the Thunder pose some serious question marks. Kendrick Perkins doesn’t look like an NBA player on some nights anymore and he’s their starter. They lost sixth man and three-point marksman Kevin Martin this offseason, leaving Durant and Thabo Sefolosha as the team’s only legitimate three-point shooters. The team isn’t that deep — Reggie Jackson, Jeremy Lamb, and Derek Fisher are underwhelming backups, and Hasheem Thabeet may get playing time.”
