Martin/Evans so far...

#1
It seems that our players aren't comfortable playing with Martin... and it was pretty obvious today that Martin's defense is horrendous. Tyreke saved his butt at least once when he got lit up repeatedly, which was cool in a way because he knew he was going to get torched at the start of the drive- so maybe that is chemistry in the making. At this point I still think they will become a powerful duo. Kevin had multiple open looks and he is the last guy the defense wants open.

Unforunately, the rest of the team is so hesitant when Martin is on the floor. Its almost as if they refuse to play with him. Will this continue while Tyreke continues to be alpha dog?
 
A

AriesMar27

Guest
#2
they havent played with martin... in the first few games with him, mason and may started. udoka wasnt on the team, hawes, donte, casspi and brockman werent getting minutes. if they are given the time together they should be fine, still a bad team but a cohesive bad team.
 
#3
at least let them get some home games under their belt together. give them a little time to gel.

just a little patience...pleaaaaase
 
#4
If Martin hits those open looks at his normal rate this is a whole different ballgame. Why? Because we would have kept going to him for that, driving them nuts, and opening everything else up. Marting just doesn't have his sea legs yet. But it was a good sign that we were able to get him that open. I'm going to wait to see how it plays out and I'm not going to worry about the trade deadline.
 
#5
I think it's kind of a weird situation. Two months ago, this was Martin's team, but in the two months that he was out, this team has changed so much and formed such a different identity that having him back wasn't like getting a player back from injury but it was more like getting a brand new player.

Of course, this is not unusual. Teams get new players all the time, but usually when you get a new player, you get one that you think would fit well into your team. In martin's case, it's the other way around. In a way, the team is trying to fit into Kevin's game, and so far that's not working out that great.

The other thing is, that this team without Kevin and Cisco was pretty much a complete team minus a defensive big guy. You didn't watch the team and say to yourself "this team really needs another backcourt scorer and it will start winning games". You said to yourself "this team needs another big guy and it will start winning games". But when a guy like Kevin comes back you can't just go "oh, sorry, we don't need you anymore"... You have to try to make it work. But it's like trying to bake a cake, and you don't have enough flour, but you do have plenty of sugar, so you just add more sugar in place of the flour. I don't know what comes out of this, but it's definitely not a cake...

Unfortunately, I think that this problem will just get worse upon Cisco's return, although he is more likely to fit in with the team, but there are just too many guys in the 1-2-3 positions and not enough minutes to go around. This is a recipe for turning a young enthusiastic team into a bunch of guys who are just worried about their minutes and playing with fear of making mistakes and being pulled out. Having 9 (Tyreke, Beno, Sergio, Martin, Cisco, Omri, Donte, Ime, Noc) players on 3 positions is crazy. I think that regardless of how much we like the players, moves need to be made to thin out the 1-2-3 positions and add a paint beast.
 
#6
kevin martin is a black hole on offense and a liability on defense. its been that way for the past 3 years. no wonder we go on a run in the 4th quarter against the bobcats when hes benched
 
#7
Its not going to work. You can give it as much time as you want, you can make every possible excuse under the sun, you can give it a decade but this backcourt will not work as it. The only way it works is if Martin becomes exclusivly a spot up shooter and suddenly discovers big hunger for defence.

You can bookmark it! This pairing is not going to work!
 

Spike

Subsidiary Intermediary
Staff member
#8
I promised I'd wait and see...I'm showing patience. It's hard to make long term adjustments on the road and essentially learn on the fly. How many practices has Martin had with the team while healing? Wasn't he essentially 'cleared' a day or so before the Sixers game?
 
#9
Its not going to work. You can give it as much time as you want, you can make every possible excuse under the sun, you can give it a decade but this backcourt will not work as it. The only way it works is if Martin becomes exclusivly a spot up shooter and suddenly discovers big hunger for defence.

You can bookmark it! This pairing is not going to work!
I think this backcourt can be excellent, but I am unwilling to place endgame judgments after 6 freaking games together.