Why Kevin Martin Is A Bad Fit for OKC's Bench

[cd021]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1389338-why-kevin-martin-isnt-the-right-fit-for-james-hardens-sixth-man-role

I know this topic has been covered a little so far but Bleacher Report has a good article explaining why Martin will have trouble fitting in Hardens role.

...Personally Martin & Hardens scoring talent aren't that far apart Harden is better off the dribble. Martin is probably better off ball (shooting off screens, spot up, cutting, etc.)

Harden is a better defender but Martin could be easily "hidden" in certain lineups by playing average SG's or ,most likely, SF's.

The biggest question mark i have about this trade is about OKC's inexperienced Bench. Deep Benches are for the most part irrelevant in the post season. but Aldrich was likely going to be the teams

backup Center, While that wasn't going to be a lot of minutes their because Collison basically plays both positions. They lost ( or let walk) Nazr Mohammed and replaced him by adding Thabeet &

drafting Perry Jones (who was may end up playing combo forward in the NBA). Thabeet aside from being the only top 10 pick to play in the D-League has little experience in the NBA despite playing

3 seasons. As for Dequan cook he was their only 3pt specialist he actually started about 10 games last season. He could be useful at times. Thabo is a mediocre shooter at best, though a fantastic

defender. If OKC's offense struggles it will likely be because zone defense, by packing Defenders in the paint and having someone playing Man to Man of Durant. OKC doesn't have consistent 3pt

shooters ,aside from Durant and Martin, or post scoring to off set this Cook could be useful in this situation. Anyway that was just my opinion feel free to call be a dumb-ass if you disagree.

[BatManu20]

He's playing really well for them so far actually..

[freetiago]

if durant and westbrook take the next step and become better playmakers instead of iso scorers then martin will be very valuable
people still dont realize the trade wasnt for martin
it for was lamb+ 2 lottery picks
brooks is too stupid to play lamb and pjIII for whatever reason

only reason spurs roleplayers are good is because ginobili/parker/duncan are good at getting players open looks and drawing help
durant has been trying to become a better playmaker which is evidenced by his turnovers hes been getting by passing a lot more
theyll figure it out eventually then their bench will become deadly and a guy like martin will easily get his efficient 20 a game

[phxspurfan]

Yeah Kevin Martin's line tonight against Chicago (so called great defensive squad lol) was scary, considering he just started with the team:

15 points on 3/5 shooting, 8/9 FTs
2 AST 2 TO 6 RB 1 Stl 30 Min

[jesterbobman]

Royce Young had a good point that Kevin Martin might be better as a 3rd banana next to Westbrook and Durant than Harden was, but Harden was far superior at leading the bench(Though, the bench will still be good with Nick Collison).

[DapDaGenius]

I think they are both better off where they are now. Harden has averaged around the same as Martin back when he was coming off of OKC's bench and when Martin was a starter for Houston. Now that they have switched, I see that they both are showing improvements.

Harden being a starter in Houston has almost doubled his point average from last year's, where he was coming off of the bench. He has increased Rebounds, Assists and Steals(and turnovers). While his actual shooting percentage has mainly stayed around the same(except for 3P%, which has fallen a bit).

While Martin, seems to be the opposite. Martin is still putting up around the same amount of points, rebounds, steals and assists that he did back when he was a starter, but you see that his percentages have improved while being on OKC's bench. This year so far, 95% FT, 61% 3P, and 51% FG.

Now of course this is just basing it off of the few games that have happened so far this season, but if they both continue what they have been doing, I'll have to respectfully disagree and say that they are both better off where they are now.

[Juanobili]

NBA forum please

[eric365]

One of their argument is that his FG% is higher when he plas big minutes :
10-19 minutes played: 33.0/16.9/75.6
20-29 minutes played: 42.1/34.6/86.0
30-39 minutes played: 45.2/39.8/86.7
40+ minutes played: 45.3/38.7/87.6

Isn't it true for any player ?
The coach won't keep you in the game as long as usual if you're really cold and will keep you longer if you're hot that night....

[thunderfan]

Martin has fit in exceptionally well with OKC. Like the other poster said, it's many people's opinion that Martin clearly fits in better with KD and Russell on the floor than Harden did. It's definitely a different look this year with the roster shakeup, but the lack of James Harden, at this point, is the least of anyone's concern in OKC. It's basically a matter of Westbrook deciding to lead the team as their point guard. Why the guy still continues to find a fairly contested 3 pointer 5 seconds into the shot clock a good shot just completely blows my mind.

[cd021]

One of their argument is that his FG% is higher when he plas big minutes :
10-19 minutes played: 33.0/16.9/75.6
20-29 minutes played: 42.1/34.6/86.0
30-39 minutes played: 45.2/39.8/86.7
40+ minutes played: 45.3/38.7/87.6

Isn't it true for any player ?
The coach won't keep you in the game as long as usual if you're really cold and will keep you longer if you're hot that night....

Not really. points Scoring would obviously improve the more you played. Percentages aren't nearly as misleading. His numbers are better across the board in every split that is shown thats actually really unusual. When he plays 40+ minutes he is playing against the opponents best players for most of the game but he shoots significantly better in that split than against 2nd units in the 10-19 minute range. I'm sure Ginobili actually shoots better in the 25 minute range than the 30+.

[cd021]

He's playing really well for them so far actually..

Just to be clear I actually like Kevin Martin's fit in OKC i just have questions about their 2nd unit, is all.

[cd021]

Martin has fit in exceptionally well with OKC. Like the other poster said, it's many people's opinion that Martin clearly fits in better with KD and Russell on the floor than Harden did. It's definitely a different look this year with the roster shakeup, but the lack of James Harden, at this point, is the least of anyone's concern in OKC. It's basically a matter of Westbrook deciding to lead the team as their point guard. Why the guy still continues to find a fairly contested 3 pointer 5 seconds into the shot clock a good shot just completely blows my mind.

He also lead the league in T.O's and isn't even a top 10 passer.