No, Really, Does Kevin Martin Suck?

I felt a need to respond to the post on Sactown Royalty concerning the talents of Kevin Martin. While SR has been pretty sarcastic these days (I guess it's a way of coping), this post got me thinking. Does Kevin Martin actually suck?

Obviously, the short answer is no. But is he an elite player, or even a great player? Umm...I dunno.

Kevin Martin is a fantastic scorer. Faced up to the basket, his shot is very difficult to defend. But the question isn't whether or not Kevin Martin is an elite scorer (though that does factor into the equation).

The Sactown argument is that it isn't that Kevin Martin is bad, its that everyone around him is terrible. I mean, I get that. But if Kevin Martin was soooooooooooo good, why isn't he making the players around him better?

This is what makes an elite player. If Daniel "Boobie" Gibson (haha, boobie) were on any other team, he would be afterthought, a participant in the NBDL All-Star game. But Lebron attracts so much attention that Boobie (haha, I said it again), is left open all game long. Kevin Martin doesn't do that for players.

I also keep noticing a trend about Martin. He always starts out strong and then fades when the game is ending. I don't think that it is because he isn't clutch. I think that its that teams adjust their defenses and are able to contain him. I noticed it when I saw the Kings play the Nets a couple weeks ago. He starts off incredibly hot. Then the other team just pays more attention to him and he fades.

If Martin was a better ball handler this wouldn't an issue. Then he would be able to break defenses easier. But when he forced to make his own play, he just isn't good enough.

And that is the Kings problem. They don't have anyone else on the team to alleviate the pressure off of Martin. And Martin doesn't do enough to create space for Daniel Gibson types to hit open shots.

Martin is a fantastic player. But the Kings need someone else to get us out of the cellar. I nominate Quincy Douby (Don't worry, I slapped myself for saying that).