The Importance of Kenyon Martin
by BeefySwats on Dec 11, 2009 9:52 AM MST
29 comments
via thebasketballoracle.files.wordpress.com
The Nuggets are now 0-3 (losses to Miami, Charlotte and the Pistons) when Kenyon Martin is either injured as he was in the Miami game, or when he does not play.
Kenyon is averaging 10.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, with a somewhat surprisingly low PER of 12.8. He also provides a big body in the rotation with an ability to finish around the basket and incredibly strong hands. When he gets a defender in the post with the ball anywhere where he can stick a paw on it, it's not going anywhere. There are very few players in the league who can successfully rip the ball away from Kenyon.
More importantly, Kenyon is the defensive leader of this Nuggets squad. It seems so long ago when the Denver media and coaching staff were referring to Kenyon as a locker room cancer, or when Karl benched him for insubordination in the Clippers playoff series loss. No other player plays with the same defensive intensity that Kenyon does night in and night out, and when he's out, there are clearly problems on the defensive end for the Nuggets.
More after the jump.
Let's take a look at the Nuggets last three opponents and the final scores of the games.
- Miami Heat: Avg. PPG: 97.6 Final Score: 96-88 Heat
- Charlotte Bobcats: Avg. PPG: 90.3 Final Score: 107-95, Bobcats
- Detroit Pistons: Avg. PPG: 93.3 Final Score: 101-99 Pistons
The average PPG of these teams is a paltry 93.3. But when Kenyon is out, it jumps to an average of 101.3. That's EIGHT extra PPG, average, that the Nuggets give up to opponents when Kenyon is not playing or injured.
Witness the last two games for more indication of why Kenyon is so important. Carmelo scores 40, the Nuggets lose to the Pistons. Carmelo scores 34, the Nuggets lose to the Bobcats. Carmelo scores 14...the Nuggets win by 10 over Philly.
Scoring and expecting to ride Carmelo each night is not enough. Denver's defensive commitment is just not on the same level as when Kenyon is in the game. Not only that, but Denver is one of the worst rebounding teams in the league, grabbing just 41 per game and scooping up only .485% of total boards. If you're not going to rebound the ball, you BETTER be able to make shooters miss or alter their shots. In the above three losses, the Nuggets were out-rebounded each time by an average of seven:
- Miami Heat: 41-34, Miami
- Charlotte Bobcats: 43-35, Charlotte
- Detroit Pistons: 43-37, Pistons
Remember how many rebounds Kenyon averages per game? Seven.
That's seven additional opportunities for the Nuggets: a defensive board here, a chance at more points on the offensive end there - rebounding is critical to a teams offensive and defensive efficiency. You keep the other team from running the clock down an additional 24 seconds, chances at easy offensive points off the missed shot, and also provide opportunities to run the fast break.
The top of the table says that with Martin on the court, they are 1.4 points/100 possessions better on offense than when he is not on the court. They are also 4.6 pts/100 possession better on defense with him on the court.
Another way to say this is that with Martin, they outscore opponents by 9.6 pts/100 possessions; without Martin they outscore opponents by 3.6 pts/100 possessions.
The nitty gritty stats show that the defensive improvement with Martin is due to shooting from the field (opponents shoot -2% when facing Martin), fouls (Nugs commit 21 per 48 minutes with Martin, but 24 without Martin), and turnovers (Nugs force 1 more TO/48 minutes with Martin). Defensive rebounding is about the same with or without Martin.
To me, it's easy to see the importance of Kenyon Martin. Gone are the times when I thought that Kenyon Martin would never really be able to live up to his contract to this team. It's clear to me that Kenyon's ability to plug the holes of the Nuggets' defensive weaknesses is vital to this team's success.
Without Kenyon, we are lost.
Write respectfully of your SB Nation community and yourself.
0 recs |
29 comments
|
Email
Print
Comments
t-r-o-u-b-l-e
Without Kenyon, we are lost.
As I mentioned in the game summary thread, this spells big trouble for the Nuggets this year, as K-Mart is very injury-prone.
by ParkHillNative on Dec 11, 2009 10:42 AM MST reply actions
Nice post Beefy.
I am a big-time K-Mart fan as I’ve noted on here in some posts.
The biggest thing to me is that when Martin can’t play … nobody can replace what he brings. He’s one of a kind. I’m starting to look around the league and see some young no named bigs who are logging minutes and getting the job done. Denver has been unable to find anyone who can push Bird, Nene and K-Mart for minutes and that’s not a good thing.
Maybe Denver was very lucky to stumble upon Birdman, but they need to strike twice. Not only is having Kenyon out of the lineup bad because of what you mention above, but there is just nobody who can come close to replacing that kind of X-Factor.
Listening to the pregame radio show while driving home last night the guys mentioned that Mark Warkentien said Denver would like to add another big, but so would 28 other teams.
Odd stat: Heard Hastings mention during the Charlotte broadcast that the Bobcats averaged a lot higher point total when they win at home than the crappy 90 ppg … checking it out: 8 home wins and they average 101.3 ppg in those home wins this season.
Denver Stiffs.com: Defending the sovereignty of Nuggets Nation.
this
Listening to the pregame radio show while driving home last night the guys mentioned that Mark Warkentien said Denver would like to add another big, but so would 28 other teams.
Exactly. The Nuggets aren’t the Lakers. They can’t just go shopping and get whoever they want. Unfortunately I think they’re gonna have to make do with what they’ve already got. :(
by ParkHillNative on Dec 11, 2009 11:17 AM MST up reply actions
Or
There’s a shortage of bigs in this league to add. I’m sure you could get DJ Mbenga from the Lakers if you want. There aren’t many bigs in the league who aren’t pretty much franchise players, and most of them are young. No team is going to give them up because they’re either currently rebuilding around them (a la the Bucks or the Blazers, at least until the latest injury), or are still expecting to get something out of them for the rest of this year (a la the Celtics with Garnett and Sheed or Detroit with Ben Wallace). Besides you have little trade bait to get another big man unless you think someone is going to try their hand with Balkman, Allen, or Petro (thats assuming you’re not trading Martin, Nene or Birdman).
Great Post
As Nate says, your point only underscores the need for a fourth big that can actually play. Given age and injury history, we know that KMart, Nene, and Birdman will combine to miss some games. Probably won’t make a move until closer to the deadline, but they have to do something if they want to improve or even match last year.
preventive measure vs. crisis intervention
denver needs to make a move sooner rather then later. nuggets wait until things get desperate they will be forced to over pay for what they get.. a player that can rebound and defend in the paint for 10+ minutes per game.
pick up a calf every day pretty soon you will be picking up a cow
come to jesus
Nice post. I’m finally counting myself firmly among those who believe K-Mart is an integral piece of the Nuggets success. Love that second pic of K-Mart contesting, by the way. Nohoops4u is absolutely correct, we need another big now to spell our guys and keep them fresh down the stretch while hopefully better avoiding injury, too. Otherwise, we’re going to run into a lot of losses like these over the season.
by Artimus Mangilord on Dec 11, 2009 11:42 AM MST reply actions
davis lee
is the only one that i think would be a great fit here. we all talk about a need for a better rebounder but i thing we also need a scorer thats david lee a solid double/double player and if the FO really tried it probley could be done to get him. we are going to have more injuryies and with these terrible losses we really need to address this quick befor the trade deadline.
Problem is
It’s not likely for the Knicks to give Lee up for Peanuts. He’s a very quality player and quite underpaid for what he brings to the table. I doubt they’re going to take Balkman back for Lee.
Swats.
LOL
Love to see some love for Kmart. It is really funny that is takes him being out for people to realize how vital he is to the sucess of this team. Maybe Andrew can post Kmart on the Stiff List for his contract again next week. I have been in so many arguements on this site where I am trying to tell people how important this dude is because they want to move him for some dick head from another team. Love the love.
I thought K-Mart was our MVP in the Philly and SA wins . . .
Even though the love went to ’Melo & Lawson and then Billups and Lawson, I thought the games changed when Keyon raised the defensive pressure. People forget that basketball is not only about scoring but also about keeping your opponent from scoring. It no coincidence that Villenevue killed Birdman last night or that G. Wallace dominated the boards in Charlotte. But as many of us have said, we need another big.
Brandon Bass might be available for the right price . .how about Balkman/Allen for Bass and take Reddick off Orlando’s cap for a salary cap exemption . .works at to picking up 3M in extra salary x2, so 6M savings for Orlando and 6M cost for Denver. Gortat would be a better fit, but we don’t have the pieces to land him, Bass on the other hand hasn’t really played since Lewis came back.
by Frontrange on Dec 11, 2009 1:42 PM MST reply actions 1 recs
I really don't think it's going to happen
Or it would have already, before we let our big trade exception expire. As of now, I think Denver’s going to be stuck with the pieces they have for the remainder of the season and are going to have to learn to make do.
Swats.
I tend to agree but
The fact that team looks competitive but is still clearly short a big . .and Dec 15th is the date players such of Gortat and Bass become available means it is not completely outside the realm of possibility.
My guess is Stan is not willing to take on the salary, still if he thought it would add another round in the playoffs; maybe the math works then.
I agree
that we’re a lot worse off w/o K-Mart. The thing is, we shouldn’t be. The solution isn’t to pray that K-Mart stays healthy for the playoffs, it’s to get the rest of the team focused on playing defense for 48 minutes every night. If we have to rely on K-Mart for the rest of the season just to win games and contend for a championship, we’re sunk. Everyone else needs to step up as well.
by Agaliarept on Dec 11, 2009 1:44 PM MST reply actions 1 recs
True
But I think you are undervaluing Kmart. He’s an incredibly capable defender and has taken on the responsibility for leading the team on D. Sure, he’s only one of five, but leadership and the intangible qualities he brings to the team are irreplaceable.
Swats.
Well
I will honestly disagree with you about that first part. I definitely do not undervalue K-Mart by any stretch of the imagination. I believe he is the backbone of the entire team’s defense, one of the more underrated defenders in the league, and can defend multiple positions.
My point was more that the rest of the Nuggets are lacking. Regardless of whether or not K-Mart is playing, we should NOT be dropping games to the Bobcats and an injury-riddled Pistons team. If our defense completely falls apart without the presence of 1 player, not matter how amazing he may be, we are nowhere near contender status.
Sure, he’s only one of five, but leadership and the intangible qualities he brings to the team are irreplaceable.
That sounds exactly how we described Chauncey last season. And it showed how much worse we were before/without him. That really shouldn’t happen. Remove Kobe (hands down the best player in LA) from the team, they’re likely still a great team. Remove one of either KG/Pierce/Allen, same thing. And we’re talking about K-MART?! being out? I could imagine if we lost these games because Melo was out or something, and we just didn’t have the talent/skill to beat similarly-skilled teams, but it’s not as though we don’t have the physical skills needed to play defense, it’s all mental. Hard-work, motivation, and focus. And the blame needs to be placed on the shoulders of each and every Nugget, with the exception of K-Mart.
(Unless you wanna blame K-Mart for being so damn good at defense that the rest of the team slacks off. :P)
I think you give LA too much credit
Remove Pau Gasol and they are a first round exit team, as they were before they got him. Remove Kobe and I’m pretty sure they are lottery bound. As we saw in Memphis, Pau can’t exactly carry a team to the promise land on his own
Well,
Their team w/Artest now is still strong. The point was though, if we took K-Mart off the team and started losing regularly to teams like the Bobcats and the injury-riddled Pistons, we’re barely making the playoffs at best, while the Lakers w/o even the second best player still makes the playoffs?
True
But we know Artest and a big can’t exactly carry a team especially with the way the Lakers bench doesn’t play as consistently well as the Rockets bench did. Kobe’s instant offense and ability to draw defenders off of Gasol and Bynum makes the triangle work so much better. Without Kobe you don’t have to plan for anyone but the bigs down low and maybe Odom or Artest but not every game for those two since they’re both pretty inconsistent as first/second options. They’d be a great team on paper, but they would still be in the muddling middle of the western conference.
Nugs are better without Melo than without Kmart
Look at the records in the past. Speaks for itself.
Celts without KG
Kenyon is not near KG as a player but that’s what this team looks like when K-Mart is out. A pretty good team with big ego’s and a bunch of shit-talkers and nothing to back it up. It’s clear that Birdman/Nene are both bums without K-Mart, even Petro got some run last night. We need to figure out who Kenyon’s backup is and establish that. I think it should be Balkman, Karl apparently wants Graham, Petro is french. Bottom line we need to add one more big into the rotation so Kenyon isn’t relied on for so many minutes. The guy has a minor injury to non shooting pinkie and this happens? Fuck me.
K Mart
Is our teams best defensive player. When he not in the starting line up we are not that team that can crank up the defensive pressure anymore. I mean Birdman cant really guard bigs well, even though hes great at coming off the weak side to get blocks.
If the Nuggets could pull off a Balkman-Jordan trade
Wark would be the best GM the Nugs have ever had.
Swats.
Don't forget
We also lost to Atlanta without him so we are actually 0-4 without him and 0-5 when one of our big men goes down (Birdman vs. the Clippers).
So 2 of our losses (Mil and Min) are the only ones we lost at full strength.
I am not so worried right now because we do play well when we play a higher opponent, but those losses can come to bite us if we don’t pay attention NOW.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Denver Stiffs
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
DENVER STIFFS T-SHIRTS!
Enter your email for updates
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
