Kevin Martin Primed To Drop Buckets This Season
Kevin Martin (photo. Kelly Turso)
While watching the Kings/Knicks summer league game this weekend, one crazy thought crossed my mind: the Kings won’t be that bad this season. Overnight, Tyreke Evans is proving that he’s going to be a very tough matchup for Western Conference PGs with his 6-6 frame, Omri Casspi will be a solid contributor and Jason Thompson could be a breakout stat a la LaMarcus Aldridge. But although he wasn’t in the building, the piece that will complete the Kings was busy putting in work.
Although Kevin Martin averaged 24.6 points per game last year, he missed 31 games, so getting back to 100% was his main goal this summer. And when guys want to take their game to the next level in the offseason, more often than not guys look to the reigning NBA Finals MVP Kobe Bryant for inspiration.
The Lakers star has long been known for beginning his offseason workouts at 6 a.m., pushing himself to wake up when it’s dark and arrive at the gym long before anyone else. Martin pushed the schedule back a bit, starting at 6:30 a.m. four to five days a week for much of the summer while lifting weights four days a week as well. He arrives with two of his closest friends from his hometown of Zanesville, Ohio, then executes the workout routine provided by his personal coach, David Thorpe, before returning at night for another session.
“I just decided I was getting up early to see where my dedication was because we’re trying to turn this team around – the mentality on the team and the whole organization,” Martin said. “Turn the lights on and then turn them off, too. That’s what I’m doing this summer. It’s a lot tougher than what I thought it was.”
So while it will still remain to be seen whether or not the Kings will bring anything to the table this season, Martin is doing everything he can to make it happen.
Source: The Sacramento Bee
July 20th, 2009 at 9:54 am
Sambuu says:
is it possible to quietly average 30 ppg?
July 20th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Kobeef says:
Slow down there cowboy. Before you ride off into the championship sunset with the Kings, you need to remember:
1. Jason Thompson is no Lamarcus Aldridge. Aldridge is more like a Rasheed (without attitude), Thompson is more like Chris Wilcox
2. Tyreke will cause problems for other guards when he is trying to score, but he will also cause problems for the Kings, when other players should be scoring (lack of passing). I think the Kings accidentally drafted a backup for K-Mart.
3. When Spencer Hawes and Francisco Gracia make-up 2/3 of your starting frontcourt you should not expect many wins.
July 20th, 2009 at 10:21 am
karizmatic says:
I agree with @2 the Kings may not be that bad, but they aren’t going to be that good either.
July 20th, 2009 at 10:29 am
MoxWestCoastRep says:
Toss up- More likely to make the playoffs: Kings or Clipps?
I say Clips
July 20th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Celts Fan says:
@mox – not even close. It’s the clippers, but Sac is putting together some nice pieces to start marching back toward respectibility. Another solid draft and a few years to jell and get some exp under their belts and they could make some noise
July 20th, 2009 at 11:06 am
flavur says:
sacramento has nice pieces and its gonna take a about 2 to 3 yrs before they make the playoffs a la Blazer last year it was like a 3 yr process for those young guys to be ready added the attitude of B-roy helped so no one should expect to see the kings in the playoffs for a while cus if you say the kings are gonna make the playoffs I guess your saying that the thunder can make the playoffs also.
July 20th, 2009 at 11:15 am
capnkimo says:
@Sambuu – yeh I’ve seen this guy play and Im always surprised by his stat line at the end of the game. Guy doesnt have the aura of an all star
July 20th, 2009 at 11:16 am
Irishballer says:
@ 2
you could do a LOT worse than spencer hawes and francisco garcia…
HAWES
THOMPSON
GARCIA
MARTIN
TYREKE
OMRI CASSPI
a lot of potential… won’t make the playoffs tho
July 20th, 2009 at 11:33 am
control says:
So…this article is basically saying that a guy who makes millions of dollars to play basketball is going to play basketball and work out during the summer?
That’s like saying that Ellen is going to be an unfunny dyke between tapings of her show…
July 20th, 2009 at 11:38 am
King says:
The reason why teyreke Evans shoots so much is because he always was the best offensive option on most teams he was on. With Kev Martin kn the team that won’t be the case so we should see how that plays out before people start makin assumptions
July 20th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Michorizo says:
Tyreke Evans is going to be an All-Star for years to come. The guy has too much talent not to be one and he plays like he really loves hoop.
July 20th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Willis says:
@Kobeef
Dude normally I got your back, but you really don’t know about the Kings. For one, Nocioni is our starting 3, and Spencer Hawes can be pretty damn good. Kid owns Bynum, at least (not very hard.) Expect the Kings to be rising next season, win about 30-35 games while watching Thompson, Evans, Greene, Casspi, and Hawes improve drastically.
Tyreke is a 6′5″ PG. That is just the way it is. As for the concerns about him being a “true point” a la CP3 or Deron Williams, he isn’t. He is 6′ 5″. From what I have seen so far, he looks like Chauncey Billups out there with an ugly yet effective shot.
A better comparison for Thompson at this point would be a poor mans Amare. Hawes is really his own player, he can do everything out on the court. Check out some of his highlight reels on youtube before you say he is the guy that dooms us. I think after Martin, he has the best chance to become an all-star.
July 20th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Steve Gomez 10a-3p on Hot 104.7 Modesto, CA says:
@ Kobeef
Aron never said anything about a chip. He didn’t even mention the playoffs. Nobody is thinking the Kings will be a playoff team. They’re not. All he’s saying is that K-Mart is putting in the work to get better. a lot of players take the summer off.
And as far as your comparison of Shock to Chris Wilcox…I’m guessing your just ignorant. Because if you watched any Kings games last year you wouldn’t make that comparison. Shock is quicker and more athletic. Wilcox is better in the post but once Shock adds some muscle his post game wiil improve. Shock could be an all-star. I don’t think anyone has said that about Wilcox.
July 20th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
BRUCE says:
Tyreke cannot be an All-STAR PG. In the west, you have CP#, D-Will, Tony, Baron, and Nash just re-upped.
For the SG spot, Kobe and you can forget about it.
July 20th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
doc says:
They might be hard to beat at ARco this year but they aint playoff worthy yet.
July 20th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Leo says:
I’ll definitely be rooting for Martin and the Kings this season. I love all the young and motivated players willing to work hard for success.
July 20th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
BiG ShoT BoB says:
I agree with everything Steve Gomez and Willis said you can tell they really watch the Kings and don’t just make assumptions. @ Bruce the allstar game will look a lot different when Reke is in his prime and a lot of these older vets start to retire. Not to mention the fact that all the people you named get voted in Reke could make it as a coaches selection.
July 20th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Michorizo says:
I feel ya Bruce..but Tyreke is sick and I think he is going to find a way to become an all star in due time, regardless who is in the mix.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Mike S. says:
If the Kings can just play hard, be fun to watch, and win a fair amount it would be great. The last few years have been miserable to watch. Bad coaching compounded by dispirited players has been painfully apparent. It is hard on us fans who remembers the Kings kicking butt and taking names.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
the cynic says:
someone let me know when K-Mart learns to do something besides pump-fake drive or shoot a J.
It’s a battle between the kings and twolves(al jefferson won’t be ready for an NBA season) for worst team in the league
July 20th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
whatev says:
@4
I don’t know, the clippers have a good team on paper, but their still the clippers. Some freak accident is going to happen at one point or another.