I know I said a lot of bad things about you, but these last 5 games you have been off unreal. You're shooting the ball with confidence, not forcing things, getting to open spots on the floor, and your shot looks the best I've ever seen it. You are finally letting the game come to you. Not to mention the defense you've been playing. I can't believe what I saw you do tonight against Kobe. You kept him from making the moves and getting to the spots he likes to, and many possessions it was just you and Kobe - no double team, and you were still winning more times than you lost. Not many guys do that. I can't believe I'm saying this, but this may be your coming out party. I've seen more mental toughness from you in the last week than in your previous 4/5 seaons - not afraid to take big shots late in games - that's not who you WERE!! I don't know what happened, but I think I finally believe.
You know what's weird? Even though according to the box-score he didn't shoot that great a percentage, watching the game live it felt like he was playing one of his best games yet. His defense and rebounding has been GREAT! His handling skills have improved dramatically, and dude is finally starting to take advantage of that athletic frame! PROPS MARTELL!
+1 Still want to see improvement on the offensive end, but loved the defense tonight. Sunday's game against Lebron should be fun to watch.
His defense on Kobe tonight was noting short of spectacular. I could care less if it made Sportscenter.
Hm. Nate told batum he was gonna start right? I thought I remember hearing that...if Martell keeps this up, sorry nic lol.
Did you see the 3 games he had before tonight? 14-28 from 3 Pt. 20+ points in 3 straight games for the 1st time in his career. Even Ray Allen goes 2-10 some nights.
When Webster started, he said he wanted to be like the Sonics' Ray Allen. McMillan said, I want to see defense. Ever since then, Webster has had a gleam in his eye for defense. Here's a guy his height. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/bruce_bowen/career_stats.html
Yeah, the last 5 games have been real eye-openers. I had some doubts that Webster would ever evolve into a real NBA player, but he is making huge strides right now. You can see his confidence growing every game, and it's a beautiful thing.
No doubt. Kobe pulled out all of his moves, he was giving his jukes and head fakes and ball fakes, and Martell stayed down for the most part and didn't bite. He made Kobe shoot over the top, which is all you can do with him and hope he goes 10-35 or something. Great game by Webster tonight.
loved it when his 3 got blocked, he got the ball back and attacked the rim, not thinking or lamenting about the block. then played great defense on the other end.
I love Martell, I love how he's played defense all season, but I will admit, he doesn't have to be on every night, but he goes through stretches of games where he is in the offense, and stretches where he's out of it. A game here and there isn't what bothers me. It's the prolonged periods of games. But he's incredibly young. I still think he'll only get more consistent. Maybe a Roy/Webster/Batum backcourt is plausible, with Batum and Roy sharing pg guarding duties.
His ball handeling has seemed to improve a little bit to where he can attack the rim (usually on a pass off of some sort), however, that is always a good thing! It is hard to believe he went 2-10 from 3 tonight because he seemed like he was doing better than that. If he could only be a much better ball handler and penetrate he would be another huge threat for us. His game has improved a lot that is fore sure and it all starts with confidence.
Ray Allen's nemesis, Bruce Bowen, hated by Sonic fans, is retired now. Hire him to do 1-on-1 and watch Webster's productivity go up. If we ever trade Webster, don't send him to Popovich.
This thread stole my intended thunder a bit. I waited for 5 games to make sure. Completely shoving defense aside for a second, the last 5 games: 40 mpg,19.2 ppg, 6.4 reb, A/TO 1.33/1 50% FG, 40% 3pt, 58% FT (blech) I'm afraid to start pimping him publicly b/c he'll get torched by LeBron now, but he's playing relatively consistently and playing relatively well. He's no all-star, but he's pretty darn serviceable right now. And he's in such good condition...high level of play even after playing 40 straight minutes against K*be. One of my more out there observations of the 3 years I've been posting is that I think Webster can be a pretty fun combination of Bowen and Reggie Miller. We don't need the Miller every night, and he really needs to up his percentages to get there, but his offensive game is leap years ahead of Bowen's. Fun +/- fact tonight....in 46 min of Webster playing team was +16. In the 2 minutes he was out....-7
I think I owe you an apology too Brian. We had a "debate" about a week ago or so about Martell. Then he goes out and has his best week (by far) as a pro. You were right, I was wrong.
Everyone down to Dante Cunningham is psyched up when only 6-7 players play. When we have a full roster, Webster may revert to normal. This is why I say the bake philosophy will never boil water. Pritchard should make trades to consolidate the talent into a class system of 7-8 really good players and the rest scrubs. The top class will then play with more motivation, as desperately as the 7 guys do right now. Of course, you can say, what if we have injuries like now...
No apologies necessary. In fact, I'd almost rather have people still harp on the kid, but I don't worry about things like jinxes. I'm with you on consolidation. B/c other than a big and a younger PG I'm not sure we need a ton. If we even had one of Przy/Oden available, we'd be crushing.
Webster has played well the last week or so, but I still think Batum is a better overall player. As I said in the other Webster thread......Both are a lot better than Outlaw.
