Another solid game from Webs last night, 15 pts on 6 for 10 shooting and 3 for 4 on 3's, in only 25 minutes, 4 rebs, 2 blocks, no TO's. Nice game, seven very solid games in a row now.
It feels like this is the best stretch of his career so far to me. What's surprising is that during this stretch he had back to back games where he was 2-10 and 2-9 on 3's. But they weren't BAD shots. And many of them were close (we've seen games where when Martell misses - their going off the side of the backboard, or airmailed, and his shooting mechanics/balance look awful) His mechanics look solid, his shots are coming within the flow of the offense, and he's making some big shots. The other night vs. Cleveland (for example) the shots weren't going down early, but he stayed with it and hit a couple of bombs in the 4th to help us come back and tie the game. I can't remember ever seeing Martell start off a game missing shots, then come back late (in crunch time) and knock down some big ones. It LOOKS like (and I don't want to get ahead of myself) Martell has finally won the mental battle out there. A shooters mentality HAS to be that even if you are 0-7, forget about the last shot (s) He's getting some pub for his defense too, which is probably helping his confidence. I never would have thought that Martell could shoot 2-10 on 3's in a game, and yet have this be called perhaps his best game as a pro (vs Kobe & the Lakers)
That is exactly why Nate shouldn't jerk players around. It's amazing what happens when you leave a player in and give them playing time. Look at OKC with Russel Westbrook. Jarryd Bayless was rated about the same as him on most draft boards in talent level if not higher. The difference? Westbrook was allowed to stew on the court and learn, and wasn't yanked in and out of the lineup like Bayless was. True enough, their team was in a slightly different situation, but I have to wonder where we would be if Nate had the gnards to play younger players, last year moving forward, instead of doing what he does now.
Well said and you once again highlight our looming problem as our guards and Batum return from injury/illness. Too many rotation changes likely and too few minutes for players who need them. We are going to have unhappy guys with a Roy/Bayless/Rudy/Blake/Miller all wanting and deserving of time and Batum can also play SG ot guard PG's if necessary. Oh yeah, KP are you there? we need a trade and PF/C long term need to be shored up IMO.
The thing that's really impressed me lately has been his ability to finish around the rim. Seems like every night he scores a couple of times on a give-and-go where he pulls off a crafty reverse layup. I don't think he even tried those kinds of shots before this year. This ability has kept him effective in the offense even when his three point shot isn't falling. His emergence is far and away the nicest surprise of this season for me.
Out of curiosity, for those that aren't quite sold on Webster turning the corner yet (and that's ok!)....what would it take for you to be convinced? Strong play like this till the All-Star break? Throughout the rest of the season? Hanging around the 10ppg, 4rpg threshold? Or the 18/6 with 50%FG and 41%3pt that he's been pulling off in January? Somewhere in between?
He'll never improve! I've seen him too much of him to know so! He takes the same shots! BLAHHHHHH!HH!H!H!H!H!HH!H! http://www.sportstwo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149057
Yeah, I agree about the PF/C, but the REAL decision KP needs to make comes this summer. Let us all pray that Adelman comes back to P-town. Adelman knows how to play with a stacked deck (Sacramento in the early oughts). Now if only we can keep the house (Stern) from always winning...
I've always been a Webster fan. I was hoping for more from him (driving more...), but considering he came from HS and had a season long injury I'm very pleased. He is an excellent complimentary player.
Not just seven straight, but basically an entire month. He's been in double figures 13 of the past 17 games, and had 4+ rebounds in 14 of 17, shooting 43% overall and 38% from 3, averaging 13 & 5 in that span. BTW, there are only 5 SF in the league averaging better than 12ppg, 4.5rpg, 42% FG & 37% 3P: 'Melo, Pierce, Deng, Gallinari & Casspi. It is nice getting that combination of scoring, range, and rebounding from the 3 spot, and for it to be accompanied by excellent defense is very rare indeed.
I wonder if there's a correlation between Webster's fantastic start to the year and the 18/5/8 that Miller's been putting up in the same time frame. Is it just coincidence, or is Miller's improved play helping Webster (or vice versa)?
You see he dropped the "ter" from the the name "Webster" thus getting "Webs". It is simple arithmetic, but I see the UofO fans don't do well with numbers
When Bayless is having a good game, he reminds me of our own Tony Parker, with a three point shot. Parker's first year, I thought he made a lot of mistakes and poor decisions. I can't imagine Nate giving young Parker as much leash and on the court training and Pop gave him. Honestly, I'd hate to be a young PG working for Nate. Or an 11-year veteran PG working for Nate, now that I think about it.
I very much agree that our young PGs should have been handled differently by Nate, but there is a BIG difference between OKC last year and us last year. We were winning, and were expected to continue to win. So many fans would bitch and moan (me probably included) if we had to sit there and watch Bayless make mistakes as we lost games that possibly meant we missed the playoffs or had a lower seed. Bayless has improved this year and can contribute without being a detriment most of the time. I don't know if he could have done that regularly last year.
I criticized Webster all year but he's making me eat a lot of crow lately. His jumper is falling, making smart plays, and playing awesome defense. Most importantly he's been consistent. Something he hasn't been his entire career up to this point.
And I stated there was a big difference between the two. I would have done it anyhow, because by end of year we would have been a better team because of it. Remember in the playoffs where Nate got desperate and threw Rudy into the starting lineup for the first time because the Rockets were clamping down on Roy and Aldridge and we needed a 3rd option? Why was that the very first time he was in the starting lineup? If they had just done it earlier in the year, we wouldn't have had the problem in the first place, and the last time you want to try something new in your starting lineup is halfway through a playoff series. Let it get cooked before taking it out of the oven.
I'm glad Martell is proving all the morons wrong that said "he doesn't belong in the NBA" or that he is never going to improve..Just because some players come out of HS and are immediately productive doesn't mean that those who take a few years to mature and learn the game aren't going to be solid players..I'm not going to dig and find all the ridiculous statements made about Webster because it is a waste of time...But for those of you who threw Martell under the bus and bashed him, I hope you can come to the realization that you really don't know much about basketball and that this kid is indeed a very important part of our success for this season and many to come.
