<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Kenyon Martin is out of answers. Standing in the hallway outside the Nuggets locker room Wednesday night, Martin shook his head in disbelief after learning he would need arthroscopic surgery to remove loose cartilage in his right knee. The news came just hours after the power forward talked about being healthy again after a long recovery from microfracture surgery on his left knee in May 2005. "I need something. Rabbit's foot, something," Martin said. "I have no idea at this point what Kenyon needs to do to avoid stuff like this." A surgery date has not been set, and Martin said he has no idea how long he will be sidelined. He sat out the Nuggets' 109-107 loss to the New York Knicks on Wednesday night. "We're going to talk further (today)," he said. "It was just kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision. It happened quick. . . . I was expecting to play. I was taped and everything and then the doc came in and looked at me and told me I needed (a magnetic resonance imaging exam)." Arthroscopic knee surgery is common among athletes and typically requires a recovery of about two to four weeks. One Nuggets player said he expects Martin to miss more than a month because doctors might be concerned that an early return could affect Martin's left knee. Martin missed 26 games last season in the wake of microfracture surgery. "I grabbed him at halftime and said, 'Are you ever going to have any good luck?' " Nuggets coach George Karl said. The response? Silence. At least until after the game. "Gotta get it done," Martin said. "Gotta get it cleaned out and whatnot. I'm frustrated. I don't know what to say, man. I worked my (butt) off, and now I have to go through another one like this. . . . I ain't optimistic about surgeries." Pain-free for the first two games of the season, Martin averaged 9.5 points and 10 rebounds. He was replaced in the starting lineup by Eduardo Najera, who scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds in 25 minutes. Najera is one of nine big men the Nuggets have stockpiled on their roster. Reggie Evans, Linas Kleiza, Nene, Jamal Sampson and Joe Smith are reserves Karl can turn to as Denver tries to fill the void. "It's an unfortunate situation that you hate to see a teammate go through, but at the same time, this is where the depth helps," Smith said. Evans, who signed a five-year, $23 million contract in September, has yet to appear in any of the Nuggets' four games this season. He is one of the team's best rebounders and is doing his best to stay patient while sitting on the bench. "It gets harder, especially when you lose," Evans said. "I just have to stay positive. . . . That's all I can do. (Martin's injury) might make a difference; it might not make a difference. Just keep my head up and keep working hard."</div>Not good news for the Nuggets. Their offense will definately struggle with him out of the lineup.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CB4AllStar @ Nov 9 2006, 05:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Not good news for the Nuggets. Their offense will definately struggle with him out of the lineup.</div>Not really, I'm sure we can do without his lazy offensive production. He sits back and shoots jumpshots, I can live without that.Hopefully Karl gives Reggie Evans more minutes now. He is one of the best rebounders in the league off the bench, He plays solid defense, Just an overall hard worker. We play much better when Evans is on the floor.
But Martin can give you 13-15 a night. You guys will miss that. He is a great target for transition buckets, and a freak offensively. Your offense will struggle imo.
All that means is that Carmelo, JR, Nene, Camby, and others will get more shot attempts. Reggie Evans is a great energy guy to have on the floor. I honestly dont think Denver would hurt from not having Martin play. He is out enough anyways so im sure they have learned to play without him.
You still have depth at the 4 spot though. Now we are going to see more of Evans. Nene is getting the starting job but it doesn't surprise me that K-Mart is injured I new he would only play about 60-75 games this season anyway.
