I miss Kenyon as much as any other Net fan, but he looks awful this year. His numbers are mediocre, with a career low in FT%. I first though it was Carmelo shooting too much, but it can't be this long. He is not worth that $93 million contract and I'm glad we didn't pay him.
Kenyon's legs are his main problem right now. He clearly doesnt have the lift on his shot or the athletism that he has had in the past. The easiest way to tell that, is all his shots are hitting front iron, no matter whether it is a perimeter jumpshot. Or that sweeping baby hook he does going thru the lane they all seem to never manage to get over the front of the rim. I dont know how long it will take him to get his legs back. Or if he ever will, seeing as Kenyon has had a long line of leg problems that stem back to his days at Cinny. But K-mart wont get things together until his legs comeback because everything he does even on the defense end with his lateral quickness moving his feet to stay infront of people and get up under them like he did in Jersey all depends on his legs, blocking shots, finishing plays around the basket etc. Dont get me wrong he is missing Jason Kidd, because for some reason Andre Miller doesnt seem to get Denver in an open court style like he did last year, which is probably why Kenyon felt comfortable with his move to Denver. But right now, I think Kenyon is missing his legs more then Jason.
Perhaps so, but he's been relying on his athleticism for way too long. He's 26, nearing 27 years old, he might be this athletic for four more season, but at the rate he's aiming at, it doesn't look good. He better find new ways of scoring and becoming a legit low post scorer. Secondly, I think his game has been exposed. It's one-dimensional, put backs and open dunks. His midrange jumper still hasn't come along, looks the same and his post moves are still limited to spin one place and throw up a wild, uncontrolled hook. It works but in the same token, it's not as good. HIs defense doesn't look as solid. He's getting far less blocks and his man defense has been a bit off. I love Kenyon and his intensity and miss his amping the crowd at CAA, but what has happened to him? Didn't he say he was worth the max? I'm glad we kept Jefferson instead of him.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Perhaps so, but he's been relying on his athleticism for way too long. He's 26, nearing 27 years old, he might be this athletic for four more season, but at the rate he's aiming at, it doesn't look good. He better find new ways of scoring and becoming a legit low post scorer. Secondly, I think his game has been exposed. It's one-dimensional, put backs and open dunks. His midrange jumper still hasn't come along, looks the same and his post moves are still limited to spin one place and throw up a wild, uncontrolled hook. It works but in the same token, it's not as good.</div> His mid range jumper is alot more solid then he shown this season, he simply doesnt have the elevation or lift on that jumpshot with his legs gone. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">HIs defense doesn't look as solid. He's getting far less blocks and his man defense has been a bit off. I love Kenyon and his intensity and miss his amping the crowd at CAA, but what has happened to him? Didn't he say he was worth the max? I'm glad we kept Jefferson instead of him.</div> I think that the defense as well has to do with the Knee as well. In college and at Jersey, he would get alot of blocks because he was a quick leaper. Like K-mart good get beat alot but still get back to recover and make a big defensive play because of his ablity to get off the ground extremely quickly. He doesnt have that right now. And I agree with you on the last statement Richard Jefferson is better as a franchise player. He can carry a team with the right parts around him. Now Jersey just has to get those parts. I think the Cavs did an excellent job setting up a team around him. New Jersey needs to flow that type of game plan, when building a team around Richard Jefferson, especially if Kidd leaves. The Cavs got him(Lebron) the young point guard, who doesnt need to take shots away from Lebron inorder to be effective. And can do alot of the little things to be effective, when they picked up Jeff McInnis. Then they got the athletic young power forward to do the dirty work. But also can make that mid-range shot...aka Drew Gooden, somebody if you remember I said the Nets should go after right after K-Mart walked. He is an up & down player but just imagine a 10 & 10 young guy basically on our front line to make the clean up work for Jefferson around the basket at the 4 spot. I love Zo but he isnt going to bring it on a consistent basis. And he wont be around for ever. And then they have the low post go to scorer & another bigbody who can step out on the floor to make the perimeter shot with Big Z. And then I think the most important thing they did was surround him with shooters. Guys like Jeff McInnis, Lucious Harris, Eric Snow in the mid-range area. And Luke Jackson is going to be another good shooter for that team, once he gets his feet wet in the league. I think the Cavs did a great job of surrounding Lebron with a buch of solid quality guys, without signing that one big name player, who may not fit well with him. You know that player who is a superstar himself, so may not except the role of being a 2nd fidle. And may clash with him & take away from Lebron being the dominate player for that team. And I think thats what the Nets have to do. They just have to find the magic touch fitting guys around RJ. And then I think Jefferson will only get better.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting DragonKid:</div><div class="quote_post">Maybe K-Mart has a bad situation because of his legs, but I don't think he can be a top PF.</div> No that top level of power forward is to high, if I was to break the power forward level down it would probably be something like this.... True Elite level 1a)Tim Duncan 1b) Kevin Garnett lower Elite level Jermaine Oneal Dirk Nowitzki High All-star Level Amare Stoudemire Carlos Boozer Mid-All star level Elton Brand Zach Randolph Low All-star level Pau Gasol Kenyon Martin Servicable level(good level can compete on a nightly basis but far from the Elites) Kurt Thomas Chris Bosh Drew Gooden ^ Their are levels below this and I know I miss some players but you get the point. Kenyon Martin isnt at the Elite level but look at the talent level in front of him and even behind him. The Power Forward position is the most talented positon in the NBA. So K-Mart might be on that 5 level but its only because of the talent in the league at the position. He is still an all-star caliber player when 100% healthy.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Henacy:</div><div class="quote_post">No that top level of power forward is to high, if I was to break the power forward level down it would probably be something like this.... True Elite level 1a)Tim Duncan 1b) Kevin Garnett lower Elite level Jermaine Oneal Dirk Nowitzki High All-star Level Amare Stoudemire Carlos Boozer Mid-All star level Elton Brand Zach Randolph Low All-star level Pau Gasol Kenyon Martin Servicable level(good level can compete on a nightly basis but far from the Elites) Kurt Thomas Chris Bosh Drew Gooden ^ Their are levels below this and I know I miss some players but you get the point. Kenyon Martin isnt at the Elite level but look at the talent level in front of him and even behind him. The Power Forward position is the most talented positon in the NBA. So K-Mart might be on that 5 level but its only because of the talent in the league at the position. He is still an all-star caliber player when 100% healthy.</div> How bout Lamar or youre supposing hes a SF?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TheNextJordan8:</div><div class="quote_post">Somewhat true but you have to think he doesnt have Kidd abymore and hes in the Western Conference.</div> The Nuggets have played Eastern Conference teams.
I'd place Martin over Randolph. Martin might not have the offensive game and is not as good a rebounder, but his defense makes up for all of that. Randolph's defense is atrocious. I don't see how he's not good when he has long arms and is relatively quick for his size. This is not to mention that Zach is shooting 43% for the year while Kenyon is shooting 46%. Both are poor for power forwards, but when it's all said and done, I'd take Kmart each time. He's a winner. Zach hasn't shown me that. This doesn't include all the off-court troubles this kid has.
The reason why Jersey didn't give K-Mart that max contract was because of the new owner Ratner who wanted to cut cost. If he didn't take that approach K-Mart would have stayed in NJ with that max contract... simple as that, not because NJ was smart and anyway K-Mart's production is worse than last season, but he's gelling and should be fine when the team starts to roll.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The reason why Jersey didn't give K-Mart that max contract was because of the new owner Ratner who wanted to cut cost. If he didn't take that approach K-Mart would have stayed in NJ with that max contract... simple as that, not because NJ was smart </div> Reports did not indicate that. Rod Thorn has repeatedly said that Martin was not worth the max contract he offered. Rod had offered a sizable extension for Martin but he wanted 30+ million more. Read the reports. Ratner has never said much about cost cutting, just cost efficiency. If he wanted to cut costs, Jefferson wouldn't have been extended. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">anyway K-Mart's production is worse than last season, but he's gelling and should be fine when the team starts to roll</div> It's what, 16 games into the season? Factor in training camp and preseason and you kind of wonder how long it'll take him to "roll". He has good games and a lot of mediocre games. Until he shows consistency, he's about 30 million dollars overpriced. Rod Thorn was right about him.
Yeah, Nextlevelgame, is right even Martin said that if the Nets would have came to him with a decent contract off, evben if it was less than what is was asking. And Denver was willing to give, he would have taken the Nets deal. But he said Thorn never really came to the table. Wish kind of switch the idea of it being a money situation to one that, it was probably more of a franchise decision to go with Jefferson as the future and let Martin walk. I seen some of Martin's game against Miami on Saturday. And even tho it didnt completely look like the Martin of old, it was one of his better performances in a Nuggets uniform. He looked extremely quick on D. And did a good job working the offensive boards. And he didnt force things like he did the game before against the Cavs. That was probably the 2nd best performance I seen of him this year. The 1st being against us lol, where he dismantled us effortously along with Marcus Camby, on both ends of the court.
