Think about it. His leg has been injured all season, which means when he's not rehabbing, he's spent all his time doing nothing but practicing his jumpshot. And prior seasons, Roy and Aldridge were never this dominant. Both guys are going to draw even more double teams next year. And if Oden emerges as a consistent offensive force, who else but our boy Martell will be wide open? Unlike Travis, he's not just a in-rhythm shooter and doesn't jack up dumb shots. Unlike Batum and Rudy, he's not as streaky. My point is, it would be a terrible idea to trade him during the off-season before we see how well he mixes in with the rest of our guys. I still like him better than Travis.
I don't think he's supposed to be even shooting when he has a stress fracture. You HAVE to rest it. But I think he'll be great....probably a little more focused, stronger, more mature.
I agree that his shot should be even better, and that it'd be dumb to trade him before seeing how he works with the guys. However, I think it's important to point out how much better Outlaw has been since the all-star break. He isn't taking near as many dumb shots. Yeah, he's in a bit of a slump now, but his decision making seems like it's improved overall by leaps and bounds. Much fewer turnovers. Something's gotta give with Batum, Webster, and Outlaw if we do get a different backup PF to bang. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.
If he does blow up, then that would be great, but I don't think we've seen anything at all in his career to this point that would suggest he's about to have a breakout year. I guess we'll see.
It's neither dumb to trade him nor dumb to hold onto him. Both have their risks. If you trade him now, you risk him breaking out for another team. If you keep him and he doesn't break out, his value plummets. A shooting specialist who can't do anything else (and isn't even an amazing shooter) doesn't have trade value. Pritchard should be exploring Webster's value. If Webster has no real trade value right now, then sure, keep him and hope for the "breakout season" that Webster has never suggested though his play is coming. If another team likes his potential, then it's worth looking into a deal.
Martell has mostly been a one trick pony with his 3 point shot where he's a career 37% shooter. This year Portland has 5 players in their rotation who are shooting 37% or better from 3 including Batum. Nic is all of 20 years old and in his first year in the league... I can't think of any facet of the game he's not already at least as good at as MW and I'd figure his ceiling is a lot higher. Heres hoping Webster enjoys a healthy career from here on out, but I doubt he regains close to his last role in PDX without some injuries or trades. STOMP
Sorry, but those numbers are skewed. The team is a whole lot better this year, and because of Roy's improved play, Aldridge's emergence, Oden's arrival, and Nate improving as a coach, we're bound to get better looks. We were a .500 team last year, and we were lucky to be .500 thanks to the 13 game winning streak. If Webster was healthy, I don't doubt that he'd be a 40-42% shooter today. And don't forget that Martell gets to take a lot more threes than the other guys, so his % goes down because of that. Many games with Batum and Travis, they'll go 1 for 2 and that's considered .500 shooting and it inflates their true shooting percentages. If Blake and Travis have improved their 3 pt. shooting within the past year, there's no reason to believe Martell wouldn't have done the same if he'd been healthy. Simply put, his jumper is just the smoothest on the team (better than Roy) and he rarely shoots us out of ballgames like Travis or occasionally Blake. And the past year he's showed signs of improving as a wing player that is able to drive to the basket. Don't forget, Martell was a high schooler when we drafted him so his first few years of struggling was no surprise.
i sure wish the best for martell and hope he comes back like a terror. but what has anyone ever seen from him that would allow you to think he's going to be any sort of significant contributor next season? this guy had confidence issues just the same as Oden, but was actually healthy. add in all this time off and seeing his playing time dutifully assigned to Rudy, Batum and Outlaw. the chance is very slim. if these were the Blazers from a few years ago or a crummy team like SAC, MEM, etc., then yea it's within reason. but the Blazers are going full steam ahead without him now and i dont know how he'll fit in.
I don't get the Martell love affair. He was an average or below player on a bad team. Now, he's suddenly going to be an impact player on a very good team ... after a year off, no less? Makes no sense to me.
I still love Martell's potential. He has one of the sweetest looking strokes in the game, and I love his ability to run off screens, catch, and shoot. He's like Rudy, but with a body that can sustain the physical rigors of the NBA. I would love to hold onto him at least one more year and see how he does. [video=youtube;RMVXnJDBtnI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMVXnJDBtnI[/video]
You might be right about his numbers being skewed ... in the wrong direction. Martell was given ample minutes and opportunities when the pressure was lowest (in rebuilding mode) in his first 3 years and he basically put up the same low efficiency shooting numbers each year with marginal improvement in his third year. Just because other guys have been able to improve their shooting is no guarantee Martell will do the same. Frankly I worry more about Martell than other players like Travis because his confidence has always been so shaky (needed to hire a sports psychologist, frequently seemed to disappear during games, and for such a sweet stroke -- I mean picture perfect form -- he sure is mediocre at making them go through the hoop). Don't get me wrong, I think it would be fantastic if he could end up a reliable starter or backup moving forward, because that sure would make KP's and Nate's lives easier, but there's just nothing in any kind of fact based analysis of his career to this point that suggests he will be a starting quality wing on a playoff team or championship contender and was probably a massive reach at sixth overall in the draft.
I see little rhyme or reason here. Why does his 3 point % go down because he jacked it up more per game? Is that some truism that I've missed out on observing? Blake has been shooting well above MW's rate for years now and Travis has been shooting about the same % for a few seasons. Aesthetics of a jumper pales in importance to results of said jumper.... right? Did you buy 10,000 Martell rookie cards or are you a Blazer fan? I'd assume Blazer fans would hope for the best from all the guys, but would be pragmatic enough to want the guys who have done the best to get the minutes. STOMP
That's an interesting comparison. If you just look at the 2 side-by-side, Webster looks good. In reality, Rudy does everything Webster does, and a whole lot more. Something is just missing. BTW, remember when people were projecting Webster as a SG in the NBA? Yikes! Can you imagine if he had to actually *handle* the ball, rather than just catch-and-shoot!
Rudy is much more creative, both for himself and for other players. I wonder how long the legend of Martell Webster will last based on one amazing quarter. Yes, he was aggressive in that quarter, but he was basically on fire. He really didn't show anything new in that quarter...he just hit every shot he took, unless he was fouled. Which is great, but a fluke. Webster looks great...a long-ish, well-built athlete with a nice-looking shot. He's just not productive because he came in raw with nothing but a shot and didn't improve much at all in his first three seasons. He doesn't use whatever athleticism he has to any valuable end and for as pretty as his shot is, 37% from long-distance isn't all that amazing for a "pure shooter."
Martell is an amazing shooter. His ability to spread the other teams D will be a huge help for us in the future!
Martell shot 38.8% last year. Rudy has shot 39.1%. Martell is a better shooter, IMO, and is less streaky. I am a fan of his so hopefully he has a future on this team. It was fun watching those highlights again just to watch our offense when we had someone curling off picks for shots in rhythm. Unless it's a backdoor cut we don't really run off picks in our offense anymore.
You're right about Rudy being a more creative passer, but I think they're very similar in how they can move without the ball, spread the defense, and attack the rim. The biggest difference is that Martell isn't afraid to attack up the middle, nor is he afraid to take some contact while going to the rim. Rudy is just so small. He can't really afford to take it up the lane. His lobs are about the only time Rudy is willing to go to the rim in traffic. Other than that, Rudy pretty much only dunks on fast breaks. Webster, on the other hand, isn't afraid to put it on the floor and go hard at the time. [video=youtube;ypwZbLSd4bQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypwZbLSd4bQ[/video] [video=youtube;CH2bEwE6u1s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH2bEwE6u1s&feature=related[/video] [video=youtube;LaM1BNA_N20]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaM1BNA_N20&feature=related[/video]
Martell is also substantially bigger and a year and a half younger than Rudy. Rudy does a lot of things that Martell cannot do, especially in stealing the ball and working without it offensively, but Martell has a bigger frame and better tools to handle bigger/stronger small forwards. As for Webster: I hold out hope for him and I think that he will still emerge as a superior player to Travis Outlaw in a couple of years. Ed O.
I agree with this and would also like to point out that after the Blazers drafted Webster and got him into his weight training program they revised their projections of him. The last word I heard regarding Webster is that he would be a Glen Rice type of small forward. I would also like to point out that in that one pre=season game he played this season he and Rudy showed incredible cohesiveness together. Sure, it was only one game and against the Kings I believe, but they were playing off of each other really well. And Martell was attacking the hoop and had several dunks, not just a bunch of three pointers. I think with Batum and Oden starting next season, Webster Rudy and Travis will be enough offense to team with Joel and any PG on the second team. I think that can be a very dynamic second unit that can stretch the defense for drives to the hoop. It will also be a style change for the opponent to contend with vs. the plodding offense of our starting unit, though they are trying to push the tempo more.
First game of his career that he attacks the rim with consistency ... and next day he has a season-ending broken foot. Probably coincidental, but not exactly an encouraging sign going forward, for a guy looking to expand his repertoire.
