This thread makes me laugh! I almost don't know how to comment on it without insulting Shooter, so let me just say that I'm in the camp that is not offended by four letter words, even if they are occasionally in caps! Too funny...
I do not really see any issue with the avatar as well, FWIW. If the avatar is really that distracting - there is always the option of turning avatars off. I think that the problem is correctly summarized by the Ferrengi Rules of Acquisition #47: "Never trust a man wearing a better suit than your own" Put an F word in your avatar Shooter and the world will look better to you.
Martell has been below average at most every facet of the game that counts as productive... check the stats/box scores if you need a reminder of what I meant by invisible. He's a mediocre defender on a good night but does a spot on Washington General impersonation on far too many others. He has a very poor handle for a swing man and can't create shots for himself let alone others... it's rare for him to get to the line. What he can do with some proficiency is stand in the corner waiting for the ball to be swung to him and make wide open 3's at a decent clip. Of course both Batum and Travis are filling this role and hitting the 3 ball at much better rates then Martell has ever posted. Here's guessing with increased competition, Martell will be struggling with his confidence yet again. alrighty then. We've stated our views and are worlds apart. I'm looking forward to seeing this play out STOMP
You're one of those people that likes to perpetuate stereotypes, aren't you? Well, obviously Martell wasn't that great his first couple years, but from what I saw last year, and this preaseason...his defense has drastically improved and his overall energy level and court sense has improved ten-fold. Perhaps Rudy can show him a thing or two concerning running screens...
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/webstma02.html feel free to point out where the stats reflect these improvements you're referring to last year over the "not that great first couple years." dude played one pre-season game in a 29 point blowout of the Kings who were missing their two best players. Using that single preseason game as any sort of evidence for "improved defense" is pretty funny. My comments on his bad D was mostly based on what I saw out of him last year when he became a starter by default (if you recall James Jones was penciled in to be the starter but was injured) and Nate made comments early on that he hoped MW could become a defensive stopper. Though I'd have loved to, my eyes were not treated to seeing any of that sort of play. As the season went along, we saw that he was rarely in with the game on the line in the 4th. As the old saying goes, actions speak louder then words and obviously Nate wasn't seeing it either. KP was so taken by Martell's D that he openly pined for a defensive wing option throughout the season and then traded up for Batum in the draft siting his defense. 19 year old Batum has overwhelmingly been showered with praise for his D and court smarts by a vast majority of posters here. So siding with stats management & the local diehards, is it really me who is perpetuating false stereotypes? STOMP
