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Kings.com
If someone told you the Kings leading scorer, Kevin Martin, is still four years away from his prime, would you believe it?
It's hard to imagine that Martin, a player that may be unheralded around the country but who is highly respected by opposing coaches and players, could still be years away from his best days on the court. Especially seeing how rapidly he's grown in his four NBA seasons.
At least one person, other than Martin himself, sees Martin's future much brighter than it is today. And that's acknowledging that he is in fact a very good player already.
After his junior year at Western Carolina, Martin relinquished his Catamount uniform with his sights on the NBA. Before he was ready for draft day, however, he needed to work on his game and learn how to handle himself as a professional. Enter David Thorpe -- the Executive Director of the Pro Training Center at the IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla. and an NBA analyst for ESPN.com. Thorpe had been working with Martin since the summer of 2002 and was instrumental in helping him make the transition from Southern Conference stand-out to the League.
Thorpe, who still trains Martin in the off-season and meets with him periodically during the season, let Martin know right away he had grand visions for the player soon-to-be selected 26th in the 2004 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings.
Fortunately, Martin was already a gifted player and had a strong work ethic.
“We first have to inspire the players to want to accomplish something, and in the case of Kevin, the idea was to get him to want to be the best shooting guard on the planet,” Thorpe reflected recently, sitting in a lounge chair inside a Sacramento-area hotel.
“The second part of the equation is that anybody can say ‘I want to be great.’ That’s very easy," Thorpe said, giving a glimpse of his motivational coaching style. “The challenge is to get them to understand the workload that needs to parallel that dream and then also the citizenship (of being in the NBA) and how you, overall, carry yourself professionally.”
Fast-forward to this season, Martin is likely one less strained right groin away from being an All-Star and...
More.
“There’s so much more," Thorpe said. "I mean, he just turned 25 on the first [of February]. He’s got the body of a 22-year-old. I think he’s three to four years away, minimum, from his peak.”
Because some of the impressive stats Martin has put up aren't all that typical, recognizing how much he's improved can be confusing. As for his maturity into a 'professional' which Thorpe referenced, we'll get to that in a moment.
“You kind of can see from statistics he gets better every year even though guys like (ESPN.com's John) Hollinger aren’t projecting it. Because it’s almost unheard of for shooting guards to continue to shoot over 60 percent," Thorpe said.
“And he’s done it now three years in a row and he’s gotten better every year. His free throw numbers are going up (85.7 percent), his 3-point percentage is going up (40.9). His field goal percentage isn’t quite as high (44.4) as it has been in the past (48) because (when) you’ve got to create more shots (14.8), you get more last second shots (and) that number can get pulled down. But the other more real numbers are all way up, and that tells you that he’s improving as a player.”
Two of the 'real numbers' Thorpe is referring to are true shooting percentage and player efficiency rating.
Martin's true shooting percentage (60.5), which accounts for a player's overall shooting percentage -- field goal, 3-point and free throw -- makes him one of only two shooting guards in the NBA this season averaging more than 36 minutes per game and maintaining a TS percentage of more than 60. In fact, Martin is the only shooting guard to have held a TS percentage of more than 60 for three years running.
To further the point, Martin's averaging a career-best 22.6 points per game while shooting a highly-respectable 44.4 percent from the field, despite taking nearly 15 shots per game for the first time in his career. Which, by the way, is the fewest shot attempts taken in the NBA by a player who averages at least 22 points per game, other than Amare Stoudemire and Corey Maggette. All of this leads to Martin's career-high player efficiency rating (20.6).
“One thing that makes Kevin really good on offense is there aren't a lot of things you can take away from him. He’s comfortable going to Plan B, C, D, E," Thorpe said. "That’s part of being a real natural scorer, who is also very fundamentally sound. Not a lot of other guys can do that.”
Beyond the numbers, Martin has quietly grown into more than just a fun-loving shooting guard on the verge of becoming a superstar. His growth on the court is corresponding with his maturity off it.
At the time of his five-year contract extension announcement last summer, Martin showed that his preparation for being a pro had paid off. For more than seven minutes in front of a vast crowd, as cameras rolled and pictures flashed, Martin spoke of his thankfulness for the support and confidence Maloof Sports & Entertainment, namely the Maloof Family and Kings President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie, had in him to be a key to the team's future. He also thanked the Sacramento community and all of the Kings fans. Never before had Martin looked so confident and calm under the, could be, daunting spotlight. Martin understood the magnitude of the situation, being one of the first players of his draft class to sign a long term extension, and how much it would impact his future.
In basketball terms, he once again rose to the occasion and surpassed all expectations, just as he had done for three years on the ARCO Arena hardwood.
Just as he did when he arrived in California's capital, Martin continues to work tirelessly on his game. With Thorpe in town, the two shared an evening that consisted of breaking down film of two players. Martin and, a very familiar Kings rival, Kobe Bryant.
"I’m going to his house tonight and we’re going to watch Kobe’s game against the Raptors because Kobe is doing some things that I think Kevin can do,” Thorpe said matter-of-factly. "Kevin is a better shooter than some of the other guys we talk about. (Martin's) a really great shooter, so he shouldn’t just drive, drive and drive. We’re actually going to work on something today on getting in the post."
Martin has quietly developed into one of the game’s most efficient scorers, but on nights where you think to yourself, "He just scored 30, but he can do so much more..." Just know he feels the same way, and he won't stop working until he sees it through.
As for learning from Bryant, fans will finally have a chance to see the two scorers go head-to-head for the first of four meetings this season Tuesday.
