Deja vu all over again. Lakers rolling hot then the injury bug hits! Bynum hurt.

[WayOutWest]

Maybe.  But the spectacular difference in coverage is largely due to one thing--size of market.  Yeah it helps to be on a winning team, but lets not kid ourselves.  The larger markets and the glamour franchises will get more attention than the relative backwaters of the NBA.  It takes consistent and sustained winning and a long tradition for the smaller market teams to get covered--examples being Popovich's Spurs and Sloan's Jazz.  And even then, do people know more about the goings on of Paul Millsap and Matt Bonner, or more about Kwame Brown?

I see you STILL have the idiot switch turned ON!  

Oh wait, nevermind, I completely agree with you.  This is yet ANOTHER example/extension of the "star" calls some players in the league get on the court.  Playing on a "star" franchise also gets you more attention, being it Bynum love or Kwame hate.

Dwight Howard is a perfect example.  The man is a BEAST, has been since day 1, on a team leading it's division but he gets very little press compared to Bynum.  If they switched teams Howard would get DAILY ESPN/FOX/NBATV half hour comparrisons to Shaq and Wilt and would be hocking everything from Cambells soup to American Express while the dorky Bynum down in Orlando would be relegated to "The NBA Cares" commercials IF he was lucky.

[westkoast]

Maybe.  But the spectacular difference in coverage is largely due to one thing--size of market.  Yeah it helps to be on a winning team, but lets not kid ourselves.  The larger markets and the glamour franchises will get more attention than the relative backwaters of the NBA.  It takes consistent and sustained winning and a long tradition for the smaller market teams to get covered--examples being Popovich's Spurs and Sloan's Jazz.  And even then, do people know more about the goings on of Paul Millsap and Matt Bonner, or more about Kwame Brown?

I see you STILL have the idiot switch turned ON! 

Oh wait, nevermind, I completely agree with you.  This is yet ANOTHER example/extension of the "star" calls some players in the league get on the court.  Playing on a "star" franchise also gets you more attention, being it Bynum love or Kwame hate.

Dwight Howard is a perfect example.  The man is a BEAST, has been since day 1, on a team leading it's division but he gets very little press compared to Bynum.  If they switched teams Howard would get DAILY ESPN/FOX/NBATV half hour comparrisons to Shaq and Wilt and would be hocking everything from Cambells soup to American Express while the dorky Bynum down in Orlando would be relegated to "The NBA Cares" commercials IF he was lucky.

Clearly your dislike for being wrong about Bynum is clouding your head. 

In what world do you see Bynum getting more coverage then Dwight Howard?  Do you have a different NBA.com channel then I do on your tv?  Do you have a special version of TNT?  He is on EVERYONEs MVP list currently.  As the year started you couldn't help but hear Howard being brought up like crazy.  Even to the point where they say he is the best center in the league and will be forever. 

[Skandery]

Westkoast, you might have noticed it, but every single example I gave you.  The first player is playing on a team with a better record, having a better season (I was lazy and used Yahoo Rank as a scale), but playing in a smaller market.   You might have a point with Atlanta being a bigger market than Chicago, I have to ask some help looking that one up, but Chicago is DEFINTELY the more glamorous franchise and has been since Jordan.  I also happen to think that in every case the second player gets talked about to a much greater extent.  Now true that in some cases I gave you, the second player is or was a transcendant superstar (Kidd and Shaq) but their market also helps them.  You notice how superstars Duncan and, as WOW beautifully pointed out, Howard don't really have the 24-hour, round the clock coverage that a Kobe or a McGrady get.   So why would the better player on the better team not get as much coverage in all these cases.  Size, market, circulation, population, marketability.  How many newspapers are in LA, how many people around the country would say the Lakers are their favorite team.  Now how about the Bucks?  Don't take this to mean that I don't think Bynum is having a better year than Bogut, he is.  Also true that the Lakers are having a much better season, but does the statistical difference really warrant one guy being talked about as the second-coming, while the other is virtually, universally ignored.  Is the difference between them, strictly as players, really THAT huge?   

Paul Millsap and Matt Bonner are not starting players.  Do you think more people will know Paul Millsap in a few years as Kwame fades into loser land?  Yes.

Neither was Kwame until Bynum got hurt.

Tony Parker gets hyped up like crazy, over a lot of players better then he is, because his team is good.  Why having a good squad doesn't seem to factor in with you I am not quite sure.  You want to bring up the Jazz, who up until last year we're a very average team, got a BUNCH of press last year.  A bunch.

I completely agree and that is why in my post I used San Antonio (who have consistently remained an elite team for a over a decade) and Utah (who have the longest tenured coach in NBA basketball history) as small market teams that do get ample coverage.

How about the 2000-2001 Kings?

Adelman's Kings were a team that helped bring about the new age of open-flowing offense and fluid game that was as fun to watch as it was effective.  They were a gateway team from the bump 'em, bruise 'em style teams like the Bulls, the Knicks, the Heat, the Jazz, and the Rockets of the 90s to the run 'em, gun 'em teams like the Mavs, Suns, Nuggets, Wizards, and Nets of the 00s.  For that and having the most rabid fanbase in all of basketball for a nigh on a decade (only game in town after all) got them their coverage.

[westkoast]

So may it be possible that better teams get more coverage?  The Kings are a perfect example.  Sacramento is not a major market but they got a lot of coverage.  It did not take them years of being great to get the attention.  Literally within a few seasons they turned into a very fun and competitive franchise.  I am flat out saying "yes market size does make an impact" but you can only say "maybe teams playing better get more coverage" ? 

Kwame Brown was a starter all of last year and was going to be the starting center until he got hurt.  Luckily Bynum improved his game.  Everyone knows Kwame cuz he's a crappy player.  You are complaining about negative coverage now?   You want players on your team to be known for having the hands of a T-Rex?  Having a case of midget hand envy?

Some of the people you named don't even get 'coverage' like you are making it out to be.  We know Kobe and T-Mac get more coverage then Dwight Howard but that doesn't mean he is ignored.  Houston is not exactly a huge market compared to LA but they have two players being pushed about as hard as anyone by the NBA.    Cleveland is not a big market team either but they get a lot of coverage because of Lebron.  To me it sounds like big market doesn't automatically mean you get POSITIVE coverage in the media off the bat.  I think the Lakers in the second half of the season last year and the Clippers in general prove that.

[Skandery]

I am flat out saying "yes market size does make an impact" but you can only say "maybe teams playing better get more coverage" ?

Whoa there, there is no maybe about.  Teams playing better to get more coverage.  The Timberwolves were talked about a lot more when Garnett, Sprewell, and Cassell were carrying them to the best record than they are now, without a doubt.  As to whether between two identical players, the one on the better team gets the coverage, I said maybe.  Most times yes but not always and the size of the market they play in helps a great deal.

Everyone knows Kwame cuz he's a crappy player.  You are complaining about negative coverage now?

I'm not complaining just stating a fact.  I also never said all the coverage was positive but its coverage nonetheless.  How often do we need to be told Eddy Curry needs to improve his defense and his rebounding by the media.  I bet if he played in New Orleans or Memphis for his career instead of Chicago and New York, he wouldn't have had a quarter the coverage he has had. 

Cleveland is not a big market team either but they get a lot of coverage because of Lebron.

 

LeBron is a transcendant star, who has been the face of the NBA before he ever laced shoes up and stepped on the court.  Yet still, why is it we can't go 3 months without hearing again about he's bolting for a bigger market at the end of his contract. 

[JoMal]

How about the 2000-2001 Kings?

Adelman's Kings were a team that helped bring about the new age of open-flowing offense and fluid game that was as fun to watch as it was effective.  They were a gateway team from the bump 'em, bruise 'em style teams like the Bulls, the Knicks, the Heat, the Jazz, and the Rockets of the 90s to the run 'em, gun 'em teams like the Mavs, Suns, Nuggets, Wizards, and Nets of the 00s.  For that and having the most rabid fanbase in all of basketball for a nigh on a decade (only game in town after all) got them their coverage.

You are forgetting who was on that Kings' team as well. Chris Webber was a media delight, always quotable, dating famous beautiful women and challenging Garnett and Duncan for top power forward in the League. He was a personality that the media needed on a contending team. And do not forget the impact Vlade Divac had everywhere he went.

As for unsung players, I would put shooting guard Kevin Martin at the top of that list, Skandery. He is one of the most efficient scorers in the League and has been for two seasons, upping his average this year to around 25 points a game, but I doubt he will get top ten voting totals for the All Star game.  He is second in scoring for SG's in the League behind Kobe Bryant (27.4 to 24.9), but takes five fewer shots a game to accomplish it. He leads all shooting guards with free throw attemps (9.4) per game, made FT's (8.1), is second to Richard Hamilton in overall shooting percentage (49.8 to 47.3), and also is second to Hamilton in three point shooting percentage (47.1 to 41.4) but attempts twice as many per game. He also happens to be fifth in rebounding for shooting guards, with 4.6 per game.

But I doubt you will see Martin on an All Star team any time soon.

[WayOutWest]

But I doubt you will see Martin on an All Star team any time soon.

Geeze, I feel guilty cause I had no idea.  The only thing I knew about him is that his game allegedly suffers with Artest on the floor.  That news being reported has more to do with Artest's infamy (sic?) more than it has to do with the effects it has on Martin.

[Skandery]

As for unsung players, I would put shooting guard Kevin Martin at the top of that list, Skandery.

Trust me I love Kevin Martin and always have.  He's on my fantasy team, too. 

He just didn't quite fit the pattern I was going for.  I was looking for players who played the same position and the first player played in a smaller market, was having a better year, and their team was doing better record wise.  Now there are plenty of 2-guards playing in bigger markets being covered, having worst years than Kevin Martin.  Just not many on teams that had a worst record than Sacramento.  Like T-Mac, except Houston has a better record.  Or Vince Carter, but New Jersey actually had a half-game lead on Sacramento. 

I completely agree in that Kevin Martin would be a household name were he in one of the big-market, Marquee franchises.

[JoMal]

But I doubt you will see Martin on an All Star team any time soon.

Geeze, I feel guilty cause I had no idea.  The only thing I knew about him is that his game allegedly suffers with Artest on the floor.  That news being reported has more to do with Artest's infamy (sic?) more than it has to do with the effects it has on Martin.

According to Artest, that fountain of reliability, Martin actually likes to play with Ron.

The problem with Artest, and honestly, the more I see Ron play, the higher I evaluate his overall basketball abilities, is his penchant for shooting instead of passing. He does not shoot as well as at least six or seven of his teammates, but invariably when you look at the box score for games, Artest always seems to have taken the most shots. Martin, on the other hand, is scoring 25 points a game by taking less then 16 shots a game. Kevin has a knack for getting the shot and the one, or just getting the foul. He goes for scoring the basket AND getting the foul more then most other players I have watched. Mike Bibby, for instance, tends to drive the lane just for the foul call and not the basket and one. Kind of annoying, if you know what I mean.

Martin also tends to sneak up on you with his scoring. You don't notice him half the time, but then see at the end of the game he has 20 plus points and top scoring honors. He also is extremly shy and clearly uncomfortable in his roll as top team scorer, but not once he gets on the court. That changes to a look of confidence and a kind of snear after getting his shot and a foul call.

Overall, he is worth taking a look at if you get the chance. His quickness is his gift. He cuts around defenders pretty easily so they have to reach out and foul him.

[JoMal]

As for unsung players, I would put shooting guard Kevin Martin at the top of that list, Skandery.

Trust me I love Kevin Martin and always have.  He's on my fantasy team, too. 

He just didn't quite fit the pattern I was going for.  I was looking for players who played the same position and the first player played in a smaller market, was having a better year, and their team was doing better record wise.  Now there are plenty of 2-guards playing in bigger markets being covered, having worst years than Kevin Martin.  Just not many on teams that had a worst record than Sacramento.  Like T-Mac, except Houston has a better record.  Or Vince Carter, but New Jersey actually had a half-game lead on Sacramento. 

I completely agree in that Kevin Martin would be a household name were he in one of the big-market, Marquee franchises.

It should be interesting the next month or so, to see if Sacramento's record improves. Bibby, Artest, and Martin are all healthy and finally playing for the Kings together for the first time this year.

[Skandery]

Kevin has a knack for getting the shot and the one, or just getting the foul. He goes for scoring the basket AND getting the foul more then most other players I have watched. Mike Bibby, for instance, tends to drive the lane just for the foul call and not the basket and one. Kind of annoying, if you know what I mean.

Martin also tends to sneak up on you with his scoring. You don't notice him half the time, but then see at the end of the game he has 20 plus points and top scoring honors. He also is extremly shy and clearly uncomfortable in his roll as top team scorer, but not once he gets on the court. That changes to a look of confidence and a kind of snear after getting his shot and a foul call.

I've been up on Kevin Martin for quite a long time, now.  See this thread:

http://forums.phillyarena.net/index.php?topic=3371.0

His adjustment after contact and ability to finish is amazing.  In November of 2006 I called him the best offensive player on the Sacramento Kings, BY FAR . . . and nothing has changed since.  I do worry in that he is a rail thin  6' 7 (and not Tayshaun Prince-Reggie Miller idestructible rail thin, but Allan Houston-Sean Elliott rail thin), and players around the league have taken to fouling Kevin really hard to get him to drive less, he actually commented on it about a month or so ago.   


I'm also extremely biased in that I've never known a NBA player that more closely resembles my own game on the court. Even appearance wise is almost uncanny.      

[JoMal]

When the Kings drafted Kevin out of little known Western Carolina with the 26th pick of the 2004 draft, Kings' fans were left scratching their collective heads and asking "Who"?

Not since the Arco crowd booed the selection of Peja Stojakovic eight years earlier had Sacramento fans questioned the sanity of Geoff Petrie. We should have known better. Rail thin-looking now, you should have seen him then. he has since been hitting the gym and the weight room. While he never will likely bulk up to Charles Barkley measurements, he at least looks like he did not just turn 14. 

But boy was he shy!! Clearly not ready for the big stage of the NBA, if he could hide on the bench that first season, he surely would have. Then something wonderful happened. In two words, Pete Carill. Pete, that old Priinceton coach, saw something in Kevin's game that needed to be brought out, along with the confidence he could play with the big boys in the NBA. If you see opponents trying to knock Martin around a bit now, they are still thinking of the punky looking kid from early on. With Carill's constant help, Kevin figured out how he could best utilized his skills and contribute in the NBA. He actually counts on getting banged into once he comes into the paint. You can see he reacts to the contact more then it actually was - a bit like Vlade would do - only this is not true flopping, as Kevin never likes to leave any don't there was contact by going into the opponent as much as possible.

If you watch him work, his speed is terrrific, as is his hang time around the basket and his outside shooting. The only hope of the guys sorry enough to face him is the physical part because they have little hope of stopping him otherwise. The problem is that Martin now counts on them doing this and uses it.

Carill did one heck of a job with this guy.

[WayOutWest]

I'm also extremely biased in that I've never known a NBA player that more closely resembles my own game on the court. Even appearance wise is almost uncanny.      

Joe V has posted on this board that your game most closely resembles Greg Ostertag.  What gives, who is the BS er?

[Skandery]

Joe V has posted on this board that your game most closely resembles Greg Ostertag.  What gives, who is the BS er?

Big, slow, mostly un-coordinated bufoon trying to pass for a post player . . . You got it all wrong, Miguel, that's what Joe V and me know of YOUR game.   

[JoMal]

Joe V has posted on this board that your game most closely resembles Greg Ostertag.  What gives, who is the BS er?

Big, slow, mostly un-coordinated bufoon trying to pass for a post player . . . You got it all wrong, Miguel, that's what Joe V and me know of YOUR game.   

Least it doesn't follow my pedigree in playing basketball. Depending whether I went left or right on my drives to the basket meant either the hospital or the graveyard for opponents.