Sam Mitchell might struggle to fix Kevin Martin's shot

By foxsports
Published

Kevin Martin's shooting form has never been such a problem for him. The Wolves instant-offense bench potency has been one of the better scorers in the NBA for years, even with that funky release he boats.

This year has been different, though. Martin is shooting just 37 percent from the field and 25 percent from three, both of which would easily be career lows. We're talking about a guy who is 44 percent from the field and 38 percent from range in his career, who has averaged north of 20 points per game six times since entering the NBA in 2004, including when he averaged exactly 20.0 last season. 

Martin has never been inefficient, and coach Sam Mitchell knows it's going to be a different kind of process getting him out of this shooting slump than it would be for another player in a similar role.

From Jerry Zgota of the Star Tribune:

Martin has this funky form where he starts from his left hip even though he's a right-handed player. He then cocks his arm up and releases as he's going out and up at the same time. It looks awkward, but it's been effective for years, so why should anyone have changed it? Obviously a small shooting slump doesn't warrant changing anyone's form (and it's nearly impossible to pull off that task during the season anyway), but Martin's unusual release probably does make him tougher to coach. Good luck, Sam Mitchell.

Martin shot 45.7 percent from the field in his first four games but just 33.9 percent in his past six after going 3-for-7 Wednesday and finishing with 12 points in 21 minutes.

“As a scorer all these years, I’ve been through slumps where after a couple of games, I dig myself out of it,” he said. “But I’ve never been in a slump where our GM [Milt Newton] is hitting me up, asking me about it. We’re all just waiting for the track record to kick in. We’re all stunned, I’m stunned. But I’ll get out of it.”

Wolves interim coach Sam Mitchell would help, but he doesn’t know where to start with a veteran whose shooting stroke is as unique to basketball as Jim Furyk’s swing is to golf.

“Like I tell him all the time, I wish I could tell him something, but he’s just got one of those shots,” said Mitchell, who played Martin for 23 minutes Tuesday at Miami for his defensive effort and not his 2-for-11 shooting. “I wouldn’t even dare try telling him what to do. He’s unlike anybody I’ve ever seen.”