I’ve seen enough of Martini thus far
- Thread starter SBP
- Start date
THIS is the issue with Pike. I have no doubt that this kid is a solid basketball player. But he cannot be priority number 1 in the portal. And no, that is not a NIL problem
I understand that. It’s December now. He’s either back, or not. He seems very slow for someone cleared to play.
I got crushed by some for not being a fan of picking up Martini to fill a roll as a big on this team. I started to buy some hype that he could be a veteran, smart, hustle guy that will knock down open threes. So far, it's played to my original thoughts, I hope it goes the other way, as we need a smart veteran presence on this team. Youth is winning out at end of game situations.
You know why he was the number #1 option? Right like had zero NIL. NIL comes mostly from the fanbase.
Right now it looks like he’s lost confidence. In those final minutes he was hesitant on offense … looked like he didn’t want the ball to find him.
Actually, I think Allocco was the main portal target.
Martini has struggled for sure, but even when playing well, his game is a bad fit for RU. Puzzling portal target for Pike. RU needed (and still needs) a good rebounder and tough post defender. Martini was neither at PU. He wants to play on the perimeter and shoot threes. As I said elsewhere, we would have been better off retaining Woolfolk, a 6-9” big who rebounds and is tough in the post. No one guy loses a game, but Martini made 3 bad plays down the stretch to tip the scales for A&M. A fifth year senior HAS to play much better!
Bruh, I would take Wolf over this iteration of Martini in a hot second
I don't want to pile on and I will give him more time but I was alarmed watching him against St Johns. He is not athletic enough. Now he might blend in better in the B1G because we are a less athletic league and more brute strength but he reminds me of the guy who is just not talented and tries really hard to pass and rebound but probably doesn't belong on the court. He has December to figure it out but him giving us nothing is not helping.
I'm having a hard time understanding what everyone was expecting. He is averaging 5.3 points on 50% shooting and is shooting 41% from three. He's also getting 2.6 rebounds per game in limited minutes. I saw his role as a leader and shooter. I would like him to get more involved when he is on the court but he is a role player and his role is to shoot and be a leader.
He's averaging 1.9 points and rebounds his last five games. Its also hard to be a leader in a small role, so he doesn't really provide that. I had low expectations for him, and he's struggling to reach those. I feel like we only occasionally even see the hustle plays I thought we could expect.
Martini has gotten to the point where he is not evening attempting to shoot 3s (or 2s for that matter). This is primarily because he is not open and does want to attempt contested shots. The comparison with his time at Princeton versus at RU is like comparing apples to oranges. This is because Pike’s offense is nothing like the “Princeton Offense” Martini use to play in where he often shot open uncontested 3s. The Princeton Offense was developed by Coach Pete Carril and is characterized by constant player movement, backdoor cuts, intricate screens, and a focus on disciplined teamwork. The Princeton Offense bears little semblance to the relatively static Pike Offense. Martini is simply a bad fit.
Princeton doesn't run anything close to the Pete Carrill offense of 20 years ago. It comes down to the speed of the game and opponents close out on shooters, a step or 2 quicker than at Princeton AND Princeton was one of the better teams in the Ivy....so it's not like he was at Dartmouth scoring points against some of the better Ivy League teams and was 1st team all Ivy League or even 2nd team.
The thing that also gets lost with fans and this NIL portal nonsense is that just because you raise tons of money, means very little.....you can pick the right player or spend the most money and get burned.
Fans wanted RU to spend almost 1M for former Kentucky Center Aaron Bradshaw, because he was from Camden and a McDonald's AA at Kentucky and Coach Calipari....well. he took the most money and went to Ohio State....he's now in legal trouble with an "off the field issue" and currently not playing for the Buckeyes.
Maybe some of these players will get on track and improve but playing Kennesaw, Alabama and Texas A&M are some of the quicker teams we have played and they're all away from the RAC. Maybe some players are just better players at home vs away.
It could be a situation where Martini (hopefully) bounces back vs Ohio State, which is a matchup that he should be more comfortable in.
Ohio State basketball star Aaron Bradshaw being investigated for ‘domestic incident’
The Buckeyes provided a cryptic update Friday about the Kentucky transfer’s status before the 104-60 win over Campbell.
nypost.com
Why is OSU a more comfortable match up for Martini Hawk?Princeton doesn't run anything close to the Pete Carrill offense of 20 years ago. It comes down to the speed of the game and opponents close out on shooters, a step or 2 quicker than at Princeton AND Princeton was one of the better teams in the Ivy....so it's not like he was at Dartmouth scoring points against some of the better Ivy League teams and was 1st team all Ivy League or even 2nd team.
The thing that also gets lost with fans and this NIL portal nonsense is that just because you raise tons of money, means very little.....you can pick the right player or spend the most money and get burned.
Fans wanted RU to spend almost 1M for former Kentucky Center Aaron Bradshaw, because he was from Camden and a McDonald's AA at Kentucky and Coach Calipari....well. he took the most money and went to Ohio State....he's now in legal trouble with an "off the field issue" and currently not playing for the Buckeyes.
Maybe some of these players will get on track and improve but playing Kennesaw, Alabama and Texas A&M are some of the quicker teams we have played and they're all away from the RAC. Maybe some players are just better players at home vs away.
It could be a situation where Martini (hopefully) bounces back vs Ohio State, which is a matchup that he should be more comfortable in.
Ohio State basketball star Aaron Bradshaw being investigated for ‘domestic incident’
The Buckeyes provided a cryptic update Friday about the Kentucky transfer’s status before the 104-60 win over Campbell.
He should catch it for sure. But that's not why we lost the game. A&M drove the lane at will with no resistance the entire 2nd half
Second year in a row we went after a guy that burned us and like Noah Fernandes, he does seem to be over his head. I expect he'll have a few good games like Noah did but he has been a disappointment especially on the boards. I guess this means we'll go get Bashir from Monmouth in the portal after this season. That kid can fill it up though.
I said this a couple months ago.
Not specifically addressing Martini but that in general, player acquisition based on "get that guy who killed us in one game" isn't a great strategy.
I wonder how Martini's game against Rutgers compares to most of his other games at Princeton.
Martini has to be able to hopefully take advantage of any minutes against Ohio State's youth, before the OSU younger players, start to figure things out.
Sean Stewart is OSUs starting PF and is a 5* transfer from Duke in the 2023 class. He has not played much at Duke and is still figuring out how to play at this level. Right now Stewart is averaging around 5 PPG in around 16 MPG.
If Martini is going to score, it's more likely to be against an inexperienced player who hasn't figured it out yet. Martini should be able to find some room vs Stewart.
If this game was in February, 3 months into the teeth of the schedule, it is more likely that Stewart is significantly better later this year vs early December.
If Martini struggles here against OSU who doesn't play with a lot of size, I would pull the plug early and throw Dylan Grant in there against Stewart. At least Stewart and Grant are both inexperienced, but Grant should be able to defend and rebound against Stewart.
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