Kenyon Martin: Underrated Defender

Everybody knows about Kenyon Martin.

We know him for his jersey poppin' dunks, his attitude, and his often uncalled for technical fouls.

Every once in a while we will see him block a shot into the seats.

That's what Kenyon Martin does...as far as most are concerned. Those of us who watch him play on a regular basis know that he gives the Nuggets much more than that.

George Karl would certainly agree, "He [takes] responsibility, he [wants] the guy. I've seen coaches orchestrate [defenses], but I've never seen a player orchestrate [like] that."

According to Karl, Martin deserves consideration for the all-defensive team. I agree.

Not only does Martin guard the opposing teams best post player every night, he is a menace in the paint for EVERY player. This season, Kenyon has perfected the steal/block. Not the steal, not the block, but the steal/block.

It happens when Kenyon is getting backed down. He will appear to give up a step to the offensive player: they'll make a spin move, a drop step, or take a turnaround, but Kenyon always seems to know exactly what they are doing. As soon as they start to go up, he slaps the ball from their hands.

It happens all the time. And it's always clean.

This explains the career high 1.7 steals/game that Martin is averaging, but that stat is deceptively low. For every clean steal he makes, there are two or three deflections which disrupt the other team's offense and frustrate their bigs.

The Nuggets run to second place in the conference, in my opinion, was sparked by their victory over Boston just a few games after the Billups trade. Kenyon was in KG's head all game and he was a huge reason the Nugs got that win.

Denver's success has been due mostly to defense. Everyone knows that this was a skill that the Denver Nuggets were quite deficient in last year. So, in the absence of Marcus Camby, what is holding the Nuggets together on D?

Chris Andersen is the weak side shot blocker that Camby was, Nene is an anchor in the middle, Chauncey brings focus, but Kenyon is one of the most versatile defenders in the league, and, along with Nene (who gets his due for the most part), I give Kenyon the most credit.

Do you think I'm wrong? If you asked KG, Tim Duncan, Amare Stoudamire (seven steals against). I doubt they would disagree.