Martin's numbers show considerable progress

The status quo would have been just fine.

It would have been validation for Kevin Martin, showing that the breakout season was no aberration and that he merited consideration in the upper class of the league's best scorers. But the Kings shooting guard took it further. Much further.

Martin, who came close to winning the league's Most Improved Player award in 2006-07, was amongthe league's most improved again. And as he sat out against New Orleans on Saturday because of a right knee strain that might cause him to rest until season's end, he could rest easy in knowing there was no fall-off.

"Kevin's development has been as good as anyone's because he already is at a high caliber of what he does," Kings coach Reggie Theus said. "It's nice to know that even though you're averaging 20-plus points a game, you can get better."

Much better.

In scoring alone, Martin's jump from 20.2 points per game to 23.7 took him from 19th in the league last season to sixth. In terms of scoring improvements, his increase from 2.9 points per game as a rookie to 23.7 ranks second all-time among players from their rookie campaigns to their fourth season. With an increase of 20.8, he trails only Derek Smith (21.3 from 1982 to 1986) and is ahead of World B. Free (20.5 from 1975 to 1979) and Tracy McGrady (19.8 from 1997 to 2001).

Offensively, much of Martin's progress has come in the last month. Having already mastered the art of drawing fouls, Martin - who leads the league in free throws made per game (8.2) - learned how to attack the rim in new ways that circumvented the increased defensive attention.

Theus has never been more satisfied with Martin than in the last month, as he has seen his star player grow more comfortable with the role of being a go-to guy. He has asked Martin to rely less on the old corner offensive action that was prevalent under former coach Rick Adelman, withmuch of Martin's production relying on the passing of center Brad Miller. Doing it on his own, Theus said, must be an option.

"You guys (reporters) have always said to me, 'Why do you always go to Ron (Artest on offense)?' " Theus said. "And it's because my other star is not that guy yet, and he's got to develop into that guy.

"The last three weeks or so to a month, Kevin has been paying so much more attention to scoring off of isolation, scoring coming off of picks so that if I run a set for him in the offense, he can catch it and go up with it.

"Ray Allen, Paul Pierce. With all the great ones in the league, you can run a set for him, and they line their guy up and score. That had not been (Martin's) role in the last couple of years."

Martin said his defense will be a major focus this offseason. As the coaching staff often tells him, he is reluctant to leave his man, and the team defense suffers as a result. With no one expecting him to be a defensive stopper, being a solid help defender remains the goal.

"A lot of times, you want to stay with your guy because he can get 20 (points) in a half," Martin said. "It's just about trusting (your teammates). I'm starting to trust more, and as you see lately, I've been in better defensive position."

Even if his season is over, Martin - who missed 17 games because of a groin strain - said there is definite progress for all involved.

"I feel like this season, with everything that went on with the (Mike Bibby) trade and the injuries, and inside the locker room we felt like a unit this year, was good," Martin said. "I'll always look at the stat about how we've finished (winning 11 of their last 18 games after losing 17 of their final 22 last season). I think that just tells you how guys wanted to play for each other. I think we did a tremendous job keeping us all together."

Read Sam Amick's Kings blog at www.sacbee.com/blogs.