As has been said many times in the past, winning hides many sins. This can be said for the Atlanta Hawks G League affiliate team the College Park Skyhawks. They just completed a series sweep of the Long Island Nets but there were a few cracks in the armor.
Tyrese Martin was always going to play with the G League affiliate this season as he was not even guaranteed a full contract until he shone in summer league. Even after he signed the deal, Martin knew that there was still a massive amount of work in front of him.
The second-round pick has played some NBA minutes but when the G League kicked off, the Skyhawks used Martin off the bench, rather than starting him. This is a sign that there is a massive amount of development required of the rookie in order for him to make it into the varsity squads rotations.
Atlanta Hawks rookie Tyrese Martin needs to work on his stroke.
In the first game of the G League season, Martin was the second most impactful player on the court per his plus-35 impact on the box score. He had 11 points, six rebounds, four steals, and three assists in 28 minutes.
The problem was that Martin went 5-of-5 from the floor and 0-of-4 from beyond the arc. While his defense was impressive, he needs to score at a high level in the G League if there is any hope of a recall to the Atlanta Hawks varsity squad.
Martin then put in an even worse shooting performance in the second game of the series. Luckily the Skyhawks were able to prevail but Martin collected three points on 1-of-8 shooting, including 1-of-3 from beyond the arc.
He did not have the same on-court performance, and this was reflected in his playing time. He did collect five rebounds and a block to go along with his three points but only saw the court for 16 minutes. He needs to show more if he is going to start for the Skyhawks which, hopefully, will lead to a recall to the Atlanta Hawks.