This is just not Iowa, but Kate Martin thrives within the Las Vegas highlight

Posted by enzo2go June 16, 2024

Kate Martin desires to make one thing clear: she is a punctual person.

The bus in Dallas that left her stranded within the car parking zone after a Las Vegas Aces team dinner? “They tricked me,” Martin says of her teammates' recent viral prank on the rookie. “Come on. I would never be late.”

“Coach (Becky Hammon) said she needed to talk to me, and then I talked to her — with no substance. I was really confused. I thought it was something important, and then they had it planned all along.”

To be fair, everyone on the Aces recognizes Martin's discipline. As Hammon says, “She just doesn't make mistakes.” That's one among the numerous reasons Las Vegas – the players, the coaches, the fans – have grown to like Martin a lot, because she continues to live the WNBA's best feel-good story.

A month into the season, Martin is averaging greater than 20 minutes per game for the two-time defending champions and is commonly Hammon's first sub, which makes it easy to forget how remarkable Martin's position is. In her five years at Iowa, when she was within the national highlight that was on Caitlin Clark, she averaged double-digit scoring once and was named All-Big Ten just this past season. Martin was an addition to a draft class filled with stars.

Towards the tip of her college profession, she talked about how much she enjoyed her last days in Iowa before “Just regular old Joe Schmo.” She didn't even have an agent through the WNBA Draft. She simply asked her Iowa coaches to discuss with some pro coaches and concluded that she can be chosen within the third round at best. Martin entered the draft to support Clark and had no plans to depart if or when she was chosen, since she hadn't been invited by the league and her name would likely be called late at night.

But Hammon and the Aces cared more about Martin than she knew. Whenever Hammon and her team watched the Iowa games, she said they thought, “Damn, we love that Kate Martin! Oh, she's so good, she's so solid.”

Those crossing signals eventually led to one among the high points of the draft, when producers asked Martin — who was sitting within the audience — to walk into her row's aisle at the tip of the primary round. She noticed the cameras closing in because the Aces chosen Syracuse's Dyaisha Fair with the sixteenth pick. Two picks later, it was Martin's turn to shake the hand of league commissioner Cathy Engelbert and walk across the stage on the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Even the indisputable fact that Martin was drafted was no guarantee that her WNBA profession would still achieve success. Between 2021 and 2023, only 13 of the 36 second-round picks made their team's opening roster, and a number of other of those players were released before the tip of the regular season. Martin joined a team in Las Vegas with a crowded roster in training camp and competing for few spots.

The week of the draft, Martin got help putting together the roster from her future teammate Kelsey Plum, who invited Martin to her Dawg Class on the last minute to arrange her for training camp. “We had an open spot and I was like, 'Kate Martin, definitely. Let's go,'” Plum said.

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When Martin arrived in Las Vegas, her work ethic – the Aces call it the “try hard factor” – and her intellect continued to outperform the competition. She hopes to work as a coach after her playing profession and has proven that talent along with her ability to learn terminology and plays. Hammon recalled one instance wherein she introduced a brand new, somewhat complicated play for out-of-bounds on the sideline. As her teammates were establishing the play on the court, Martin noticed from the sideline that they were lined up incorrectly and pointed it out to them.

“To be able to make these adjustments and give her opinion, she's just seen an ATO, but she understood conceptually what we were trying to do and then she was able to put the pieces together,” Hammon said. “So that's a great sign.”

It was also fortunate for Martin to land in Las Vegas, a spot where she never needs to be a star. The Aces need supporting casts to surround their quartet of superstars, and Martin was a standout at that position in college when she played alongside Clark. She sets good blocks, she moves the ball, she cuts hard to the basket and he or she makes open jumpers. Las Vegas won’t ever call a play for Martin, but she still knows find out how to impact games.

Martin credits Iowa coach Lisa Bluder for helping her read the sport. Bluder all the time said she didn't want to educate robots, and that forced Martin to develop her IQ and learn to make decisions without set plays. Hammon allows the Aces freedom on the court, which is a natural extension of the Hawkeyes' offense.

Martin cried when she learned she made the ultimate roster, however the Aces would have been terribly hurt without her in the primary quarter of the season. In her first WNBA game, Martin blocked 6-foot-4 Li Yueru from behind and hasn't looked back since. She has a 37 percent three-point percentage, a greater rate than any team within the league except the Minnesota Lynx. Las Vegas has 0.7 more points per 100 possessions along with her on the court than off it.

Hammon used Martin as a 3 or four-man in small-ball lineups, then began her at shooting guard against the Los Angeles Sparks. Against that player, she scored a career-high 13 points and made all three of her three-pointers.

Her first three nearly brought down the roof of Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, despite the fact that the Aces were the visiting team. Just like with the Hawkeyes, Martin is a fan favorite wherever she goes.

“Honestly, I didn't expect this,” Martin said. “I never expect anything, actually. I had no expectations when I came into the league, and I think that's what's been so much fun: I got a chance and made it to the best team in the world, and it's just been a lot of fun since then.”

Martin has loads of fans in her locker room, too. In Hammons' first two seasons as Las Vegas coach, she had her 4 rookies play a complete of 524 minutes. Martin had already logged 183 minutes before Thursday's game, the second-most playing time of Hammons' six rookies ever. A'ja Wilson loves Martin's energy and that she's all the time ready when her name known as; the two-time MVP continually instills confidence in Martin, encourages her to shoot and tries to motivate her each time possible. Plum calls her “an incredible sponge.” Martin has been in comparison with Alysha Clark as a “glue player,” and Clark has taken the 2024 draft pick under her wing.

The veterans may annoy her – just take a look at the Hello Kitty backpack Martin has to take with him when he travels – but she sees it as an indication of affection. After all, the day after her teammates tried to ditch her in a restaurant car parking zone was Martin's birthday and arguably one of the best player on the earth. got her a cake, a ribbon and a tiara.

It may not have been clear in the beginning of the season that Martin can be relied upon to this extent as Las Vegas looks for a 3rd straight win, but there's one thing to find out about this Aces rookie – she's ahead of schedule.



image credit : www.nytimes.com

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