Charlotte Hornets do-it-all man Cody Martin has now officially played in more than twice the amount of games he played in last season - albeit only fifteen. He missed a grand total of 75 games a year ago and the first 26 games of this season recovering from quad and knee injuries.
Whenever a player misses a short period of time, it takes a few games for them to get back into the swings of things both mentally and physically. Missing 101 regular season games? That's a different beast.
Monday night, I asked Cody how he is holding up through the first fifteen games since returning and it doesn't appear that there are any concerns at this point in time.
"From a physical standpoint, I feel fine. From a rhythm standpoint, it's hard to get that," Martin said. "Guys go out with ankle injuries for two, three weeks and it's about rhythm for them getting back into the game. At the end of the day, I'm not making any excuses for myself. I got to play better. But it's not easy to do especially being out that long and feel like you're getting all of your live looks throughout the game. But I also take pride in what I bring to the table in terms of being able to adjust over the course of a game and the season. I'm going to continue to stay in the gym, keep working, and stay confident."
Due to the injuries of LaMelo Ball and Frank Ntilikina still working his way back, Martin was forced into point guard duties on Monday night against New York - something he hasn't done since his college days. He finished the night with 14 points, eight assists, and six rebounds but did have five turnovers. Not a bad stat line for a guy that hasn't played the position in quite some time and who is still trying to get back into rhythm.
Martin is a team-first guy and will do whatever is asked of him. Some nights he may be asked to run the point, while other nights he'll be in his more natural spot at the two or three. For a team that just lost its biggest leader, Terry Rozier, Martin can fill that void even if his stats don't necessarily jump off the page.
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