SAN ANTONIO — It may not be the season Hawks Talon envisioned, but one highlight has been the play of rookie Caesar “Ceez” Martinez.
In a league where point guards are a must-have, Hawks Talon have one of the most exciting up-and-coming playmakers at the position. His play this season has been eye-catching and Martinez is now in the running to make the 2021 NBA 2K League All-Rookie Team.
In this Q&A, we speak to the Talon’s guard about the season, possibly being named to the All-Rookie team and more.
Jeff Garcia: Talk about the team overall. It is probably not the way the season you wanted it to go. But when you look at the season so far, what were the highlights you take away from it?
Ceasar Martinez: One of the highlights I take away from it is just the way we performed in tip-off. I think we performed really well in it despite the way the point differential was in the tip off and we just took it over, I think we hooped. We're kind of disappointed that we lost, but at the end of the day we took it and we tried to build momentum for it for the regular season. Another one I say is my 50-point game. I think that's one of my biggest.
Garcia: Coming into this season and your beginning season, did you ever think that it'll shape up this way for you?
Martinez: Actually, I did not think it was going to happen. I thought I was just going to be one of those rookies that came in and just did his job to score like 20 points.
Garcia: Do you try not to let those kinds of accolades cloud your ultimate goal that is helping Hawks become a better team and get that title?
Martinez: Absolutely. Yeah, the all-rookie team is good and all, but at the end of the day, we're a team and we all have the same goal—to win tournaments and then win the championship. So if I get the all-rookie team, it means something, but it doesn't mean nothing to me, because as a person, I feel like I feel my team winning games and winning tournaments and winning championships.
And I tell them that all the time, I tell my coach and to all the players. I say it all the time I was like, "I don't care about no accolades. I don't care. I never cared about scoring."
Garcia: When you know that you're up for all-rookie team, is that acknowledgement for you that you belong?
Martinez: This is only just my beginning year. Yeah, there's rookies that have exceeded more, have won more games, but I feel like this is just the beginning for me.
I feel like in the coming years, you'll see me definitely in one of them MVP talks. And one of the most high-scoring players in the league. You'll definitely see me in one of those talks in the incoming years. But right now, as a rookie, I take this as a goal. I take this as an accomplishment. I played really good this season so far.
Garcia: How much has Coach Wes (Acuff) been for you in your development?
Martinez: Coach West is one of the best coaches I ever had. Literally, one of the best coaches I ever had. Coach West, he'll come out to me for the game.
He was like, "Man. You got this, man." He would kind of boost my confidence before the game and before I could hoop. And he was like, "Yo, you got this, man. I got trust in you. This is why I picked you. Everybody is overseeing you. But I picked you for a reason."
I've never had that in my life, as a coach. People boosted my confidence, telling me I got this. And he did a lot for us as a team. He got us bomber jackets. He does a lot for us as a coach. And I appreciate Wes 100%. One of the best coaches I ever had in my life.
San Antonio Spurs fans can check out Martinez and the rest of the Hawks Talon team by visiting their official team page.
Twitter: @JeffGSpursKENS5
