Despite the fact that Rudy has been struggling lately, this is not a post meant to bash Rudy. In fact, it's far more about the Suns and Martell than it is about Rudy. The Suns basically announced last night that they know there is a matchup problem in their backcourt, Switching the impish Steve Nash onto Rudy is a crutch we need to kick out from underneath them.

There are basically three factors that play into why I believe Martell should start at two-guard instead of Rudy in this series:

1) Force the Suns to either guard Martell or Andre with Nash

2) Martell play of late, including his defense and rebounding

3) Rudy's play of late, including the amount of shots he's _not_ getting with the first unit

Having Nash match up with Andre is clearly something the Suns don't want to do, and Martell is not a post player, so they might be okay having Nash guard him. Where it will kill the Suns is rebounding. Martell is a willing and active rebounder. He also has the length to switch on defense and close on shooters better than Rudy does.

Martell has more head-slapping plays than Rudy, but has been playing with confidence lately and appears ready to step-up his contributions. Moving him into the starting lineup would likely be a huge boost to him.

Rudy is not getting many shots with the first unit, and would be the first option off the bench. He would also likely be going against players like Barbosa or Dragic, making it easier to find his shot.

If Martell started, his minutes would have to increase as he'd have to slide over to small forward to spell Batum when Rudy entered the game off the bench.

What do you think?