Role players offering big boosts to playoff hopefuls

	In 34 games as a starter this season, Kevin Martin has averaged 14.1 points and is shooting a robust 41.7 percent on three-pointers. Mitchell Layton/NBAE via Getty Images

My SI.com colleague Marty Burns recently took on the subject of the NBA's MVP race, which is one of the most wide-open in recent memory. So I'm going to take a different route and talk about a few players not even remotely in the MVP race -- in fact, they may not even be on your radar screen -- but who are having a huge impact on their respective teams.

Since it's getting near playoff time, I've excluded players who probably won't be around come spring, such as Trenton Hassell of the Minnesota Timberwolves, who has turned into an outstanding all-around player after being known primarily as a defensive stopper. By the time Minnesota gets done remaking its team in the offseason, Hassell and, of course, Kevin Garnett might be the only part of the nucleus that remains intact.

Since it's hard finding true off-the-radar players -- I'd love to include Caron Butler of the Washington Wizards, for example, but his profile is too high -- I'm going to leave this as a five-pack for the entire league. Here goes:

5. Kevin Martin, Sacramento Kings

It may be presumptuous to include a King, since Sacramento is still fighting just to get into the playoffs. But I'm almost positive the Kings are going to make it and probably climb as high as seventh. Martin is one of the reasons why. A second-year player out of Western Carolina, he is a lightning-quick all-purpose guard who can shoot (he's close to 50 percent from the field and goes about 85 percent from the line) and defend. Rookie swingman Francisco Garcia is another relatively unknown King, but Martin has been GM Geoff Petrie's real find.

4. Quinton Ross, Los Angeles Clippers

He scores only about five points a game, but he's a stopper who can defend against guards and forwards. He hits the boards, doesn't take shots he shouldn't take and plays hard. In other words, he's the kind of guy the Clippers have had far too few of over the last, oh, 20 years.

3. Fred Jones, Indiana Pacers

Rick Carlisle is known for having one of the league's most conservative offenses. But when Jones is on the floor -- and watch his minutes go up as the season goes on -- he's an almost unstoppable one-on-one player. My guess is that Indiana isn't going too far in the postseason, even if Jermaine O'Neal comes back. But when they figure out how to integrate O'Neal's postups, Peja Stojakovic's jumpers, rookie Danny Granger's all-around brilliance and Jones' hot-pepper offense, they have a chance to get back near the top of the East.

2. Adrian Griffin, Dallas Mavericks

The Mavs have a tradition of starting an anonymous "fifth" guy; Griffin has been that man during two stints with the Mavs, during the 2001-02 and '02-03 seasons and the current one. Teams often forget about him, but he is a formidable, wide-body postup player, a reliable short-range shooter and a tough defender, a perfect fit for Dallas' new muscular team personality.

1. Leandro Barbosa, Phoenix Suns

Just when you got finished learning the name of the Suns' French-born center-forward-guard Boris Diaw, you have to bone up on this Brazilian-born combo guard. All Barbosa is doing is leading the league in three-point percentage and blitzing up and down the court in the Suns' high-octane offense. Probably no one in the league is quicker with the ball, including Allen Iverson, than the Brazilian Blur. The Suns still worry when Steve Nash isn't on the floor, but Barbosa has made it easier.