EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Despite calls from coaches and teammates to cool it after a fifth suspension for a flagrant foul, New Jersey Nets bad boy Kenyon Martin vowed not to change his physical game.

	Martin

Martin on Monday was suspended for two more games -- his sixth and seventh of the season -- for throwing an elbow at Shareef Abdur-Rahim of Atlanta on Sunday in the fourth quarter of the Nets' 116-102 win.

The length of this penalty was mandated because Martin had eight points from flagrant fouls.

Martin, who met with NBA officials last week to ask that the officials treat him like any other player, termed this flagrant call as bogus, noting his elbow hit Abdur-Rahim in the ribs, and not the chin as crew chief Dick Bavetta said after the game.

"I'm not changing the way I play. I'm not going to change," Martin said after practice on Monday. "I'm getting paid to play. I'm getting paid to play basketball.

"So why would I change? I'm not doing it on purpose," Martin insisted. "If I was doing the it on purpose, then it would be different. I'm not doing it on purpose."

Martin said the last two flagrants he received have happened during ordinary basketball plays.

"The same things I'm doing now, I was doing in college," Martin said. "The same moves I was making then, I'm making now. It's just a target on me now I guess. It is a little more obvious now than it was before."

Nets coach Byron Scott doesn't want his fiery power forward to change his game, certainly not with the Nets on the verge of their first playoff berth since 1997-98 and a regular-season titles in both the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference.

"You don't have to change the way you play," Scott said. "You have to change your attitude and what you do. He has to know and he has to understand. He has to focus on some of the things he does because they're watching so much. He's just not going to be allowed to do it."

The flagrant on Sunday night happened after Martin tried to back in on Abdur-Rahim in the lane. The ball came loose after he appeared to be fouled and Martin's elbow appeared to strike Abdur-Rahim.

After watching the replay, Scott insisted it wasn't a flagrant because Martin didn't hit Abdur-Rahim in the face.

"But even a foul like that, with him, right now, they're going to call a flagrant," said Scott, who was admittedly frustrated after the game because he has spoken to Martin several times about keeping his cool.

"After a while talk can be cheap," Scott said. "I don't know if it's tough love or not. I think Kenyon understands that the biggest thing he's doing right now is hurting us. He's hurting the team and that's not him. He's never been a selfish player."

It's debatable how much Martin is hurting the team. The Nets have a 5-1 record in the six games he has been suspended.

However, there is no doubt Martin is being singled out when there is any rough play.

"Everybody understands he is a marked man," said Nets All-Star point guard Jason Kidd. "He has to understand it, too."

Even opponents know it

"He made that mark for himself," said Hawks guard DerMarr Johnson, who played with Martin in college at Cincinnati. "He has obviously done some things. That's how he is.

"He is a tough guy and he is not going to back down from nothing," Johnson added. "He is intense. Now they are looking at everything he does, and he has to be careful."

Martin will miss Tuesday's rematch with the Hawks in Atlanta and Wednesday's game at Philadelphia.

The second-year pro, who was the No. 1 player taken overall in the 2000 NBA draft, has now been suspended for seven games this season. He will have lost $347,057.55 in combined salary and fines from flagrant fouls once this suspension is over.