Great Point about Garnett on "The Big Show"

[CelticsPrideKG]

Listening to "The Big Show" on WEEI and they are making great points all-around about Kevin Garnett.

The single greatest reason the Lakers were favored all playoffs long were because Gasol was supposed to make the Lakers unstoppable.

Garnett has single handedly neutralized whoever he has covered on defense and boarded the basketball all series, while making things difficult for Kobe in the lane when he has been able to get there.

He had 3 blocks last game and he was the #1 reason this team was able to play the type of defense they did all year long.


It was good to hear some love for KG in the local Boston media.  I think this was a must-hear for a lot of the people hating on Garnett the past few days.

[silvershamrocker]

Listening to "The Big Show" on WEEI and they are making great points all-around about Kevin Garnett.

The single greatest reason the Lakers were favored all playoffs long were because Gasol was supposed to make the Lakers unstoppable.

Garnett has single handedly neutralized whoever he has covered on defense and boarded the basketball all series, while making things difficult for Kobe in the lane when he has been able to get there.

He had 3 blocks last game and he was the #1 reason this team was able to play the type of defense they did all year long.


It was good to hear some love for KG in the local Boston media.  I think this was a must-hear for a lot of the people hating on Garnett the past few days.

I must admit, I wanted to strangle him the other night because he took so many long 2's, but this is true. Even though KG wasn't scoring in game 3, he was still rebounding and playing good D. He has a value beyond just his shooting.

[RockinRyA]

i agree.. hes been ON defensively (other than the way downtown double team)

he should wear the sleeve though

[Eja117]

I think one of his biggest values on offense is that he takes a lot of the defense's attention and passes well to the open man. It is excellent he has the ability to shoot well all the way out to three point land, whether he overuses it or not, because it stretches the floor. He is obviously intense and that filters down, he took a pay cut to come here, and he defense is superb.  Even his ball handling is very good.  He's clearly a top 2 or three powerforward in the league at this time. There are very few players we could trade him for an still be where we are.

I think if I were to trade him for anyone it would only be Duncan, maybe D Howard, maybe Lebron, and like that's it.

[Big Ticket]

Unfortunately, as has been the case throughout his career, people always want more.  More, more, more. 

It's an interesting look into eras.  Bill Russell achieved legendary status despite never being a go-to offensive player... and that's totally fine, because it's a team game and he did a ton to help his team win.  KG plays a similar role, with more offensive success than Russell ever had, and about 95% of the media is criticizing him.  Just the way the game, media, fans, etc have changed over time.

[Zarex]

There's no question Garnett has played terrific defense.  But I was particularly impressed by Perkins' defense on Gasol in game three.  Pau could get nothing done down on the block when Perk had him in one on one coverage, and negated what was supposed to be a huge advantage for L.A.

[payjo]

Cue the cliche that "defense never slumps"...really though, I think I remember looking at the live box score midway through the 1st quarter of game 1 and he had like 6 or 8 boards. We definately take that for granted.

[RockinRyA]

i also think perk did well, and is proving to be a reliable post presence-that is if he can find a way to stay on the court

[paintitgreen]

I'm listening and I thought they were great points too, especially everybody reiterating what Grande said heading into the season - you have no idea how good he is until you watch him night in and night out. His defense is why he's a true number 1 player in this league. As I said in another topic, when Kobe or Lebron is off, they still get you 15-20 points because you can't totally shut them down. When KG (or Duncan) is off, they might only get you 10 points, but they're gonna give you great defense (KG seems to buckle down extra hard when his shot's not there) and double digit rebounds. And I love that phrase defense never slumps. That's KG.

I personally think Perk is having a very subpar series, but maybe it's just average. I was hoping for more from him after Detroit.

Let's take Game 4 - we are better than the Lakers.

[Eja117]

Unfortunately, as has been the case throughout his career, people always want more.  More, more, more. 

It's an interesting look into eras.  Bill Russell achieved legendary status despite never being a go-to offensive player... and that's totally fine, because it's a team game and he did a ton to help his team win.  KG plays a similar role, with more offensive success than Russell ever had, and about 95% of the media is criticizing him.  Just the way the game, media, fans, etc have changed over time.

TP cause that is an excellent point about Russel. If he played today there's a good chance Id be all over him. I'd be like "what the heck. He's huge, talented, highly paid. Just put the ball in the hoop".  On the other hand I think that talk might stop by the time he wins his 2nd championship let alone 9th

[drza44]

I'm glad to hear that someone said it publicly, as it needs to be said.  I just got done reading an ESPN article from this board's favorite writer with this sentence in it:

"The Celtics played a typical road game for them in the 2008 playoffs -- they shot terribly and got nothing from KG, only they hung around because of rebounding and defense and had a chance to steal the game in the final few minutes."

So let me get this straight...the Celtics were only in the game because of rebounding and defense, but the person that led the rebounding and defense contributed "nothing" to the effort?  That makes sense?

[Big Ticket]

"The Celtics played a typical road game for them in the 2008 playoffs -- they shot terribly and got nothing from KG, only they hung around because of rebounding and defense and had a chance to steal the game in the final few minutes."

I also caught that section... but because of who the author was, I mostly ignored it.

But on that note, I still wasn't too happy with KG's rebounding.  He only had 2 in the entire 2nd half.  Funny, he was like 1-11 with 10 boards in the 1st half, then "found his stroke" and went 5-10 in the 2nd half, but only grabbed 2 boards.

[BballTim]

Unfortunately, as has been the case throughout his career, people always want more.  More, more, more. 

It's an interesting look into eras.  Bill Russell achieved legendary status despite never being a go-to offensive player... and that's totally fine, because it's a team game and he did a ton to help his team win.  KG plays a similar role, with more offensive success than Russell ever had, and about 95% of the media is criticizing him.  Just the way the game, media, fans, etc have changed over time.

TP cause that is an excellent point about Russel. If he played today there's a good chance Id be all over him. I'd be like "what the heck. He's huge, talented, highly paid. Just put the ball in the hoop".  On the other hand I think that talk might stop by the time he wins his 2nd championship let alone 9th

  The talk would stop after his 2nd championship because it wasn't warranted in the first place.

[drza44]

Unfortunately, as has been the case throughout his career, people always want more.  More, more, more. 

It's an interesting look into eras.  Bill Russell achieved legendary status despite never being a go-to offensive player... and that's totally fine, because it's a team game and he did a ton to help his team win.  KG plays a similar role, with more offensive success than Russell ever had, and about 95% of the media is criticizing him.  Just the way the game, media, fans, etc have changed over time.

TP cause that is an excellent point about Russel. If he played today there's a good chance Id be all over him. I'd be like "what the heck. He's huge, talented, highly paid. Just put the ball in the hoop".  On the other hand I think that talk might stop by the time he wins his 2nd championship let alone 9th

  The talk would stop after his 2nd championship because it wasn't warranted in the first place.

Ultimately, that is the only way that KG can stop the talk as well.  If the Celtics win this title the talk will quiet a bit, though some will continue to criticize him.  They will say that the Lakers underachieved, or that KG was lucky to be able to play a second fiddle role and that all credit should really go to Pierce, or that even though he won a title he's still not a real superstar, or some other argument that's been made many times before. 

Honestly, though, I don't think KG (or any of the other Cs, for that matter) really care.  I'm sure it adds some pressure when you know that the majority of the basketball world doesn't think you can win a chip, but if they can get a title I don't think they care who gets the accolades or what the press has to say about it.  And that's where I'm at right now too...Cs win the chip this year, and I'm a happy man.

[cmoney]

Perkins is arguably a better post 1v1 defender than KG.  He's got a better body for it and he plays pretty intelligently on the ball.  He truly ate Gasol's soul in game 3.  He even showed some nice footwork when Gasol tried to spin baseline a few times.  Completely sealed it off.

Obviously he isn't in KG's league from a complete defensive standpoint, but he's a really nice rock to have alongside him.