I'm glad the Elbow got what was coming to him / KG's karate chop

[Surferdad]

I didn't like the KG foul.  Four minutes into the game, it's stupid to pick up your second foul on a play like that.  The game was still close, and after that play, the Magic went on a mini-run, led largely by Rashard Lewis (i.e., the guy KG should have been guarding).  Not to mention, that should have been a technical foul, as well.

We won, so it's all good.  However, we need KG's head to be in the game, and he was out of control at that moment.  There are ways to make your presence known without repeatedly karate chopping your opponent right in front of an official.  Like, for instance, the "accidental" elbow throw when coming down with a rebound.

In a word, KG needs to be smarter.  Intensity is good, but not when it hurts the team on the floor.

Roy, while I normally agree with you on most issues, and I do agree with you that the timing was poor in terms of when during the game it happened and KG already having a foul, in retrospect it was worth it because it sent a message to Howard, the refs KG's fellow teammates,the Magic as a team and the fans.

The message it sent to Howard was obvious: keep your bleeping hands off of me, or I will retaliate and the refs won't T me up for it (which they would have done to Perk, Sheed, Baby or any other Celtic except possibly Ray), and if they do, I don't care. I believe that KG was in total control of his emotions (as he often is when he's acting whacky) and calculatingly hit him both times, especially the second time when he didn't get called the first time. I believe that he was more than ready to accept the T if it came to send the message that we won't put up with this crap anymore.

The message it sent to the refs was, we're not going to take Howard's dirty play anymore, and if you don't take care of it, I'll take care of it, so go ahead, T me up, and given the furor after game 5, you don't have the sack to eject ME because of the crap that will rain down upon you from above (Stern, et al.)

The message it sent to his teammates was, OK, I will stand up to the Bully as the emotional leader of this team, consequences be [dang]ed. And the message it sent to the fans was, OK, we're not rolling over, so don't you.

Was it the classiest move KG could have done and an appropriate response to the hand check proportionally speaking and the best timing wise? Perhaps not, but it was effective and warranted given the totality of the circumstances and the mayhem done by Howard in the games leading up to this one. When you're playing a dirty player, if you want to survive you get dirty too.

Way to go KG. You used your status in the league to send a message without getting T'd. Someone needed to do it, and it could have been a lot worse given the climate epitomized in the Borges article. (intersting aside that Borges also writes about professional boxing)

I agree COMPLETELY!  KG's action were worth the foul, much like his technical he got previously.  I feel he was calling out the refs and the nba.  Make a point even if it is overdone so no one can ignore it.  Howard I feel is dirty, its ok to foul but he follows through.  KG is our leader through intensity and he did what needed to be done.
I appreciated Kurt Rambis' game but someone needed to fire up the celtics and McHale stepped up and nearly killed Rambis.

I for one was embarassed by KG's karate chops.  Unprofessional and uncalled for.  Since we all have only OPINIONS here and are not inside KG's head, I would say KG lost his cool and probably regrets his actions.  Now strictly from the perspective of game strategy, it was a huge gamble.  The refs could have thrown him out of the game.  If that happened, I can't see how "sending a message" is more important.

[mmbaby]

I love KG!!
The timing of it was perfect, IMO. At the beginning of the game is when Howard needed to be put in his place, refs too.
KG did the dirty for us, as nasty as it wass, it had to be done.
He wasn't going to stand for any other of our players getting hurt by Howard. He did it in a much more classy way than he could have. Howard would have permanently injured someone and has. KG made a point. He made a point to the refs, fans and the teams that he had had ENOUGH!!
I had had enough too and am proud of him for doing it without hurting Howard, which he could have done. It was real.

[Roy Hobbs]

For those saying "it sent a message":  did it work?

Did it stop the Magic from hitting our players, or cause them to play soft?

Dwight went for 20/10.  Pierce and Rondo got sent to the ground hard.  The Magic didn't fold.

In other words, KG's "message" wasn't received.  Rather, we won the game by playing better and clamping down on defense, and moving the ball and running on offense.  That had absolutely nothing to do with KG's mental error in picking up a stupid second foul.

[wdleehi]

That was one of the dumbest plays I have seen KG make.  


You don't do that.  He was lucky they only called a foul on him.  



KG has to much experience to do something that stupid.

[wdleehi]

If you want to make a message foul, take a guy out hard when going for a shot. 

[ACF]

After game 5, I thought it would be good to pull a Laimbeer on Howard. The Celtics probably felt so, too. But when things cooled down, they realized they just had to play their own game and the ECF were theirs for the taking. I guess the Magic wanted us to start getting mad, so we'd let up on D, get caught up in T's and lose our rhythm offensively. I am so glad we stuck to the game plan.

I am almost certain we won't see such displays from KG in The Finals. We can't afford another suspension for him. This is what I'd say to him: Be intense, KG. But be smart, too.

[bdm860]

I am almost certain we won't see such displays from KG in The Finals. We can't afford another suspension for him. This is what I'd say to him: Be intense, KG. But be smart, too.

I don't know man, especially if the Lakers make the Finals, KG and Artest - that's a lot of crazy on the court at once, anything is bound to happen there.

[Jeff]

I thought it was a stupid, stupid thing to do.  With the way the series was going, the refs might have ejected him for what was essentially a punch.  How he didn't even get a technical is beyond me.

I love KG's intensity, but stuff like that is just dumb, in my opinion.

[EJPLAYA]

For those saying "it sent a message":  did it work?

Did it stop the Magic from hitting our players, or cause them to play soft?

Dwight went for 20/10.  Pierce and Rondo got sent to the ground hard.  The Magic didn't fold.

In other words, KG's "message" wasn't received.  Rather, we won the game by playing better and clamping down on defense, and moving the ball and running on offense.  That had absolutely nothing to do with KG's mental error in picking up a stupid second foul.

As usual you are dead on with this Roy. Very immature play to make right in front of the refs. If he had just slapped his arm down that would be one thing, but the punches were ridiculous and he should have been T'd up. It accomplished nothing, made KG look immature and silly, and could have been a big deal in the game had it been close.

I also disagree with what he thought Dwight was doing. When he complained to the refs he was acting like Dwight was grabbing him and holding him down. Dwight rested his hand on KG, nothing more. KG was just looking for a reason to get nasty with Dwight. That would be well deserved in a lot of cases as I have lost all respect for Howard and think he is one of the dirtiest players in the NBA, but this wasn't an example of that.

[ACF]

I am almost certain we won't see such displays from KG in The Finals. We can't afford another suspension for him. This is what I'd say to him: Be intense, KG. But be smart, too.

I don't know man, especially if the Lakers make the Finals, KG and Artest - that's a lot of crazy on the court at once, anything is bound to happen there.

Well, I can't say I hope KG runs amok and I don't think he will. Odds will be higher on "Halftime Henny" throwing a fit, you know?    KG "just" has to play his D, grab boards and hit that jumper and we'll be fine.

[dmopower]

I liked it for a few reasons.
One when KG was with Minn he came against the Lakers in the west playoffs, and Karl malone and Shaq were holding KG the same way.
They were litteraly lifting him off of the ground when KG was trying to drive and nothing was ever called.
I believe sometimes you have to force the issue even if it cost you a T once in a while.
I was just glad that KD did it when the series still was revelant, to many times players let these things go for to long and when the series is all but lost they simply blow up and look foolish and get a rap of being a poor sport.
I firmly believe in forcing the hands of the imcompetent officiating crews that are refing these playoffs.
And reason number Two a hand check isnt and was never designed to allow stronger players to hold weaker players from advancing their bodies.
JMO.

[Brendan]

Well sure, in hindsight it was great.  But if we lost last night due to KG being in foul trouble, do you think fans would be celebrating the play so much?

if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, everyday would be christmas

[thebat]

Intentional or unintentional, elbowing is part of bastketball's physical play. That is a way or protecting the ball. Although it is illegal and very dangerous to swing it to someone else's face or body. But that is still basketball's physical play.

But a karate chop!? C'mon guys, we all know this is not baskteball!

I love KG, but it is crazy, un-classy for him to do that. And I hope he realized that and never again do anything even remotely close to a karate chop!!!

[LB3533]

I think KG needs to focus that intensity, channel that fuel into some other aspect of the game instead of trying to "make a point" or "send a message".

Grab some rebounds harder or swat some shots harder.

[drza44]

As someone else pointed out, there's no way for any of us to know exactly what was in KG's head at that moment since none of us are him.

That said.

That was absolutely, POSITIVELY something that he had planned to do before this game ever started.  That was absolutely, POSITIVELY a message that KG was sending to Howard and the Magic after all of Howard's elbows.  In fact, it was a continuation of what he'd started from before when he shoved Howard and got T'd up in game 4.

KG can seem to get carried away at times, but look when it happened.  4 minutes into the game?  He had absolutely come into the game planning to take advantage of the first chance he got to get physical with Dwight.  And frankly, the way he did it was just about the most controlled, least risky way to do it.  On a break-away the risk of injury on either side and/or flagrant 2 calls sky-rockets.  The NBA has shown consistently that the "accidental" elbows among players can lead to suspensions.  But I've never seen the NBA suspend for aiming at and connecting with an opponent's arms. 

Someone had to throw the bean-ball at Dwight.  And really, it had to be KG.  Perk is 1 T away from a suspension.  Baby and Sheed were both hurt.  Short of putting Shelden in as a hatchet man, which would have been pretty obvious, there was nobody else to send the message early.

And plus, in this series, KG's role wasn't to be "KG".  He wasn't called upon as a key scorer or offensive focal point.  His job was to remove Lewis from the game (making the Magic play 4-on-5 on offense) and anchor the D.  So if ever there was a time when KG could afford to be an enforcer, this was it.  Lewis doesn't draw fouls anyway, so the 2nd foul (even in fore-sight) was likely considered worth the risk.

Right or wrong, that was definitely a calculated move by Garnett.  That was the closest he could come to clothes-lining Howard that the current NBA would allow.  And I disagree that the message wasn't received...the Celtics bullied the Magic off the court in game 6.  They were the tougher team.  KG's chops set the tone, both the Celtics and the Magic got the message, and the Celtics took care of business.  On to LA.