Few things
- Kevin Garnett is no longer the best defensive PF in the game. That is Anderson Varejao.
- Shaq will not be starting as has been made clear by the Celtics announcement of Shaq agreeing to a contract and that he has agreed to coming off the bench for the first time in his career
- Just because KG and Shaq can be dominant for very short periods doesn't translate to 48 minutes of good things happening for the Boston Celtics. What has to be taken into consideration is what can be expected of them in the long term and on the average, not what they might be able to do once a week or once every two weeks for half a game or so. yes it will be entertaining watching them when they are "every bit as good once as they ever were" but all that gives us is a glimpse of what could have been once upon a time and not what we should expect to get regularly.
- KG playing 30 minutes and being healthy the whole year is good for the Celtics. Shaq playing 15-20 minutes a night as a back up center and staying healthy the entire year is a good thing for the Celtics. But let's keep our expectations of what to expect from these two former greats and future Hall of Famers grounded. Yes there will be night, probably few and far between when they amaze us but more realistically, they will be just to cogs in a greater machine that play their parts to make the whole better.
A few responses.
-Disagree whole-heartedly. Varejao, IMO, is similar to PF version of Perk. Very good defensive role player, can fit well into a system. KG, on the other hand, can still have the system built around him. And I think last year in the postseason we clearly saw the difference between the two.
-Shaq starting...I'm still in we'll see mode. I've been following the announcements as closely as anyone else, but I haven't heard Doc officially say that Shaq would be the back-up or that Jermaine will start.
-I disagree with your assessment of what KG and Shaq can do. I don't expect them to have a good game once per week or two then be bad else. I expect their baseline to be, much like KG/Perk has been, on average as good as any other frontline pairing in the league. The difference is, I think Shaq gives the potential for another gear that Perk can't reach. And that's the point of this thread. That the ceiling for this ballclub has been raised, possibly significantly, because I'm not as convinced that KG/Shaq can't still be special as most are.
-I agree that KG and Shaq staying health are important for the team. I don't agree that Shaq has to be the back-up, but if that's what Doc and crew come up with that's still fine because I think KG/Jermaine will be a strong group as well and we've already seen what KG/Perk can do if Perk is able to make it back this year. But I haven't seen anything in recent years to suggest that Shaq isn't capable of 25-30 minutes per game, and I think that the KG/Shaq pairing would yield the best team results. And I think that'll be made clear once the season begins.
I guess I just don't see what the purpose is in "grounding my expectations", when the whole purpose of the thread was for me to point out that I believe the currently held general expectations are too low.
Agree completely, TP.
And about these two, I think that KG will have better movement with the knee this year, and hopefully with our frontcourt depth, we can rest him more, if need be. As for Shaq, I hope he comes into camp in shape.
You give me those two, even at their current age, and I like what they bring to the table. An inside-outside game, great individual defense, and ability to pass out to the open man. Shaq's liabilities on defense will be masked by KG's elite team defense. Both can receive a pass from Rondo and put it up quickly.
Just two seasons ago, Shaq was an All-Star playing in a fast system. People are complaining that he will slow us down. He didn't slow Phoenix down all that much, and they are much more of a running team than we are. The key to his success there was Nash feeding him, Amare alongside him, and shooters around him. We can offer all of that, only better. I believe Rondo will be better this upcoming season than Nash was in '08-09. KG is better than Amare, and our wings are significantly better than the Suns'.
He probably won't get the playing time he got in Phoenix, which is fine. His raw numbers may not be the same (All-Star level production, but I do expect him to be as efficient. Cleveland wasn't a good fit and most knew it the day Cleveland traded for him.
KG struggled with more than just his athleticism last season. His jumper was very inconsistent, his hands weren't as good as usual, and his rebounding positioning was bad. Those are all mental things. I assume he had some confidence problems, between the injury itself and the lack of preparation in the offseason. A full year removed, he should go through his usual legendary summer workouts and be motivated after how bitter last season ended.
As long as these two are healthy, I see no reason to believe they can't dominate, especially with an excellent PG, the best three-point shooter in the game, and one of the best all-around players.
We
can start a team that within the past two seasons, all five played in the All-Star game. These guys aren't as washed up as some want to think.
Topic: Shaq and Garnett...I'll be the one to say it (Read 24492 times)