Alvin Gentry has "lost respect" for KG

[Roy H.]

People are assuming that KG's intent was malicious. From what I saw, his eyes were on the ball all the time...the basketball ofcourse.

His intent might be debatable, I guess. But it's just sad at times how much flak KG gets from his own team fans.

I guess at some point, some fans are just less willing to give KG the benefit of the doubt.  Personally, I don't have a huge issue with most of the stuff KG does.  He's a bully, and probably a little classless, but he's "our" classless bully.

Since he's been here, the only two things I really disliked from KG were the elbow / punch against the Heat, which got him suspended for a playoff game; and last year, when he called out the fans.  That said, reasonable minds can disagree. 

If people think KG is intentionally trying to injure players, though, that's a pretty serious thing.  Hopefully it's not happening, and if it is, I hope it stops.

[angryguy77]

At some point, even the most ardent Garnett defender can't...Or shouldn't defend this crap.

I personally can't stand people criticizing KG or any Celtics player for trash talk etc...but I understand not everyone feels that way. Having said that...I find it a little hypocritical on your part for saying this. I mean, you've defended Kobe against the rape allegations on this blog quite a few times...so, you find that okay..but a possible inadvertent tap in that anatomical region is something that ticks you off?

Use the same measuring stick to judge all players if you are going to judge them at all.

To defend Finkel, there's a pretty big difference between not believing allegations that happened behind closed doors, and judging something based upon what he viewed with his own eyes.  There's a level of conjecture involved in both, but in the latter instance it's easier to make a judgment.

People are assuming that KG's intent was malicious. From what I saw, his eyes were on the ball all the time...the basketball ofcourse.

His intent might be debatable, I guess. But it's just sad at times how much flak KG gets from his own team fans.

i agree with this.

I said earlier that it was a tap more than anything. Frye buckled and sold it.

Anyone really think that if you get hit hard enough in the groin to make you buckle, you can just bounce up like Frye did?

 There is no way in hell that anyone can look and say without a doubt he stuck his foot out on purpose. He's been in the league a long time, i think we would have seen a trend by now.

[Roy H.]

Anyone really think that if you get hit hard enough in the groin to make you buckle, you can just bounce up like Frye did?

I'm going to disagree with you there.  Unfortunately, I've taken my share of hits to the groin, and even minor contact can be immensely painful.  With the more minor hits, though, often the pain wears off fairly quickly.

It could be an acting job, but I'm surprised by all the "it was only a tap, it couldn't have hurt that much" posts I've seen about the incident.  Taps can hurt plenty if there's square contact.

[fairweatherfan]

Anyone really think that if you get hit hard enough in the groin to make you buckle, you can just bounce up like Frye did?

I do - I grew up playing against country boys, some of whom were fond of taking shots that were pretty much identical to what KG did.  Without getting too anatomically graphic, a shot to the testicles will keep you down for a minute, but there's another area in the general region that hurts nearly as bad but wears off much quicker.  That's what I think happened there.

[Finkelskyhook]

At some point, even the most ardent Garnett defender can't...Or shouldn't defend this crap.

I personally can't stand people criticizing KG or any Celtics player for trash talk etc...but I understand not everyone feels that way. Having said that...I find it a little hypocritical on your part for saying this. I mean, you've defended Kobe against the rape allegations on this blog quite a few times...so, you find that okay..but a possible inadvertent tap in that anatomical region is something that ticks you off?

Use the same measuring stick to judge all players if you are going to judge them at all.

Big difference between an allegation and an obvious dirty play.

It's not merely an allegation...I'm sure you've read the statement he issued after he settled that case. Besides, you wouldn't have given the "Messiah" a pass if he had been accused of so much as giving another woman a dirty look.

Like I said, use the same measuring stick if you are going to judge a player at all.

You obviously don't know me very well.  I don't know a thing about the messiah beyond his own public narcissism.  I could care less.  I think the stuff said in this blog about Delonte and the messiah's mother was sickening.  These guys are on the road half the year.  Keeping a family together is tough under those circumstances.  

Bryant gets condemned for kissing his kids in here, for God's sake.    As a dad, I don't think that's a bad thing.  Kobe gets condemned because there was a camera there?  Where the hell in the arena is the best player in basketball going to go where there isn't a camera?  

Same can be said for Garnett.  So we always get multiple angles of his antics and cheapshots.  He's better than what he showed in Phoenix.

[scaryjerry]

The only thing i disagree with is that these antics are "lately"
People didnt care as much when he was a lovable loser who gave it his all every night and cried in interviews bc he wanted to win so bad. This is KG being KG, hes always been a dirty player who has weird behavior on the court, its alot less tolerable and more noticeable when hes playing in boston for a winner whos every game  is anylyzed and most of the time on national TV or the top NBA story.
That and it is about laundry, if he was a laker doing this we would hate him..thankfully not

[mgent]

True Hobbs, it's contradicting but sometimes the light taps can definitely hurt more than the hard hits (but as you've mentioned it probably has more to do with how direct the contact was).

There's obviously no way to tell if KG got one of these "lucky hits" but seeing the clip many times it doesn't look like there was much contact once Garnett's hand reached Frye's shorts and odds are he was flopping after a 3 like 95% of guys do if there even LOOKS like there's contact in an attempt to get 3 free shots.

Just throwing out my opinion.  It did not look like an intentional hit and judging from Frye's reaction after the flop it didn't even look like a good one (which it should have been since KG got ejected anyway).

[barefacedmonk]

I wonder what Gentry's level of respect for Raja Bell is like.

[housecall]

I doubt Gentry will ever win a championship as a coach in this league because he doesn't realize the type players it take to win.Every great team has/had one or two edgy-type players.Whether its a Dennis Rodman type,Ron Artest,or a Kevin Garnett most great teams  carry one of those characters. 

[Finkelskyhook]

True Hobbs, it's contradicting but sometimes the light taps can definitely hurt more than the hard hits (but as you've mentioned it probably has more to do with how direct the contact was).

There's obviously no way to tell if KG got one of these "lucky hits" but seeing the clip many times it doesn't look like there was much contact once Garnett's hand reached Frye's shorts and odds are he was flopping after a 3 like 95% of guys do if there even LOOKS like there's contact in an attempt to get 3 free shots.

Just throwing out my opinion.  It did not look like an intentional hit and judging from Frye's reaction after the flop it didn't even look like a good one (which it should have been since KG got ejected anyway).

I'll bet most of the people in here condemning Frye's action as a flop do cartwheels every time Glen Davis acts like he's been hit by a locomotive drawing bogus charges.  (Although he did take a rare legitimate charge in the Lakers game)

[Bankshot]

True Hobbs, it's contradicting but sometimes the light taps can definitely hurt more than the hard hits (but as you've mentioned it probably has more to do with how direct the contact was).

There's obviously no way to tell if KG got one of these "lucky hits" but seeing the clip many times it doesn't look like there was much contact once Garnett's hand reached Frye's shorts and odds are he was flopping after a 3 like 95% of guys do if there even LOOKS like there's contact in an attempt to get 3 free shots.

Just throwing out my opinion.  It did not look like an intentional hit and judging from Frye's reaction after the flop it didn't even look like a good one (which it should have been since KG got ejected anyway).

I'll bet most of the people in here condemning Frye's action as a flop do cartwheels every time Glen Davis acts like he's been hit by a locomotive drawing bogus charges.  (Although he did take a rare legitimate charge in the Lakers game)

Most of his charges are legitimate.  Have you noticed how hard
some of the hits are that he takes?  What Davis does is totally different than standing there and acting like you got shot when somebody puts their hand out and taps you.

[mgent]

True Hobbs, it's contradicting but sometimes the light taps can definitely hurt more than the hard hits (but as you've mentioned it probably has more to do with how direct the contact was).

There's obviously no way to tell if KG got one of these "lucky hits" but seeing the clip many times it doesn't look like there was much contact once Garnett's hand reached Frye's shorts and odds are he was flopping after a 3 like 95% of guys do if there even LOOKS like there's contact in an attempt to get 3 free shots.

Just throwing out my opinion.  It did not look like an intentional hit and judging from Frye's reaction after the flop it didn't even look like a good one (which it should have been since KG got ejected anyway).

I'll bet most of the people in here condemning Frye's action as a flop do cartwheels every time Glen Davis acts like he's been hit by a locomotive drawing bogus charges.  (Although he did take a rare legitimate charge in the Lakers game)

I'm not sure how a tap with a fist is in any way related with 200+lbs colliding full speed with someone's chest.

I've seen you try to make this argument before.  What makes you think that some of the best athletes in the world flying into you does not make you fall over?

[Timdawgg]

I think this whole thing is funny but I could care less. I used to hate KG especially when he was tormenting and torturing big Al. I always thought it was funny when we traded for him with Big Al because I hated him for treating big Al like that...LOL

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

I can't tell you whether there was intent in either instance, KG isn't the first, last, or one of a few who slides under a player attempting a shot... you can easily figure this out by looking for a rule that says you have to give a person room to come down or it's a foul. If KG wasn't as boisterous as he is and made the same moves no one would mention it after the game was over, you know they wouldn't b/c AGAIN, this is not the first instance in the history of NBA. All the other players Gentry mentioned wouldn't do it, GIVE ME A BREAK... every one of them have slid under a player coming down, it's a part of basketball... the league tries to stop it (the rule), but as we all should know ppl still get called for the foul. As for the groin tap, Frye is tall and he jumped up... no way KG is a ninja, who could aim with his head turned and measure how low or high to hit right on target. No way he aimed for the groin, he did try to tap him on purpose though!

[wiley]

Nothing in the replay concerns me.  KG gets all his agression out through his mouth, and sometimes adds in the occasional tap, slap (Dwight Howard) or elbow when things get really edgy....but I would say to a lesser degree than Kobe (I'll never forget Kobe's elbow to Artest's sternum against Houston)

Many players do this kind of thing when things get really heated.  It's part of sports and basketball is an extremely physical sport.

If KG were an actual dirty player (intending to injure), we would have heard about it long before now.  A true dirty player was Bruce Bowen imo.  I'm shocked that KG has been lumped in by some in this thread with someone like Bowen). 

Show me some real evidence.