semi 0T: more suprising?

[psykosacul]

1. i realize garnett didnt hve the carry the celtics, because pp, ray and the bench showed up on a pretty regular basis... but it still suprises me that he didnt dominate the paint during any one series, or just humiliate the front courts of the lakers and/or hawks. i thought the existance of a team around him would allow him to blow up, and instead it just seemed to make it possible for him to win a ring while remaining mr. consistent.

2. i realize many of us may not like kobe but at some point you had to expect him to score 35+ and steal a game all on his own in the finals right? i realize the celts planned and executed their defense well, but this was his first shot at a post shaq championship and i have to say, i wasnt impressed by his finals showing, defense or not...

oh... and i am SHOCKED that neither guy pulled off anything special.

thoughts?

[dbodner]

1. i realize garnett didnt hve the carry the celtics, because pp, ray and the bench showed up on a pretty regular basis... but it still suprises me that he didnt dominate the paint during any one series, or just humiliate the front courts of the lakers and/or hawks. i thought the existance of a team around him would allow him to blow up, and instead it just seemed to make it possible for him to win a ring while remaining mr. consistent.

Kevin Garnett did dominate the finals. If you're only looking at ppg, maybe you missed it, but he was absolutely dominant defensively the entire series. If you were expecting Kevin Garnett to turn into a 27 ppg monster because he's surrounded by an incredible offensive supporting cast, you've missed Kevin Garnett the player. Kevin's stepped up his scoring in the past, but scoring's never been his greatest attribute. The addition of legit top-flight offensive talent around Kevin Garnett (the existance of a "team") allowed Kevin Garnett to focus on what he's truly great at, and this year he was better than ever at those strengths.

(it also allowed him to play a career low 32 mpg and stay fresh, something that's been a problem for a guy that typically plays 82 games and 39-40 mpg).

When the Celtics acquired Kevin Garnett, you should have been looking for improved defense, improved efficiency, and a decrease in points and assists (as he's not the focal point offensively he was on those inept Wolves teams, and because of the decreased minutes). The Celtics were one of the best defensive teams we've seen in the last 20 years. None of that happens without Garnett. If you don't think Kevin Garnett did anything special, you've missed it. Kevin Garnett did blow up with the Celtics. You're just looking for it in the wrong places.

[psykosacul]

im familiar with garnett, im familiar with his history of offense and defense. he and shawn marion have been my favorite players basically since david robinson retired.

him being special on defense, but not stepping up the offense is kind of my point. the celtics have good offensive players, but the fact is... it was pretty unacceptable for them to be pushed to two game sevens in the first two rounds. the hawks and celtics are inferior teams, with inferior players up front to kevin garnett. if it took him scoring 35 in a couple games, then part of me thinks he should have (and i expected him to now that he finally had the team to do it with) he should have called for the ball ten more times in those games where they could have put those crappy teams to bed.

i agree, he was, and pretty much always has been special on defense. its a constant from him. that in itself is special, but its ALWAYS there. thats why my point is that im suprised he didnt really up his game (with offense or dominant rebounding) when they were being tested.

[dbodner]

Wait, so Kevin Garnettt (who's the 3rd most talented offensive player on that team) averaged 21 ppg on 49% shooting vs the Hawks. He followed that up with 19.6 ppg on 54.5% shooting in the second round. Ray Allen averaged 16 ppg on 42% shooting, and Paul Pierce averaged 18 ppg on 44% shooting. Ray Allen then went on to average 9 ppg on 32% in the second round, and Paul Pierce averaged 19 ppg on 40% shooting in the second round. And you're blaming Kevin Garnett for not stepping up to prevent the game 7's?

So the 3rd best offensive player on the team was scoring the most, and more efficiently (20% more efficiently than Ray Allen), and he was the one who wasn't stepping it up?

Geez, bro (I feel like bebop), I guess our expectations about Garnett were different. Them being pushed to game 7's in the first two rounds wasn't "unacceptable" when the team went on to win the nba finals. Kevin Garnett was absolutely dominant the last two rounds. The beauty of this Celtics team was that KG wasn't asked to an elite offensive player. He was just asked to be KG. He was not disappointing in this playoffs one iota. He validated himself as one of the best all-around players in the history of this game. You can quibble about him "only" averaging 20.4 ppg on 49.5% shooting in the playoffs (despite being the 3rd most accomplished offensive player, he lead the team in ppg in the playoffs), but this team doesn't sniff a championship without their near historic level defense, of which KG was the primary reason for.

[LongLiveHinkie]

KG is a terrible on-ball defender, but he can block shots, because of his athleticism.

But he is not one of the best players in the history of the game. He isn't even a top 5 PF in the league right now. He isn't a winner and comes up small in big games, and he has a worse jump shot than Reggie Evans. Defenses don't respect it. His 30% shooting in the Finals was laughable, but good for him. I expected like 15%. lol, KG, what a loser.

[chrice]

I agree with what Dabods said. He was key on defense and rebounding. He basically neutralized a lot of the key mismatches that Lakers used to beat other teams. Especially on the screens where they switched Gasol or Odom onto him. Usually Gasol gets his way because of his height advantage, but not in that series. He's also one of the best guys I've seen defend Odom when he's faced up to the basket on an iso. Also, if you notice, Lakers will typically put 3-4 guys crashing offensive boards at all times. KG prevented them from getting a lot of second chance buckets by fighting for some tough rebounds, and made them pay with half court outlet passes.

The stretches where he went 0-6, 0-9, I think were more due to fatigue than anything else.

[psykosacul]

Wait, so Kevin Garnettt (who's the 3rd most talented offensive player on that team) averaged 21 ppg on 49% shooting vs the Hawks. He followed that up with 19.6 ppg on 54.5% shooting in the second round. Ray Allen averaged 16 ppg on 42% shooting, and Paul Pierce averaged 18 ppg on 44% shooting. Ray Allen then went on to average 9 ppg on 32% in the second round, and Paul Pierce averaged 19 ppg on 40% shooting in the second round. And you're blaming Kevin Garnett for not stepping up to prevent the game 7's?

So the 3rd best offensive player on the team was scoring the most, and more efficiently (20% more efficiently than Ray Allen), and he was the one who wasn't stepping it up?

Geez, bro (I feel like bebop), I guess our expectations about Garnett were different. Them being pushed to game 7's in the first two rounds wasn't "unacceptable" when the team went on to win the nba finals. Kevin Garnett was absolutely dominant the last two rounds. The beauty of this Celtics team was that KG wasn't asked to an elite offensive player. He was just asked to be KG. He was not disappointing in this playoffs one iota. He validated himself as one of the best all-around players in the history of this game. You can quibble about him "only" averaging 20.4 ppg on 49.5% shooting in the playoffs (despite being the 3rd most accomplished offensive player, he lead the team in ppg in the playoffs), but this team doesn't sniff a championship without their near historic level defense, of which KG was the primary reason for.

whoa whoa, we're on different wave lengths here. my poll question was whether whether or not you are suprised he never showed the ability to carry his team. im not "blaming" garnett for preventing game sevens... but yes, im suprised he didnt put the team on his back and score more or get 20 rebounds when pp and ray werent getting it done themselves. i really expected him to show how dominant he could be when the team around him was capable of supporting him. but he didnt. i still love his game. im not attacking him at all. im just very suprised that he never... not even for one game... just dominated and carried them to a victory by going 13-20, with 35 points and 14 boards... i really expected that out of him... (more because of my positive feelings toward his ability than any negative attitude you thought i was showing.)