Is this it for KG?

[sully00]

I don't just put this out there as another sky is falling thread. But reading those threads made me wonder why nobody is pointing at the pink elephant in the room. I have talked with fans off of this board who want to say Ray Allen is fading and not consistent enough offensively, but he has scored over 15 ppg 6 times and over 20 twice, Pierce is about the same going for 20 a couple of more times. But KG has only scored over 15ppg 3 times this season with one 20 point game. On top of that he is only avg 2 FTA per game and this is a trend that started last year down from a career avg of 5. Another sign of the apocalypse is the rebounding down to 7.5 a game and a percentage TRB% of 15.5, he hasn't been that low since he was 22 years old.

I love KG and have long before he was a Celtic, I am not even trying to blame him for the losses, that isn't my point. This is more of taking stock of this team and what is going on. The defense is still there but I was at that Hawks game on FRI and it felt like the games when KG was out, beyond the numbers the fire isn't there, or it happens in spurts and bursts instead of all night long. More and more it seems like Perk is the force down low and KG is a complimentary piece.

It looks like people are looking for something or someone to blame, Rondo, Ray, Doc, Sheed, nobody is talking about KG good or bad like he doesn't matter. I don't care what his numbers are as much as when we need him that he be there they just lost back to back games in the 4th quarter and he scored 0 points, he had 2 against NJ and 4 against the Suns.

Seriously is this it?

[Kefa461]

I for one say NO.






PS........it's way too soon for this.

[captain green]

I tend to agree here a lil bit but it's a tough road back and there is improving as he goes on..

Recent Trend
Stat Last 5 Games Last 10 Games Last 20 Games Season
Points 16.4 (+2.8) 13.7 (+0.1) 13.3 (-0.3) 13.6
Rebs 7.4 (-0.1) 7.2 (-0.3) 7.0 (-0.5) 7.5
Assists 2.6 (+0.2) 2.5 (+0.1) 2.1 (-0.3) 2.4
Steals 1.8 (+0.6) 1.2 (+0.0) 0.9 (-0.3) 1.2
Blocks 0.2 (-0.8) 0.8 (-0.2) 0.9 (-0.1) 1.0
Turnovers 0.6 (-0.9) 1.5 (+0.0) 1.1 (-0.4) 1.5

[GuyClinch]

He does look somewhat diminished but we will see what kind of player he ends up as - rather then he starts as with regards to this year.

[sully00]

I don't really have an opinion one way or the other. The fan in me says no way he is going to return to form and be the force he has always been if not for 40 mins then late in games. But I don't like what I am seeing It wasn't like he missed the season he was out for two months and now is coming back with everyone else. He doesn't look hurt does he? I am just hoping he was trying to let Rondo find his new role and Sheed and Perk figure theirs and then he will re-establish himself, which is fine but if that is the case time for the big fella to eat.

[aboubata]

he just came back from knee surgery, we've been giving Tony Allen 2 years to recover from that, can we give KG 2 month????

If KG abuse his body and hit the floor often then more celtics fans will die of heart attacks.

[armageddon]

I agree with the conjecture. I was watching the last loss and was wondering why KG wasn't in the game. Then I noticed he was in so I rewound the game and saw that he had been in for several minutes but did nothing. Standing around the perimeter on offense, watching guys drive for layups, jogging up the court.

I think this team runs off of KG's enthusiam too much, when its not there the team just goes thru the motions. He's either still hurt, out of shape, or mentally not there.

This team is old. They will have great games and stinkers.

To me though, Perk has been atrocious lately. 6.5 rebounds per game. Cannot finish when given the ball 2 feet from the basket. But that's a whole different topic.

[BRUNiNHO91]

He hasn't played basketball in a long time. Dude just came off of surgery and has been improving by everygame..we don't need him to score, but he is shooting lights out the last couple of games. Pierce and Ray should be able to do the scoring for this team..if KG can average 15 and 10 I would be very happy. Like Doc said, this is KG 10 games into the season...50 games into the season KG will be better, and in the playoffs he will be the normal KG...relax people.

[SonicYouth34]

If he's still playing like this at the all-star break, then we have a problem.

[leper-con]

KG......needs to heal MENTALLY from his knee issues. He had Bibby in the post but not enough confidence to destroy the little man. He passed out.

the team is not very together at this moment. I think there is way to much happenining behind the scenes that we aren't prevy too. The starters have been awful collectivelly as a unit. It is early and to our luck we haven't lost any ground on the best record in the league which for an older team is key. less travel more rest.

At this point in the season we are just average and aren't doing anything above average.

[return2glory]

I'll still give him until January. But he isn't going to get much better. He is 33 and coming off a major injury. Same thing for Sheed. He is 36 and isn't half the player he was five years ago.

It happens with everyone. It happened with Bird, McHale, and the Chief. Age catches up to everyone. IMO, this is the last year of that window for PGA. After this season, it will be time to rebuild. We need to add someone like Wade, Bosh, or Joe Johnson. Ainge has been planning for the summer of 2010 for a few years now and I expect we will get someone big. I also feel KG might be traded after this season.

[GreenDreamer]

KG is going to get better (especially if the offense starts to go through Rondo), but he will never be the old KG again. Evene if he didn't suffer a serious leg injury, two years would have taken something from him anyways. He's got a lot of mileage on those wheels of his. He's a champion and a warrior, but he is quickly devolving into being a high qulity role player, not a star.

The same is true of Ray Allen. He isn't what he used to be either. No one should expect him to be.

Paul still has "it", but expect him to start fading a little. I was seriously ticked off to see him play against the Pacers with that injury, but leave it to Doc to expose his players to such things.

There is one guy who is on the upswing, though. Let's see if he actually get to show his stuff a little over the next couple of weeks, or if Doc is going to be content to live in his own private fantasy land.

[PP 4 Three]

It will be like this throughout the season, but in the Playoffs he'll return to form.

[Zin5]

We were consistently dominating teams just a short while ago. Give him some time to get back. He's definitely lost a step, but he probably has a mental hurdle to get over as well.

[SichtingLives]

I don't know if this is it for KG, but it's premature to speculate. If he still looks like this in two or three months I'll be worried.

[Andrew McCeltic]

He's returning from an injury - too soon to call

[Wolves2011]

By mid-January it will be clearer how much KG has come back from his injury. I think its clear he's no longer one of the top 3 players in the league as he was for much of the mid-2000's.

But its not clear if he can still be a top 20 player or if he is morphing into a role player. By mid-January he should have fully recovered from his injury. It should be clear by then.

[KG's knee injury was not nearly damaging as Tony's. Some players can even play through bone spurs and the back knee strain. It looks like he has already recovered most of his physical ability. It takes longer to regain the confidence that a player had before an ailment.]

[celtxman]

he just came back from knee surgery, we've been giving Tony Allen 2 years to recover from that, can we give KG 2 month????

If KG abuse his body and hit the floor often then more celtics fans will die of heart attacks.

Are you sure Tony Allen has only been two years - it seems like forever

[BillessuR6]

He definitely lost his athleticism but he will get his lift back with playing time, IMO. He still has half a year until we really need him in the payoffs, so we will see how he looks then...

[canman1971]

Still early, but the team itself looks slow and old. Not suggesting they are, but they have been moving that way. They could be disinterested or finding their way, but I haven't seen this team play this bad for some time.