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It’s Time For Garnett to Shine

Posted by Craig Kolodny April 17, 2008 at 12:37 pm

A little over a week ago, I wrote on how Kevin Garnett should be the NBA’s MVP this year. No, I haven’t changed my mind in that time frame, but we’re now approaching the time of the year where KG has typically faltered. Most say the intensity with which Garnett plays with every day eventually catches up with him come postseason play. KG has been in the playoffs 8 times previously and only advanced past the first round ONCE. Is this a cause for concern?

I know, I know, he never quite had the talent surrounding him like he does as the Celtics enter Game 1 Sunday vs Atlanta. I don’t think there’s anyway the green team loses the series to the Hawks. In fact, Atlanta probably doesn’t even win a game. But I’m looking down the road. After leading the greatest turnaround in league history, there’s a lot of pressure on KG now. Expectations have skyrocketed for a franchise that hasn’t seen a legitimate title contender in 20 years or so. If Celtics fans expect to see banner number 17 come June, Garnett must assert himself (read: be selfishly aggressive down low) as the go-to guy against the rest of the league’s elite. If he doesn’t, not only will the Celtics not reach their ultimate goal, but there will always be people out there capable of saying he was just a great regular season player. Garnett may have the most pressure of anyone in the playoffs, but I expect him to shoulder that until the NBA finals at a minimum.

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One Response to “It’s Time For Garnett to Shine”

  1. Rocci on April 18th, 2008 3:34 am

    Craig, oh Craig, oh Craig.

    Where do I start? Its fun to regurgitate what everyone’s saying, it really is, but let’s take a look at the facts here…From Garnett’s 2nd to his 9th years in Minnesota, his team has made the playoffs 8 straight times, bowing out in the first round in the first 7 of them and making the Western Conference finals in 2004. Sounds pretty ugly…but lets take a closer look at those first 7 series’ (or is it series’s? Me fail english? Unpossible).

    In those 7 years, the T-Wolves had the 4-seed once, the 5-seed once, the 6-seed three times and the 8-seed twice. Their opponents in those playoff series’ had an average of 57.5 wins. In those first 6 playoff series’, his team was an average of 13.3 games worse in the regular season (the best chance the T-Wolves had during this stretch was when they were only 7 games back of the Mavericks), while his opponent 7th playoff season were the Shaq-Kobe Lakers. I’m gonna go ahead and excuse him for that one. In none of these series was there significant evidence of a drop in his statistical production.

    Now, I think you could go one of two ways with little set of statistics: either KG is an extremely overrated statwhore (if you’re measuring by wins), or KG was a great player on some very mediocre teams that really had no business going anywhere in the playoffs regardless (if you’re measuring by individual stats). In neither case can we say that Garnett was vastly superior in the regular season because in the regular season you’re looking at individual stats, and in the post-season you’re looking at wins. Its like comparing apples to oranges. And thats unfair.

    Now, there’s pressure on Garnett to win a title, sure. But wouldn’t you say that the same applies to other aging stars looking to win a championship such as Nash? Kidd/Nowitzki? And its not as if this whole thing rests on El Tigre’s shoulders - you may have noticed he has some decent players surrounding him that can pick him up when things aren’t going well for him - most prominently Jesus Shuttlesworth and The Truth.

    We may not be putting up Banner 17 this year, but if the Celtics fall, they fall as a team.

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