iheartBrad
All-Star
yeah he would have made it...only it wouldn't have been an "obvious/goes without saying" choice
Would Geoff Petrie Do What Kevin McHale Did
- Thread starter Purple Reign
- Start date
iheartBrad
All-Star
LOL ^
uh....mike bibby, brad miller
that was a good one P
uh....mike bibby, brad miller
that was a good one P
Purple Reign
Starter
Jim Souhan: Challenges lie ahead for team's two Kevins
Jim Souhan Star Tribune Published February 14, 2005
Kevin Garnett says it happened in slow motion. You could tell by his wry smile that he knows that sounds funny, that to Timberwolves observers this whole season has unfolded like one of those dream-sequence car wrecks where a windshield splinters so lingeringly you can count the shards.
The Bulls led by one point with less than a minute to go Sunday afternoon at Target Center, in Kevin McHale's debut as Wolves coach. Garnett missed a shot, grabbed the carom and cocked the ball behind his head for the slam, the kind of signature play that dotted his MVP season last year, a play that could win a close game and cleanse a bitter palate.
As fans began to rise in anticipation, Garnett jammed it home ... and watched the ball fly back over his head, as if someone had played a cruel practical joke.
Chicago's Kirk Hinrich grabbed the long rebound and drew a foul, and the Wolves had lost to an average team at home on the rare day when Garnett was The Other Kevin, on another day when Garnett's biggest shots bounced crazily away.
"I misjudged it, man," Garnett said much later, sitting at his locker, a DVD of the game in his lap. "A lot of times, time slows down for me."
Garnett offered a mirthless laugh. "It's been like that for the last couple of weeks, that I've had that feeling," he said. "I tried to make it stick in there by holding on to the rim, and when I let it go, it just popped right out. That's basically how it's been lately. You think you have it, and as soon as you let it go, it's out of your hands."
They are large hands, thin and scarred by the fingernail fights every basketball player wages, and a year ago they seemed to control all they touched.
Sunday, Garnett's play was remindful of better days. After three quarters he had 23 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot, in 26 minutes.
Then came the fourth quarter, and a chance for the Wolves to put a little yellow smiley face on the ugly page that was former coach Flip Saunders' firing. And that was when Garnett misfired.
He went 0-for-6 in the fourth quarter, proving more energetic than effective, leaving him to wearily take the seat in front of his locker for the first time to address Saunders' firing, McHale's intervention and the state of a franchise that now settles for moral victories in close home losses to average teams.
"Superman is not going to walk through that door," Garnett said. "Kevin McHale is not going to throw old '32' back on and come back and help us. We have to take this upon ourselves and try to turn this thing around."
It wasn't so long ago you could call Garnett "Superman" without drawing a funny look, but Superman had Kryptonite, and Garnett appears to have faulty cartilage, although he ducks the subject.
"Next question," he said.
Knee pain might explain his uneven play this season, and stretches where he looks frustrated to the point of depression.
With Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell as unpredictable as dot-com stocks, Garnett has found himself increasingly surrounded by suffocating defenses and inconsistent teammates.
Still, when you are the reigning MVP and the face of the franchise, you are expected to fix the kinds of problems that have plagued the Wolves.
And yet Garnett sounded insulted by McHale's message, that the Wolves haven't played hard enough often enough.
"Kev sometimes thinks we don't compete every night, and that's like a smack in the face," Garnett said. "As players, I know for myself, I go out and play hard every night.
"We're a competitive team ... and we have a lot of pride."
Athletes excel at telling themselves lies of convenience. This is one of them.
These players got their coach fired. We have no reason to question Garnett's commitment, but some of his teammates should be writing Saunders letters of apology.
Garnett settled for a short phone conversation Saturday. "I called him to see how he was doing," Garnett said. "We just talked."
Someone asked if Garnett could have imagined this -- a 25-27 record and a fired coach.
"No, and as a player, you have to look yourself in the mirror and take some responsibility," he said.
When you're Kevin Garnett, you need to take more than "some."
As they slog through this slow-motion season, it's up to two tall, gimpy guys named Kevin to make this right.
Jim Souhan Star Tribune Published February 14, 2005
Kevin Garnett says it happened in slow motion. You could tell by his wry smile that he knows that sounds funny, that to Timberwolves observers this whole season has unfolded like one of those dream-sequence car wrecks where a windshield splinters so lingeringly you can count the shards.
The Bulls led by one point with less than a minute to go Sunday afternoon at Target Center, in Kevin McHale's debut as Wolves coach. Garnett missed a shot, grabbed the carom and cocked the ball behind his head for the slam, the kind of signature play that dotted his MVP season last year, a play that could win a close game and cleanse a bitter palate.
As fans began to rise in anticipation, Garnett jammed it home ... and watched the ball fly back over his head, as if someone had played a cruel practical joke.
Chicago's Kirk Hinrich grabbed the long rebound and drew a foul, and the Wolves had lost to an average team at home on the rare day when Garnett was The Other Kevin, on another day when Garnett's biggest shots bounced crazily away.
"I misjudged it, man," Garnett said much later, sitting at his locker, a DVD of the game in his lap. "A lot of times, time slows down for me."
Garnett offered a mirthless laugh. "It's been like that for the last couple of weeks, that I've had that feeling," he said. "I tried to make it stick in there by holding on to the rim, and when I let it go, it just popped right out. That's basically how it's been lately. You think you have it, and as soon as you let it go, it's out of your hands."
They are large hands, thin and scarred by the fingernail fights every basketball player wages, and a year ago they seemed to control all they touched.
Sunday, Garnett's play was remindful of better days. After three quarters he had 23 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot, in 26 minutes.
Then came the fourth quarter, and a chance for the Wolves to put a little yellow smiley face on the ugly page that was former coach Flip Saunders' firing. And that was when Garnett misfired.
He went 0-for-6 in the fourth quarter, proving more energetic than effective, leaving him to wearily take the seat in front of his locker for the first time to address Saunders' firing, McHale's intervention and the state of a franchise that now settles for moral victories in close home losses to average teams.
"Superman is not going to walk through that door," Garnett said. "Kevin McHale is not going to throw old '32' back on and come back and help us. We have to take this upon ourselves and try to turn this thing around."
It wasn't so long ago you could call Garnett "Superman" without drawing a funny look, but Superman had Kryptonite, and Garnett appears to have faulty cartilage, although he ducks the subject.
"Next question," he said.
Knee pain might explain his uneven play this season, and stretches where he looks frustrated to the point of depression.
With Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell as unpredictable as dot-com stocks, Garnett has found himself increasingly surrounded by suffocating defenses and inconsistent teammates.
Still, when you are the reigning MVP and the face of the franchise, you are expected to fix the kinds of problems that have plagued the Wolves.
And yet Garnett sounded insulted by McHale's message, that the Wolves haven't played hard enough often enough.
"Kev sometimes thinks we don't compete every night, and that's like a smack in the face," Garnett said. "As players, I know for myself, I go out and play hard every night.
"We're a competitive team ... and we have a lot of pride."
Athletes excel at telling themselves lies of convenience. This is one of them.
These players got their coach fired. We have no reason to question Garnett's commitment, but some of his teammates should be writing Saunders letters of apology.
Garnett settled for a short phone conversation Saturday. "I called him to see how he was doing," Garnett said. "We just talked."
Someone asked if Garnett could have imagined this -- a 25-27 record and a fired coach.
"No, and as a player, you have to look yourself in the mirror and take some responsibility," he said.
When you're Kevin Garnett, you need to take more than "some."
As they slog through this slow-motion season, it's up to two tall, gimpy guys named Kevin to make this right.
Szcerbiak (sp?) and Hudson are the only guys on that team that I wouldn't categorize as thugs, headcases, or malcontents (maybe some bench guys who never play too). Flip Saunders got canned for overachieving with a team that really had no right to be that cohesive. Thank the basketball gawds the players there finally realized it.
Attitude > Talent
Attitude > Talent
bozzwell
Starter
Zyphen said:
Chicago Tribune has covered the Wolves a lot this year (partly becuase of many trade rumours linking them to the Bulls) and Szcerbiak and Hudson were mentioned as moody and malcontent respectively. Funnily enough the only two stand up guys on that team seem to be two ex Bulls - Hoiberg and Hassel.
I can't stand KG either. All the things that critics attribute as shortcomings to Chris Webber are ten times more applicable to KG. It is ironic that KG is playing on a bum knee with stats roughly same as those of Webber and his team is falling apart around him while the Kings are again going for 50+ wins (with all the well documented injuries, defense/rebounding and incosistent Pedja). Yet, if Wolves somehow make the play offs Chuckster and all the other talking heads will rave about KG The Great Leader and apply all the worn out labels to Webber (pick your own here).
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