He can be over the top at times, but I can appreciate that he's doing it for the game and not the fame. We need a lot of this in Houston...unfortunately, you can't talk like this unless you're ready and able to walk the talk. In full, it's a good read: http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14172961/the-cruel-tutelage-kevin-garnett
Yup you definitely need it however just like with a coach you can't go too crazy, for example Popovich is strict but he's not balls to the wall strict like Pat Riley or Thibs that he wears out his players' careers/ In the case of KG that kind of intensity is like a coach cursing out his players, it will work but only in the short term, after some time you will tune it out and actually do the opposite because you're annoyed at the person. Like for example it's a preseason and game you have Garnett chewing out players for not playing with intensity, what happens in Finals and he says the same things? Are they gonna listen to him or are they gonna role their eyes and tell themselves KG explodes no matter what? Its like when your mom keeps nagging you after some time you don't care anymore.
I've still got the sports illustrated issue with a 19 year old Garnett on the cover that came out the week before the 1995 draft. Holy crap. He came into the league in 1995.
i think the idea is figure out who cant cut it and who can't...if your parents are nagging, then you'll either ignore them or learn to listen to what they're saying and correct whatever they are nagging about. KG is trying to figure out who's going to break under pressure or when an opponent chews them out. He doesn't want to go to war with someone who can't handle it. People get "killed" like that.
I remember when he and Allen joined Pierce in Boston. People were hyping the new Big Three but there were also questions of whether they can mesh, are they on the downside of their career, etc. Then, in their very first home game together, when Garnett came out onto the court during the introduction, the dude was so pumped up that he was literally frothing at the mouth like a mad dog, and the place was going nuts. I remember watching that and thinking, "Nothing's going to stop this team from a championship this season."
He didn't hesitate to boot the point guard from practice if he felt Rondo was going through the motions. According to Rivers, that happened more than once. "He'd tell Rondo, 'Get the f--- out! You're not playing defense!'" Rivers says. "He told him the truth. Rondo needed more of that." I wonder what KG would do to Harden
Garnett was the teammate Kobe Bryant was looking for. A complete obsession with the game and improving.
But the problem here is the players aren't interviewees about to be screened, they are already part of the team and have signed multi-year deals. Your choice would be to live with them and maximize the players you do have, or do the Kobe treatment and basically tune out your entire squad whihc you have already invested millions in for next few years. A good comparison would be how JVG handled Tmac and Yao Ming. Yao Ming is mentally tough so JVG always gave him constructive tips on how to improve his game. On the other hand, Tmac needed more maintenance so JVG would always handle him with baby gloves. You have to treat people differently and not employ a "tough as nails" approach with everyone. This is why disciplinarian coaches like Scott Skiles, Larry Brown and Thibs get immediate results in the short run but then get run out of town later on, players eventually tune them out. I mean as a parent you're already stuck with your kid for life. Are you gonna nag your kid to death just to see if he will be mature enough to take it? Get mad at him for scoring 98 instead of 100? When he watches tv instead of studying during long weekends? What do you think is gonna happen to your kid, is he gonna become mature or will he become a rebel and get into all sorts of trouble when he grows up? It's the same theory, everyone might be praising KG now but we don't know if his belligerent nature might have a negative impact on the future of KaT and Wiggins. It sure didn't help Rondo.
KG made Rondo. He talked the talk, and walked the walk, and got a championship for it. Kobe has 5... Michael and Larry were even more hardcore... Talk about ****ting on teammates. Jordan to the very end was a complete *******, but you can't tune a guy out that walks the walk and backs up what he says.
Yeah, a championship in 15+ years of excellence, such a great return on investment. It doesn't matter how good you are individually, you need help from your teammates to carry you to a ring. You don't see Tim Duncan being a ****ty teammate and he has more rings than Kobe or KG. You need to stop treating players like they aren't human. Do you think you will perform better with a terror boss at work? Is that type of person someone that brings out the best in everybody? If it doesn't apply in the office it won't apply in the basketball court.
Oh I agree..I just didn't think the others would tune him it after X amount of time automatically. That's where the coach has to chime in and know which players to steer towards KG and which not to. I think Doc talked about doing that in the article.
Jordan has more rings than Timmy, and is widely considered the greatest player and biggest "*******" to ever play. So there is that... Folks need to be less soft... Old school baby... (Hakeem was a huge dick too, btw) :grin:
Not when he was winning championships. He was a jerk early in his career when the Rockets were a lower-tier team, by and large.
