One cannot deny Kevin Garnett's athletic prowess and awe-inspiring talent. But talent alone does not a player make. Sure, KG has heart -- tons of it. Sure, he is a 7-footer that does things some guards could only dream about. But he has not truly been tested yet. He either has not had the right opportunities to simply deliver in clutch. Last year, there was not any distinction between his play-off preformance and his regular-season preformance, and that is what seperates the stars from the greats. Sure, he doesn't have the supporting cast that Duncan has, but part of that may be his own fault. He had the chance to play with Stephon Marbury and Tom Gugliatta and form one heck of a nucleus for years to come in the Twin Cities. But his now infamous ridiculous multi-million dollar signing created a chain of events that eventually left his one-time sidekick Marbury alienated and uncomfortable, and drove Googs out of town as well. I'm not questioning Garnett's character, he probably is a great guy. But is he willing to play with other superstars? He has a pretty good team up there in Timberland, but not a championship calibre team. And statistically speaking, his game is not superior, perhaps even slightly inferior to, the Hills, Abdur-Rahiims, Duncans and Carters. Of course, stats don't tell the whole story, and are often misleading, but to say something to the effect of, "Nobody is almost as good as KG" is downright ludricious. Talent for talent, due to his sheer size and versatality, he very may well be the best, but certainly not worlds apart from the next best. He still has a lot to prove. BTW, funny how conversations drift, eh Azim da Dream ------------------ "Change does not necessarily assure progress, but progress undeniably requires change." - Motto of the Houston Rockets
Azim: I really don't agree with this argument at all. Keep in mind that at the time that Garnett signed this extension, the new salary restrictions weren't in place. So basically, he could get whatever he wanted. This was just a kid who saw the money and tried to get as much of it as he could. Honestly, if you had a choice between making $20 million a year and making $10 million a year, what would you choose? I doubt anyone would think about the winning at that point. Nowadays, players don't have that choice of how much they want to make. Basically, David Stern tells you how much you can make, and you ink in your new deal. If this wasn't so, then every player would be in the Garnett situation. BUT, this new deal has saved teams from falling into these problems. So, the blame can't be put on KG. He just saw the money and went for it. Other guys like Iverson, Bryant, Carter, and such would have done the same. Also, isn't it the owner's and general manager's fault in this particular scenario? Shouldn't they be the guys budgeting things out and making sure they have room for other guys? Of course a player is going to try and milk out as much as he can...its human nature. The GM's need to set a line and put their foot down. Now, I feel I have proved that it is not Garnett's fault that he doesnt have a championship calibre team around him. If you put Garnett on the Spurs, I think they would be pretty much the same this year. (In the future FAR BETTER after Garnett matures as a player). Duncan has a guy like David Robinson to do all the dirty work for him and play solid D. What does Garnett have? Dean Garrett?...Joe Smith? Not much for big men. Duncan had solid vets like Sean Elliot and Mario Elie to keep the defense honest and hit down the open three-pointers. What did Garnett have? The inconsistent Anthony Peeler... . Brandon is a great talent, but is nowhere near the floor general that Avery Johnson is. All in all the Spurs were a great group of vets who knew how to play together and play roles. THey needed a guy to carry them and that is what Duncan did. Garnett did not have that.
finalfantasy: (garnett) is fun to watch while Duncan is a service robot. how true. that drop step makes me wretch. duncan must be estatic there are no aesthetical rules in bball... somebody earlier compared him to dream; i beg to differ, dream's still poetry in motion compared to duncan, even w/ the occassional travel
Sorry my fellow rocket brethren, but i gotto stick to my guns. I think shareef is actually more polished then KG, but kevin is obviously more athletic and a better defender. But, and i definitely could be wrong, if you look at their numbers over the last2 years, there isn't a huge difference. Maybe KG is pulling away. Now, I do think KG will be the best player in the league in a year or two. And im picking hairs here, but KG isn't a great outside shooter yet. So, game on the line, you need a two to tie, do you want shaq to get the ball ( I know he has free throw probs, but that guy is unstoppable), or maybe even chris webber ? Im a big webber fan, but even he doesn't have the upside of KG. Is dickerson really the fastest player in the NBA ? what about latrell ? He's fast also. It'd be interesting to find out. ------------------ "Don't they get cable in Canada ?" Keith olbermann, after watching hakeem block terry catledge's shot 5 times.
