http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/basketball/10078733.htm?1c The MVP didn't take a summer vacation and plans on surpassing last season's stellar performance BY MIKE WELLS Pioneer Press It's hard to imagine last year's most valuable player and a man who has averaged at least 20.8 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists over the past six seasons getting better. But Timberwolves do-everything-all-star forward Kevin Garnett seemed to be insulted in training camp when a reporter asked him how much better his basketball game can get. "I'm not polished to where I can't work on anything," he said. "Part of being polished is to make sure things stay polished. I tried to increase my range, tried to do some things differently with my game, tried to keep my post game polished." As peculiar as it sounds, Garnett thinks he has room for improvement. That's why almost every day after practice while some of the younger players are working out, Garnett will lift weights and then grab any bystander — a coach, an equipment person or a friend of a player — to pass him the ball in the post or rebound his jumpers. "He continues to work on his game every day, he's constantly trying to add new things to his game. The one thing that absolutely amazes me is how he approaches practice," guard Fred Hoiberg said. "When you're around him every day in practice and see the work ethic he puts into it, you realize how special of a person he is. The guy leads on the court, off the court, in the locker room. You see that, and you want to put that much effort into it also." After years of playing second fiddle to Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal as dominant players, Garnett broke free from the pack last season to win his first MVP trophy. He became only the fifth player in league history to lead the league in total points and rebounds. "He not only showed he was a great player last year, he also showed he's a winner," ESPN analyst Greg Anthony said. "That's something that had always been talked about when talking about him. He finally learned how to be dominant on both ends of the court. That's something that separated him and Tim Duncan last year." Garnett's practice habits and his ability to make his teammates better allowed Sam Cassell, Hoiberg and Trenton Hassell to have some of their best years in the league. Those same players, along with Latrell Sprewell, helped Garnett put up career numbers himself. "That's the thing about Kevin, he helped me have the best year of my career and get me selected to the all-star team," said Cassell, who had a reputation of poor practice habits before coming to Minnesota. "He's going to get his, but at the same time he makes everybody better because he's so unselfish and makes you want to work hard." So what does reigning MVP have up his sleeve for an encore? "I can't tell because then everybody would know what's different about my game," he said laughing. Teams have tried everything to stop the player called the Big Ticket. Double-team him? He finds the open player. Push him away from the basket? He knocks down the jumper. Put a taller but slower player on him? He plays point guard and breaks down the defender with a killer crossover. "Every year K.G. goes home and always works on something in the offseason," coach Flip Saunders said. "He's improved in terms of putting the ball on the floor and going to the hole, which will allow him to put more pressure on the defense. That's something he should really benefit from the new rules changes, where you can't ride a guy when he puts the ball on the floor. "I think it's going to be difficult for power forwards to deal with him when he puts the ball on the floor, and as a result, he'll probably earn more trips to the free-throw line, which is something he wanted to improve upon. He amazes me every year because he always comes back better and better." If there's a knock against Garnett, it's his aggressiveness. Although his shiny new MVP trophy sat on a shelf in his home, the referees treated Garnett as if he were a rookie out of high school against the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals. He tried to go the basket strong, but the officials shrugged off the contact. Garnett settled for jumpers. "I was looking at those games, and he was getting hit all across his body," Wolves vice president of operations Kevin McHale said. "I wouldn't be able to take that if I was still playing. He should speak up more and voice when he's not happy." Never one to argue with officials, Garnett downplays his lack of star treatment. "You just have to play the game," he said. "You can't spend too much emphasis on what you think or what somebody thinks you should do. You have to play the game and not worry about all that other stuff." The numbers don't lie in Garnett's aggressiveness, or lack of it, last season. He attempted nearly 200 fewer free throws than O'Neal and Paul Pierce, the league leaders last season. Garnett never has been a player that plays well when told what to do, so the Wolves hope he becomes assertive when attacking the basket. "A lot of today's players play basketball with 10 percent feel and 90 percent structure. Kevin is unique because he plays 90 percent feel and 10 percent structure," McHale said. "You just have to go out and play and take what the defense gives you. I'm sure Kevin will do a better job of getting to the basket and making the refs blow their whistle." If that's all Garnett has to worry about, that's not bad for a player who thinks his game still needs polish.
