At this point if KG forced a trade or left in some other way to a contender I don't think many T-Wolves fans would be upset. Sports commentators and on sports talk radio here in MN there has been frequently been talk about how frustrating it is that the T-Wolves haven't done more to surround KG with great talent. KG has also been a model NBA star and has won the respect and admiration of the local community. If he comes out and says publicly says that the T-Wolves aren't getting it done and I want a shot at a ring I think many would understand.
They wasted their offseason by signing Mike James. They can't contend until they get some decent talent.
They spent their Full MLE on James. In 30.7 minutes per game, Mike James is averaging 13.7 points and 4.7 assists, while shooting 43.3% on 3pters, 43.6% on 2pters and 88.2% on free throws. Mike James is actually quite talented and one of the few bright spots for Minnesota this year. May I ask who Minnesota should have signed for the Full MLE? Here are the free agents this last off-season who signed for the MLE or less: Lorenzen Wright, Jalen Rose (chose to go the Suns), Michael Olowokandi, Kevin Burleson, Melvin Ely, Othella Harrington, Bernard Robinson, Jake Voskuhl, Donta Smith, David Wesley, Scott Pollard, Greg Buckner, Devean George, DJ Mbenga, Reggie Evans, Demarr Johnson, Nazr Mohammed, Flip Murray, Lindsey Hunter, Ronald Dupree, Matt Barnes, Dijon Thompson, Bonzi Wells (chose Houston after everyone spent their money), John Lucas... I'm tired of making this list. Just tell me who in the world Minnesota should have signed with the MLE that would have been more talented than Mike James. Look, I know Minne management has sucked, in terms of bringing in talent to help KG, but signing Mike James was not a bad move.
It's really easy to say that when you've already signed the contract and are guaranteed hundreds of millions of dollars for the rest of the contract. That also doesn't include commercial deals, shoe deals, or any other endorsements.
They put medicore talent around KG. Everybody can see that. Garnett is being wasted on the Timberwolves. Everybody sees the worthless trades and signings they do every year. Mike James is just the latest one. Whopee! Mike James! Whopee! Ricky Davis! KG will a championship with them.
To beat a dead horse: There were times when Dominique was playing when he hit the kind of 'unstoppable' zone that Bird, Jordan or Hakeem used to hit. The kind of zone where coming down the court for like 10 or 15 trips in a row everybody knew exactly what was going to happen, and nobody could stop it. He was the kind of player that received triple teams on the offensive end and still beat them. KG in the final comparison is a better player, but Dominique was a kind of offensive force that KG just can’t match. Dominique’s spin move was insane –it was every bit as good as the ‘dream shake’; go-to move that KG doesn’t have. As such I would rate them as very close. But KG is not in the same league on the offensive end as Dominique. Perhaps the memories of the broken-down old man at the end of his career are clouding people's memory.
While I agree with your overall assessment that the TWolves have not done a good job of acquiring talent, (They did lose a bunch of draft picks because of the Joe Smith fiasco) I still don't agree with the "Mike James is the latest one" assertion. Can you please give an example of a free agent who signed this last off-season for the MLE or less who is more talented than Mike James? Which newly acquired MLE free agent out there is performing better than James' 13.7 ppg, 4.7 apg, and 39.3% 3pters? Again, the T-Wolves do have a talent problem, and I really didn't like the Ricky Davis/Szcerbiasdfasdfak trade, but I cannot fault them for Mike James. Unless you can come up with an example of something the Wolves could have done better with using their MLE, you cannot fault them on signing Mike James either.
kg will be traded to the lakers for Lamar odom and andrew bynum kg and kb will win 5 championships in LA
Mike James #s are actually down quite a bit across the board compared to last year. He had been a dissapointment to say the least for the Wolves. They had high hopes for him when they signed him. Then again last years FA crop was so bad that MJames was actually considered a decent choice.
Well, they're not playing him enough, in my opinion. I see that you agree with my original point that the James signing cannot be criticized, for he was the best available at the price. Mike James 05/06: 37.0mpg, 20.3ppg, 5.8apg, 3.3rpg, 44.2% 3pt, 48.1% 2pt, 83.7% ft 06/07: 30.7mpg, 13.7ppg, 4.7apg, 2.4rpg, 43.3% 3pt, 43.6% 2pt, 88.2% ft In 05/06, he took 15.54 shots per game, and he scored 1.31 points per attempt. In 06/07, he's taking 10.80 shots per game, and he is scoring 1.27 points per attempt. So he's shooting slightly worse. It's still far from being a disappointment in my opinion. He's just not being the shot hog that everyone labeled him as. I think he needs to shoot more and play more. He's the 2nd most efficient scorer on that team behind KG. Minnesota's problem is letting guys like Ricky Davis take too many shots.
Love KG, really do, but no he wouldn't rather win than "get paid", that's just plain silly. He had a chance to do that if he wanted to, and he chose to re-sign for a higher salary than any player in the league today. It's such a cliche, players say it all the time but rarely does anyone actually mean it... As I have said in the past, KG is a great all-around player, but he's quiet possibly the most overrated superstar player of his era.
I like James just fine, and think he is a talent. But why draft Foye and throw money at James? By the time Foye gets his act together, James will be 33-34 and on the downslide, to say nothing of KG. It just makes no sense. If you take the fiscal implications out, McHale is WAY worse than Isiah. Isiah at least has the good sense to draft well, taking David Lee 17 picks after Rashad McCants. If you "love" him, then you really must think he's really, really, really overrated. Like, on the cover of SI 12 times a year-overrated. What parts of his game do you think people overrate? Garnett, as the best player in the game on both sides of the ball and coming off an MVP year, took a pay cut. Not in his wildest dreams did he think Minny would match for Hassell, trade a pick and Cassell for the CHANCE to overpay Jaric, draft McCants and Foye and THEN throw big money at 31-year old James, trade Kandi's expiring deal for Blount, throw money at Madsen (who can't score or rebound), etc etc
Never a big fan of Bill Simons's column. I found most of his points not funny and some of them downright dumb. KG is not the greatest PF, if he is, he wouldnt be crying for being saved for his career. The greatest PF of NBA wouldnt allow non-playoff for 3-4 years even you surround him with YMCA players. I feel for KG. But let's face it, the guy lacks something of being a truly great leader. It's easy to point at his teammates, but when his team has been in the state last several years, KG should shoulder some of the blame too. And I found this statement really funny and dumb that KG trenches in Minny because he wants to save the team, as if there was not a 100 million contract obligation for him to stay there. Let's be objective and put things in perspective here first.
you keep typing it so it doesn't seem to be a typo and there aren't any other typos in this post, but the word is "quite," not "quiet."
Also, how many good players Kobe has played with in his 10 year career. Shaq, Horry, Odom, Fisher? How many did Tmac play with Carter, Hill's shadow, and Yao? Franchise players just dont get much luxury to play with other good players because they suck a big trunk of team's salaries and they are the one expected to lead team to win games.
