Kevin Garnett... why doesn't he play "bigger" in big games?

[Spectrum]

I hate to say it as I've always been a fan of KG because he "lays it all out there" in every game in terms of effort. Dude is one of the most skilled big men to ever play the game. I used to think for years... "just get him on a team with some talent and he'll produce big". I also played those..."what if KG and Duncan traded places in terms of team placement".... would have KG have done?

With KG on Boston, you know longer have to ask those questions.

Something that Kevin McHale said has stuck with me..to paraphrase "KG is a phenomenally gifted player. He plays defensive like his is 8 feet tall. However, the problem is that he plays offense like his is 6 foot 5."

Therein lies the real problem I've having with KG. KG has the skill-set to play a more dominating role on offense. However, he settles for fade-aways and jumpshots as opposed to being a more aggressive low post player. Also, I've really yet to see KG have the dominant 4th quarter in any playoffs series that would classify as a "memorable" moment. It's not as bad as Chris Webber was throughout his career. However, KG's reluctance to take his team on his shoulders and "will" his team to a win is really beginning to affect how I'm going to rank him with the all time greats. His rank is dropping significantly with me.

Damn shame...dude just doesn't seem to have "it".

 

[SpiritualPorn]

I have to agree with you on this.

Ever since Peeler jacked him in the playoff game, my estimation of him has gone down. No one would hit me in the face like that and not get a reflex chin check ASAP. I saw the fear in his eyes then. To make matters worse, he then was talking shit the next day.

No matter what we say about Kobe, he is willing to take the shots, just not the responsibility.

To become Bron's poster boy in that sequence was unforgivable.

The rest of the team is proving to be very soft as well.Doc Rivers should be worried about his job.At this point Posey would get more minutes than Allen or Pierce in my rotation. Posey will take the big shot and play defense. He was the enforcer when he was with us in Miami. DWade gets fouled hard, Posey would think to himself "Oh Shit I'm about to get suspended". I don't see that kind of mentality from either of the "Wig 3".

 

[Spectrum]

Agreed. And a bit off subject "but where did Ray Allen go?" did dude add 4 years just before the playoffs or something?

 

[cranrab]

kevin garnett's problem does not reside in amount of talent (or a lack of it). if you go into the BGOL archives, you can find where i posted this years ago.

kevin garnett is a fierce competitor. problem is, he's fierce for about 80% of a game. his intensity trails off, as does his focus.

to his credit, 4/5 of kevin garnett is still better than most SF in the game (yes, damn it, he is a SF).

 

[cranrab]

Re: Kevin Garnett

where did Ray Allen go?

forced to be the celtics primary ball handler, ray allen no longer gets to play his true position. puts him out of his rhythm, doesn't get set up for his usual looks, throws the whole team out of whack.

 

[tp2001]

to his credit, 4/5 of kevin garnett is still better than most SF in the game (yes, damn it, he is a SF).

And there it is...

You can't have a SF play C like Boston has him in...He is NOT a center, and he doesn't have enough body strength to be a PF even though he's listed at 253.

If this team with Allen, Garnett, and Pierce were assembled a few years ago (like 2001-2004), then you would have something...Especially with the other teams in the East back then (Indiana, Detroit, New Jersey) you would have some great playoff matchups

 

[RunawaySlave]

He may be talented and he definitely has the desire to win a title, but (unfortunately) he doesn't know how to do it. He never learned that part of the game in high school. He is the Shawn Kemp of the new millenium (without the baby mommas). But if you put KG on a Phil Jackson run team, I GUARANTEE he wins a title (not Riley though....Brown either).

Garnett is a different variation of Dirk Nitwitski on offense. Seven footer who cannot play in the paint. Difference is, that Nitwit will get the benenfit of some very lax foul calling. Also, Garnett leaves Nitwit in the dust when the ball changes hands

 

[nyyyyce]

He may be talented and he definitely has the desire to win a title, but (unfortunately) he doesn't know how to do it. He never learned that part of the game in high school. He is the Shawn Kemp of the new millenium (without the baby mommas). But if you put KG on a Phil Jackson run team, I GUARANTEE he wins a title (not Riley though....Brown either).

Garnett is a different variation of Dirk Nitwitski on offense. Seven footer who cannot play in the paint. Difference is, that Nitwit will get the benenfit of some very lax foul calling. Also, Garnett leaves Nitwit in the dust when the ball changes hands

good take.

I was watching the game and I was like: Take over KG! But then a friend of mine started to point out that KG has been "the man" because he was the most talented on his team, however NO ONE knows him a being "clutch" or a "big gamer".

Its not even about him differing to team mates either. He seems to be missing that killer edge like Isaiah Thomas, Jordan, Bill Russell. He is a very good player, but he has not shown himself to be truly "great". That is probably why the T-wolves never made it out of the west - dispite who they put around him. No diss either.

 

[tp2001]

good take.

I was watching the game and I was like: Take over KG! But then a friend of mine started to point out that KG has been "the man" because he was the most talented on his team, however NO ONE knows him a being "clutch" or a "big gamer".

Its not even about him differing to team mates either. He seems to be missing that killer edge like Isaiah Thomas, Jordan, Bill Russell. He is a very good player, but he has not shown himself to be truly "great". That is probably why the T-wolves never made it out of the west - dispite who they put around him. No diss either.

He's always been a point-forward kind of player. He can do many things well, but he's not a great scorer. That's what separates him from Duncan and O'Neal (big men) and Bryant and Iverson (guards).

When's the last time you saw Garnett lead a team in scoring with like 35 to 40 points in one game?

 

[4 Dimensional]

Its coaching NOT KG. Doc Rivers is not a proven coach by any means. He got lucky. It doesn't matter how talented you are, you still have to caoch your team correctly. For Example; the coach has to put his players in a position to take high perctage shots, but unfortunatelly Doc Rivers doesn't know how to get KG, Allen, and Pierce the ball because he is relying on a point gaurd who has the lowest basketball IQ out the pg's in the playoffs.

Even when KG played for the Timberwolves Flip never won any championship and still hasn't yet.

Every team in the playoffs besides Boston and Orlando hava a pick and role game that is so fierce. With a player like KG you have to run plays for him to get on the block and you have to call them ALL the time. Not just 3 or 4 times in each quarter. He shoots a very high percentage, but doesn't take enough shots.

I feel the same way some of yall about KG not being a take over player, but all great players that played on championship team had a coach who understood what their star player can do, where he can do it, and when he can do it. Its not KG fault because he is not a take over player. People knew this for a long time. Rondo take too many damn shots.

Regarless of how he is offesively he is still on of the best all around b-ball player the game has ever seen. Plus he is one of few to earn an MVP and Defensive player of the year in a NBA career. So yeah he is TOP 50 in my book.

 

[KingTaharqa]

I remember a few years back when he was working as an analyst, Scottie Pippen called KG the most overrated NBA player in his memory and compared his stats to Chris Webber. He basically said KG never steps up in big games and has been babied his entire career for not doing so.

 

[Aud21946]

I agree with ALL the comment on the Big Ticket. I have to say I am really happy to have Timmy in San Antonio.

 

[Brother Blues]

Looking at Boston as I have all season...it is not KG who I am most disappointed in.
Pierce and Ray Allen rate way higher on the scale...especially Pierce.I expected more from Allen,he has been a horrid on both ends...not to mention playing with a lack of intelligence.But Pierce...I have watched him over the years,kill with bad teams...and now finally a good squad,and he is not coming up big.

As for KG...yeah,too many fall-aways,and allowing them to push him away from the basket.

Bottom line is...we now can see why some players always win,and some never have.
Take LeBron...he can't hit shit,yet he is dominating this series...he is a winner.

 

[Rollie_Fingaz]

Swagger jacker..j/k.

I've said this and made a lot of enemies.

Kevin Garnett is NOT a franchise player. In fact NONE of the "big three" on Boston are. They are great SECONDARY players.

Magic Johnson spoke on this again and again. He does not have a "money" move to go to when you need points. When the game is on the line, he can't make that one move that will win the game.

If you look at his stats between the playoffs and the regular season, there is no real difference. You have to go to the next level in the playoffs. He just gives you consistent numbers. Tim Duncan does not have the arsenal that KG has, but what he has is consistent and are high percentage shots.

This is why Cassell was brought in. The year KG won MVP, Cassell and Sprewell hit some bit shots that took the pressure off of KG. I still believe that the Celtics will win this series, but it will be because either KG gets the "glow" like Bruce Leroy and goes to the next level or Pierce decides to show up and gives a big game.

 

[RunawaySlave]

Magic Johnson spoke on this again and again. He does not have a "money" move to go to when you need points. When the game is on the line, he can't make that one move that will win the game.

College is where you get that. Big men rarely get that in high school because they don't need it yet, and once they go pro, they don't have the real time to develop it. Remember Pete Newell's "big man camp"? It's where countless bigs have gone to throughout the years to learn how to operate in the paint.

Does that still exist?? Pete might be gettin' kinda old. Too late for KG to go there anyway. Eddie Curry need to get his ass to that camp though


To reiterate what I've said in the other post about straight outta HS players, they ALL have that one "thing" they are missing out of their games'. Even Lebron


And I completely disagree that this is Doc's fault. Only thing Doc is guilty of is the same thing that Isiah is guilty of.....

trusting his veterans

 

[tp2001]

I've said this and made a lot of enemies.

Kevin Garnett is NOT a franchise player. In fact NONE of the "big three" on Boston are. They are great SECONDARY players.

True but how many are there right now?

Shoot if I'd be real pessimistic, I probably couldn't name ten franchise players in the whole league...

 

[cranrab]

Re: Kevin Garnett...

Remember Pete Newell's "big man camp"? It's where countless bigs have gone to throughout the years to learn how to operate in the paint.

Does that still exist??

yes, it does. http://www.petenewellbigmancamp.net/

but most kids don't know who he is. they don't know that kareem abdul jabbar and james worthy used to consult him in the post season for tips AND attend camp in the summer. they don't know that coach newell was 1 of bill russell's 1st coaches.

i wish the technology was available to have chat WITH streaming video of these games so we could discuss them LIVE with our own telestrators.

 

[cranrab]

I completely disagree that this is Doc's fault. Only thing Doc is guilty of is the same thing that Isiah is guilty of.....

trusting his veterans

and i come from the opposite end of the spectrum, because i believe the veterans are making the "mistake" of trusting their coach.

 

[RunawaySlave]

and i come from the opposite end of the spectrum, because i believe the veterans are making the "mistake" of trusting their coach.

I don't know man. I think it's kind of hard for players 30 years old and up like Pierce and Allen to even look at Doc Rivers as their "coach" when he might have still been playing ball with them when they first came into the league. I know it's like that with Isiah too. It was even that way with Cheeks when he first took the Portland job.

Sort of like a situation on the job where you end up getting promoted to the manager or supervisor over your buddies. They might think you're gonna be easy on them because you were one of them. But if you do that, you look incapable of handling leadership to the higher-ups. So you have to be just as hard on them as anyone else. And it usually ends up leading to the friendship dissolving

 

[JIMMY SWAGGER]

All of you bring up great points but he will never change. He has been in the league for I believe 11, 12 years and he is not going to change now. Cant teach an old dog new tricks. Last night was the last straw. KG scored 13 pts in the fisrt half. Then he only scored 2 pts for the rest of the game. He only took 5 shots in the last two quarters. Thats bullshit. When is he going to demand the ball in the post? Who can match up with him in the series, Z, Old Ben, Joe Smith? come on! Don't get me wrong, Pierce and Allen deserve a lot of blame also. But if we lose this series which we will not it will fall squarely on KG. You are not the highest paid player in the league for nothing. SHOW IT!

By the way did you know that M. Finley is the 2nd highest paid player in the league this year?
Also, did anyone see the ESPN 360 story on Ray Allen's stepdad, it is crazy. May explain some of his struggles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY1435M2bOI

 

[t0k3]

Having lived in MN almost my whole life and KG being one of my favorite players,I've always been frustrated with his game.
My take is that he is not consistently aggressive and is too unselfish.
He brings his off court personality onto the court with him being the polite,humble person he is.
I don't think KG realizes himself how gifted he is,his humbleness grounds him.
How many times have we seen him dish off the rock when he could have just as easily taken it to the whole and dunked on a motherfucker?
He lacks the killer instinct but it's in him.
Look at how his game changes when he's mad and he's able to use that anger and adrenaline to his advantage.
In that mode he's an unstoppable force.
I blame it on coaching and lack of proper guidance throughout his career.
He needs somebody with a Bobby Knight mentality to get in his face and unleash the beast locked within him.
Although he made the transition from HS to pro ball nicely,I think playing college ball might have installed in him the killer instinct he has always lacked at this level of the game.

Fuck making the rest of your team shine,he's in his prime now,it's time to go into Magic Johnson mode.

 

[Rollie_Fingaz]

College is where you get that. Big men rarely get that in high school because they don't need it yet, and once they go pro, they don't have the real time to develop it. Remember Pete Newell's "big man camp"? It's where countless bigs have gone to throughout the years to learn how to operate in the paint.

Does that still exist?? Pete might be gettin' kinda old. Too late for KG to go there anyway. Eddie Curry need to get his ass to that camp though


To reiterate what I've said in the other post about straight outta HS players, they ALL have that one "thing" they are missing out of their games'. Even Lebron


And I completely disagree that this is Doc's fault. Only thing Doc is guilty of is the same thing that Isiah is guilty of.....

trusting his veterans

And this is why I liked when both Van Gundy brothers hired Patrick Ewing to aid in the development of both Yao Ming and Dwight Howard.

 

[Rollie_Fingaz]

Doc Rivers and the ugly side of ubuntu

By Bill Simmons

Updated: May 14, 2008, 6:30 PM ET

Note to the reader: It's never a good idea to write anything when you're pissed off, whether it's a letter to an ex-girlfriend, an e-mail to your boss or, in this case, a sports column that will reach a national audience. To prove my point, here's a column I wrote the morning after Boston lost Game 4 to Cleveland. I'm not nearly as irate anymore and, truthfully, I never wanted to become the proverbial turd in the punch bowl for a successful Boston team. After all, that's Dan Shaughnessy's job. But when we remember this 2007-08 Celtics team -- however we end up remembering it -- it's important to note that, at one point in the second round, its fans felt so betrayed and frustrated that one of them tried to capture his feelings with an appallingly vindictive column, even if that same fan cooled down a few hours later thanks to four shots of whiskey and a couple of Vicodin.

Twenty-four hours later, I have talked myself into the Celtics pulling out this series simply because the Boston crowd can't and won't let the Celtics falter in Games 5 and 7. (At least, that's what I keep telling myself. Just humor me.) Hopefully what you're about to read will become a footnote to a championship season, the day things sunk so low that one of the team's most avid fans briefly lost his mind before regrouping and continuing to support the team for the rest of the playoffs. Without further ado ...

You know how ABC and TNT have been showing clips of pregame speeches before NBA playoff games? Like everyone else, those clips always leave me wanting more. Fortunately, I had a vision while sleeping that allowed me to see Doc Rivers' entire pregame speech before tonight's Game 5 between the Celtics and Cavaliers:

(We see Doc standing in front of his players, all of whom are sitting in front of their lockers and preparing to head out for the game.)

DOC: All right, guys, listen up. I want to go over the game plan so we're clear on everything.

RAY ALLEN: We have a game plan tonight?

DOC: Absolutely! We're trying something different. Tom Thibodeau and I were up late last night trying to come up with a new wrinkle for tonight.

THIBODEAU (confused): Um, we only talked about it for 10 minutes, then you said you had to go because you were taking your wife to "Forgetting Sarah Marshall."

DOC: Well, same thing. Before we get to tonight's plan, I want to apologize to our bench guys for coaching us one way for 82 games, then changing things in the playoffs, yanking everyone around and killing your collective confidence to the point that you're all useless except for Posey. If it makes you feel any better, I did the same thing in 2005 when I blew a series against an undermanned Pacers team that beat us with a washed-up Reggie Miller and Jermaine O'Neal playing with one shoulder. I just can't help myself. I'm a big hockey fan and sometimes I get overexcited during the playoffs and think that we have to change lines every few minutes. Again, I'm sorry.

EDDIE HOUSE (excited): Does that mean we're back to the old rotation?

DOC: Not exactly, Eddie. I know we're something like 61-12 with you as our backup point guard, and I know Sam [Cassell] has been murdering us to the point that one of our owners asked me if he was "The Mole" last week. But let's keep things the way they are for one more game. To be honest, I really enjoy the expression on some of your faces when I don't play you in the first half, then you've checked out of the game mentally and suddenly I'm looking at you and telling you to go in. Let's keep that going as long as we can.

CASSELL: What about me? Am I out?

DOC: No way, Sam. You give us veteran experience down the stretch -- sure, it's been the experience of blowing playoff games against inferior teams, but, still, it's an experience. And honestly, I think you give us the best chance to completely destroy Rondo's confidence for the season. We aren't quite there yet and I feel like there's more damage that can be done.

RAJON: Coach, no offense, but my confidence is destroyed. Every time I do something wrong, I look over at the bench now because I think Sam is coming in.

(Doc studies him intently for a second.)

DOC: Nahhhhhh ... I don't believe you. If we end up losing to Cleveland, I'm gonna need to start blaming people, and if I tell people that we lost because "our young guys just didn't have enough experience," my lackeys covering this team might actually buy it. I need a 10-turnover game from you, Rajon, and I need it soon. Sam, you just keep doing what you're doing -- hogging the ball, taking us out of our offense, forcing horrible shots and yelling at your teammates if they do anything wrong.

SAM: You got it, coach.

DOC: All right, let's talk about our offense. We won 66 games by always making the extra pass, running on every rebound and getting easy baskets. In the playoffs, we've gone into "I gotta get mine" mode -- the ball is constantly stopping, and everyone is either firing up 20-footers or trying to take their guy one on one. Again, it's the complete opposite of how we've played all season--.

POSEY: Coach, can I say something?

DOC: Sure, James, go ahead.

POSEY: I'm the only Celtic who's won a title other than Sam, so I feel like I know what I'm talking about here. The playoffs are all about matchups. Atlanta didn't have a single guy who could defend KG, but we never really exploited that. Against Cleveland, we should be attacking Szczerbiak with whoever he's guarding; that dude couldn't guard Oprah at this point. When they play Boobie Gibson and Delonte West at the same time, we should be going bigger with Paul [Pierce] at the 2 so he can post those guys up and punish them. When they put Ilgauskas on KG, we should be clearing out for KG so he can just go right by him every time. Big Z moves like a mummy; he can't handle KG facing up. I mean, it's all common sense, right?

(Doc nods slowly but seems confused.)

POSEY: I don't want to toot my own horn, but I give us the best chance to beat Cleveland because I defend LeBron so well. We have to go small against Cleveland -- our best lineup against Cleveland is me, KG, Ray, Rondo and Paul playing the 4 because none of their forwards are good enough to post up Paul, but he can make them pay on the other end. We need to force them to adapt to us instead of constantly reacting to what they're doing. That's what winning teams do.

DOC: Wait a second ... so if we put the right personnel out there, then I won't be able to over-coach and pull KG 25 feet from the basket to passive-aggressively double-team LeBron so KG can't rebound or protect the rim?

POSEY: Exactly.

DOC: I don't know if I agree with you, James. Look at what happened in the Atlanta series -- Joe Johnson got hot in the fourth quarter of Game 4 because I left our worst defender on him for the entire time, so I overreacted by changing our defensive schemes, using passive-aggressive traps to "contain" Johnson and leaving their other guys wide open all game, and they ended up shooting 47 free throws in Game 6 because we were always one step behind every time the ball moved. Some people said I overcoached, but if we won conventionally, how would I get credit for that? They'd just say anyone could have coached you guys. Besides, you can't say it's not working -- we're 6-0 at home in the playoffs! We've won 72 games!

POSEY: I guess ...

P.J. BROWN: Coach, I gotta speak up. Maybe I haven't won a title, but I've been around the league forever and have a pretty good feel for what works and doesn't work at this point. I don't mean to step on your toes, but it's not a good idea in a close playoff game on the road to play a lineup of guys who have never played together before. In Game 4, I started the fourth quarter with Big Baby, Posey, Pierce and Sam -- the only other time I've interacted with those guys as a quintet was when we ordered the "Family Dinner" at Maggiano's three weeks ago.

DOC: So what are you saying?

BROWN: In the playoffs, you kinda want to go with what's worked in the past, you know?

DOC: You're saying I should scrap my plans to start the fourth quarter by playing Rondo, Sam and Eddie at the same time tonight? I really thought that would catch them off guard. Three point guards! There's no way they'd expect that!

BROWN: Nah, it's not a good idea.

DOC: You just wait. Paul, let's talk about you -- you made third-team all-NBA by playing efficient, unselfish, all-around basketball and repeatedly getting to the rim, and you had a real knack for coming up with big rebounds in big moments. Then the playoffs started and you stopped rebounding or getting to the line and now I'm using you as our defensive stopper on LeBron even though we have Posey and even though you never play well against LeBron because you guys have that dumb feud that always knocks you out of your game. But no matter how badly you're stinking out the joint right now, and no matter how much it looks like you have mono or something, I want you to know something -- I'm not telling you to change a damned thing. You'll figure it out. You're a winner and you've been here before.

PIERCE: Actually, that's not true -- I've only won four playoff series in my entire career.

RAY: Yeah, I'm not a winner, either. I've only made the conference finals once. Even in college, I didn't win. The only big victory I've ever had was the time I housed Denzel in "He Got Game."

(Doc seems completely confused.)

KEVIN GARNETT: While we're coming clean, I haven't won anything either -- I've won three playoff series in 13 seasons.

DOC: Seriously? Wow! (Shaking his head.) I didn't realize that. I'm stunned right now.

GARNETT: It's easy to think we've won something because we've been giving interviews about winning for eight straight months to everyone with a camera or a microphone, and we've been allowing people to call us the "Big Three" even though Boston already had a "Big Three" that won three titles, and I have that Gatorade commercial that makes it seem like I've won something, and I just did that interview with Bill Russell where we talked about winning ...

DOC: Have any of you even played in the Finals?

ALLEN-GARNETT-PIERCE: No.

DOC: Really? Wow!

GARNETT: Doc, you didn't notice that we play totally different when we're up 20 than when we're up one? I can't speak for the other guys, but I have so much adrenaline going in close games that I practically black out. In fact, I can't even remember what happened in the last few minutes of Game 4 against Atlanta. I remember someone called a timeout, and the next thing I knew I was on the plane eating peanuts.

ALLEN: Yeah, maybe we should stop giving so many interviews about winning until we come through on the road one time.

DOC: Don't be crazy, we need the media! Hell, I butchered the 2005 playoffs, coached an underachieving team in 2006, and lost 18 straight games in 2007 -- the only reason I kept my job is because the media loves me. You gotta take care of those guys. That's the key to everything!

ALLEN: Well, let's stop using the phrase "Big Three" then. I'm not that type of player anymore -- really, I'm a spot-up jump shooter and that's it, and if I don't have my legs for a road game, I'm useless. There's not a ton of difference between me and Szczerbiak at this point. Two years from now, they'll be changing my name to "Ray Allen's Expiring Contract" unless somebody gives me a bionic pair of ankles.

DOC: What are you suggesting?

ALLEN: Instead of "The Big Three," couldn't they just call us "The Big Two Featuring Ray Allen?" That would take a ton of pressure off me.

POSEY: Excuse me, Ray, I gotta say something else. When I played for Pat Riley, we hated his guts. But he did coach us. In the Finals, he kept pushing D-Wade to get to the rim and yelling at him to be a man and telling him nobody on Dallas could guard him. He got D-Wade so fired up, I think he was getting to the line 25 times a game. Doc, you could be motivating KG that way and you're not even trying.

DOC: Whaddya mean?

POSEY: KG should have destroyed Atlanta, and he should be killing everyone on Cleveland except for maybe Varejao, and yet he disappeared in Atlanta and Rondo took more shots than him in Game 4 at Cleveland. That's ridiculous. KG, you take pride in being so unselfish, but we need you to be selfish sometimes, you know? And Doc, part of your job is to make KG do the things we need him to do. That's called "coaching," you know? When Ray broke the play for KG at the end of Game 4 in Atlanta, defied your orders and bricked an off-balance three when we only needed two to tie, you didn't stand up to him, bench him or anything. That's called "coaching." Coaching is simple -- your job is to motivate your players and put them in the best position to succeed. That's it.

DOC: So you're saying I should be pushing and prodding and challenging the Big Three?

ALLEN (annoyed): "The Big Two Featuring Ray Allen."

DOC: Sorry, "The Big Two Featuring Ray Allen," instead of not laying any blame on them whatsoever, then blaming every loss on the referees, or our defensive schemes breaking down, or our young guys not listening, or us not getting a certain bounce ...

POSEY: Exactly. Look, KG, you're my boy and I love you. When I hug you right before every tipoff, I hold onto you so tightly that it makes everyone in the first few rows legitimately uncomfortable. But everyone needs to be coached sometimes, and really, you haven't had a good coach your entire career.

DOC: James, I'm right here. I can hear everything.

POSEY: Sorry, but it's true. KG, listen, it's OK to take 27 shots in a playoff game if you have Josh Smith, Zaza Pachulia and some dude named "Solomon" guarding you. It's OK to complain that it's stupid to be pulling our best rebounder and shot blocker 25 feet from the basket and wearing his legs out for a gimmicky double-team that we don't even need to be doing. It's OK to call for the ball because Ben Wallace's dead body is defending you. Anyone who's ever won a title, to some degree, has been a little selfish. What you do as a player and a teammate is absolutely fantastic in the regular season, but the playoffs are different -- sometimes, you have to take over these games. You make $23 million a year. You're the most talented guy on the team. If you don't step up, we'll either lose this series or Detroit will beat us. You need to step up the same way Duncan steps up every time the Spurs need him. You need to step up. Is it in you?

(KG turns to the camera intensely and takes a big swig of Gatorade.)

DOC: Kevin, was that a "yes" or a "no?"

GARNETT: Fine, fine, I'll step up. Is this almost over? I promised TNT that I'd give them three minutes before the game to talk about how much winning means to me. You know, as long as I can win without going within 10 feet of the basket in close games.

DOC: Sure, we're almost done. Tom, you have anything to add?

(We see Thibodeau sitting in the corner working on his resume for the Phoenix and Chicago jobs. He glances up.)

THIBODEAU: No, I think we hit everything.

DOC: Fellas, I want you to know that I'm gonna keep doing the same things I've done for the entire playoffs -- showing you guys up on the sidelines after every mistake, blaming everyone but myself after we lose, making crazy adjustments that have no relation to one another from game to game, yanking our rotation around, losing my composure with referees in pivotal moments, and throwing you guys under the bus to the TNT announcers between games when they ask me why you aren't playing.

LEON POWE: Wait, is that how Mike Fratello knew about the five defensive assignments that I blew during Game 2 of the Atlanta series?

DOC: Yup. Sorry, Leon. I gotta cover my own ass with the press. You understand.

LEON: Well, not really.

DOC: Shut up. One last thing ...

(Doc glances at the TNT camera to make sure it's still recording.)

DOC (more animated): I want you to leave everything you have on the court tonight. Play hard, feed off the energy of the crowd, and if we take a big lead, don't be afraid to pound your chest, scream at the roof, tug at your jersey, bully scrubs who won't fight back and do everything possible to add to your reputation as a bunch of front-running a-holes who act totally different when they're up 20 points than they do when they're down by three. If we lock this game up early, do whatever you need to do to get yourself some attention, even if it ends up ticking off the Cavs and motivating them for Game 6.

TEAM (together): Got it.

DOC: Everybody gather in.

(The team stands up and moves into a tight circle.)

DOC: Guys, we have a chance to make history here. We can become the first NBA team to win a championship with an 0-12 record on the road. It's right there for the taking. On three ...

(Everyone sticks a hand in the circle.)

DOC and TEAM: One, two, three ...UBUNTU!

 

[DiamondDeuce]

and i come from the opposite end of the spectrum, because i believe the veterans are making the "mistake" of trusting their coach.

I like KG...got much respect for him. But he has never been dominant on the block. He aint going to change now.

The problem the Celtics have is that...during the regular season they were beating teams just off sure talent. Now that the playoffs are here and teams have times to make adjustments...their lack of a cohesive offense has been exposed. They have not decided which of the big 3 is going to be the "Go To Guy" when shit gets tough.

If I were the Coach I would tell those cats that PIERCE is the goto guy. He has the ability to create his own shot...slash...shoot...or pass........and can get to the line.

 

[Rollie_Fingaz]

Pierce's problem is foul trouble.

 

[cranrab]

I would tell those cats that PIERCE is the goto guy.

i don't care who is the go to guy for the celtics. you want it to be paul pierce? great. just tell coach rivers to STOP using ray allen as the set up man. he's not a PG, doesn't have the instincts of a PG, and it's ruining the team flow.

Pierce's problem is foul trouble.

and TURNOVERS.