Kevin Garnett’s Kicks At Greatness
These are KG’s NBA Finals shoe. No, you can’t afford them, although, they are pretty sweet. If I bled green, I could, just maybe, go loony for 5 minutes and order me a set of these thousand dollar shoes ($1017.00). Yes, you saw that right. The 17 extra smacks represent Boston’s push for Championship #17. Despite the price, you know there are some “out-there” Celtic fans who are beyond geeked for these Finals. There will only be 8 of these produced for each game. Some rare touches in these Adidas: the KG profile, the Larry O’Brien, the embroidered game number.
Now, how long has KG been practicing in these bad boys? Are they the exact same mold as his regular Adidas kicks? Will they affect his play? This is what the hardcores want to know.
Comments (2)The True Class Of The East
They say defense is all about effort. With the intensity the Boston Celtics bring to every possession, you can see why they are by far and away the leaders in points allowed per game (86.5).
But it’s not just on the defensive end. Boston is ridiculously focused from the moment they walk out of the tunnel. Yesterday in Toronto, there was a 14 minute delay to start the 2nd half because of a leak in the roof. Kevin Garnett didn’t so much as smile during the break. He kept going through that layup line along with his ‘mates, time after time until the hardwood was ready.
All you have to do is watch Boston’s bench. If Rajon Rondo pushes the ball and misses a lay in, the bench is screaming out props because he did the right thing. When Tony Allen makes the smart pass, he hears about it. The bench is in playoff form and so is that ridiculously solid defensive 5.
They made a mockery of the Raptors’ fluid offense. Jose Calderon leads full-time point guards by a mile in assist to turnover ratio (5.6), but yesterday he committed 4 turnovers to go along with his 5 assists. The Celtics forced him to take a couple more dribbles and make him generally uncomfortable because they were constantly in front of him. After scoring 29 in Toronto’s previous game, Jason Kapono finished with 8. He got very few good looks and couldn’t out battle a Celtic for a rebound even if the back of his jersey read Rondo. Anthony Parker saw nothing but green and those flailing hands were getting Chris Bosh more rattled then I’ve seen in a very long time.
That tenacity shook most of the Raps. Even when they got open looks, Toronto just didn’t appear right in a 13 point loss where the score flattered the home team. It was a lot more C’s than TR’s. There will be no mid-January Tuesday blah game for this Celtics squad; playing lackadaisical just doesn’t seem in them at all. The methodical offense, the hard fouls; they are unshakable in every facet of the game.
The answer isn’t merely Kevin Garnett. It’s likely the effect of the leaders getting together far earlier than they were supposed to before the pre-season and their attitudes trickling down to the rest of the roster. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are definitely practicing what KG is preaching and the rest of the team has no choice but to follow suit. I’m not sure Doc Rivers needs to be on the bench at all.
Is this team giving a little too much and maybe peaking a little too early? There is something to be said for that but the benefits of establishing well defined roles should pay off handsomely in the long run. Tony Allen, Kendrick Perkins, Rondo, Big Baby, James Posey… the list is endless. These guys are all doing fine, fine jobs and it is surprising how quickly they’ve come together. Now, bring on the West already.
Comments (10)The Long Fingers Of The Law
If you’re not excited about Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen coming to Boston, you’re whacked. KG is one of the top 6 or 7 players in the league. Allen and Paul Pierce have to be included in the top 25. That has got to be enough for the Celtics to be an upper echelon team in the weak Leastern Conference. This baby is cyclical - let the power come east.
Even though I’m a fan of the Raps, I am jacked about the opportunity of seeing Garnett play in the EST time zone. The guy is under appreciated. The numbers speak for themselves but when you’re surrounded by teammates like Ricky Davis, Marko Jaric and Mark Blount, you can’t compete in the West. Look at the names struggling over there: Kobe Bryant hasn’t won a playoff series in 3 years, Tracy McGrady hasn’t won a round in the postseason ever, and so on. Both Garnett and Allen will finally stand out playing in the East.
I watched both those players take their respective teams on their backs last season. I remember KG single handedly stopping the Suns 17-game win streak with 44 effortless points. Just too many skills to speak of: rebounding, passing, defending, etc. As for Ray, it’s trendy right now to say he’s washed up. Yes, he is 32. And yes, he is a jump shooter. The consensus is his legs have to go some time soon and he’s seriously banged up. Whatever. The way he played when he was scoring 26 per last season leaves no doubt in my mind he will be very capable for the final 3 years of his contract. Especially considering he will have 2 Hall of Fame caliber players shouldering the load. He had to free himself up constantly to get off his shot in Seattle, but with double teams swarming around Pierce and Garnett, you’ll see the man with the most beautiful stroke in basketball elevating with lots of room around him. He says his ankles are perfect and frankly, I’m just naive enough to believe him.
The Truth, the Big Ticket and Ray-Ray all know this is their best shot to win a title. They’ll all be 30+ when training camp starts. Pierce said he felt like a rookie again during KG’s press conference (and even though we all knew PP wore #24 #34, it was a nice little snapshot of the future seeing the big 3 hold up their jerseys). The trio is rejuvenated and ready for a hard run, and that drive will have a trickle down effect on to the rest of the roster. Take a role playing Brian Scalabrine for example. Last year, he was pleasantly plump, but you know when he heard KG was gonna to be playing next to him, Ginger Balls put down the old Krispy Kreme and went for a jog. Three Hall of Fame worthy players and a thinner Ginger Balls, sounds like a winning formula to me.
“Gatorade’s On Fire!”
Well, well, well… looks like someone knew to hold Up + Turbo + Steal at the “Tonight’s Matchup” screen…
Gatorade Big Head Commercial [YouTube]
Comments (8)Free Garnett!
Now that Darko is blocking everything in sight with his self-tanning lotions — 100% free from the tumultuous days of begging for White Castle scraps from Big Ben’s ‘fro — we, the concerned NBA public can finally focus our attention upon a much more worthy campaign:
Free Garnett.
Yeah, I’m sorry Minnesota, but you’ve had your chances with the ‘Big Ticket’ at the helm. A couple of 50+ win seasons, a division title, a decent run to the conference finals … nothing to be ashamed of, especially for a franchise still only 15 or 16 years old. But wow, have the times done changed, eh? Sam and his ugly head are off leading the Clips to the promise land, Spree’s collecting welfare cheques while making cheap peanut butter sandwiches for his kids, and Coach Flip’s busy cashing in on the best starting 5 in the L. Yeah, the personnel’s a little different in Timberland to say the least.
I mean have you seen this year’s Wolves team? Yikes. Minus Garnett and Ricky Davis — who at least fills the box score even if he does forget he’s playing basketball for quarters at a time — this team is made up entirely of a bunch of rag-tag losers. Jaric wears sweater-vests and sucks ass; Blount’s a joke; Griffin can’t shoot to save his life; and Mark Madsen is … well he’s Mark Madsen for fuck’s sake.
I was watching the Raps torch the Wolves by 20 the other night, and I nearly shit myself when I realized that their 3rd best player on the court was some ex-Celtic named Justin Reed. What? Who? Exactly.
This is why the “Free Garnett” movement must start now. I don’t care if they’ve got some promising young talent in Reed, Banks and McCants. They ain’t going nowhere anytime soon, and Garnett ain’t getting any younger. You got to remember this guy is already 30 years old. So what’s that leave him with? 4, 5 more dominant, MVP-like years? Yeah, and I’ll be damned if I have to sit here and watch some 39-year-old Garnett go on to collect some pity ring while “contributing” 20 odd minutes off some team’s bench.
We’ve got to rally the masses, people. Seriously. We’ve got to buy that fucking domain name and get that site up and running. We’ve got do everything we possibly can as basketball fans to let the world know (see: David Stern) that yes — YES! — Kevin Garnett must be freed! Now!
So … who’s with me?
Comments (16)About
The Basketball Jones is a NBA blog and podcast, written and recorded five times a week by J.E. Skeets, Tas Melas and Jason Doyle. Comments, questions and cold hard cash are always welcome and much appreciated. Contact us.
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