Every single time I see someone praise Kevin Garnett, they always throw in the fact that he has no leadership and doesn't show up when it counts. I am here to dispel that.
Without a doubt, I've watched the most Timberwolves games out of anyone here. It's not an attempt at superiority, it's just the result of me being a huge Wolves fan and a huge basketball fan. With that being said...
As soon as I see someone say that Garnett will not step up when he needs to and is not a leader, I can instantly tell they have not watched many Wolves games.
Prime example, last night's game against the Kings. Absolutely huge game. Wally's first game back, and a great time for Garnett to show himself. Early in the first, Joe Smith was hot. He was hitting every 20 footer he took. What did Garnett do? Did he try and take over the game? No, he kept giving the ball to Joe and let himself fade into the background for a while. KG had two first quarter points, but he had 5 assists, and the Wolves had a double digit lead. I've seen so many times KG's play referred to as passive when he does stuff like this.
Let's move ahead into the third quarter. The Kings were playing near flawless offense. They had finally started to close the double digit lead the Wolves had. Guess who stopped the bottom from falling out? Yup, KG. KG demanded they run the same post iso play three times in a row, scoring with it twice, effectively giving the Wolves the points they needed to run with the Kings. People watching on TV didn't see how KG literally demanded the ball each possession. There was no option for any other Wolves player except to pass it to KG. People don't notice that, though, because you just don't see it on TV, assuming peoplke are actually watching a Wolves game or two on TV.
The home game against the Rockets earlier this year was another great example. The only reason the Wolves won was because of KG, which has not-so-coincidentally has been the case in most of the Wolves wins.
If the Wolves had any other seriously good players on the team, and in turn won more games, there'd be no doubt that KG would be in MVP talks this year. But instead, he's once again by himself, and he is somehow catching flak for not being able to beat some very high-caliber teams by himself, and it's somehow being attributed to him disappearing in the clutch and his lack of leadership, something that couldn't be further from the truth.
Without a doubt, I've watched the most Timberwolves games out of anyone here. It's not an attempt at superiority, it's just the result of me being a huge Wolves fan and a huge basketball fan. With that being said...
As soon as I see someone say that Garnett will not step up when he needs to and is not a leader, I can instantly tell they have not watched many Wolves games.
Prime example, last night's game against the Kings. Absolutely huge game. Wally's first game back, and a great time for Garnett to show himself. Early in the first, Joe Smith was hot. He was hitting every 20 footer he took. What did Garnett do? Did he try and take over the game? No, he kept giving the ball to Joe and let himself fade into the background for a while. KG had two first quarter points, but he had 5 assists, and the Wolves had a double digit lead. I've seen so many times KG's play referred to as passive when he does stuff like this.
Let's move ahead into the third quarter. The Kings were playing near flawless offense. They had finally started to close the double digit lead the Wolves had. Guess who stopped the bottom from falling out? Yup, KG. KG demanded they run the same post iso play three times in a row, scoring with it twice, effectively giving the Wolves the points they needed to run with the Kings. People watching on TV didn't see how KG literally demanded the ball each possession. There was no option for any other Wolves player except to pass it to KG. People don't notice that, though, because you just don't see it on TV, assuming peoplke are actually watching a Wolves game or two on TV.
The home game against the Rockets earlier this year was another great example. The only reason the Wolves won was because of KG, which has not-so-coincidentally has been the case in most of the Wolves wins.
If the Wolves had any other seriously good players on the team, and in turn won more games, there'd be no doubt that KG would be in MVP talks this year. But instead, he's once again by himself, and he is somehow catching flak for not being able to beat some very high-caliber teams by himself, and it's somehow being attributed to him disappearing in the clutch and his lack of leadership, something that couldn't be further from the truth.
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