1. We will see no 'Jaren Jackson' level blimping-out and falling-off of talent and effort.
2. The third year contains a buy-out and might be able to be used the way Danny Ferry's contract was when he was essentially retired and the slot traded to fetch Turkoglu. A genius move, if the player himself turned out to be less than.
3. Horry will need to play less every year. The trade of Rose opened up a lot of playing time for him, which was great. Next year Scola steps in, who will need time and seasoning. I think Horry will be grateful in this case to find his minutes reduced; he'll still be needed in crunch-time situations.
4. Of course he would deserve it for saving the Championship this year. His future success is practically gravy. Sweet, delicious, nurturing gravy.
For $1.2 million last year, Horry was money well spent to win a title.
His third year buyout seems like a creative way to give him more total money without sending us further over the cap for the next two years we have him.
Now the obvious next step is to lock up Big Dog. We can't afford to lose him to Atlanta. Just kidding. But for some reason I do hope he sticks around. Spurs do need offense and mid-range jumpers. But would Big Dog blimp out into Jaren Jackson for whatever team signs him? I hate to say, I give it a 50/50.
I couldn't be happier about keeping Bobby in the fold. Now Pop just needs to finish up his trip in Argentina by getting Scola.
If, remarkably, this rumor that Portland wants Rasho for 'Reef is true, would you do it? Reef is obviously more talented that Rasho, but I don't see much of a need for him if we have Tim/Scola/Horry at the 4. Meanwhile, a potential series w/Houston is entirely possible, and I'd feel much more comfortable about it if we had Rasho to cover Yao.
Finally, Matthew, are you just going to continue ducking my question? Do you still think KG is better than Duncan? I mean, I'd understand if you were just trying to distance yourself from a ridiculous opinion you once held, but I thought you'd be big enough to admit you were wrong.
Oh sweet Jesus. Ducking your question? You give yourself too much credit.
Yes. I still think KG is the best NBA basketball player in the world. I still put him just above Duncan.
I don't judge a player solely on team success. Similarly, when I get a flat tire I don't blame the engine.
The simple fact is that the best player Kevin Garnett has ever played with is one of the following
Tom Gugliotta
A 25 year old Chauncey Billups
Wally Szczerbiak
A 21 year old Stephon Marbury
The calcified remains of Sam Cassell or Latrell Sprewell
Michael Jordan never won a title without Scottie Pippen. Which one of those guys is in Pippen's league?
Shaq never won a title without Kobe Bryant. Since when did Sam Cassell equal Kobe?
Larry Bird had McHale and Parish.
Magic had Kareem and Worthy.
Tim Duncan had David Robinson for two of his titles and Ginobili and Horry (who basically single-handedly saved Duncan from what of the biggest choke jobs in the history of the NBA) for the other (and Manu was the Spurs best player in the playoffs anyway).
None of MIN'S players are anywhere near the caliber of David Robinson, who's one of the top 10 defensive players of all time. I would put Ginobili above all of those guys, too.
Furthermore, there wasn't one single non-Garnett starter for Minnesota this season that would have started for San Antonio.
I don't have anything further to say on this matter. You are entitled to your opinion, even if it's based on overly simplistic rationale founded more in prejudice than common sense.
If this reply makes you sad, angry, perturbed, infuriated, constipated or in anyway tarnishes your day then I firmly suggest you simply stop reading my blog. I certainly don't give a fuck.
And you call yourself a spurs fan... traitor. harhar.
ooh, profanity! relax, man. i was just busting balls.
i don't buy that logic, though. it's so easy to blame any garnett failure on his teammates. the bottom line is that he has had enough around him over the years to get out of the first round more than once.
david was solid in '99 but had very little left in '03. for reference, compare his playoff stats that year to malik's. robinson averaged 23.4 mpg, and 7.8ppg. malik averaged 23.3mpg and 9.3 ppg. pretty comparable, and if malik freaking rose is contributing as much or more than this vaunted #2 dog you speak of, than Tim clearly didn't have a Pippen like sidekick. for the entire 2003 season Robinson averaged 8.5 points and 7.9 boards in 26.2 minutes per game. WOW! thank goodness timmy had David to carry him to that title. for the record, tim was the only all-star on the Spurs in 2003.
"the calcified remains of cassell and spree?" gimme a break. cassell had a career year in '04 and was an all-star while spree received serious consideration. you're telling me cassell went from career year all-star to calcified in one season? please. yet again, tim had no all-star sidekick that year but still managed to give the lakers a better series, and would have won another title were it not for .04.
and since you mentioned chauncey, let's talk about him for a second. why is it that chauncey became a great player after he left garnett's side? aren't elite players supposed to make their teammates better? why is it that every year someone new on the spurs seems to rank among the league leaders in 3-point percentage (hedo, ferry, elliot, derrick anderson).
given how highly you value stats, i can understand why KG is your guy. i'm down with sabermetrics and moneyball, but basketball is a completely different game and lacks the one-on-one "in a vacuum" matchups that make offensive statistics in baseball so telling. recently, KG has put up better numbers than Tim, but i think that's because Tim is more concerned about winning than numbers. he doesn't mind doing things like playing fewer minutes to be fresher for the playoffs. KG is the Peyton Manning to Duncan's Brady--all gaudy stats, with no real clue about winning.
in basketball there are five guys on the floor, and one player can have a bigger impact than in any other team sport. in fact, recent history shows that the team with the best player in the league usually wins. jordan, olajuwon, shaq and duncan were the best players in the league when their teams were winning. one truly great player should be enough to get a team into the playoffs. as Simmons said, if Duncan's playing 75-80 games a year the Spurs aren't missing the playoffs. garnett couldn't even power his squad past a mediocre Memphis team that lost 5 out of their last 6 before getting swept in the first round. what a joke! he's the best player in basketball? HA.
I think you're response is pretty arrogant and obnoxious. I thought the blogosphere wa
shit got cut off.
I thought the blogosphere was supposed to encourage discussion, not stifle it with insults and absurd accusations of prejudice. Please inform me how my opinion that a 3 time champ who has never missed the playoffs or All-NBA 1st Team is better than a guy who has gotten out of the first round once is based on prejudice and not logic.
KG better than Duncan? WTF! I lost a little respect 4 ya bro. 1st of all why in the blue hell you call a guy that has never made it past the 1st round only once. ONce! that is ridiculous. N Jordan did not start winning rings until Pippen but he still made it out of the playoffs. Look at last year alone...the Jazz sucked and KOBE sucked and yet they still not make the playoffs?
Duncan has 3 rings and counting.
WHat pisses me off more than anything about KG is that no one ever brings this stuff I jest mentioned above. But why Matt why did D-ROb his entire career get critized about supposedly being SOFT and never winning the Championship and yet KG no one ever critizes him for being hands down the 2nd biggest dissapointed/underachiever in the NBA..2nd only to CWebb?
ALl this bullshit about KG having street cred and D-rob being book smart. D-Rob took a lot of crap his entire career and yet KG they act like he is the best thing since bread and butter and yet he has a worse career than DRob(b4 the Duncan era...)
KG sucks! If he goes to Dallas he will destroy that team. Freakin' Jermaine O'neil is better atleast he knows how to get out of round 1.
SO let's not start sucking each others dick just yet....until KG learns to win in the playoff he is no where near Duncan league. His Timberpuppies team B$ Duncan joined the league were no better than Drobs teams. Who did DRob have besides Rodman those 2 years? Elliott just a complimentary player and Terry Cummings was washed up when we got him(except the first 2 years he was a SPur) Strickland was always in trouble...had nothing yet DRob is supposedly soft. F KG! f the Timberpuppies! Freaking Marbuary, Bobby Jackson, Terrel Brandon, Chauncey Billups, and Sam I am Cassell and only once made it out of round 1 in what 10 years. Pathetic.
Put Duncan in those teams and get him out of round one.
Chris(COKE0
Just for the record Sam Cassell was no stiff with Timperpuppies he made the all-star once or twice and he gave the Lakers fits both times they played in 03 and 04 and Spree b4 last years was no stiff either... SAM I AM & SPree although only a shadow of what they once were...were still considered one of the best back courts in the the NBA.
Speaking of which what about SAM I AM as pops potential veteran backup point guard.
KG better than Duncan Plz get real...not to mentioned Duncan is like 3 months younger than KG.
KG is such a great underachiever he is trade bait..can you ever imagine Duncan being trade bait in his prime of his career?
Now that I think about it really do Aj convinces Mark Cuban to trade Dirk and who ever else to get KG so we only have to worry about Houston, PHX, and not DALLAS.
Chris(COKE0
Sorry, Chris, I automatically disregard comments from people who refer to MIN as the "Timberpuppies."
wow
evidently, and quite unbeknownst to me, KGvTD has become an either/or bright line of faith...
I happen to think TD is better, maybe. And only a little bit. Let's face it, you don't have to hate one to love the other. They're both extraordinary players. And yeah, although the Wolves did have a couple of players, KG has never, never had the type of Team Tim has.
Our players take a little less than they could get elsewhere, theirs make asinine comments about feeding their families on only a couple of mil a yr. That kind of attitude tends to permeate an organization.
KG has played an entire career with a collection of (some) talent. Tim D. has played his entire career with a team. Sure he's a big, big part of that, and that's why I think he's better. But let's face it, Garnett is a huge talent, and his drive to win is evident every minute he's on the court. Who really knows how they'd both do if they were traded straight up for each other. It's all just noise...
I'm like Matthew, I'd really love to see what Kevin Garnett could do with a team of passionate guys who all wanted to win as a team. Of course, you could say that his contract may make that really hard, and maybe if he was more like Duncan he could make his team that much better...
On the other hand, if Duncan was being helped with big signings like, say KandyMan, his attitude might be a little less team-positive...
At any rate, anyone who thinks either one of these guys sucks is just a clown. But hey, maybe I'm a traitor too, I think Ben Wallace is better than either Nazr or Rasho or both...
The point is Rocat that DRob took a lot of crap his whole career b4 the championships or heck even during the 2 rings and yet Kg never ever gets any crap when he should. ALways here excuses excuse and more excuses. Just cos he supposeldy has Street cred. all bullshit if you ask me about street cred. Take Your boy Ben Wallace he grew up in the country and yet is he SOFT? I dunno who the hell started this shit about a player having to have street cred to be a good basketball player and that if you were well educated and from a nice family like D-ROb your all of a sudden soft. As far as talent goes your obviously not checking your histroy cos the TimperPUPPIES always no better than D_Robs teasm b4 TD came aboard.
All I am saying is that the time has come for KG to start taking the GOD damn criticism he so justly deserves. He was the one that singed the ridiculous contract that at the time was more than the entire Minnesota Twins price tag....and what he got to show for it? Not a god damn thing.
You seriously think that TD or SHAQ after 8 or 9 years would only make it out of the first round once? Just once the way KG has? Pathetic!
KG has such street cred then why do his teams always suck ballz?
All this rap/hip hop crap I guesse...another piece of crap that is even worse than KG is his former teammate and supposedly Street cred player Stephon Marbuary who also always sucked and NEVER EVER made it out of the playoffs 1st round and yet he is the self professed World
s greatest PG.
Like I said b4 FUCK KG! Fuck the Timperpuppies!
Chris(COKE0
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