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Frightwig Ghostwriting for SportsGuy?

Simmons: KG not clutch.

This entry was posted by SBG on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 at 4:32 pm and is filed under WGOM Headlines. It is one of 3094 entries by the author. We are no longer accepting Letters to the Editor on this post.

16 comments to Frightwig Ghostwriting for SportsGuy?

  • frightwig
    May 20th, 2008 at 8:47 pm

    I said this past winter: the Celtics will only get as far in the playoffs as Paul Pierce can take them. Nothing about the first two rounds has swayed me from that opinion.

    Actually, I thought the article was fairly sympathetic and generous to KG. Simmons stated some critical truths, but offered KG some excuses. I, on the other hand, don't believe KG would be a substantially different player if he'd been drafted by a good team like LA. If he had been paired with a superstar early on, he would've naturally fallen into the second banana role. The only difference would be, playing with someone like Kobe would have enhanced KG's reputation as the consummate teammate and World's Greatest Second Banana. As it is, everyone is waiting for him to step up and finally meet the expectations for a superstar, and lead his team to the top, while he's hoping Paul Pierce can take him there.

  • E-6
    May 20th, 2008 at 10:13 pm

    (Oops! Didn't see this earlier when I axed in the game-log.)

    In response to 'wig, if KG had gone to a team with a superstar, he'd likely be tens of millions poorer than he is today.

  • SBG
    May 21st, 2008 at 7:09 am

    KG looked pretty good last night.

    • frightwig
      May 21st, 2008 at 3:58 pm

      I'd say KG and Pierce deserved co-star billing last night. For once, KG played like he spent Monday listening to people telling him he needs to attack the basket. We'll see if he keeps it up. I'll be particularly interested to see if he can take his game a notch higher than 26 pts and 9 rbs in a tough game on the road.

      You know, KG has waited 4 years to show what he could do with a good team in the playoffs. The first couple rounds, he faced significantly weaker teams, neither of which featured a big man who should've given him much trouble on either end of the floor. Meanwhile, other key starters on his team have scuffled in a number of games, especially on the road, where they've reallly needed him to step up, attack the basket, get to the foul line, dictate the tempo and flow of the game, and carry his team over the hump: play like an MVP! Yet he really hasn't had many MVP-type performances in the playoffs so far; and the only time he's delivered that kind of exceptional performance on the road was Game 3 in Atlanta, when he played about as well as KG possibly can but it wasn't enough to win. It's not that he's been terrible (because he's not the kind of player who would fire up 20 shots even if he had a cold hand, anyway). It's just that he's rarely been extraordinary, particularly when his team really needed him to be.

      In the last series, he led his team to a win in Game 1 with a good performance--28 pts (13-22, 2-2), 8 rbs, 3 ast--on a night when everyone else on both teams was godawful, but then he had 4 games the rest of the series (including two losses) when he took a passive, secondary role on the offensive end. He played well again in the Game 5 win at home, when the Cavs left him free for too many open jumpers, possibly because Pierce and Rondo gave the defenders all they could handle (Pierce led the team in scoring and Rondo also chipped in 20 with 13 assists in the game). But when his teammates shot 34% the next game in Cleveland, KG answered the call with.... well, typically solid, all-around play, but delivered less than the circumstances required. He didn't reveal that higher, superstar level to his game. And when the Celtics had to come back home for another Game 7, who took charge and put his stamp on the team and the series? Who made sure LeBron's 45 points would not beat them that day?

      In the end, I expect Pierce to be the X-Factor in this series, and the next if he gets his team there, too. As goes Pierce, so shall the Celtics. If KG leads the team in scoring from here on out, they're not winning the title.

      • SBG
        May 21st, 2008 at 4:27 pm

        Even with Pierce's 41 point outburst in game 7, KG is leading the Celtics in scoring in the playoffs... 20.7 PPG to Pierce's 18.9. He's shooting 52.2% from the field to Pierce's 43.0%. His 24.67 PER is 4th best in the playoffs after Paul, Kobe, and Dirk. Pierce's PER is 16.59. Yep, Pierce was dynamic in game 7, but he's been subpar overall so far in the playoffs. Allen has been miserable. KG has been pretty much better than everyone else. If Pierce and Allen had played to the level they did during the regular season, the Cs wouldn't know what a Game 7 or even Game 6 was so far in these playoffs.

        Of course, Duncan missed the last 10 shots he took in his game 7 and he's third on his team in scoring in the playoffs, but he's allowed to have his teammates contribute to wins.

        • frightwig
          May 22nd, 2008 at 1:04 pm

          Yep, Pierce was dynamic in game 7, but he's been subpar overall so far in the playoffs.

          Which is part of the big reason why the Celtics have struggled to put away teams they should've handled fairly easily. Boston needs him to be on his game, because nobody else on the team, including the alleged MVP, is capable of taking up the slack if he's not. Even in some games when Allen was nearly invisible and Pierce's shot clearly was off, KG seemed comfortable taking his 13 shots, firing away if he could get an open jumper or get some room for a fade-away. Which is nice if you worship the PER, but I can understand why Celtics fans are frustrated with him.

          Even Cornbread Maxwell has been feeling fed up with watching him lately.

          From the AP recap of Game 4 in Cleveland:

          When Garnett dropped his first jumper, former Celtics player and current broadcaster Cedric "Cornbread" Maxwell removed his headphones, rose out of his seat and screamed, "Get down in the box," toward the floor below.

          Garnett seemed to hear him as he scored nine of Boston's first 11 points, doing most of his damage from inside the lane. But with Varejao fronting him, Garnett got few other good looks at the basket in the first half and was even quieter after halftime. LINK

          Indeed, you put a body on KG, even Anderson Varejao might discourage him.

          Of course, Duncan missed the last 10 shots he took in his game 7 and he's third on his team in scoring in the playoffs, but he's allowed to have his teammates contribute to wins.

          Of course, KG would never miss 10 shots in the 2nd half, because once he missed 5 in the 3rd quarter you know he'd just quit shooting in the 4th.

          At this point, it may well be that Duncan will willingly cede some responsibilities to Parker and Ginobli, especially as long as they can show they're up to it. He's getting older, they're better and more experienced now. It may also be a reflection of matchups the Spurs have faced so far. Sometimes he may even have an off night. But whatever happens now and in the future, you can't deny that Tim Duncan has been the best player on 4 championship teams. Nobody ever had to question whether he could command the post, take the big shots, and carry his team when needed. When his team needs him to be The Man, he's stepped up, time and again. He's proven. As Holly Hunter said, he's bona fide.

          On the other hand, KG has proven... well, he's very efficient. Is the consistently efficient, low-risk guy necessarily capable of leading his team to a title? I expect not, but we'll see.

          • SBG
            May 22nd, 2008 at 4:08 pm

            I see Duncan scored 30 and grabbed 18 rebounds, but the Spurs squandered a 20 point second half lead last night. Basketball is a team game.

            • frightwig
              May 23rd, 2008 at 3:32 pm

              Duncan is the best power forward ever, but I never said that Tim Duncan plays 1-on-5 or that the Spurs never lose despite his best efforts. Certainly, he's not an omnipotent superman. But he does have a certain track record and qualities to his game which KG lacks. If KG had more games lately like Duncan did in that loss, or any like Duncan did in the Spurs' Game 1 win over the Suns, if he had more of Duncan's abilities on the blocks, or if he could do what Kobe did last night, Simmons wouldn't have written that column and this conversation wouldn't be happening.

              • SBG
                May 23rd, 2008 at 4:45 pm

                Just because Bill Simmons writes something doesn't make it the truth.

                I've shown before how KG's numbers have been superior in the playoffs in losing efforts, to no avail.

                For example, 2001-02 playoffs: KG had 24.0/18.7/5.0 averages, T-Wolves swept.
                2002-03: KG had 27.0/15.7/5.2 averages, Wolves lost to NBA champion Lakers in 6.
                2003-04: KG had 24.3/14.6/5.1, Wolves lost to Lakers in WCF in 6 when Cassell and his backup are hurt and can't play. KG has to bring the ball up the court. These were major efforts by KG in the playoffs, to no avail. Simmons is talking out his ass. He always has, when it comes to KG/Duncan. It's always been about the quality of teammates. From the same article:

                And on average, Garnett has produced more than all his teammates combined. In contrast, Duncan’s teammates – on average – have nearly doubled Duncan’s production. The best season for Garnett’s teammates was 1999-00, when KG’s fellow Timberwolves produced 27.5 wins. The worst season for Duncan’s teammates was 2002-03, when Duncan’s fellow Spurs only produced 29.9 wins. As one can see, every single season of his career Duncan has had a better supporting cast than Garnett.

                See that? The best season of KG's supporting cast is worse than Duncan's worst.

                Here we are in 2008. The playoffs start and KG's best two teammates, Pierce and Allen, have stunk it up beyond belief in the playoffs. Yes, Pierce had a great game seven against Cleveland, but if he'd have not stunk the place out before, it would never have come down to that. Meanwhile, Duncan had Ginobili and Parker to carry him if he should have a bad night.

                Let me go back to Wages of Wins one more time to give it to you as clearly as possible:

                Over the past ten years the Spurs have averaged 58 wins per season, while the Timberwolves have only averaged 45. How much more would Garnett have to do for his team to achieve San Antonio’s success? Garnett averages 23 wins per season. To move his team from 45 to 58, though, he would have to average 36 wins per campaign. Such an increase would move his WP48 from 0.358 to 0.559. Garnett’s productivity over the past 10 seasons is already more than any other player in the past decade. Still, if Garnett increased his productivity by 56% then the Timberwolves would be just as good as the Spurs.

                Is it reasonable to expect on player to consistently produce 36 wins each season? Michael Jordan’s best season was 1988-89, where I estimate he produced 35.5 wins and posted a WP48 of 0.524. So we are only asking Garnett to consistently eclipse the production of Jordan at his best. Perhaps it would be easier if Kevin McHale – the only general manager Garnett has known – would simply find him better teammates.

                The moral of this story is that players do not win games. Teams win games. If you surround an exceptional talent with other productive players, your team might contend for a title. But if you surround an exceptional talent with unproductive talent, your team has a good chance of missing the playoffs entirely. And there is nothing one exceptional talent can do to change that basic fact.

                And that is all I have to say about that. Just be better than Jordan ever was at his peak and do it for a decade. Then, KG could have overcome the deficiencies of his teammates relative to the teammates that Duncan had and the Wolves would have been as good as the Spurs.

  • brianS
    May 21st, 2008 at 4:50 pm

    pfft. He was A-Rodian in Game 1 (8 of his 26 points in the 3rd, only 4 in the 4th) Wink

  • SBG
    May 22nd, 2008 at 7:43 am

    Here's what Wages of Wins thinks about the C's in the playoffs -- Pierce and Allen have both stunk. KG has not stunk.

    • frightwig
      May 22nd, 2008 at 2:10 pm

      Nobody argues that KG has stunk. KG in the playoffs has been about the same player he was in the regular season, which is why Simmons doubts that he has another gear to kick his game to a transcendent level when his team really needs it.

      The Celtics' postseason record also is, in large part, a reflection of Pierce's inconsistency, which speaks to my point about how much the team depends on him to fill up the basket.

      I said months ago that the Celtics are really Pierce's team. He's the one who will attack the basket, get to the foul line. He wants the big shots. If he doesn't fill up the basket, I don't see anyone else filling the void. It's not just the points, but the C's really don't have much of an inside attack on offense if Pierce is off his game--which makes it easier to defend his teammates on the perimeter, in that case. After what you've seen so far in these playoffs, do you dispute any of that?

      • brianS
        May 22nd, 2008 at 5:26 pm

        I was going to post a smart-@ss response that consisted of Garnett's shot chart from Game 1 (5 made baskets in the paint), but I couldn't figure out how to get the .swf file into a useable format.

        • frightwig
          May 23rd, 2008 at 3:49 pm

          I've already noted that KG in Game 1 attacked the basket more aggressively than usual. In Game 2, he had 3 dunks/layups, but I didn't see the game so I don't know how they were set up.

          Looks like each one of the C's Big Three showed up to play last night, and the team shot an efficient 48% from the field, but either the Celtics need to find a way to get more points out of someone or they need to play better team defense again.