[外電] Garnett tries to control emotions, Gasol
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The media began to congregate around the hastily-constructed
podium on the Staples Center floor 10 minutes before his
arrival and they couldn’t wait to tell him. Kevin Garnett,
as is his style, arrived fashionably late and after a few
perfunctory questions, it was time for the main event.
Pau Gasol said you lost a step.
Garnett chuckled a little bit before saying, “I have no
comment for his comments.”
That wasn’t good enough and so the point was pressed
further, which is another way of saying the match didn’t strike
but the fuse was ready to ignite.
“I’m not getting caught up in what Pau’s talking about,”
Garnett said still managing to keep things on simmer before
working into a boil. “I’m not going to play these games.
I’m going to stick to my guns, continue to make the proper
adjustments and move on. I’m not into this bull [expletived]
that’s going on, you know what I mean? That’s it.”
For the record, this is what Gasol said in its entirety:
“On Kevin’s part he’s also lost some explosiveness. He’s
more of a jump shooter now you could say. Before he had
a really, really quick step and was getting to the lane and
he was more aggressive then. Time passes and we all suffer it
one way or another, but he’s still a terrific player, a
terrific competitor and he’s going to bring everything he’s
got. You can count on that.”
Slow that down and back it all up. Is there anything in
that quote that strikes you as untrue? Impolitic maybe, but
not untrue. Of course Garnett is not the player he was in
Minnesota when he was arguably, or maybe not so arguably, the
best player in the league for a period of about three years
from 2003-2005.
But this is the NBA finals and we have 48 hours between
games so anything and everything becomes fodder for the hype
machine. In context or out, Garnett knows that he has to play
better in Game 2, so what’s a little media-driven frenzy
between big men?
“Every man is entitled to his opinion,” Rajon Rondo said.
“You know, Kevin is fine. It’s just one game. We’ll see
in Game 2. I just can’t wait. I didn’t know [Gasol] said
that, but I’ll be excited to see how it goes in Game 2.”
And so it continues for Kevin Garnett who began the playoffs
throwing an inopportune elbow in the general direction of
Quentin Richardson’s head, which unleashed all manner of
pent-up hellfire and brimstone from his many critics anxious
to call him out for his bullying ways.
Garnett got past all that, and so did the Celtics, and the
n it was on to the Cavaliers where he destroyed Antwan Jamison
and had perhaps his finest hour in a Boston uniform in the
closing game of that series, scoring 22 points and grabbing
12 rebounds.
Then it was on to Orlando where he made Rashard Lewis
disappear in the type of defensive performance that so many
said were a thing of the past.
But Jamison and Lewis aren’t Gasol, who is at worst the
second-best big man in the world right now and certainly the
best offensive player among 7-footers.
“I got to be in control,” Garnett said. “I got to be
aggressive. I got to quit thinking and just relax. What I do
well is make plays for other guys, making sure other guys are
communicating defensively, brining a solid presence to that
end and I did none of those things. It’s not a one-on-one
situation between me and Pau. To make this team better
I have to be a lot more aggressive, and I will.”
All of that is true but he’s wrong when he says it’s not
a one-on-one situation between him and Gasol. Not anymore.
Doc Rivers said that Garnett had his best practice of the
season on Wednesday and if the game had been played that
night instead of Thursday it might have been a completely
different performance. But it wasn’t and so the inevitable
question of time and its effects has sprung to life again
regarding Garnett.
“All year when we play bad, we’re old, and when we play
well we have great experience,” Rivers said. “That’s just
who we are. It doesn’t bother them.”
Experienced or not, Garnett and the rest of the Celtics
made a classic rookie mistake in Game 1: They came out too
amped up, too excited and when things calmed down, they
didn’t have an extra gear.
By the time they did get themselves together it was too
late. The Lakers had a 20-point lead and even with a superb
fourth quarter the Celtics were never really able to make it
into a competitive game.
“He needs to play with that edge,” Rivers said. “I really
thought early on he was going too fast and trying to slow
himself down. He probably did it a little bit too much, but
he’ll be fine.”
Garnett told Rivers he needed to center himself and Rivers
laughed. Rivers doesn’t do deep, but he does understand
that each and every one of his players is a little bit off,
for lack of a better phrase. They are all so idiosyncratic and
quirky and he allows them their indulgences so when Garnett
gets all philosophical, Rivers takes that as a good sign.
“He knew it,” Rivers said. “He could feel it. And that’s
what makes him good.”
During his three years in Boston, Garnett has made little
attempt to explain his moods and his methods to his new city.
He has been distant since he arrived, but he has been even
more so this season as he has tried to come back from the
first serious injury of his career.
So much of what has made him one of the more unique, and y
es bizarre, players the league has even known has gone missi
ng at times this season. The anger, the emotion, the half-cr
azed, (or the bullying, if you’re not a fan) has been absen
t for much of the season.
With the press he has always kept a wide berth, but he has
had even less patience for their constant questions about
his knee, about his play, about just about everything.
There was a scene in the locker room in Orlando long after
Game 5 when everyone else had left and it was just Garnett
and about 10 reporters. The cramped room was like a hothouse
sauna and all around were strewn the evidence of a game gone
horribly awry with discarded bags of ice for knees, elbows
and concussions all over the floor.
He was asked a question about whether a game like this
reinforced the notion that everything in this game was tenuous.
It was a good question, and it clearly had a deeper resonance
than just one night in Orlando.
A long silence followed before Garnett started to answer.
“As I sit here and think about what you said,” he began.
“I’m trying to answer without a muzzle.”
It was in many ways a tacit acknowledgment that this season
has been difficult. That he has seen his basketball mortality
up close and that he hasn’t liked what he has seen. There
have been whispers around the Celtics that all of this in
his head, that place that he refuses to share with the outside
world.
He has brought so much to the Celtics, but as always with
Garnett, everyone wants more. It wasn’t enough to be the best
player in the sport when he was in Minnesota and couldn’t
win and it’s clear now that winning a championship didn’t
end his career-long torment from his critics either.
Now he has before him his most difficult task since he came
to Boston in trying to stop Gasol. The words spoken today
will take on a life of their own before Game 2, but once the
two step back on the floor, they will mean nothing.
It will just be Garnett and an incredibly confident player
who believes that he finally has the upper hand on his
long-time tormentor. There are many things the Celtics need to
do better if they are to leave here with a split, but all eyes
will be on this matchup and whether Garnett can make one more
definitive statement.
--
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