KG in the League of Clutch?

MeaHorn

MeaHorn

500+ Posts
Seriously. What has he done that's clutch? Shouldn't they wait until the playoffs are over before annointing him? ****, the Patriots had an undefeated regular season and they didn't get a L of C commercial.

Ok, maybe I'm just tired of seeing that at every commercial break.
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As a Mavs fan, I would have no problem rooting for the Spurs against the Celtics. I hate the city of Boston, ESPN and the East-Coast sports media.
 
He's intense, thats for sure. I watched last night and tried to figure out what the heck he was yelling the whole time.
 
I don't see how you can't root for this guy. He's a intense competitor, he brings it every game, never takes plays off, is unselfish, never said a thing while McHale was ruining his career in Minny. Carried terrible team after terrible team to the playoffs. The one time he had marginal talent around him, and that was only two players, they went to the conference finals. He's hit clutch shots, he's had big games when they have needed him to. I believe against the Kings that year he had a 40-20 game in game 7.
 
Eh, it is just marketing. KG has been with Gatorade for awhile now. The commercials are really annoying IMO.

The KG hating sure is getting old
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Like the above poster mentioned, He has had big games when needed, plays incredible defense, and is a good teammate. I fail to see how only winning two playoff series makes someone not clutch. If I need a clutch defensive stop, KG tops my short list of go-to guys (but then again, I think Defense is just as important as Offense in basketball).
 
I don't think it's specifically KG hating, it's the relenting promoting of him when he hasn't won **** yet. Duncan has 4 rings and he doesn't get pushed by the league near as much as players who have no rings.
 
Good points Bear. In addition, the Boston 3 Party has had zero individual success in the playoffs. I'm not convinced that one year together will get them to NBA elite status.

How will they react the first time they're tested on the road? I still like whoever wins the West to win the NBA Finals.
 
My point was that "clutch" doesn't necessarily mean the last shot. Acting like he is a scrub or that someone "finally" gets it that KG isn't good and is just pulling the wool over everyone's eyes just gets a bit old.

Am I missing something on the "dominant offensive player" thing too? Are we really arguing about a few points per game and equating that to be "dominant"? Am I not being selective enough?

Career Averages:
Nash 14.3
KG 20.4
Dirk 22.4
Shaq 25.3
Kobe 25.0


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Being a Wolves fan, I could probably write about 2 pages on what I think about KG and the Wolves in general, but obviously noone would care to read it.

I will say that KG has never been an elite offensive player, and is probably too unselfish at crucial moments. However, he is probably the most versatile player in the league. The only player to have more consecutive 20-10-5 seasons is Larry Bird. He's also a top defender, and could probably play every position on the court if need be. All of this is what makes him a top 5 player.

I won't get into it that much, but I don't see how you can disregard the supporting cast argument. I've witnessed it first hand for the past decade. Some of this is KG's fault (Hudson, Hassell, James, and his own monster contract), and even more is the front office (the Joe Smith debacle, drafting Ebi over Howard when they finally got a 1st round pick, and just being flat out incompetent). Marbury blew up a good thing, Gugliotta left because of him, Terell Brandon was old, Sealy's life was cut short by a drunk driver, Chauncey wasn't an All-Star back then, Wally is Wally, and Peeler, Smith, Trent, Lopez, and Rasho don't exactly scream Finals.

I'll exclude the year of Cassell and Spreewell, in which I still think they make the Finals if Sam I Am's hip doesn't go out against the Lakers. The only other year they had home court was as a 4 seed against the same Lakers a year earlier.

It would have been nice if he was drafted to a playoff team that tanked a season away after their hall of fame center got hurt and then ended up with the #1 pick, but not everyone is that lucky (Wolves are 0 for 11 in the lottery). That, and the Spurs front office did a remarkable job putting that team together post-Robinson. Getting Parker and Ginobili where they did in the draft is ridiculous...even though I can't stand them. Head to head, individually speaking of course, I don't know if there's a more even matchup (statistically) between elite players...and KG is probably the only guy that can guard Duncan 1 on 1.

I won't even argue KG vs. Dirk....regardless of 2002 (I'll take Nash, Finley and Van Exel over Wally and Billups in a heartbeat), KG didn't get embarrassed in the 1st round his MVP year. You deserve to get killed in the media for something like that.
 
and how can anyone say tracy mcgrady has gotten a free pass. all you ever hear about the guy is that he hasn't gotten out of the first round. hell, it might end up on the guy's tombstone it's mentioned so much. rarely has anyone ever taken so much heat for playing so well as tmac in the playoffs.

you would think this guy has been a no show in the playoffs and that's why his teams lost the way people talk. but the guy is a monster in the postseason. excluding his toronot appearance, his playoff averages are 31/7/6. numbers jordan would be proud of. in that dallas series a few years ago, he averaged 30/7/7, and spent a good deal of time guarding, and completely shutting down, dirk. it was a remarkable performance. unfortunately, the dallas role players were just way to much for houston's and we lost. last year, he again stepped up his game from the regular season, and while it wasn't the dallas series again, he had some big time performances, including 29 and 13 asts in game 7. but our role players were even more terrible and we lost. same thing happened in orlando.

now has he been as huge in the 4th as maybe is needed at times? no. but then, few guys have ever had to put as much into the first 3 quarters to even keep their teams in the game. he almost had a triple double through 3 in game 2 a couple days ago, and we were still trailing.

he's never been seeded in the top 4, has never had the more talented team, and has essentially never not stepped up his game big time from the regular season, yet because he has to do far more than most every other star, he gets criticized to no end for not winning a playoff series.

actually, this year seems to be the first time he's actually getting recognized for stepping up and people are starting to not crush him with the blame. the tnt guys have actually been supportive and aware of how much he's asked to do for this team, especially when the role players won't show up or make a layup or an open 3.
 
I guess for me it is mostly all these selective stats and opinions that come up to "justify" KG's lack of super stardom. Somehow almost everyone in the country has been duped, but you've got the "inside word."

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Why is it a knock on KG that he does better with better players than with worse players? Who is that not true of?

Yeah, he wouldn't be on the favorite to win the East without Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. But Duncan wouldn't be on one of the favorites to win the West if you take away Parker and Ginobilli.

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Agreed, Stat.

How is scoring 40 points but giving up an extra 15 on the other end make any sense? You are still "netting" 25 points. This is exactly why scoring is a stupid barometer of someone's success. Contrast that to scoring 22 points, but on the defensive end holding a player under his average, isn't that more valuable than the first option? Do the math. (insert Dirk lit up KG in one playoff series so "logically" Dirk owns KG comment)

For all the 35-40 point games that Dirk, Amare, Nash, etc have "willed" their teams to victory, they still have no title. How does that make them better than KG?

Amare or Dirk really carries one of those Wolves teams farther than KG? What do they do better than KG that helps that team get over the hump?
 
My beefs with KG:

1. Too big of a puss on the block. He would rather shoot a fadeaway than take it strong to the basket. As a result, he doesn't get to the line nearly enough. A guy as big and as quick as he is should be living by the rim, not jacking 20 footers.

2. He's never been a go to guy at the end of the game. He's never wanted to take the big shot. The best year he ever had Sam Cassell and Sprewell took the big shots. In Boston, he has Pierce, Allen and Cassell to do that for him now. It really is a great fit.

3. His woofing is annoying as hell. You don't need to act like a December game against the Bucks is Game 7 of the Finals. Act like you've been there before.
 
KG's career playoff stats: 22.1, 13.2, 5.0 (about 25, 15, 5 over the last 3 appearances with Minn.)

Duncan's career playoff stats: 23.9, 12.6, 3.6 (pretty consistent other than rookie year)

Dirk's career playoff stats: 25.3, 11.0, 2.4

So what's the difference here? Again, you can't tell me that a lousy supporting cast makes no difference. I've already listed all the scrubs he had to play with.
 
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