KG Too Intense?

At times it does work against him and has worked against him

stupid.

I’m sorry, dude gives me goose bumps as any other die hard C’s fan will attest to. Hate to say it, but we haven’t seen that ‘will to win’ since 33.

I’ll take it every day. I actually found myself jumping off the couch ready to strangle Delonte on that foul. And last year, he was my favorite player.

Although in retrospect, that foul wasn’t as hard as it looked in full speed. That’s just Delonte and his fearlessness. (sp?)

That’s what i loved about the kid. Just too bad he’s so injury prone.

This is not a new concept, the question has been asked several time before, during Minnesota’s playoff struggles.

I think yes, there is something to it. But I also think no, it is not something to worry about.

In 2003-2004 he played through to the Western Conference Finals. He was huge in their opening series against Denver. Up and down in their series against Sacramento, until he put up one of the greatest elimination game performances in the past several years. In the conference finals, he still played very well and was now battling Malone after matchups with Martin/Camby and Webber. You could see he was a bit fatigued by the end of the conference finals, but I think that had more to do with carrying the load for 6 games with Cassell out and Sprewell only showing up for 1 or 2 games.

Too intense.. Is there really such a thing when it comes to sports…

They say Cal Ripken couldn’t even play a game of stick ball, with a roll of tape for the ball, without trying to win.

Larry Bird was quoted as saying “when players don’t give it their all it makes me sick” paraphrase.

Jordan was the one of the all competitive junkies.

It seemed to work out ok for those guys.

If I had the choice between too intense and not intense enough, I would take the former everyday and twice on Sunday.

I think I’ve only posted like… once on CelticsBlog before (even tho I read everyday), so I feel a little like a jerk shamelessly linking something I’ve written myself… but I actually wrote a column for my college newspaper about Manny Ramirez, Kevin Garnett and intensity. I posted it on my personal blog at…

http://dtramsawesomeblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/pro-athlete-sees-big-picture-in-life-so.html

…So check it out if you’re bored and feel like reading an amateur’s work lol. Any feedback would be much, much appreciated.

“Sounds absurd doesn’t it? KG is too intense, cares too much, tries too hard.”

I think IndyCornrows sums it up perfectly right there. It does sound absurd, because it is. The only time this type of energy hurts a team is when they lose control of their emotion, like a Ron Artest or Rasheed Wallace. I haven’t seen many examples, if any, throughout Garnett’s career where he has lost control. This intensity is the reason we are 24-3, because in the NBA if you do not bring that intensity every night, it is impossible to win 60 games.

 KG is the catalyst for what could be the biggest turn around in sports history. Doc telling KG to settle down is absurd. Let the man be who he is. I am just thrilled he is here.

Please never think of mentioning Joey Porter and Garnett in the same paragraph ever again. Porter is a deutche and you were right to say that Garnett has never had the pieces. But there is high likelyhood that he spontaneously combusts come playoff time

It is not a stupid question. We haven’t seen the likes of this wonderful athlete often…anywhere…any generation. But, I’m with the majority. It’s part of his game and HE DOES MAKE OTHERS BETTER, something so rare. Not too worry.
The one that should be worrying is his wife after he retires. She better get him a shovel, point to the back yard and say “Kevin that ditch ain’t going to dig itself”. Then when he gets it done she says “Boss didn’t want that ditch there”. But the Boss couldn’t break Cool Hand Luke and I don’t think she’ll be able to break him either. Man, he is going to drive her crazy.

kg is a joy to behold. if we all could put out as much in our jobs, the world would be a better place. he earns the big bucks, not too many can honestly say that. i hope he talks to the new boys like bb and shows them the way.it’s not a phoey baloney show either. yeah, the fires that burn within.

All I have heard all year is how great KG’s intensity in practice and games is. How he shows up early and stays late at practice, is a team leader and works the hardest. How can this be a negative? Rasheed is the perfect example. He is very intense as well, but he lets it get to him. KG has always shown restraint in volatile situations. That is what sets him apart. I think this “too intense” garbage simply stems from the lack of topics to write about now. In the past we always talked about what we could do to get better and who could we possible get to improve. We can’t talk about that now so what is there? We are the best team in the NBA and there are no tranactions in the foreseeable future. It would get pretty boring to write about that every day. The “obnoxious fans” article falls into this category as well. I’m not slamming the authors, just saying that is not really that big a deal. Truthfuly, it’s a great problem to have!!

I’m still leading the way for Earl Boykins to become a Celtic!!! I know some say he may not be a great team player but with him we solve all questions of our PG situation, especially in the playoffs. I would think that going from being unemployed to being on a serious championship contender would straighten him right out! House moves to SG and takes TA’s minutes. He would give up some size, but he’s a good defender so I wouldn’t be too worried. I’m a big fan of TA but if he doesn’t get more minutes, he will never get into a groove. He looks lost out there. Imagine a 2nd unit of Boykins, House, Posey, Davis and Scal. I think we could be very competitive with that.

KG is intense, emotional and passionate about what he does. He’s loyal. It really doesn’t matter what we think. That’s who he is. If any of you heard Doc’s postgame press conference after the King’s game he told the players to cool it and not react to the garbage the King’s were pulling. It was taking us out of our game. He singled out KG and KG responded by something like “you’re gagging me”. This wasn’t an argument, but a discussion. Basically KG was telling Doc that he needed to be that way and Doc understood and now KG has free way with his emotions and intensity.
http://www.celticsblog.com/ind…#msg220543
Above is a link that I found in the forum on this blog. It is an interview between KG and John Thompson and took place several years ago. It says a lot about both men, but gives some insight into this thread.

http://www.celticsblog.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=64&topic=13498.msg220543#msg220543
Sorry, see if this works.

It does.

Steve Weinman said:
  I’ll take KG’s intensity — and everything else he brings to the table — eight days a week without thinking twice. Especially when compared to a lot of the other attitudes that exist around this league.

Whether or not there is something to Cornrows’s point, I’m not sure, and perhaps we’ll learn more for ourselves come springtime. But as of now, I’m in Celtic Heaven. And I have no plans of that changing.

I’ll second that. What I also find interesting though is the way PP has learned to control his emotions without it taking away from his intensity. At least he’s not showing them. This started when Doc took over. I wonder if KG will look inside and maybe tone it down without it affecting his effectiveness.

asinine

I don’t think it works against Garnett. However, many players step up their games a notch in playoff atmosphere and I don’t think Garnett can step it up any more. He has the unique ability to play at that level all year long.

The only disadvantage is that unlike some great players – like Paul Pierce, for example, who tends to improve as the year progresses and paces himself to some extent – he is firing on all cylinders and there is no room to take it to a higher level.