Dribble-gate

by Jeff Clark on Apr 20, 2009 8:30 AM EDT in Boston Celtics News & Links

There may be yet another act in the Kevin Garnett saga.

It was reported in yesterday’s Herald that the All-Star forward is planning to have surgery soon on his injured right knee, and sources continue to indicate he’s heading in that direction.

But a day after reiterating Garnett won’t be coming to the Celtics rescue in these playoffs, coach Doc Rivers said privately after his post-practice press conference that he and the team would like Garnett to hold off on the surgery.

Then, at 3:14 yesterday afternoon, the story took another twist when Garnett appeared on the team’s practice floor wearing full workout gear. He proceeded to dribble a basketball as he walked slowly around the perimeter of the court, with strength coach Bryan Doo watching intently. Trainer Ed Lacerte came out of his office and sat at the far end of the floor to watch the event.

After four minutes, Garnett, Doo and Lacerte walked through a door that leads to the weight room at the team’s facility.

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Reminds me of an old Monty Python skit:

“He’s not dead yet. Only resting.”

by CoachBo on Apr 20, 2009 8:35 AM EDT reply actions

Nice one!

by SalmonAndMashedPotatoes on Apr 20, 2009 12:26 PM EDT up reply actions

aaaaaaaaaaaaah!

KG!!! It would be awesome if he could get back for the ECF!

by greenwise on Apr 20, 2009 8:38 AM EDT reply actions

FUnny Stuff

Which is bigger: Who Killed JR or WIll KG PLay?

Reporter: About a year ago I asked about the Celtics-Lakers thing and you said you'd really only seen it on TV. Now you've been through it, can you talk about playing the Boston Celtics for the NBA championship?
Kobe: It Sucks.

by Tom Bellinger on Apr 20, 2009 8:39 AM EDT reply actions

He dribbled a ball for 4 minutes

and?

by TheAncientRivalry on Apr 20, 2009 8:54 AM EDT reply actions

“Come back here, I’ll bite your ankles off!”

Steve talked about this quite about on Celtics Stuff Live last night. I find it surprising that they would sport KG out there for 4 minutes at practice in front of the media if they truly wanted to squash these rumors…

by Jughead on Apr 20, 2009 8:55 AM EDT reply actions

Just rest for a a couple of weeks and see what happens…

Of course, we need to beat the bulls otherwise all this is unimportant…

by thebirdman on Apr 20, 2009 8:56 AM EDT reply actions

I think we all know everyones telling KG not to play and he just refuses to. I think hes not willing to sit back and watch.

"Im a firm believer in the philosophy of a ruling class, especially since I rule."
Randal Graves

by idrinkdetergent on Apr 20, 2009 8:57 AM EDT reply actions

Actually theres been signs of exactly the opposite.

Danny Ainge was quoted saying, Its Kevin Garnetts decision to play, theres no structural damage, he totally feels as if KG could play on it. etc etc.

Theyve all said its up to him when and whether he plays, and KG isnt ready, he isnt healed and isnt comfortable playing on it

by TheAncientRivalry on Apr 20, 2009 9:36 AM EDT up reply actions

My Take

Doc and Danny don’t want to play KG until the ECFs. The feel they should be able to get to the ECFs without KG. If they can’t get that far without him, then they weren’t going to repeat anyway. If they do get that far without him, then bringing him off the bench for 15-25 minutes per game would be (in Doc and Danny’s mind) a huge spark that might put them over the top.

Which brings us to the current song and dance.

Doc: KG is done for the year.

This keeps the focus off KG unless and until the C’s make it to the ECFs. If the C’s don’t make it to the ECFs, they can stick to the story that he was never gonna play anyway. If they do make it to the ECFs, they can claim—PRESTO!—the knee is now healthy enough to play on!

The kicker is Doc and Danny never told KG about their secret plan. But KG suspected it all along. So KG probably wants to play now—against the Bulls—or have surgery. So he pretended to take Doc and Danny at their word—that he was done for the year—and started talking immediate surgery. This move forced a countermove by Doc and Danny. Whoa! Wait a minute there big fella. We’re counting on you if we get to the ECFs.
So the problem is that Doc and Danny have their secret plan and KG is not playing along with it.

by Black Jack Pershing on Apr 20, 2009 8:59 AM EDT reply actions

idk, that's a lot of assumptions to make after hearing that KG was standing around dribbling a ball for a couple minutes at practice.

by D Dub on Apr 20, 2009 12:18 PM EDT up reply actions

a secret plan to keep KG out of playing competitive basketball for months ? no they would never do that. hes injured.

by TheAncientRivalry on Apr 20, 2009 12:31 PM EDT up reply actions

This is silly

I don’t even want to read stuff like this. C’mon, he’s not playing. Are we that delusional after losing game 1? This is a story that ESPN would drool over. I can imagine it being in their insider report now – ‘KG practicing?’.

Besides, the Celtics worries aren’t solely no KG, it’s the way they’re playing. Albeit having no KG hurts their confidence, but they should be playing with a little more urgency than they’ve shown. Popping up with these KG reports isn’t doing any good for the team. They need to put KG out of their minds because he is ‘not walking through that door’.

by BOSPORTS on Apr 20, 2009 9:03 AM EDT reply actions

Exactly

KG is done

by Marqui on Apr 20, 2009 2:56 PM EDT up reply actions

Just get the surgery over with. I hate it when athletes and their teams schedule surgeries too close to the beginning of the season. This should have been done two months ago.

He’s not playing, and if he did, he would not make enough of a difference. A dose of realism would be good right now for the players, coaches, administrators, and the fans.

by amenhotep04 on Apr 20, 2009 9:06 AM EDT reply actions

yes!!

basically, this whole thing is becoming a distraction. if he just gets the surgery, or completly shuts it down and kills all these rumors then the team can move on and get to the “everyone has counted us out and we will show you” phase.

Right now they are still in “if we can just get through a couple series kg will be there” phase.

settle the situation.

by mandoman10 on Apr 20, 2009 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions

It's not worth it ... SHUT IT DOWN

Look as much as we’d like to see KG on the floor. Realistically we have to worry about what if? What if he does more damage to his knee and then he’s done for good and we won’t see him again. Is it worth it…. Or is it worth having him rest and getting the proper treatment so that he able to play another 3 years…

JUST SHUT IT DOWN

by Ancient Red on Apr 20, 2009 9:07 AM EDT reply actions

c'mon

this gives us nothing. ok he can walk….

by MarkBeastrick on Apr 20, 2009 9:16 AM EDT reply actions

Hellooooooooooo! KG dribbled the ball !

Do what is good for KG and the team in the long run. Don’t force anything and don’t rush anything. KG is not walking thru that door.

by This is NOT NOT our year on Apr 20, 2009 9:21 AM EDT reply actions

what a distraction. they need to beat chi without him. he prabably has some floating chips. you never know what’s going on in joints until you open them up and take a looksee.

by nazzbo on Apr 20, 2009 9:30 AM EDT reply actions

Wyc @ the DEAD

Saw Wyc and his wife at the Dead show in Worcester last night…good way for him to blow off steam I guess.

He walked right past us and my buddy shouted at him “DON’T WORRY WYC, WE’LL GET’EM TOMORROW NIGHT!”

Wyc turned, gave a smile and a thumbs up…

I think most of the waste products there last night didn’t recognize him.

Don't fake the funk on a nasty dunk

by mcpu40 on Apr 20, 2009 9:31 AM EDT reply actions

Let's not go overboard

If he can’t move laterally, he would do no good whatsoever. This teams problem without him is their defense and if he can’t move, he’ll have no impact on that.

by Kuberski33 on Apr 20, 2009 9:37 AM EDT reply actions

exactly right

KG isnt in Game shape and has a bad knee… He wouldnt help at all. shut him down. get the surgery. end it

by TheAncientRivalry on Apr 20, 2009 9:40 AM EDT up reply actions

then?

by hiro on Apr 20, 2009 9:45 AM EDT reply actions

Just what we need...

More confusing, “mixed” messages by the Celts!

Enough with these failed public-relation ploys regarding KG….just let him get that operation, the sooner the better.

Nothing will change the fact that this simply is NOT our year.
It`s time for us {the fans} to end our “emotional investment” in this years` Celts.

We all know the miserable truth : Unless their plane goes down…LAL will win the title.

by Title 18 on Apr 20, 2009 10:26 AM EDT reply actions

What? I wouldnt hand the title to LA just yet, theyre very much beatable from what Ive seen all season…whether its by us or not…probably not….Cleveland can definetly win that series though

by TheAncientRivalry on Apr 20, 2009 10:43 AM EDT up reply actions

Confucius say KG saga worse than Chinese water torture.

by charlie chan on Apr 20, 2009 10:55 AM EDT reply actions

Ugh! This thing needs to be over...

by Mizzy21390 on Apr 20, 2009 11:24 AM EDT reply actions

Yup, and what sucks is it'll be US here at CelticsBlog who will keep rehashing this stroy and CAUSE this unnecessary distraction.

C’mon, Jeff. Give the guys a break and just drop this story already, for the good of the team.

by D Dub on Apr 20, 2009 12:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Ancient

What could you have seen in the two LA-Cleveland games this year…that tells you the Cavs could beat the Lakers 4 times, BEFORE the Lakers beat them 4 times?

You see the return of Bynum somehow being a “plus” for Cleveland?

by Title 18 on Apr 20, 2009 11:58 AM EDT reply actions

regular season games?

Does it really need to be pointed out that, its happened plenty of times where a team is swept in the regular season by a team they end up beating in the finals?

So according to you, if the magic make it to the finals, they will beat the lakers? afterall Orlando swept them in the regular season

Cleveland has Homecourt, the best player, and a much better defense. I would take cleveland in that series…

by TheAncientRivalry on Apr 20, 2009 12:04 PM EDT up reply actions

Me too

In a seven game series, I’ll take the new #23.

by Tai on Apr 20, 2009 2:12 PM EDT up reply actions

I thought the title of this article

was referring to refs finally calling Lebron’s “crabcake jiggle” or whatever as a travel… can’t seem to get any good news these days…

by Hal Jordan on Apr 20, 2009 12:23 PM EDT reply actions

I knew it was about KG from a mile away

You’re not in tune. : )

by Tai on Apr 20, 2009 2:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Not counting the 76`er game last week {James and other starters sat out}….
you think it`s a mere coincidence that the only time Cleveland lost a game {blown out, actually} at home this year came against LA?

I would bet you on this one in a heartbeat…except that would force me to do the unthinkable {root for LA}!

by Title 18 on Apr 20, 2009 12:23 PM EDT reply actions