If you are interested in following the ex-Celtics and current Timberwolves, an absolute must read is Britt Robson of The Rake. I'm late in posting this, but his take on the Celtics - TWolves game was both insightful and witty.
In particular his take on Kevin Garnett. You'll have to read the whole post to fully understand his feelings on the matter, but he describes the long standing debate among Timberwolves fans about KG. It reminds me a tiny bit of the debates that used to rage on this blog about Antoine Walker (talented emotional leader or flawed franchise millstone?). Except in the case of KG, the detractors say that he is merely the "world's greatest complementary player" and his supporters (Cornbread Maxwell among them) put him on a pedestal even higher than the likes of Larry Bird.
A fun and fascinating debate topic to be sure, but personally I'm not sure I care. The fact is that Danny has done what McHale simply could not, which is to surround Kevin with 2 All Star talents and several other complimentary players.
First of all, I'm not sure how people can insist that Garnett won't take over games. Earlier this month in Houston we witnessed just how dominant Garnett can be in a fourth quarter. But if he doesn't always force a shot that isn't there just to please people that think he should be "the man" in those situations, I'm cool with that. He won't put himself first when he can find an open man, especially when the open man might be Paul Pierce or Ray Allen.
If the defense is dumb enough to give him single coverage, he'll make them pay. If they double team him, he'll find the open man, whomever it is. Finding those teammates (in particular the non-All Star types) and giving them opportunities to succeed or fail doesn't always result in a win right now. But I promise you it does increase our chances of seeing them step up when the games matter most. They know they can throw the ball to Kevin and get it back if he's not the best option. They know they should keep moving because he won't be a black hole. They know he'll trust them to take a big shot and that trust builds confidence. That will pay off some time when we'll need it most.
I'll take KG's "flaw of unselfishness" any day of the week.