Did KG get injured Wednesday?

[Coolbreeze44]

Word is he's not playing tonight. The question I would have is suppose we were still in the race for a playoff spot, would he be playing tonight?

[60WinTim]

Word is he's not playing tonight. The question I would have is suppose we were still in the race for a playoff spot, would he be playing tonight?

I suspect the answer is yes. Do you have a problem with this? I don't. We knew this when we traded for him, I see no reason to complain right now.

I do, however, want to see him engaged with the players during the game.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I looked at his game log this year, and he has played in 4 out of 13 BTBs, so I'm guessing he doesn't play tonight. While I'd like to see him play, I trust Flip/KG's instincts on this. Even though he is about the same age as Duncan, they don't play the game the same way...Duncan preserves himself on the court in a way KG doesn't know how to. Also, with Rose, Noah and Gasol out, Flip may decide he doesn't need KG tonight. On the other hand. not playing KG leaves the Wolves with only 3 bigs, so Flip may ask KG to play BTBs until AB is back in order to limit Pek's minutes. . We'll just have to see.

When you "preserves" hiimself, what do you mean? I see Duncan playing good defense and a lot of minutes. KG can certainly play 10-15 minutes at a high level. Otherwise I'm not sure if I'm on board with this plan. Will he start helicoptering in like Kobe on games he wants to play in?

I agree that Duncan plays good defense, but at least to me, he doesn't seem to exert the same effort KG does. This is not an indictment of Duncan, but more a comment on the intensity that KG beings every night. While Duncan mostly stays within a small radius of the basket, KG is much more active on D. And very few NBA players, and this includes Duncan, bust back on defense the way KG does. To me it's perfectly understandable that Flip will want to rest him on BTBs. My big concern is the amount of minutes Pek has to play as Flip works a 3-man rotation at C and PF.

[60WinTim]

Ahh... Question answered:

Jerry Zgoda ?@JerryZgoda 5m5 minutes ago
An asterisk to KGs-out tweet: He will be active and in uniform so..."You never know with him," Flip said pre-game

[60WinTim]

LST - doesn't it make sense to push Pek a bit? Doesn't Flip need to find out what is or is not too much for Pek to handle? Let's figure it out now in this lost season so we know what to prepare for next season.

[Coolbreeze44]

Word is he's not playing tonight. The question I would have is suppose we were still in the race for a playoff spot, would he be playing tonight?

I suspect the answer is yes. Do you have a problem with this? I don't. We knew this when we traded for him, I see no reason to complain right now.

I do, however, want to see him engaged with the players during the game.

Tim, it depends what the rationale is behind him missing the game. If it's to preserve him during what for all intents and purposes is a meaningless regular season game, I'm fine with it. If he really can't play after playing just 19 minutes over the past 17 days, I have a problem with it. I think of my NHL, Jaromir Jagr at age 43 wouldn't miss a game like this.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

I looked at his game log this year, and he has played in 4 out of 13 BTBs, so I'm guessing he doesn't play tonight. While I'd like to see him play, I trust Flip/KG's instincts on this. Even though he is about the same age as Duncan, they don't play the game the same way...Duncan preserves himself on the court in a way KG doesn't know how to. Also, with Rose, Noah and Gasol out, Flip may decide he doesn't need KG tonight. On the other hand. not playing KG leaves the Wolves with only 3 bigs, so Flip may ask KG to play BTBs until AB is back in order to limit Pek's minutes. . We'll just have to see.

When you "preserves" hiimself, what do you mean? I see Duncan playing good defense and a lot of minutes. KG can certainly play 10-15 minutes at a high level. Otherwise I'm not sure if I'm on board with this plan. Will he start helicoptering in like Kobe on games he wants to play in?

I agree that Duncan plays good defense, but at least to me, he doesn't seem to exert the same effort KG does. This is not an indictment of Duncan, but more a comment on the intensity that KG beings every night. While Duncan mostly stays within a small radius of the basket, KG is much more active on D. And very few NBA players, and this includes Duncan, bust back on defense the way KG does. To me it's perfectly understandable that Flip will want to rest him on BTBs. My big concern is the amount of minutes Pek has to play as Flip works a 3-man rotation at C and PF.

Exactly why he needs to play almost every game, so Pek doesn't hurt his toenail playing more than 30 minutes. And yes I agree KG is more intense than Duncan and more active, but he's gotta play at least 12 minutes, c'mon man.

[60WinTim]

Blurb from Zgoda:

Kevin Garnett is out tonight in Chicago on the first night of back-to-back games.
There's is an asterisk, though: He will be active and in uniform so...

"You never know with him," coach Flip Saunders said before tonight's game.

Saunders said there are a couple reasons:

1. The team is committed to playing its young players and he considers a Friday night at United Center in Chicago a good experience for them to feel a big-game atmosphere, even if Bulls star Derrick Rose (knee surgery) and Pau Gasol (ill) won't play.

2. They don't want to tax Garnett's body by playing him on consecutive nights. He'll play at home Saturday against Memphis instead.

Adreian Payne will start at power forward instead.

One thing:

Center Nikola Pekovic said tonight that pain in that ankle is worse and he didn't go out for warmups tonight just so he wouldn't put any undo wear on it.

Saunders said it hasn't gotten to the point yet where they've considered holding him out of back-to-back as well, though.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Oh great now soft Pek will start being held out of back to back games. Good lord.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Word is he's not playing tonight. The question I would have is suppose we were still in the race for a playoff spot, would he be playing tonight?

I suspect the answer is yes. Do you have a problem with this? I don't. We knew this when we traded for him, I see no reason to complain right now.

I do, however, want to see him engaged with the players during the game.

Tim, it depends what the rationale is behind him missing the game. If it's to preserve him during what for all intents and purposes is a meaningless regular season game, I'm fine with it. If he really can't play after playing just 19 minutes over the past 17 days, I have a problem with it. I think of my NHL, Jaromir Jagr at age 43 wouldn't miss a game like this.

We don't know the answer to Cool's question, but I can speculate. I think if it was a game with playoff significance, KG would assess whether a tired, sore KG or another PF was the better option at PF, and decide accordingly. I don't think it's a question of whether he could dial his usual 20 back to 10, I just think he is too stiff and sore the day after playing to go again. Flip/KG don't want to take a chance on KG not being able to play in front of a full house Saturday (I agree, since I have tickets :) ).

As for the Jagr statement, every body is different. That's why some professional athletes have already retired by 32, and some are still going in their early 40s. As hard as he plays, it's surprising to me that KG is still playing at 38. If skipping BTBs is what Flip/KG thinks is necessary to allow him to play 20 in all other games, I'm on board. Especially if there is a residual positive KG effect even in the games he doesn't play. I'm curious to see if the Wolves play defense as tough tonight with him out. At least the Bulls are missing their top assist guy, 2 top rebounders, and 2 of their top three scorers. This is a winnable game.

Edit: Pek didn't warm up because of pain in his ankle. I think he's going to play, but who knows how many minutes...Pek doesn't tolerate pain well. This will be a tough one to win if Gorgui and Payne are our only healthy bigs. Also, I don't know where I heard Noah was out...maybe I was mistaken.