Minnesota Sports Forum

So far tonight in the 4th quarter, Tim Duncan has 24 points, 10 rebounds and 2 steals. He has those numbers against one of the best center/power forward combos in the League in a high intensity road playoff game. And he's doing all that on the heels of a long regular season in which he played 77 games, averaging 29 minutes a game. His regular season numbers? 14 points, 9 boards and 2 blocks. Oh, did I mention he's a month older than Kevin Garnett?

Now you all know where I'm going with this. Tim Duncan's story this season tells us there is good reason th believe that KG can contribute significant highly productive minutes to the Wolves next season. He wws actually doing just that in the five games he played with the Wolves this season. Like Duncan, KG doesn't have to rely on athleticsm but can instead rely on tremendous length and a very high basketball IQ. KG has the added benefit of having played limited games and minutes this season with a long stretch of rest at the end of the season.

So I look forward to KG playing for the Wolves next season. His presence the entire season along with a healthy Ricky for most or all of the season, the further maturation of our young talent (Wiggins, LaVine, Dieng, Shabazz) and the addition of a top 4 pick this summer should take the Wolves well beyond 16 wins next season. How far beyond 16 will depend on a number of factors, including Flip's willingness and ability to adapt his coaching philosophy to the modern NBA game.

lipoli390 wrote:So far tonight in the 4th quarter, Tim Duncan has 24 points, 10 rebounds and 2 steals. He has those numbers against one of the best center/power forward combos in the League in a high intensity road playoff game. And he's doing all that on the heels of a long regular season in which he played 77 games, averaging 29 minutes a game. His regular season numbers? 14 points, 9 boards and 2 blocks. Oh, did I mention he's a month older than Kevin Garnett?

Now you all know where I'm going with this. Tim Duncan's story this season tells us there is good reason th believe that KG can contribute significant highly productive minutes to the Wolves next season. He wws actually doing just that in the five games he played with the Wolves this season. Like Duncan, KG doesn't have to rely on athleticsm but can instead rely on tremendous length and a very high basketball IQ. KG has the added benefit of having played limited games and minutes this season with a long stretch of rest at the end of the season.

So I look forward to KG playing for the Wolves next season. His presence the entire season along with a healthy Ricky for most or all of the season, the further maturation of our young talent (Wiggins, LaVine, Dieng, Shabazz) and the addition of a top 4 pick this summer should take the Wolves well beyond 16 wins next season. How far beyond 16 will depend on a number of factors, including Flip's willingness and ability to adapt his coaching philosophy to the modern NBA game.

I think kg body has broken down a lot more. What Duncan is doing is simply amazing.

I know I made a joke thread about it but I honestly believe KG isn't even hurt at all, I think Flip talked him into saving his final career minutes until next season when we have a fresh start.

Bloop - I agree. He seemed to be moving to well and to many reports of him practicing to actually be hurt. I think we will see a healthy KG next year.

KG and Duncan are two different human beings. KG already stopped playing more than 20 MPG and back to backs before he even came to Minnesota (and don't forget that Brooklyn was in the playoff mix out East). There is no reason to believe that those numbers are going to ramp up. It can only stay the same or get worse. Plus I trust San Antonio's training staff and coaching far more than the Wolves when it comes to preserving players' health and longevity.

KG will play ~ 50 games and average around 18-20 MPG next year. That's my guess. That is less than 25% of the PF minutes available.

I agree with the consensus here that KG wasn't really hurt this year. He didn't look hurt at all in his final game against Portland, and he didn't look hurt as he threw out the first pitch on opening day. There were logical reasons for Flip to sit him, mainly ping pong balls and unnecessary wear and tear. I agree with all of you guys that KG can make enormous contributions next year, just like he did in the few games he played this year.

That said, KG is not Duncan. Their games are totally different. In the two KG games I went to this year at TC, I marveled at how mobile he was...both on offense and defense. While Duncan generally has his spots on the court that he stays in on offense and defense, KG is out there actually aggressively defending the perimeter...truly remarkable, and a good on-court role model for our young players. I think KG literally has twice as many miles on him compared to Duncan, and it's logical that he's more beat up at the same age. That's why we're only going to get 60-65 games with 20 MPG, but that's fine with me...he's worth it.

lipoli390 wrote:
So I look forward to KG playing for the Wolves next season. His presence the entire season along with a healthy Ricky for most or all of the season, the further maturation of our young talent (Wiggins, LaVine, Dieng, Shabazz) and the addition of a top 4 pick this summer should take the Wolves well beyond 16 wins next season. How far beyond 16 will depend on a number of factors, including Flip's willingness and ability to adapt his coaching philosophy to the modern NBA game.

Absolutely correct on all counts. Anyone who watched the five games KG played should have seen he's in fantastic shape and is still a very good player. I don't know how much his knee(s) are bothering him. But I'm very confident that if the remaining games had mattered, KG would have played. He's far from being washed up.

Next year's team certainly will be better than this year's. Granted - that's not going out on the limb too far since we only won 16 games. But I 100% believe Flip was pulling back on the reins this year vs. trying to win as many games as he could. I've heard him quoted as saying as something like "You want to be really good, or really bad in this league" which is pretty much true. I'm not worried that KG didn't play in meaningless games at the end of the year. This year wasn't about trying to win games once we lost three starters to injuries during the 1st month of the season.

Since Steve Nash played until he was almost 40 with a bad back, Larry Bird was a pussy for ending his career too soon.

I hope I don't have to explain how different individuals age differently due to many many many factors, do I?

Garnett has seen a drop in his production already spanning several seasons. I really don't see how he's turning that around at age 39. Has that ever been done before?

Let's get back to appreciating what Duncan is doing and also since Abe brought up some old school names what about giving Kareem some love for how long his career was. Dude was still putting up over 20ppg at 38 and played till he was past 40. That was a different time compared to now with how athletes train and have more options medically. I'm always a little annoyed that Kareem doesn't get more love in the best center of all time conversation.

Q12543 wrote:KG and Duncan are two different human beings. KG already stopped playing more than 20 MPG and back to backs before he even came to Minnesota (and don't forget that Brooklyn was in the playoff mix out East). There is no reason to believe that those numbers are going to ramp up. It can only stay the same or get worse. Plus I trust San Antonio's training staff and coaching far more than the Wolves when it comes to preserving players' health and longevity.

KG will play ~ 50 games and average around 18-20 MPG next year. That's my guess. That is less than 25% of the PF minutes available.

This is the most realistic response here. I will say that if we can get 50 games out of him we will be fortunate. And the constant will he or won't he is going to be a problem with our continuity.