Your Morning Dump… Where KG is irreplaceable

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them
here…
highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as
satisfying as a good morning dump.

“The more people heal, the better they feel,” Rivers said. “But I
think now that he’s playing, the other guys listen more. It’s tougher to
talk when you’re in street clothes. But now the fact that he’s playing
better is huge. If he’s feeling better and playing better, that
obviously makes all the difference for us.”

Garnett’s teammates also believe his best may be in the wings, yet to
make a curtain call.

“I still don’t think he’s 100 percent – maybe about 85 percent,”
Perkins said. “He’s showing flashes of his old self, though, like how he
shows in the pick-and-roll. He’s defending the pick-and-roll and
getting back on the isolation. I don’t know how much better he can get
at it. All I know is that he’s doing that great now.”….

“It’s obvious, how much better he is now,” Pierce said. “You’re
seeing it in the way he rebounds the ball and sprints down the court.
Let’s face it: Without Kevin we can’t win a championship. I’m
replaceable, Ray’s replaceable, Rondo.

“But you can’t replace Kevin.”

Herald: Kevin Garnett has healing powers 

That's one hell of a thing to say.  I would say Rondo is irreplaceable too… but that's just me.  I honestly can't think of another player that does what he does.  You can argue that other point guards are better… but they're different. 

But I will really go out on that limb and say that a healthy KG clearly makes this team different (that's expert analysis right there).  It's amazing how different things are with KG in the lineup.  The intensity is different. 

It's way too simplistic to compare this year with KG to last year without him in the Orlando series.  These are different teams all around.  But the difference in how the C's defend Orlando is noticeable.  And it starts with KG.

On Page 2: Stan Van Gundy is just trying to keep his team from falling apart

Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images

“People want to escape and then
people start worrying about where the blame is going to be placed,’’ he
said yesterday following the Magic’s workout at TD Garden.

“It’s not
just players. It’s coaches and everybody. Instead of having the mental
toughness in a situation like this to get yourself ready to play Game 4,
you start subconsciously making comments to separate and let everybody
know, ‘It’s not my fault.’ Coaches can do it as well as players. You
have to avoid that.’’

Van
Gundy continued to lament over Saturday night’s 94-71 Game 3 loss; his
team never led and never made it competitive after trailing, 21-6.

“I’ll be honest, I’m somebody who says
I’m never shocked but I was shocked that we didn’t play with more
intensity and determination,’’ the coach said. “We had three days to get
ready. I gotta take a lot of responsibility for that. We did not play
the way we needed to play.