Video Courtesy: Chris Forsberg
Every
morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here…
highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as
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Asked if there’s a chance Garnett will talk him out [sitting out tonight’s game], Rivers said, “No means no.”
Will Garnett fight the decision?
“It wouldn’t be me if I didn’t, you know?” he replied.
“But I try to listen at this stage that I’m at in life and try to
preserve as much as I can and be smart about injuries so that they
don’t get worse. I think I learned that last year the hard way (a knee
injury that required surgery). So I’m just trying to be patient and
actually listen. When he says I’m able and they give me the green
light, then that’s what it is.”
Herald – Doc says no to Kevin Garnett for tonight
This is all nice… but I’m still no fan of the players’ ability to talk Doc into playing. I’m glad Doc has taken a harder line lately.
The good news is this particular injury has nothing to do with the past knee problems… KG is back on the floor and, other than his poor conditioning, is looking good. And if the knee doesn’t stiffen up on him, we’ll see him on the floor Friday.
Coming up, page 2… where KG’s return isn’t some kind of magic potion
“I’ve told our team that,” said coach Doc Rivers.
“When Kevin gets back, we still have to grow as a team. The way I look
at it is with him out our growth has been stunted. When he comes back,
it’ll continue our growth, but it’s not the answer yet. We still have
to grow as a team.”
Added captain Paul Pierce,
“We know we’re going to be better when Kevin comes back. Obviously he
makes us a better team on both ends of the court. But we’ve got to take
care of responsibilities while he’s out. If he’s going to play the next
game or not, we’ve still got to go out there and turn this thing around
going into the All-Star break.”
Herald: Garnett won’t be only solution
We definitely need KG back… but Doc’s right… this won’t magically make the team better. The way they played in the second half against Dallas can’t be rectified by Kevin Garnett.
Granted, it’s difficult to look good when key pieces to your team keep going away. So there’s kind of a re-programming that needs to happen with KG getting 28 minutes or so with the starting unit… and Sheed getting his bench minutes again.
The rest of the links:
Herald: Scouting report: Celtics at Pistons | Globe: Discarded part fits | Garnett completes practice, but is still cautious | Rivers says Celtics lack focus | Souza: KG returns to the practice court | CSNNE: Early Returns: Wallace quickly helped Detroit, now Boston | WEEI: KG back, but Celtics still have work to do | KG: Felt good to be back with the guys | Eddie House and the art of sharpshooting | Hardwood Houdini: Rajon Rondo dribbling the life out of the ball | CelticsHub: The Mavs bring out interesting observations | Gino’s Jungle: What’s the deal with Perk?
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