{"id":693944,"date":"2010-02-23T14:13:29","date_gmt":"2010-02-23T14:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/redsarmy.com\/2010\/02\/23\/kg-the-new-schilling\/"},"modified":"2010-02-23T14:13:29","modified_gmt":"2010-02-23T14:13:29","slug":"kg-the-new-schilling-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/kg-the-new-schilling-2\/","title":{"rendered":"KG: The New Schilling?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Curt<\/a><\/p>\n

By Ryan Thomas<\/strong><\/p>\n

Late in his career, Curt Schilling realized he wasn\u2019t the same top of the rotation ace who could bust batters inside with 95 mile-per-hour fastballs, then make them chase nasty splitters in the dirt.  2,800-plus innings over 16 Major League seasons had taken a toll on his body (not that it was a heralded physique to begin with) and he needed to realize the same approach wasn\u2019t going to get batters out anymore. <\/p>\n

So he dialed back one tick, mixed in a changeup and a curveball, and relied on his best assets: control and knowledge. <\/p>\n

2006 and 2007 were Schilling\u2019s \u201creinvented years.\u201d  He threw a bevy of offspeed pitches and barely touched 90 on the gun some nights, but when it counted, he came through and helped win the Red Sox their second World Series title in four years. <\/p>\n

Begrudgingly, it took him almost a year to realize he wasn\u2019t the old Schilling and that he needed to evolve and become a different type of pitcher, someone who got you out on smarts and savvy, not on heat and filth.<\/p>\n

Kevin Garnett seems to be at a similar crossroads.  His body has over 40,000 NBA minutes on it.  Prior to his Celtics days, he banged with bigs in the Western Conference for over a dozen years, which wreaks havoc on any body.<\/p>\n

Over the last three seasons, we have watched KG tumble away from elite status, much like we watched Schilling plummet post-2004.  His knees have abandoned him to the point where he has struggled to get up for the receiving end of alley-oops, to the point where forwards like Rashard Lewis burn him baseline late in games. <\/p>\n


\nBut could Garnett be turning the corner?  Recently, KG went up for an \u2018oop.  Instead of trying to slam it in and getting rejected by the rim (common this season), he finger-rolled it in for an easy two points.  That single finger roll indicated that, maybe, this Garnett we\u2019ve been seeing the past few weeks is a savvier, more grounded player.  A player who is now realistic, who knows his limitations and must adjust to his aging body in order to get 100 percent out of whatever\u2019s left. <\/p>\n

Does he realize now that he can\u2019t always get up for those Garden-shaking, Rondo-fed alley oops?  It seems like it.  Is he a guy that will contribute more on help defense and rely on his teammates instead of challenging 5-foot-11 guards at the top of the key, only to get burned?  I hope so.<\/p>\n

KG is not a shell of himself.  That\u2019s not the point.  He\u2019s just not 2008\u2019s Kevin Garnett.  Anyone who has watched Celtics basketball the last three years and has a semi-functioning brain can tell you that.  The guy just doesn\u2019t move as quick, he doesn\u2019t react the same.  He can\u2019t get way up anymore.  He no longer runs the floor like a Gazelle.  This is something even a James Posey hug can\u2019t cure.<\/p>\n

All negativity aside, Garnett is still an important cog to this Celtics team and its success.  He\u2019s still the smartest player on his team, much like Schilling was.  He\u2019s still got the guts of a soldier and the balls of a champion. <\/p>\n

His game may have slowed down, but that doesn\u2019t mean he\u2019s not capable of running through the Eastern Conference with numbers 9, 20 and 34 flanking him. <\/p>\n

Look for Garnett to discover his curveball a little more and then watch in earnest to find out if the New Big Three have one more run in them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ryan Thomas Late in his career, Curt Schilling realized he wasn\u2019t the same top of the rotation ace who…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[703639561],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKG: The New Schilling? - The Sports Daily<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/kg-the-new-schilling-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"KG: The New Schilling?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/kg-the-new-schilling-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Sports Daily\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-02-23T14:13:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.usatodaysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/95\/2016\/12\/15b9d-6a01156f2c3287970c01310f306331970c-450wi.jpg?w=300\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alan Draper\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sportsdailytsd\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sportsdailytsd\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alan Draper\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/kg-the-new-schilling-2\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/kg-the-new-schilling-2\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alan Draper\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2c8aadde2571800d0de74323730df7b5\"},\"headline\":\"KG: The New Schilling?\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-02-23T14:13:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-02-23T14:13:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/kg-the-new-schilling-2\/\"},\"wordCount\":605,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/kg-the-new-schilling-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/wp.usatodaysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/95\/2016\/12\/15b9d-6a01156f2c3287970c01310f306331970c-450wi.jpg?w=300\",\"articleSection\":[\"Red's Army\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2010\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/kg-the-new-schilling-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/kg-the-new-schilling-2\/\",\"name\":\"KG: The New Schilling? 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