11/05/24
April 16, 2009
Garnett expected to miss entire playoffs: If the Celtics are to fulfill their quest for a second consecutive NBA championship, it appears they will have to go the distance without star forward and emotional leader Kevin Garnett.
posted by cjets to basketball at 01:16 PM - 19 comments
I really thought that the Celtics would beat the Cavs in the eastern finals. But not anymore.
I was also looking forward to the Celtics-Lakers rematch but with the Lakers having home court and Bynum this year. I guess it's not to be.
Lebron vs. Kobe doesn't suck but it just doesn't have the ring (pun intended) of a Lakers-Celtics finals.
posted by cjets at 03:47 PM on April 16, 2009
The only solace (other than last year's win, obviously) was listening to Bob Ryan talk about how the playoffs are a done deal now, definitely Cleveland vs. LA, while the ESPN anchor back-pedaled furiously as Mickey Mouse screeched in her earpiece about what Ryan was doing to their potential ratings.
posted by yerfatma at 04:02 PM on April 16, 2009
Haven't really followed NBA this year, but does losing KG really put Celtics out of the trophy race?
posted by billsaysthis at 04:42 PM on April 16, 2009
Is it true that the Celts actually score more points without Garnett than with him? (and no, I didn't read the article. I am a loser.)
posted by THX-1138 at 05:48 PM on April 16, 2009
Two recent times, the Lakers have been to the Finals and have been psychologically overmatched. To the point where they spent the final game of each series standing around like traffic cones watching first the Pistons then the Celtics do weave and figure eight drills around them.
You don't often see a supposedly top flight team drop their jocks like that when confronted with a tough opponent and the Lakers did it twice.
The Cavs are less of a one man show than they were before. I don't know, if I were a Lakers fan, I'd be having some uneasy thoughts.
I have to believe that what happened previously to the Lakers competitive will in the Finals is not likely to happen to LeBron no matter what the Lakers throw at him.
posted by beaverboard at 06:04 PM on April 16, 2009
Is it true that the Celts actually score more points without Garnett than with him?
It's close to even. The problem is they give up a lot more points without him.
does losing KG really put Celtics out of the trophy race?
Yeah. I love Leon Powe and Big Baby, but the Celtics win last year was based on defense and without KG's help defense, they're not good enough to get out of the East, let alone win it all.
posted by yerfatma at 06:06 PM on April 16, 2009
It would take something really bizarre for the Celtics to get by Cleveland without KG. About the only way it could happen would be for LeBron to be injured (God forbid) or to have him really lose it during one of Cleveland's home games vs Celtics, and draw two technicals and an ejection, whereupon the Celtics steal one. The odds are rather steep against that, but then "Anything is possibllllllllle".
posted by Howard_T at 06:54 PM on April 16, 2009
True, yerfatma. But the Celts sure seem to keep winning. I kept waiting for Lebron and Co. to fly past Boston in the standings and it never quite transpired. Now clearly, Lebron is The Man. Much like KG was (and might still be, at least until he quits). And perhaps the Cavs have enough of the pieces to finally get over the top.
But there is still that persistent little voice that keeps murmuring, "Hey, it's Cleveland."
posted by THX-1138 at 09:22 PM on April 16, 2009
Beating the Cavs will not be nearly as satisfying.
Counting those egg-bounded chickens already, eh? Typical Lakers-sycophant.
posted by avogadro at 12:24 AM on April 17, 2009
Typical Lakers-sycophant.
Next time you try to step outside of your limited vocabulary, use a dictionary. Someone should crack your "egg-bounded" head open.
posted by docshredder at 01:23 AM on April 17, 2009
So that's fun. In two threads you've made a bunch of noise about the Angels being a monster team and how great the Lakers are. There might be one or two fans sites out there for LA-based teams. Take a look.
posted by yerfatma at 10:28 AM on April 17, 2009
This is sad. Garnett and Manu both out, I'll have no one left to root against if the Spurs and Celtics get bounced early. Lakers-Cavs does seem like the best bet now for a finals match up but the Lakers still have a really tough road to get there.
while the ESPN anchor back-pedaled furiously as Mickey Mouse screeched in her earpiece about what Ryan was doing to their potential ratings.
That's a fun visual.
posted by tron7 at 11:39 AM on April 17, 2009
you've made a bunch of noise about the Angels being a monster team and how great the Lakers are
Did I say that the Angels were a monster team? Sounds like you think the Red Sox are a monster team. You're implying that by saying the Angels would beat the Sox in the playoffs I am saying that the Angels are a monster team? 65-17 is all I have to say about the Lakers. If that indicates that they are not great, please tell me how so. I'm sorry that your beloved Pistons imploded and let their best player leave and got nothing in return.
posted by docshredder at 03:19 PM on April 17, 2009
Don't trade insults premised on how your team rocks and somebody else's team sucks, plzthxbi.
posted by rcade at 06:27 PM on April 17, 2009
Kevin Garnett isn't injured, he's just on another planet (classified) right now liberating the freedom-loving inhabitants from the clutches of the intergalactic megamind. Which is something the Lakers and Cavs, and hell, the rest of his Celtics teammates, are incapable of even imagining. KG, the only dimension-shifting demigod in the NBA, knows that some things are more important than even the playoffs.
Things like freedom. Courage. Honor. And the chance to be hailed not as a mere NBA champion but as a liberator and a destroyer of tyranny; not as a mere mighty Bostonian hero with a spectacular array of mindblowing jams but as a protector, a hero, a saint.
You want proof? Well, the sun is still shining here on Earth, isn't it? Without KG's vigilance our precious sky would erupt in fire and we'd all melt into quickly evaporating puddles of blood and bone.
No KG, no atmosphere, it's as simple as that.
posted by Hugh Janus at 11:49 AM on April 18, 2009
Totally.
I heard about the injury and saw that they were being really coy about it and stuff, and then wouldn't say what was really wrong, and I was like, so why would they do that? And then I knew - definitely some fucking intergalactic megamind action.
Go KG!
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 10:15 PM on April 19, 2009
I'm sorry that your beloved Pistons imploded and let their best player leave and got nothing in return.
This is actually more confusing and unlikely than Hugh's post.
posted by yerfatma at 09:07 AM on April 20, 2009
As a Laker fan, I am saddened by this news. I was looking forward to revenge in the finals. Beating the Cavs will not be nearly as satisfying. I also have a lot of respect for KG and I hope this is not a career ending type of injury, especially considering that it was a non-contact injury. Hopefully, he will recover and be ready to go next season, so that we can get our revenge in 2010 along with our back-to-back t-shirts and hats.