Kevin Garnett looks old.
The mind is still willing — watch him “assistant coaching” during time outs and you can tell he knows the game and he still has a passion for it — but the flesh is weak. He does not cover ground on defensive rotations like the 2008 KG. He misses shots that used to be automatic. At age 37 the future Hall of Famer has struggled.
Through two games against Miami he has 4 points on 2-of-10 shooting. He does have 16 boards in the two meetings (12 in Game 2). He is 1-of-7 shooting in the paint, the most painful being a five-foot miss with just more than five minutes left in Game 2, one that became a Ray Allen three on the other end. Chris Bosh has proven an difficult cover.
There are reasons for this — Garnett has battled back spasms all summer and is still on a 25 minutes per game limit — but KG will be the first to tell you not to use that as an excuse. As you would expect, he admitted he has not played well after Game 2, speaking to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
“I’m not happy with my play right now. I’m trying to get in a flow and a rhythm,” said Garnett, who is shooting 20% and averaging two points in the two games against Miami. “Try to bring something. It’s just frustrating. But I’ll grind through it.
“(I’ll) continue to work. Continue to find ways to be aggressive offensively. Continue to look for opportunities. Rebound the ball. And continue to talk and inspire.”
The challenge with grinding through it is they are down 2-0 to a Heat team that has looked flat out superior. The Nets need a lot of things to go better in their two games in Brooklyn this weekend and KG is right at the top of that list. Next to Deron Williams.
It’s not a question of looks and opportunities, KG needs to take advantage of the chances he gets, or the Nets have to go on to what works (which has been harder to find consistently). This isn’t Kidd, it’s KG.
