Anti.Hero
12-12-2008, 05:59 PM
It's a loooooooooong article but it has some Spurs shoutouts.
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-37-45/Kevin-Garnett-s-Big-Mouth.html
Steve Aschburner writes for MinnPost.com and Sports Illustrated, and covered just about every moment of Garnett's Minnesota career. He explains:
I always found it, let's say, quirky that Garnett would have these dust-ups with some of the most unlikely combatants. Guys like Andrew Bogut (no offense but not yet all-NBA), Mark Pope, Joel Przybilla, Rick Rickert (in a summer pickup game), Wally Szczerbiak, Francisco Elson, Tyrone Nesby, Anthony Peeler. The list doesn't exactly read like an All-Star roster, which then makes people wonder if he is more likely to bully a fringe guy than he is to take on one of his giants-of-the-game peers. Some growling or staredowns with fellas such as Tim Duncan and Amare Stoudemire through the years, but nothing approaching flailing, skirmishes or donnybrooks. No doubt it stems from some sort of passion, but it also seems to pack an element of umbrage taken when some mere mortal gets on his cloud. It would be nice if he would cool it.
A Western Conference executive speaks for this group when he says:
I think the normal reaction to a situation like this [emotional player on another team drawing the ire of everyone outside of that particular team] is to say "well, you'd like it if he was on your team" ... call it the "Manu Ginobili Response." And in some ways it's true: many teams wish they had an aggressive, vocal leader to rile up the troops and get under the opposing players' skins.
That being said, Kevin Garnett this year goes above and beyond that threshold. Crawling on all fours, clapping and pointing in a player's face as he dribbles up the court ... these antics are classless and have no place in our game. If Dikembe Mutombo can get T'd up for a finger wag (or a player who dunks on Mutombo can be T'd for wagging a finger back), where do you classify what Garnett did to Calderon?
The fact that the Celtics won the title last year (and continue to be the cream of the league this year) should not change the fact that what has been going on is unacceptable. As a league, we have certain guidelines and parameters for professionalism and sportsmanship, and these guidelines are not dictated by a team's record.
I'm not saying get rid of all trash talking; basketball is a competitive sport, and letting those competitve juices fly on the court is a good thing. Passion for the game is a good thing. Being a complete jackass is not.
etc etc
I give it two thumbs down for not mentioning the Bonner ass whupping.
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-37-45/Kevin-Garnett-s-Big-Mouth.html
Steve Aschburner writes for MinnPost.com and Sports Illustrated, and covered just about every moment of Garnett's Minnesota career. He explains:
I always found it, let's say, quirky that Garnett would have these dust-ups with some of the most unlikely combatants. Guys like Andrew Bogut (no offense but not yet all-NBA), Mark Pope, Joel Przybilla, Rick Rickert (in a summer pickup game), Wally Szczerbiak, Francisco Elson, Tyrone Nesby, Anthony Peeler. The list doesn't exactly read like an All-Star roster, which then makes people wonder if he is more likely to bully a fringe guy than he is to take on one of his giants-of-the-game peers. Some growling or staredowns with fellas such as Tim Duncan and Amare Stoudemire through the years, but nothing approaching flailing, skirmishes or donnybrooks. No doubt it stems from some sort of passion, but it also seems to pack an element of umbrage taken when some mere mortal gets on his cloud. It would be nice if he would cool it.
A Western Conference executive speaks for this group when he says:
I think the normal reaction to a situation like this [emotional player on another team drawing the ire of everyone outside of that particular team] is to say "well, you'd like it if he was on your team" ... call it the "Manu Ginobili Response." And in some ways it's true: many teams wish they had an aggressive, vocal leader to rile up the troops and get under the opposing players' skins.
That being said, Kevin Garnett this year goes above and beyond that threshold. Crawling on all fours, clapping and pointing in a player's face as he dribbles up the court ... these antics are classless and have no place in our game. If Dikembe Mutombo can get T'd up for a finger wag (or a player who dunks on Mutombo can be T'd for wagging a finger back), where do you classify what Garnett did to Calderon?
The fact that the Celtics won the title last year (and continue to be the cream of the league this year) should not change the fact that what has been going on is unacceptable. As a league, we have certain guidelines and parameters for professionalism and sportsmanship, and these guidelines are not dictated by a team's record.
I'm not saying get rid of all trash talking; basketball is a competitive sport, and letting those competitve juices fly on the court is a good thing. Passion for the game is a good thing. Being a complete jackass is not.
etc etc
I give it two thumbs down for not mentioning the Bonner ass whupping.