How about a hand for Kevin Garnett. The guy has been completely revitalized since the All Star Break. What happened, did he find the fountain of youth? Take a trip to Germany to see Kobe's doctor? Start drinking G1 Gatorade? No, he simply moved positions. Kevin Garnett has been a power forward his whole career, despite the fact that he was usually the tallest player on his teams in Minnesota and Boston. This goes back to when he was drafted and listed himself as 6'11" instead of his true height of 7'1" because he didn't want to get labeled as a center. In 1995, when KG was drafted, a center was pigeonholed as a back-to-the-basket player who worked inside and used their power as opposed to their finesse ability. Garnett was more of a finesse player and wanted to play power forward, where he'd get a chance to play around the perimeter and not be stuck underneath the basket all game. Knowing that KG hates being a center, Doc would consistently put both Glen "Big Baby" Davis or Brandon Bass in the "center" role off the bench when they were on the floor with KG. Every Boston season has seen a heavier player as the starting center, whether it was Kendrick Perkins, Shaq, or Jermaine O'Neal.
Let's fast forward now to around the all star break of this year. vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvpp (that's my fast forward noise). Doc has no other options and makes Kevin the starting center with Brandon Bass at power forward. It should be mentioned that up to this point in the season KG was averaging a paltry 14 points per game and around 7 boards. He appeared to be on his last legs, literally, and had even inspired me to write more than one column about how he should probably just call it a career and retire. So KG missed a couple games with what was called "personal issues" and came back ready to contribute. Since moving to center Garnett has averaged 19 points and 9 rebounds per game, while playing the best defense in the league. It could be argued that at the moment he is the second best center in the East, trailing only Dwight Howard. He actually looks like the Kevin Garnett of 2008, just with slightly less athleticism.
So what happened, it can't be just a position change can it? Let's look at the change in position and what it means for KG. When he came into the league most big men were slow plodders who preferred to play inside and score down low. This was perfect for Garnett, because he was quicker than all of them and could have his way with them off the dribble. As he aged however, forwards became quicker and more explosive negating his quickness advantage. When the athleticism left him, KG couldn't compete with athletically elite power forwards anymore and he struggled to be much more than a jump shooter on the offensive end and a merely above-average defender on the defensive end. By moving to center, Kevin is being defended by larger, mostly slower players and his quickness advantage is back. He is still a jump shooter but you can see him go inside more now. He is an incredibly smart player and realizes that the Celtics need an inside presence on the boards, and as the center it's his job now. On the defensive end, he's getting the luxury of playing against more guys who don't play large offensive roles on their team. This is crucial because he now can be more well rested for games against players like Kevin Love and Al Jefferson, the latest two superstar big men that Garnett has shut down.
With this change in position, I think KG could play another couple years if he really wanted to. He may still decide that this is his last year though, as I can't see KG being the type of player to hang around just to be an end of the bench guy, like Juwan Howard, Gilbert Arenas, Tracy McGrady etc. At one time he was called "The Kid" and later he was known as the "Big Ticket", he's neither of those now but he's still an all star level player even at 35 years old.
His renaissance is also the reason that I now believe the Celtics could make some noise in the playoffs. It's crucial that they beat out Philadelphia and New York for the division championship but if they can get Indiana in Round 1, then a Bulls team with a banged up Derrick Rose in Round 2, and a lucky break with the Magic in the conference finals, I could see this team getting to the finals somehow. And don't even get me started on maybe winning a championship if we can get a dysfunctional Laker's team or San Antonio in the finals. The Heat are the only team in the conference that I fear, because the Celtics don't match up well with them. Also the Bulls are a poor matchup if Rose is healthy, but he hasn't proven he can be this year.
Before I end this blog I'd just like to throw in my two cents on Anthony Davis. After watching all of one game of his this year, the Final Four game against Louisville, I'm not ready to proclaim him as the next great center yet. First some good stuff about him though. He's got incredible length, with a 7'4" wingspan, great defensive instincts, and what looked to be a pretty solid right handed hook shot. These three things alone will guarantee that he's not only a top pick but, assuming he stays healthy, will get a contract of at least 10 million dollars a year when he becomes a free agent. I do have a lot of worries with Anthony Davis though. During the game they said that two years ago he was 6'2", he appeared to be a subpar rebounder for his size, and he's just missing that "it" factor. When they said he was 6'2" two years ago, that shocked me. How do you grow that much in two years? His body looks like someone just grabbed his arms and legs and started stretching him out like he was a Stretch Arm Strong doll. I'm worried that when he puts on weight to fill out his frame that his knees and joints might have problems. Growing that much that quickly can't be healthy and with his reckless style of play it seems that injuries are inevitable. In my opinion he was outplayed by the Louisville center tonight and even though he grabbed double digit rebounds I wasn't impressed. The game was played at a very fast pace and there were rebounds galore for Kentucky players. Maybe once Davis fills out a bit and has enough muscle to box out better he'll be able to grab some more boards, but it's definitely a worry right now. The last thing that bothers me is that "it" factor. It seems like every guy that ended up being a superstar had it. Either they had an awesome name, like Shaquille, Kareem, (H)Akeem, Lebron, Magic etc., a marketable look, or an infectious personality. I just don't see it with Davis. I feel like when you see a player get drafted you can tell if they're going to be a star 99% of the time. Watching Lebron's high school games I would've bet my life on him being a superstar in the NBA and I would bet that anyone who watched Hasheem Thabeet in college wouldn't have bet 10 cents on him being a superstar. Rarely is the eye test ever wrong. If they don't look like a superstar, they probably never will be. And above all else, let's be honest can you see that unibrow on a billboard? Didn't think so. Could he be a solid player, sure I guess, but Sam Bowie was a solid player too, and for those of you that don't know he was the player drafted one spot ahead of Michael Jordan perhaps the guy with the greatest "it" factor of all time.
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-Josh
