Kevin Garnett: Beyond the numbers

It's no secret that Kevin Garnett hasn't had the kind of season that he wanted to have when he was planning on getting his second ring with a "stacked" Brooklyn squad. With him having trouble finding his shot in the first couple of months of the season, it looked like The Big Ticket was simply washed up. His stat-line, across the board, is filled with career lows, including his worst scoring numbers, shooting percentage, rebounds, and blocked shots. Sure, he's not quite the KG that dominated the court in every aspect. It's quite clear that he's on the decline, but he is still one of the Nets' most impactful players.

Numbers never lie, and that's the truth. But numbers aren't everything in the NBA. Some of the league's most impactful players are guys that use their intangibles as means of having a worthy career. That's what Kevin Garnett has to offer now that he's a 37 year old veteran with 19 NBA seasons under his belt. At this stage, he's playing just over 21 minutes per game, but with him on the court, the Nets have become one of the better defensive teams since the calendar flipped to 2014.

Let's take a look at the impact that KG has that numbers simply won't tell you.

Screen setting:

I'm not sure I can name more than one or two players better at the pick-and-pop than Garnett. He's not the biggest, most muscular power forward you'll find, like a David West, but KG can set a mean screen. Let's take a look at a quick example:

Now here you'll see that Garnett is setting a high screen on Tayshaun Prince, which will help to free up Joe Johnson. Instead of freeing up Joe, KG will let Prince collapse back onto him while his man is still playing help defense on Joe.

This leaves Garnett wide open in his favorite spot on the floor. From here, he can either pop the mid-range jumper, or he can put the ball on the floor and get a closer shot. The choice is his, because him allowing Prince to collapse back onto Joe Johnson opens up multiple options. He has all the space in the world by allowing the defender to get back to his own man. This is pure smart basketball at its finest.

Demanding multiple defenders:

Garnett is the furthest thing from being a selfish basketball player. He makes guys around him better with both his leadership ability and on-court ability. One thing about Garnett that gets overlooked a lot is his ability to find the open man when there's nothing going for him. For a seven footer (or 6'12", as KG puts it), Garnett is undoubtedly one of the best passing big-men in the game.

Now what we're seeing here is Garnett's floor spacing ability being noticed by the Celtics' defense. With two guys collapsing on him, both his and Alan Anderson's man, Anderson is now wide open in the corner behind the three point line. Garnett immediately notices that Courtney Lee left the shooter alone at the shortest part of the three point line, and he finds Anderson almost instantly.

Now this leaves Anderson with a few options to consider. He can either shoot the wide open corner three before Jared Sullinger collapses on him, wait for Sullinger to collapse and hit an open Brook Lopez for two points at the rim, or wait for Sullinger and then beat him off the dribble and take it to the hoop himself. With all of the open court space around him, there now becomes a plethora of ways for Anderson to make this a successful possession. One smart pass by Kevin Garnett, and his ability to demand multiple defenders, has increased the Nets' chances of a scoring possession drastically.

Help defense:

This is probably the strongest part of Garnett's game at this point of his career. We all know that he is one of the biggest defensive presences the game has seen, and that remains true to this day. Though his shot blocking ability has taken a hit as his athleticism diminishes, Garnett still finds a way to be successful on the defensive side of the ball. The Nets don't have the quickest perimeter defenders in the league, so guys will be blowing past them a lot. That's where KG steps in.

What we're seeing here is Deron Williams stuck with a mismatch on Danny Granger. Williams isn't the best defender you'll see, so Granger will take advantage of the extra size he has on Williams. As Granger posts Deron up and drives him closer to the basket, Garnett begins creeping his way towards a spot that will give him a chance to react on the ball.

Now that Granger made his move and got past the smaller defender, he went straight to the basket. Unfortunately for him, Garnett had already beat him to the spot. Garnett collapsed on the driving offensive player, knowing he was going for the score. It's the immediate reaction of KG that leads to...

A huge block on the driving Danny Granger. Here's the play in full speed:




Final thoughts:

Those three topics I laid out for you are straight-up examples that support the following opinion: Kevin Garnett is NOT washed up. When Brook Lopez went down, it was believed that the Nets would be a much, much worse defensive team than they already were. Really, they were terrible. But when Garnett moved to play the center spot for the Nets, they actually became one of the better defensive teams. With him on the court, the Nets are now an elite defensive team. Without him, as we've seen in losses against the Raptors and Pistons, the paint is left unmanned and the Nets suddenly look like one of the worst defenses in the NBA. Garnett is still an anchor down low, and is still a valuable asset to the Nets' success.

Garnett has said it many times before: He prefers playing power forward. That's all fine and dandy, but it's simple fact that he's as dominant a center as there is in the NBA. His defensive instinct, mid-range shooting, and ability to find open teammates is not something you'll find in a center today. Especially a center that is a legit seven feet tall.
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