Training camp for the Boston Celtics has officially started at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhone Island. The players are out in full force, the media is delivering quotes on the regular, and my fingers are preparing themselves for typer's cramp.
Yesterday, the team participated in its annual media day at the practice facility in Waltham, then took a bus ride to Salve Regina for the start of camp today. Over the past twenty-four hours with all the quotes coming out from media day, and practice today, I find myself extremely excited to watch Kevin Garnett this season.
Last season at this time, following a severe knee injury at the end of the 2008-2009 season, everyone was wondering whether or not Kevin Garnett would return successfully. This season, Garnett is in a totally different boat. Kevin Garnett is healthy. And Kevin Garnett is pissed off. Put two and two together, and that's not a good sign for opposing teams.
Following today's workout in Newport, Doc Rivers told reporters that Garnett looked "phenomenal and explosive" in today's first practice. In case you're wondering, yes, I do in fact have goosebumps thinking about that.
For a large part of last season we witnessed a completely different Kevin Garnett then we were used to seeing. He wasn't as aggressive on the offensive end, and you could tell the knee injury was affecting his play on the defensive end.
This season, the knee injury is old news for Garnett.
After an offseason of being locked in his cellar banging his head off the walls, Garnett is ready to chase Banner 18.
So, what should we expect from KG this offseason? Should we expect a Kevin Garnett that resembled the one we saw during the championship season in '08? Should we expect a Kevin Garnett that resembles the one we saw last year? Or should we settle for something in between?
I'm going to play it safe and look forward to seeing Kevin Garnett playing at a level slightly above of what he did during last season's playoffs. For those of you who don't remember, Garnett really stepped it up on both ends of the floor in both the Cleveland and Orlando series. If we can see a slight improvement from the way he played in those two series, the Celtics could be a lot scarier than most people believe.
As far as stats go, I'm not one to start putting down predictions on paper. Matter of fact, I'm not even concerned about KG's stats; I'm concerned about the intangibles. I want to see the mean, aggresive, trash-talking beast that rips apart opponents and brings down rims. If that happens, the stats will take care of themself.
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