Via Deadspin, I happened upon this blog, which had great fun with the Gerald Green for Kirk Snyder trade.
It is a funny piece, if you think ripping, over and over again, Kevin McHale, and then ripping off, for no good reason, over and over again, South Park.
Look, no one on the planet has more enmity for Kevin McHale than I do. It is documented, and fucking well at that.
But the writer of that blog mocking Kevin McHale for trading Gerald Green for Kirk Snyder seems to be missing many many parts of the equation.
1. Gerald Green was part of the trade that brought Al Jefferson to Minnesota. Hence, Minnesota got Gerald Green for free. At the end of this year, there's a very good chance that Al Jefferson will have more points, more rebounds, and more assists than Kevin Garnett. Kevin is 30; Al is 23, and is a Timberwolf for the next 4 years. That's the definition of a good deal. Gerald Green was a freebie to the Wolves.
1.5. Kirk Snyder hasn't done anything for the Rockets, and Gerald Green hasn't done anything for the Wolves, or the Celtics. Enjoy his mental instability, Rockets fans. He doesn't get friends on ladders to set up his dunks in-game, you know.
2. I've watched a lot more Timberwolves than our blogger in Houston has , and I know why Gerald Green is underused. Our blogger in Houston is right when he mentions Green's 10 cent head. The Wolves gave up a head case they couldn't use. In return, Houston gave up a guy they don't use, and a draft pick. How is Kevin McHale the loser in that trade?
3. The Timberwolves, thanks to Kevin McHale, have the completely unloadable Marko Jaric. They also have Theo Ratliff's huge expiring contract; they have Corey Brewer, Randy Foye, Al Jefferson, and a bunch of first and second round picks in one of the deepest draft years in recent memory. Houston worked Minnesota getting Gerald Green? That's silly, and kind of stupid, and suggests that the person who thought that was a good deal has only seen Gerald Green in Dunk Contests.
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6 comments:
I'm not the one at TheDreamShake that wrote this post, but I'm the other guy there and have a few things to say.
1. It's a joke, sorry if you either don't have a sense of humor in general or just don't have one about this subject (the latter I can understand)
2. Al Jefferson is a good player, Garnett is a GREAT player. Having better stats than KG this year doesn't even come close to making you a better player than him or even promising you a career that comes close. Al is dominating on an awful team right now, lot's of good but not great players have done that. Don't get me wrong, Al has a ton of potential and I think it is superstar potential, but it is not KG greatness potential. I will give McHale that he did the absolute best I think he could have done in the situation he was in. He could have also maybe got some players around KG, or maybe found a way to keep Sam I Am and Sprewell. Or maybe not had an under the table deal with Joe Smith. He reaped what he sowed with others critical opinion of him as a GM.
3. I don't care one bit if someone doesn't like our humor, or our taste in shows, but if you don't like blogs that reference South Park, then you might not like any blog out there.
4. We've ripped McHale once that I'm aware of, and it was a joke. And honestly I think we got the better end of the deal, a 22 year old from Houston and it got us under the luxury tax. I know you "watched a lot more Timberwolves games" than we have, but I've been paying attention to Green since he was a sophomore in High School. The kid has talent, will he ever get to use it? Who knows, but watching more Timberwolves games, ones he rarely played in, doesn't make you anymore of an expert on Green. Not saying you don't know what you saw, we can all agree he hasn't come close to living up to expectations, but it's possile to not watch T-Wolves games and know a thing or two about the kid.
5. Be excited about your team's future, I really like Al J, Foye, and Brewer. I think your team has some serious potential. I'm not sure how much of that is on McHale, how much of it is on luck and how much of it is on just being in the lottery so often and getting a trade for KG to work out so far, but it doesn't matter, you are where you are.
6. I appreciate the title of your site, actually I think it is fantastic. And as a Longhorn fan, we both hate Kelvin Sampson now.
7. I don't really have a seven, but like the number. Oh and in no way is this spell checked.
Oh ya, one more thing, send me an email, we should do a Q&A about this.
Lee
Lee makes some points. I'd certainly enjoy doing a Q&A about this huge trade involving two guys who are barely holding onto to NBA rosters, but Lee didn't provide an email, and I didn't see one on his blog anywhere.
in the meantime, I thought I'd respond.
1. I have no sense of humor about anything. Look at this dour blog, straight out of a Carl Dreyer film, it is!
2. I'm clearly not here to defend Kevin McHale. (Though a lot of the Joe Smith debacle can be laid on the shoulders of owner Glen Taylor, who authorized that piece of jackassery). I will not defend Kevin McHale, except to say that everyone knew that Garnett wanted out (due mainly to all the bad moves the franchise had made in the years previous). I find it odd though, this argument that it is a strike against a player that he is a great player on an awful team--shouldn't every team the T'Wolves play be focusing their defensive energies on the one truly good player on the team? And yet Jefferson isn't stopped, hardly ever. That quality was also present in KG, back when he played for some of the worst Timberwolves teams in history. None of this should read as a criticism of Garnett or be taken as a happiness that he's out of Minnesota. We miss the Big Ticket, make no mistake. But getting a guy who is 8 years younger, and showing as much as Jefferson is showing makes the pain a little easier to deal with. That, and booze. Booze kills the pain.
3. I didn't say I don't like South Park, or even blogs that reference South Park (though, clearly the Simpsons is the show to reference). We all love South Park here at IDYFT, and one of our contributors does the best Cartmas you've ever heard. But a whole thing using the one "bustin' my balls" line? It ran a little long, lads.
Oh, and I meant you ripped McHale repeatedly in the same post, using the same joke, over and over again. Like I said--it ran a little long.
4. The NBDL is littered with guys who were no-talent bench warmers in high school, I'm sure. Being a high-school badass is no guarantee of NBA success. I should have of course noted that your blog was excited in part because ya'll had seen Green in high school. There was a kid at my high school who finished second in the league in scoring his senior year, just behind Grant Hill. And when they played head to head, he totally schooled Grant Hill. That guy didn't even make it to college. I wish the best for Gerald Green (who you note is only 22, as opposed to old and washed up Kirk Snyder (24 years old!)) but I don't think he has the head for the game. He looks like a guy used to winning with his athleticism and doesn't know what to do when faced with guys bigger and stronger and smarter than him. I hope I'm wrong. I have a soft spot for him, if for nothing else than for his Birthday Cake Dunk, and the gracious way he accepted Dwight Howard's ridiculous dunking performance. My head tells me he'll be playing in Italy before 2011.
5. Agreed.
6. My co-blogger hates Sampson. I admire his willingness to cheat so obviously so soon after being caught the last time. He should change his name to Chutzpah Sampson. And congratulations on your Longhorns this year. Rick Barnes--that's a motherfucking coach, right there.
leegrammer at gmail
And if ever there was a need for a fun Q&A, I think we found it ;-)
can't spell my own name apparently
leegrammier at gmail
You guys need to get the Rockets/Wolves trade Q & A finished so that we can get back to mom, monkey and diarrhea jokes.
Say, that reminds me of a joke...
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