Josh Q. Pubic:I never had a chance to shine. Never a happy song to sing. But suddenly half the world is mine. What an amazing thing. ‘Cause I’ve got a golden ticket. -Willy Wonka
Public Service Announcement: OK, here we go! Knock ‘em down! Roll ‘em around! C’mon defense work! Work! The Big Ticket works. Workin’ nine to five. Works on defense. What a way to make a livin’. Works on defense enough to become the first Celtic ever to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award. Bill Russell never won it. Kevin McHale never won it. Don Chaney never won it. KG did. KG took the worst defensive team in all the land last year, and transformed them. Transformers. More than meets the eye. Transformers. Robots in disguise. KG is Optimus Prime transforming the Celtics into the lockenest-down team in the league. The rockenest down team in the league. The shockenest down team in the league. I shook the world! The Celtics shook the world. Shook the NBA defensive world. The Celtics ended up mere percentage points behind the Deetroit Pistons in points allowed. The Celtics ended up first, and first by far, in all the rest of the defensive categories. First by far in defensive field goal percentage. First by far in three-point defense. First by far in point differential. And get a load of this. Boston’s opponents made 46.8 percent of their field-goal attempts last season, but only 41.9 percent this season. Only one NBA team since 1970 has had a larger improvement in opponents’ field-goal percentage. The Spurs opponents went from 47.1 percent in 1996-97 to 41.1 in 1997-98. Holy cow. For all of that, you can thank Mr. Garnett. He’s an eight-time NBA All-Defensive selection. He’s good. Real good. The Big Ticket guards everybody. Anybody. He guards centers and he guards point guards. He chases folks all the way to the perimeter. He camps underneath and alters shots. He comes from the weak side to put a bootie on a brother. He fronts to deny the ball and keeps people out of the post. Know this sports fans, if Kevin Garnett decides he doesn’t want you to score, you ain’t scoring. And that’s the double truth, Ruth.
Public Acknowledgements: Dolly Parton, Patriot Ledger, Muhammad Ali and Mr. Senor Love Daddy
Even as a Lakers fan, I can appreciate what this guy brings to the court. I was hoping he'd end up in L.A., but McHale wasn't going to let that happen. It worked out pretty well for both of us. We got to keep Odom & Bynum AND get Gasol AND get rid of Kwame. And you guys have a pretty damn good team again. I hope to see both teams in the finals.
josh q. public. For the public, by The Public. Irreverent sports opinion from a Bostonian in New York. The one blog to read, when you’re reading more than one. Good to the last drop!
shook the world. Shook the NBA defensive world. The Celtics ended up mere percentage points behind the Deetroit Pistons in points allowed. The Celtics ended up first, and first by far, in all the rest of the defensive categories. First by far in defensive field goal percentage. First by far in three-point defense. First by far in point differential. And get a load of this. Boston’s opponents made 46.8 percent of their field-goal attempts last season, but only 41.9 percent this season. Only one NBA team since 1970 has had a larger improvement in opponents’ field-goal percentage. The Spurs opponents went from 47.1 percent in 1996-97 to 41.1 in 1997-98. Holy cow. For all of that, you can thank Mr. Garnett. He’s an eight-time NBA All-Defensive selection. He’s good. Real good. The Big Ticket guards everybody. Anybody. He guards centers and he guards point guards. He chases folks all the way to the perimeter. He camps underneath and alters shots. He comes from the weak side to put a bootie on a brother. He fronts to deny the ball and keeps people out of the post. Know this sports fans, if Kevin Garnett decides he doesn’t want you to score, you ain’t scoring. And that’s the double truth, Ruth. 
