Garnett Gives His Perspective On Losing, But Not Mitchell's Future
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It had been exactly a month since Kevin Garnett last spoke to the media.
In that time, the Wolves lost 14 out of 16 games. People have started to question the apparent lack of progress, and the job status of interim coach Sam Mitchell.
So what's Garnett think about all this?
On Saturday, he answered.
"Winning is a process," Garnett said, speaking to reporters for the first time since Dec. 23. "And you don't just wake up, put your clothes on, and 'ta da!!,' you know?
Garnett says the key is having the patience for the process. The Wolves have been doing an awful lot of losing lately, but he has been telling all their young talent to keep the right mindset. They can't expect the instant gratification that young people often crave.
"Coffee is not even instant. You have to give it, what, two minutes?" Garnett said. "So that's not even instant. What I try to get them to understand is that it's a process. And you don't just wake up and it happens. You have to put an extreme amount of work into this."
Garnett was encouraged by what he saw the other night in Dallas from the player he is primarily mentoring, when Karl-Anthony Towns had 27 points, 17 rebounds and six blocks.
"I thought he was reacting, I thought he was playing without thinking," Garnett said. "He's learning every day, and he's getting better each day."
In fact, he's further along than Garnett thought he'd be at this point.
"In situations to where, is he going to pick things up quicker? In that sense, yes," Garnett said. "He's very smart, he has a high IQ, he understands basketball. Sometimes it's a little difficult when you're teaching him because he is so smart. I guess that's a young thing. But he gets a lot of things that you teach him very, very quickly."
But there was one thing Garnett didn't want to discuss: Growing skepticism about whether coach Sam Mitchell is still the right man for the job.
"Next question," Garnett responded.
Whether that should be taken as support by dismissing the very premise of the question, or a lack of it by declining to express support, is open to interpretation.
