Tick, tick ...

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Site: Something called the MetraPark Arena in Billings, Mont. On a Thursday night in October. Some 5,682 people in the stands, most of whom probably are seeing their first -- and their last -- NBA game, preseason or otherwise.

Scene: The Timberwolves trail the Indiana Pacers 67-61 through three quarters. The outcome, of course, means nothing. The game will not count. Kevin Garnett's work for the night is over, 23 minutes that are more of a personal inventory than a performance in this ease-into-it autumn for the All-Star forward.

Except that Garnett's work isn't done at all. As new Wolves coach Dwane Casey and his staff huddle momentarily near the free-throw lane, clarifying their message for the quarter break, Garnett plops down in the folding chair facing the bench -- Casey's chair -- and starts instructing the five players who just came off the court. Loudly. Passionately.

About 20 seconds pass. Casey walks up behind Garnett and stands patiently, one hand touching the back of the chair. A few more seconds, and the eyes of the players on the bench drift up, over Garnett's head, to the boss waiting quietly. Uh, Kev ...

Garnett yields the chair, stalks a few spots down on the bench and starts gesturing and talking to center Michael Olowokandi. Early in the final quarter, rookie Rashad McCants fouls out and, after a few calm words from Casey, finds a seat. Almost instantly, Garnett is in his ear, too.

"That's one negative to giving him rest," Casey said a few days later, laughing. "At least when I keep him in the game, he's not taking my seat during a timeout. It's great, though, because he's saying good stuff. Defending, bodying the cutters, being tough in the paint -- same stuff we're saying, but they're hearing it from him."

Everyone knows the Wolves have a new coach this season. Coach Casey.

Or should that be, Coach KG?

One of the reasons Garnett is coaching these days is, it's time.

At 29, he hardly is old and, through four games, looks as dominant as ever, averaging 22 points, 10.0 rebounds and 6.8 assists while hitting 61 percent of his shots. Those are numbers not unlike the ones Garnett has been posting for years.

A lot of years, in fact. Drafted in 1995, Minnesota's franchise player has begun his 11th NBA season, something he is reminded of almost daily by his knees. Eight playoff appearances. Eight All-Star invitations. One MVP award, one Olympic gold medal. And stats that no longer are merely amazing. They're amassing, with Garnett's name creeping up various all-time lists.

In about seven more games, his minutes odometer will turn over to 30,000. A few more beyond that and Garnett will pass Hall of Famer Kevin McHale, Wolves vice president of basketball operations and Minnesota basketball legend who logged 30,118.

So Garnett comes by this elder statesman role legitimately, part of a great hoops circle of life.

"You spend 11 years in the league, you're going to become one of the oldest guys in the league," McHale said. "People help you along the way, and you return it by helping them. And by helping them, you become a better team. That's what your ultimate goal is."

Former Wolves forward Sam Mitchell was 32 when Garnett, still a teenager, showed up at training camp in St. Cloud 10 years ago.

"I remember Kevin's jewelry," said Mitchell, now coach of the Toronto Raptors. "I told him, 'You'll laugh at the things you're wearing.' The last time I saw him, he laughed and said it's tucked away in a drawer now.

"Kevin realizes that he's at a different stage of his career now. Kevin is already a Hall of Famer. He knows he has to give more of himself."

That means impromptu tutorials with Olowokandi, on the floor, clock ticking. It means a seat next to McCants on benches, on buses or in locker rooms. It means an extra 20 minutes after practice, drilling post-up moves with Nikoloz Tskitishvili.

"I've been with two teams and nobody really did that," Tskitishvili said Tuesday. "Some players, they don't really care about others. KG cares about everybody. He knows, he came in so early in the league, what it's like to be 19, 20 years old."

Said Garnett: "I'm not trying to take anybody's job. I'm trying to give these guys some confidence and myself some confidence.

"I'm for everybody. If it was up to me, the world wouldn't be broke or poor. I'm not afraid to show a player a move from his personal arsenal. They're teammates. If I can make somebody better, it makes it easier on me."

Why him, why now? When Garnett arrived, Mitchell and Terry Porter were the resident Yodas. Later, veterans such as Terrell Brandon, Tom Hammonds, LaPhonso Ellis and Kendall Gill moved through the locker room. Garnett even deferred to Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell, as dysfunctional as that might seem.

"Kevin is a very respectful kid," McHale said, "and when there was older guys, he felt that was more their job. Now he's stepping in."
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Great article on KG (two pages long)!