I agree with both Big Ticket and Who, despite the fact they are arguing opposing views
. I think that this season KG was able to focus more on purely prevent-the-other-team-from-scoring defense than he has in any other year, but also that he has had more defensive help than he has had any other year.
During much of his tenure in Minny, KG's frontline "help" consisted of guys like Rasho Nesterovic, Michael Olowokandi, Joe Smith, Gary Trent, and Laphonzo Ellis. Likewise, on the perimeter, for most years he had relatively poor defenders like Wally Szczerbiak, Terrell Brandon, Troy Hudson, and Anthony Peeler as his running mates. In other words, he had NO legit big man help down low, NO help on the perimeter as most opponents could penetrate at will, and no one that could help him on the glass. The end result of this was KG doing a lot of 1-on-5 activity that led to some of the poor habits that Who pointed out, but also some of the ridiculous accomplishments that Big Ticket pointed out.
This is only the second time this decade (2003-04) when KG had a legitimate-sized center with solid defensive abilities next to him as well as perimeter defenders that could prevent most opponents from just driving at will. Also factor in that this year there were also other teammates that could help out on the glass, and KG no longer HAD to spazz out and try to defend everyone while also challenging every shot and also grabbing every board. He could afford to focus on his fundamentals and communication, and making sure that opponents scored as infrequently as possible.
I think KG's best seasons on both offense and defense were probably 2002 - 2004, when he was doing ridiculous things with less help than he had this year. But I would say this season was probably KG's best at leading and delegating and yes, playing intelligently. Of course, he never really had that option before because there was no one to delegate to, but I think it helps to further show what he is capable of when he has any kind of support with him.
