Gino's Jungle

After a few days off your Gino's Jungle Starting Five is back in action. For the next few days I will be taking over the reigns and bringing you the top five reads for the day. Without further ado here is your starting five for December 1st.

Point Guard - Celtics Town - Garnett: "I'm a work in progress"

"You can say that again. Though Garnett still has a profound effect on the Celtics' team defense, he still hasn't been able to regain all of his mobility and, specifically, his lateral movement. Remember Al Harrington lighting him up? That wouldn't exactly have happened pre-injury."

More Garnett talk, this time coming from Jay King over at Celtics Town. You will soon notice that KG will be theme of today's starting five. Also make sure to check out Celtics Town's new blog page on their website.

Shooting Guard - North Station Sports - Kevin Garnett: Just a Piece in a Delicate

"Yes, I am guilty. I am one of those guys who winces at every missed oop, gasps at every lame landing and prays that he gets back up with a bounce when he hits the floor. Okay– admit it. You all pray a little when Garnett hits the deck too."

More good stuff here from Nick over at North Station Sports. Yes,  Nick is one of those people that continuously worry about KG's knee. In this article Nick takes his passion for Boston Celtics history and ties it in to current times, comparing KG's injury to "Larry-Legend Syndrome".

Small Forward - Boston Herald - Celtics’ Kevin Garnett goes on offensive

"The key, according to Garnett, is his focus on getting better in the defensive end. His offense, almost through sheer lack of attention, has prospered."

In this article KG talks about his game so far this season and what he needs to improve on. KG's offense has been pretty much flawless the past two games, we are just waiting for that dominant defense to return. Give it time, it will be there soon enough.

Power Forward - Hardwood Houdini - Where Kevin Garnett Knee Talks Never Stop

"Please do me a favor as a fellow Celtics fan and be patient. We are seeing great improvements from Garnett since the start of the season and it will only get better. "

This is an article I wrote last night over on our other site Hardwood Houdini. This fits the theme of today's starting five so I thought I would throw it in. In the article I argue that KG is going to be fine and ask Celtics fans to just be patient with him.

Center - Boston Globe - Timely return

"Recently Garnett has made tremendous strides in how he runs and the aggressiveness in which he attacks rebounds. There is more spring on his jumpers and alley-oops are easier to finish off. Garnett acknowledged it would take time to return to vintage form. He missed five months after he had bone spur surgery ."

Tremendous strides, aggressiveness, spring on jumpers, alley-oops are easier to finsh off. These all reflect KG's improved play over the past few games. Like I stated before, give it time, we didn't expect KG to be in vintage form 18 games into the season.

On a side note, we are currently looking for someone to take over the Starting Five. If doing this is something you may be interested in email us at ginosjungle@gmail.com This is a great opportunity to interact with other Celtics fans and get your own daily fix of Celtics material. We are also looking for new writers so if you have a desire to write and are knowledgable about the Celtics or the NBA please email us.