Kevin Love - Miami Ground Machine

[Chris]

Kevin has been doing a lot of things well.

Rebounding
Throwing great outlet passes
Setting solid screens
Taking charges (team leader)
Playing much better defense

The only thing he really hasn't been doing well is shooting the ball.

He's mired in a slump that he can hopefully shake down the stretch but ignoring the little things he's doing, simply because he isn't scoring, is a bit shortsighted.

Kevin had a +26 tonight, the highest on the team. Clearly he's doing some things right.

Thats not a Max worthy player. Thats a super role player.

 

[Triumph36]

Did you miss my very next sentence about shooting percentages or were you just looking to pick a fight? Of course i meant his 13ppg, 3apg and 4rpg. That's pedestrian. Not bad, but nothing outstanding.

efficiency is far more important than ppg or rebounds tho

 

[roozy]

He plays way to hesitant, how many times is he gonna pass up open shots.

 

[I'mWithDan]

Thats not a Max worthy player. Thats a super role player.

Again....this is shortsighted.

Unless you believe Kevin is going to shoot 14% from the field for the rest of his career?

He's averaging 17 and 10 in the WORST season of his career. There isn't another "super role player" in the league coming anywhere close to that.

He's just 26 years old. He's absolutely a max player.

 

[Anglefan]

We don't give Love looks in the post because our offense isn't designed to have a guy standing in the post, it's designed to get the defenders out of the middle.

 

[Chris]

Again....this is shortsighted.

Unless you believe Kevin is going to shoot 14% from the field for the rest of his career?

He's averaging 17 and 10 in the WORST season of his career.

He's just 26 years old. He's absolutely a max player.

The whole point of my post is that he isnt playing like one and that we need to get him going. And hes really not. Im well aware that he is way better than what he has shown. After all, i said so. But I need to see it.

 

[TFIR]

Regarding whipping boy Kevin Love. Another game, another 15 rebounds (3 offensive). Blocks a shot, makes a full court length assist to JR, took a charge.

I am really starting to realize how unselfish this guy is. He just wants to win. Hence, he came here where he was the #3 guy. Instead of stud on a losing team! Finds out what they need and tries to do it.

As I type, they are showing Love taking shooting practice AFTER the game.

 

[I'mWithDan]

Looking at his numbers this season, if he would just normalize to his career mean (44.8 FG%, 35.7 3PT%), he'd be averaging 21.4 PPG.

He's just too good of an offensive player to shoot it this poorly forever. At some point his stroke has to reboot.

In the meantime, he seems capable of doing a lot of little things well that, quite frankly, he never did in Minnesota. People can jump in to the max player debate if they want but we've already crossed that bridge.

 

[zouth]

In a league where guys like Parsons,Haywood,Klay are maxed out. I can't believe some people think Love doesn't deserve the max. Everyone talks about how Marc Gasol is the best center in the NBA etc.. And he's only avg 18 and 8 as a first option. Love's 17 and soon to be 11rpg doesn't look so bad does it, especially considering he's having a horrible year shooting the ball. There's no way he forget how to shoot his bread and butter 3point shot. Law of averages says he'll start making those open shots and probably become a consistent 19/20ppg scorer along with his 10/11rpg

 

[TFIR]

Tom Withers ‏@twithersAP 12m12 minutes ago
Love was on the floor nearly an hour after the game getting up shots. He didn't attempt one field goal after first quarter. #Cavs

 

[Rick Astley]

Love making (.....) a perfect pass to LeBron for thunderous slam.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQLZYC2LgNQ


As well as drawing a foul while having a shit back. Seriously, this guy's dedication is insane. Loving the trade more and more each day.

 

[All4One1ForAll]

If he's still shooting this badly after the All Star Break, then I'll be worried.

 

[Rick Astley]

If he's still shooting this badly after the All Star Break, then I'll be worried.

+1

 

[Pioneer10]

Love making (.....) a perfect pass to LeBron for thunderous slam.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQLZYC2LgNQ


As well as drawing a foul while having a shit back. Seriously, this guy's dedication is insane. Loving the trade more and more each day.

I can't figure for the life of me why they don't run him in the high post and let Lebron and Irving play off of him. As the video shows, he's a terrific passer and let's Lebron play off the ball more. SA does this all the time with Duncan and Diaw: we need to steal some of their plays.

One thing no one seems to be complaining about his defense anymore. He's never going to be a plus defender but having Mozgov and some good perimeter defenders has really helped him and he's done his part as well. Much better man to man defense and is showing adequately on the penetration.

 

[bobcat22]

For those that forgot, here is how Bosh described before the season what Love's role will be. Pretty accurate eh?

"Yeah, it's a lot more difficult taking a step back, because you're used to doing something a certain way and getting looks a certain way," Bosh told Bleacher Report recently. "And then it's like, well, no, for the benefit of the team, you have to get it here.

"So even if you do like the left block, the volume of the left block is going to be different. Now you have to make those moves count. So with me, it was like a chess game. I'm doing this move and thinking about the next move and trying to stay five moves ahead. You're not getting it as much. If you got one or two a game, it's a lot different."

You don't get your pick of the buffet.

"Exactly," Bosh said. "You just get your entree and that's it. It's like, wait a minute, I need my appetizer and my dessert and my drink, what are you doing? And my bread basket. What is going on? I'm hungry! It’s a lot different. But if you can get through it, good things can happen. But it never gets easy. Even up until my last year of doing it, it never gets easier."

Nor does the constant din of hearing from family, friends and media about why you aren't doing everything you once did.

"Exactly," Bosh said. "'You've got to do this! You've got to do that!' So you've got to fight that. 'Why don’t you do this? Well, you should do this!' It's like, man, they don't need me to do that, I know what I'm doing. 'Well, you should do this.' And then eventually, on one of those days, all it takes is one time, well, maybe I should be doing this. It's such a psychological battle."

Love, at age 25, averaged 26.1 points and 12.5 rebounds his final season in Minnesota. Bosh, at age 25, averaged 24.0 points and 10.8 his final season in Toronto. His averages declined in the four years since, as he reached greater heights (four NBA Finals, two championships) playing with James.

"It's going to be very difficult for him," Bosh said of Love's new task. "Even if I was in his corner and I was able to tell him what to expect and what to do, it still doesn't make any difference. You still have to go through things, you still have to figure out things on your own. It's extremely difficult and extremely frustrating. He's going to have to deal with that."

Bosh noted Love's previously high allotment of touches down low, where "he's very, very good at using his body to get his shots off and stuff like that. Like I said before, [in Minnesota] he was able to play that game and set guys up. Now, it's like, man, do I go to my move? He's going to have to fight a lot of his instincts."

As Bosh fights others in Miami.

He had a tendency to drift outside as James and Wade worked the inside.

Now, as the roles of Bosh and Love invert, could their statistics reverse?

"They might," Bosh said. "In order for us to be successful, I'm going to have to turn up my numbers a lot. In order for them to be successful, he's got to shave them down. And that's not always the easiest thing to do.

"Everybody says they want to win. But when you start talking about sacrifice and doing what's right for the team, it's like, 'Wait a minute, I didn't mean that. I want to win, but...' There's always a conjunction with that. It's never what you think it is. And it's always like your weakest point where you got to do it."