Kevin Love - Miami Ground Machine

[Cavsfan161]

I've never seen him yell at d wade and chris bosh.

Was just mainly Chalmers.

 

[Mdog1]

I've never seen him yell at d wade and chris bosh.

He has, during the playoffs I believe this year he was pissed off at Bosh. He yelled at Chalmers all the time too, although I understand why... 4 years later and this guy is still starting? I'd be pissed too lol.

I don't mean he will literally scream in their faces or anything, but he will let them know they f'd up.

The wait to see this team in action is killing me, I am most excited to see the team with LeBron on the bench.

Will the line be Kyrie/Miller/Marion/Love/TT, or will Dion, or AV be in there, or will both be in there? This is all so exciting for me. I think it is for all of us. We know this team has the potential to be one of the greatest ever.

That Haywood contract, it is hard to believe, but come next year, that contract is going to be one of the best trade chips in the league. A giant TPE, that can be used along with other players in a trade.

 

[Cavsengland]

He has, during the playoffs I believe this year he was pissed off at Bosh. He yelled at Chalmers all the time too, although I understand why... 4 years later and this guy is still starting? I'd be pissed too lol.

I don't mean he will literally scream in their faces or anything, but he will let them know they f'd up.

The wait to see this team in action is killing me, I am most excited to see the team with LeBron on the bench.

Will the line be Kyrie/Miller/Marion/Love/TT, or will Dion, or AV be in there, or will both be in there? This is all so exciting for me. I think it is for all of us. We know this team has the potential to be one of the greatest ever.

That Haywood contract, it is hard to believe, but come next year, that contract is going to be one of the best trade chips in the league. A giant TPE, that can be used along with other players in a trade.

I know man, It's going to be an amazing season. (I hope)

 

[AlohaCav]

I harp on kyrie's defense all the time. But its been interesting to watch him with team USA. He's played pretty good defense. Still gets beat too often but they're winning and he's more into it on defense. I think that's something worth watching.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

 

[theSTEREO.]

Anybody go the Pelton article from this morning projecting us at 68 wins?

 

[Lee]

Regarding defensively, I think you'll be surprised what can happen when you're winning.

You'll see guys like Kyrie & Love, who haven't been known to have much interest in playing D, more than willing to show more effort, along with Dion taking the extra step to become the good defender he has the tools to be.

It's one of the ways we were a top defensive team with Mo Williams & Drew freakin Gooden

I forgot we were a good defensive team with Z, a non athletic but tall slow moving tree and gooden, a barely functioning adult on a special needs work release program.

That concept does make me feel better about the defense. Kyrie has shown incredible defensive effort this summer, and i think Love's defense issues are exaggerated (he plays good positional defense, just not a shot blocker). It is true we will not have a true shot blocker on this team, but if Andy, Lebron and Love can all average .85, that gives us 2.5 shots blocked, throw in .5 for our starting guards combined, .5 for Tristan and Marion each off the bench that is about 4 blocks a game. Our backup guards and other players will make up another .5 for a total of 4.5. That would be good enough for average last year. We dont have a good shot blocking Centers or power forwards, but our small forwards are excellent shot blockers for their position. If we can use that along with good positional defense from our bigs, we should be just fine on defense.

I am not saying we will excel, but as good as our offense will be, a bit above average on defense should be good enough.

 

[BimboColesHair]

My friend caught him coming out of the Ritz this morning

 

[Thunder]

Digging that mustache. Besides the fact that he looks like a child sex offender.

 

[theSTEREO.]

Digging that mustache. Besides the fact that he looks like a child sex offender.

Kevin Love's facial hair game unparalleled.

Needs to bring back the full beard though.

 

[Pioneer10]

I forgot we were a good defensive team with Z, a non athletic but tall slow moving tree and gooden, a barely functioning adult on a special needs work release program.

That concept does make me feel better about the defense. Kyrie has shown incredible defensive effort this summer, and i think Love's defense issues are exaggerated (he plays good positional defense, just not a shot blocker). It is true we will not have a true shot blocker on this team, but if Andy, Lebron and Love can all average .85, that gives us 2.5 shots blocked, throw in .5 for our starting guards combined, .5 for Tristan and Marion each off the bench that is about 4 blocks a game. Our backup guards and other players will make up another .5 for a total of 4.5. That would be good enough for average last year. We dont have a good shot blocking Centers or power forwards, but our small forwards are excellent shot blockers for their position. If we can use that along with good positional defense from our bigs, we should be just fine on defense.

I am not saying we will excel, but as good as our offense will be, a bit above average on defense should be good enough.

-Irving still worries me because even with increased effort on defense, he has some fundamentals that really need work. His defensive positioning and stance give him a lot of trouble. Against good point guards, his legs are too straight and so he's stiff when trying to prevent dribble drives. He's a underrated athlete so even if he doesn't perfect his defensive shortcomings, the effort maybe enough to move him to average on defense

-Agree with Love and this is borne out by the statistics which shows he's a net neutral defender. His rebounding and good man to man defense plus positioning make up for his lack of rim protection

-What's underrated to me though particularly if guys like Delly and Dion show up on defense like they did in the second half of last year is that we should have good defenders every where else: between AV, Tristan, Lebron, Marion, Delly, and Waiters we should have plenty of ability to matchup well on defense (not just offense) with all teams. Say a team like SA is killing it with a Duncan, Diaw, Leonard, Green, and Parker lineup. We can match that with an AV, Love, Lebron, Marion, Waiters lineup or a Love, Marion, Lebron, Waiters, Delly lineup or etc. The great thing about next year's primary defensive units is that we will have more floor spacing and creators then our team from last year

 

[Binkster]

Wow... They are putting him in a Dodge? Well, it's been a fun ride. He'll be gone next season.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Kevin Love's facial hair game unparalleled.

Needs to bring back the full beard though.

Personally, I think he should spend a season rocking the Gettysburg:

 

[nikolajz1]

I hope the team puts up a Kyrie, Love, and LeBron banner on the Sherman Williams banner for the season. Needs to be massive and epic.

 

[Henry Tuttle]

Originally posted by Jack Brickman @ http://realcavsfans.com/community/index.php?posts/1965425/

Projecting the Cavs in 2014-15
Cleveland could have a scary good offense, but what about the D?
Sixty-eight wins.

That's the crazy, amazingly optimistic projection my SCHOENE projection system spit out for the Cleveland Cavaliers once Kevin Love was added toLeBron James' new roster.

Ordinarily, I'd close a column like this with the projection. In this case I think it makes more sense to start with the eye-popping figure and why it is as crazy as it looks -- before explaining why the Cavaliers actually might not be getting enough credit in some ways.

SCHOENE's shortcoming: defense

The wildest aspect of SCHOENE's projection isn't Cleveland's win total, but the team's projected ranking on defense: fourth in the NBA, as in fourth-fewestpoints allowed per possession. That doesn't square with conventional wisdom about the Cavaliers' defensive woes, and there are a couple of reasons for that.

SCHOENE doesn't take into account measures of individual defense, so Love's poor rim protection isn't considered. At the same time, Love's stout defensive rebounding and his penchant for avoiding fouls are part of the SCHOENE projection, so Cleveland is getting all of Love's strengths and none of his weaknesses.

Nonetheless, SCHOENE does see the Cavaliers as below-average at defending opponent shots, projecting them 17th in effective field goal percentage (eFG%) allowed. Because shot defense is the most important single factor, in practice it's nearly impossible to be elite defensively without limiting opponents' shooting. No team with a below-average eFG% ranked in the NBA's top nine defenses last season. However, because it's tougher to project shot defense than other factors, SCHOENE puts most teams close to league average, meaning other defensive factors carry relatively more weight in the projection.

ESPN's real plus-minus, which attributes defensive performance to individuals based on how teams defend with them on the floor and on the bench, along with box-score stats, can give us a better idea of how much Cleveland's new lineup might struggle on defense.

Here's my stab at how the Cavaliers will distribute playing time next season, based on projected games played, along with real plus-minus ratings for both offense and defense projected for 2014-15 based on the typical aging curve.

Even with real plus-minus rating Love as an above-average defender, poor marks for players such as Kyrie Irving and Mike Miller drag down the team overall. Weighted for playing time, real plus-minus estimates Cleveland will allow 1.0 points per 100 possessions more than league average -- about the same as last year's Brooklyn Nets, who ranked 19th in the NBA in defensive rating.

Giving the Cavaliers the real plus-minus estimate on defense in SCHOENE drags their win projection all the way down to 60 wins. There is some hope Cleveland can outperform that. Real plus-minus can't account for new head coach David Blatt, and coaches tend to have far more influence on the defensive end than on offense. If Blatt can merely get the Cavaliers to league average on defense, their SCHOENE projection would be 62 wins -- best in the NBA. That's how good Cleveland figures to be on offense.

Potentially historic offense

As good as you think the Cavaliers might be on offense, they've got the chance to be better. Let's revisit those real plus-minus projections. Weighting offense in the same manner gives Cleveland an offensive rating 10.0 points per 100 possessions better than league average. Since the NBA began tracking team turnovers in 1973-74, no team has managed even 10 points per 100 possessions better than league average, with the 2003-04 Dallas Mavericks (plus-9.9) getting closest.

SCHOENE is a tad more conservative, merely projecting the Cavaliers for the best offensive rating (118.0 points per 100 possessions) the league has seen in that four-decade span. Because offense has trended upward throughout the NBA, SCHOENE's projection would rank Cleveland second in modern history relative to league average behind those Mavericks.

The Cavaliers can run out an offensive quintet more talented than any in the NBA last season. A possible starting lineup of Irving, James, Love, Anderson Varejao and Dion Waiters would have a combined offensive real plus-minus of plus-16.6 points per 100 possessions. The best lineup that played regularly in the NBA last season by this measure was the Clippers' starting five with J.J. Redick, at plus-14.2. Miami's best offensive lineup, with Ray Allen at shooting guard and James at power forward, was plus-13.3.

Zooming in, Cleveland could feature unprecedented offensive versatility. Since the ABA-NBA merger, no team has ranked in the top five in all four offensive factors (shooting, rebounding, free throws and turnover rate). In fact, only one team since 1996 (the 2005-06 Dallas Mavericks) has ranked in the top 10 in all four factors. SCHOENE projects the Cavaliers first in both eFG% on offense and offensive rebounding and fifth in the other two factors.

Specifically, few modern teams have managed to combine high shooting percentages with effective offensive rebounding. Last season, only the Houston Rockets were in the top 10 in both categories. Love's versatility offers Cleveland the possibility of playing big and controlling the offensive glass while also spacing the floor.

Good enough to win?

For the regular season, the Cavaliers' mix of hyper-efficient offense and average-to-slightly-worse defense should make them one of the league's best teams. The obvious comparison is to the Mike D'Antoni Phoenix Suns, who ranked among the top 10 offense in the NBA relative to league average in both 2004-05 and 2006-07, with defenses near average. Those Suns won 62 and 61 games, respectively, and that's a good guess for Cleveland. More often than not, such win totals have been good enough for the NBA's best record.

The playoffs are a slightly different story. There is evidence that good defenses tend to beat good offenses in the NBA Finals, and only one team has won the title with a below-average regular-season defense since the merger. (That team, the 2001 Los Angeles Lakers, was a major fluke; those Lakers had the league's best defense in the playoffs.)

Of course, just because something hasn't happened doesn't mean it can't happen, and we might look at the importance of defense differently had the 2007 Phoenix-San Antonio series played out differently. Still, the preliminary look at the 2014-15 Cavaliers suggests the most important newcomer on the roster isn't James or Love; it's Blatt, since his ability to mold this group into an above-average defense may well determine whether Cleveland can meet lofty expectations.

 

[getBUCKED]

Edit: Henry beat me to it