Kevin Love - Miami Ground Machine

[AuxiliaryPie]

 

[AZCavs]

If I had one piece of advice for people like Thad Young, John Wall and anyone else who keeps bringing the playoffs argument into the equation (Considering , you know, there is zero chance they don't make the playoffs this year.)

 

[Simmy]

K Love talking about his signature outlet passes post-scrimmage:

 

[amil99]

How was he out there?

 

[Benedict_Boozer]

How was he out there?

The camera guy was so awful in the scrimmage it's hard to really judge, someone there in person could give a better assessment - but given that caveat I'd say his passing and rebounding was top notch, also his B-ball IQ was evident in that he always seemed to be around the rim / loose balls and was moving well off the ball.

The only criticism I'd note is he was a little tentative to me. For example would have liked to see him get some post-ups, perhaps more pick and pop or pick and rolls with Kyrie and Lebron. Thought he drifted a bit out there.

But the offense had so much movement perhaps K-Love is still trying to figure out where his shots and opportunities will come from.

 

[RapsCavs]

Hope we get to see more video bombs in the regular season

 

[Adam]

Those outlets are amazing. The one to lebron 80 feet after a made ft. That could be a heck of a wrinkle as the season progresses. Dion and kyrie will get a lot of early attack options.

 

[LBJVirus]

Well it's official...Blatt said he's starting

 

[Pioneer10]

He looks to be in great shape. Almost want to call him thin out there: completely different body then when he came into the league with a doughy Boris Diaw/Andre Miller look

 

[AuxiliaryPie]

He looks to be in great shape. Almost want to call him thin out there: completely different body then when he came into the league with a doughy Boris Diaw/Andre Miller look

he's doing the classic fatty -> skinnyfat -> muscular transition

 

[wuck]

I understood from the various highlights how well he could throw outlet passes. Also understood how that could be a weapon for easy fast-break dunks on occasion.

What I did not fully appreciate until last night is the frequency with which Love looks to make those passes. He always scans the floor and also pushes the ball out to guards near midcourt even if he can't make the long distance pass. It really impacts the pace of the game (even when it doesn't result in an easy bucket) since, given Blatt's system, the Cavs were getting into their offensive sets very early. Love throwing those passes will also help to avoid some of the inexplicable walk-the-ball-up slowdowns we saw last year.

I don't think I've said anything new here. I just didn't realize how consistently Love looks to get the ball moving up the court, and how much that will impact the rest of the offense. As others have mentioned, it may also dissuade the opponent's guards/wings from crashing the boards.

 

[theSTEREO.]

I understood from the various highlights how well he could throw outlet passes. Also understood how that could be a weapon for easy fast-break dunks on occasion.

What I did not fully appreciate until last night is the frequency with which Love looks to make those passes. He always scans the floor and also pushes the ball out to guards near midcourt even if he can't make the long distance pass. It really impacts the pace of the game (even when it doesn't result in an easy bucket) since, given Blatt's system, the Cavs were getting into their offensive sets very early. Love throwing those passes will also help to avoid some of the inexplicable walk-the-ball-up slowdowns we saw last year.

I don't think I've said anything new here. I just didn't realize how consistently Love looks to get the ball moving up the court, and how much that will impact the rest of the offense. As others have mentioned, it may also dissuade the opponent's guards/wings from crashing the boards.

Saw the exact same thing.

I think we are gonna be shocked at the number of fast breaks that are converted without a single dribble taken. Probably at least once a game.

 

[Kizzle]

I do like the pace we ran at with av and Love. That in itself should win games. How about the first look at Kyrie with a spaced floor. Dude looked better than I thought court vision wide. Makes me sad he didn't get to do a lot of flashy passes before but wow he can really pass it. If this team grows how I feel it can he'll lead the team in AST but we could possibly see a whole starting 5 average 3+ AST.

That ties into the second thing that I enjoyed even it was only a team scrimmage. BALL MOVEMENT. The type of movement young teams simply can't do.

Honestly looking at the scrimmage idk how Wiggins would've fit anyway

 

[Just Checkin]

I understood from the various highlights how well he could throw outlet passes. Also understood how that could be a weapon for easy fast-break dunks on occasion.

What I did not fully appreciate until last night is the frequency with which Love looks to make those passes. He always scans the floor and also pushes the ball out to guards near midcourt even if he can't make the long distance pass. It really impacts the pace of the game (even when it doesn't result in an easy bucket) since, given Blatt's system, the Cavs were getting into their offensive sets very early. Love throwing those passes will also help to avoid some of the inexplicable walk-the-ball-up slowdowns we saw last year.

I don't think I've said anything new here. I just didn't realize how consistently Love looks to get the ball moving up the court, and how much that will impact the rest of the offense. As others have mentioned, it may also dissuade the opponent's guards/wings from crashing the boards.

What's kinda funny is I noticed this in NBA 2K a couple weeks ago while playing with the Wolves for K-Love hype/practice. He has break starter and rather than immediately looking for the nearest guard after a rebound I tended to wait and scope down the court.

Nice to see that behavior in real life too.

What I'd like to see Love do try to do is what I termed the "play-action" or "read-option" where a player runs by him for a handoff and Love fakes a pass off and suddenly makes room to create a scoring opportunity for himself.

(Example @ 2:05, 2:40)
But of course there is more time.

 

[Pioneer10]

I don't think I've said anything new here. I just didn't realize how consistently Love looks to get the ball moving up the court, and how much that will impact the rest of the offense. As others have mentioned, it may also dissuade the opponent's guards/wings from crashing the boards.

Interesting twist: if you play small and other teams go small to counter the rebounding advantage we already are likely to have actually gets bigger. Not only is Love/Lebron going to better then their opposition on the glass but the lack of help from the guards will make this worse.

It also makes it easier for other players to get boards. So while there are so many boards to get and Love is going to get his fair share, the increase in defensive rebound percentage may be greater then anticipated. Plus what better way to play defense; less possession equals less chances to score