Kevin Love - Miami Ground Machine

[iamacavalier]

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.

Great post. It will also wear down defenders and not allow their bigs to be there to back the guards up. And defending one on one with lebron and irving is near impossible... and if all else fails we have kevin love as our trailing big man ready to splash in some 3's.

 

[kookoo]

I love how much faster the game feels when Love gets the board.

 

[shoes22]

The scary thing is, I barely noticed Love was playing last night...but he was still really good. I think that's to be expected because LeBron and Kyrie play "flashy", so people are always going to notice them...but Love really isn't other than his outlet passes. Hell, I think even Dion is a flashier player than Love.

But on the other hand, I think Love's presence will be vital because he's going to be doing a lot of little things to help our team win. Especially as a big. I think in this new role on this team, what we'll be most impressed with about Love will be his remarkable efficiency.

 

[Jack Brickman]

The scary thing is, I barely noticed Love was playing last night...but he was still really good. I think that's to be expected because LeBron and Kyrie play "flashy", so people are always going to notice them...but Love really isn't other than his outlet passes. Hell, I think even Dion is a flashier player than Love.

But on the other hand, I think Love's presence will be vital because he's going to be doing a lot of little things to help our team win. Especially as a big. I think in this new role on this team, what we'll be most impressed with about Love will be his remarkable efficiency.

I think Love's impressiveness is more evident in bulk (as in, like, the whole game's highlights) than in any individual thing that he does. He's not really an explosive athlete, but he can score in bunches and from anywhere on the floor, and is a gifted passer to boot.

 

[Cassity14]

The Cavs will always have a steady rebounding advantage on the court, and Love is a huge part of that. As much as some want to assume the Cavs won't be a defensive juggernaut, they will rarely give up extra offensive possessions with Love, Varejao, Thompson, and LeBron playing. That is an elite group on the boards. Marion and Miller are no slouches either.

 

[gratefuldead]

imo love needs to get more shots from beyond the arc

 

[CalBuckeyeRob]

It will be interesting to watch this offense against good teams. With 4 major offensive weapons on the floor who can all make a 3 point shot and drive to the hoop, the defense will by necessity leave guys open all over the court or surrender the ability to double team. The team figures to setup the play from behind the 3 point arc with a bunch of cutters. Fail to take the cutter or play too close and the ball goes inside. Pick up the inside guy or double in the paint and the ball is thrown out for an open bomb. It may also create many offensive rebounds as the defenders have to play far from the hoop. This is going to be a scoring juggernaut.

 

[CavsHomer]

 

[Pioneer10]

To continue the value of rebounding discussion. There were a few plays where Love didn't get an offensive board but he was able to get his hand on the ball. At the time there was three opposing players trying to control the ball and all of them couldn't be running back so it allows your defense to get set up. Subtle way a great rebounder can help your defense: prevents other teams from getting on the break

 

[Simmy]

Did anyone else almost fall off their chair laughing when K Love completely shut down Chris Fedor's question at 1:37 lol?

 

[DatDudeZ3]

Love will be a huge part of this team obviously but I think his numbers will dip too as well to about 18 ppg and 11 rpg.

 

[Cavsfan161]

11 boards in 23 Mins nice

 

[gourimoko]

Love will be a huge part of this team obviously but I think his numbers will dip too as well to about 18 ppg and 11 rpg.

I don't think they'll go that low, but this is kinda what I've thought for the last few months. I don't see Love being the second option on this team. Just don't see it happening with Kyrie on the floor.

 

[Adam]

I think they will try to run love into the post a lot early on I the season. Teams will try to put smaller quicker guys on him to shut down the three so he will screen and then seal. There was a great section in the first quarter where the team skipped the ball but saw love seal his guy so rotated if back to the strong corner to feed him the ball

 

[chuck0609]

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.

He's always on the glass too; it showed in his stats last year and one can really see why. I had read that it was a bit inflated but from the glimpse yesterday I highly disagree with any assessment stating that point.

What was also apparent was how deferential he was in the offense; almost TOO much. You could see yesterday that he was really trying to move the ball. Once he gets a feel for his place in the offense, especially with how easily he passes the ball, the offense will be even more deadly. They only teased us with the one post up yesterday- that iso will be there all season.

Frankly is you have to defend this team I don't even know where the hell you would start.