See. I won't criticize those who said last season Love was unplayable in crucial stretches against the Warriors. Not completely unplayable. Just not in key stretches when the game is close. They had decent reasoning to think so as well because we hadn't seen the best of Love yet with a Cavs uniform.
I have a problem with such opinions because these people seem to make the assumption that, whatever a player has shown up to this point, that is the best he will ever be.
People gave Love very little chance of figuring it out, of getting better, or of making critical adjustments. They talked about him like was frozen in his development as a player, never to improve.
The same people are usually assuming that older players will surely drop off the cliff and over the hill. Jefferson got a lot of this treatment because of what happened with Marion. Hell, most people wanted absolutely nothing to do with JR, said he was a cancer. Most people never gave Liggins a chance either.
The list goes on and on. This year people are giving Dunleavy that treatment, assuming that because he hasn't come out of the gate strong, he'll never contribute for the remainder of the season. He's effectively been written off by a large segment of the fan base and the media.
I'm the opposite, I expect to see the players, as professional athletes with a huge amount of personal pride, to improve and eventually become the best version of themselves. Sometimes it doesn't happen but why not give them the benefit of the doubt at least in our hopes and expectations?
