Kevin Love - Miami Ground Machine

[SalvadoranCavsfan]

Just remember, if you trade Love that means you have to start Tristan Thompson for the remainder of the season. Just think about that for a minute.

 

[CommD]

If the Cavs are certain they can trust Love's public assertion that he plans to opt-in, then the need to trade him prior to the deadline is removed.

However, to not perform due dilligience is tantamount to malpractice, and I doubt Griffin is just sitting around with his feet up on the desk. If the right opportunity presented itself, i'm sure he would act upon it.

For example, three players I believe CLE would move Love for tomorrow are Cousins, Ibaka, or Aldridge. Even though all are highly unlikely, other team's motivations are their own and you cannot predict with certainty that these options will not become available.

Ultimately, just as Wiggins was sacrificed, so could Love, or even Irving because the objective is to build a TEAM to win the NBA championship, not to satiate fans of specific players as Dion Waiters fans have recently discovered.

 

[Adam]

I think it might be worth remembering that even if love doesn't play well he changes the way teams try to defend us. That is a huge advantage for everyone else. One thing he can do to help himself is to stop putting the ball above his head on every swing pass it just clogs down the east West ball movement.

 

[PITCavsFan]

I really don't understand the "trade Love" movement. There is literally nothing we can get that is half as good as Kevin Love. And frankly, given our cap situation, I don't give a shit what we pay him.

I don't care about the fact his numbers are not what they were in MIN when he was the only guy who could produce on that team.

When we traded Wiggins for him, we went all-in on Kevin Love for the LONG-TERM.

If he walks, which I highly doubt, we'll then there were bigger issues and shame on us.

 

[WorldFreeB]

Honestly the thing that would make me the happiest to see Love do is to start being more physical around the basket.
Use your fouls, don't just let guys abuse you underneath. You have to give them something to think about especially come playoff time. Just knock someone on there ass just one time.

 

[PITCavsFan]

Honestly the thing that would make me the happiest to see Love do is to start being more physical around the basket.
Use your fouls, don't just let guys abuse you underneath. You have to give them something to think about especially come playoff time. Just knock someone on there ass just one time.

And I'd love to see Tristan knock down 3s on a regular basis....

Point is: its not Love's game. That's why we have Timo, and hopefully another FA big.

 

[WorldFreeB]

And I'd love to see Tristan knock down 3s on a regular basis....

Point is: its not Love's game. That's why we have Timo, and hopefully another FA big.

Tristan doesn't have the skill to hit 3 pointers,,all it takes to be physical is a mindset.
He has to get there or when the playoffs roll around he'll be seeing a lot of bench time.
The playoffs are a whole different ballgame in the NBA. I've never seen such a skilled big man so
afraid to hit anyone. Compare Love to a guy like Laimbeer. Love has way more skills but Laimbeer was
a much better player because of his bruising physical play.

 

[PITCavsFan]

Tristan doesn't have the skill to hit 3 pointers,,all it takes to be physical is a mindset.
He has to get there or when the playoffs roll around he'll be seeing a lot of bench time.
The playoffs are a whole different ballgame in the NBA. I've never seen such a skilled big man so
afraid to hit anyone. Compare Love to a guy like Laimbeer. Love has way more skills but Laimbeer was
a much better player because of his bruising physical play.

I don't disagree, I'd love to see him playing more physical. I'm just not going to hold my breath on that, and I'm perfectly fine with it.

Give it time. He'll find his role and fit on this team.

 

[JawJuttinAsasin]

I can't believe this is even a thing. If you don't see the impact love is having on the game outside of scoring you are missing out on a lot basketball. His IQ, passing, unselfishness, boxing out, rebounding is ELITE, and yes his shooting and floor spacing is elite when his body is right.

Not everything you do shows up on the stat sheet. And you can't quantify floor spacing, boxing out, and the chaos he causes by just his presence on the floor. Not to mention I would like to hear who your idea to bring in that will average 18 and 10. While spreading the floor and passing within the system.

Well, I disagree greatly with your assessment of his unselfishness. And I disagree that his presence is all that helpful in terms of overall offense.

Cavatt has illustrated the problems with Love in terms of defense and rebounding. I am not going to bother to rehash that, other than to say that I agree with the observation that he doesn't contest shots, or close out on shooters, or even properly box out when he knows that such actions will decrease his chance of improving his box score rebound numbers.

I am hopeful that when the playoffs start, and there is less emphasis on stats, he will put forth proper effort. But, I am not so sure that he even knows how to make such team oriented plays, after spending his entire career "getting his," often at the expense of making winning plays.

 

[theSTEREO.]

17.5 and 10 is absolutely nothing to scoff at and it almost makes you wonder how those numbers would look if A) He wasn't the third option, B) If he found his groove from outside and C) If Blatt developed a part of his system that used Love where he is most comfortable.

I can tell you precisely what they would look like.

They would look like 26 & 12 with nearly 40% accuracy from three, and one of, if not the most dominant power forwards in the game who can single handedly carry a team on his back.

Basically exactly what he has been for the last three or four years.

 

[Mr. Orange]

I watched Bron pick Love up in the 3rd when Love was moping a bit.

On one play, Bron tried to set Love up in the Post, and Love just kind of sulked out and set a half hearted pick. Then Bron backed out and gave Love the ball and Love flipped it right back like he wanted nothing to do with it.

I watched Bron use his body language to insist Love reestablish himself and he passed him the ball again.

One of the subplots of this team building chemistry going forward, is going to be waking up the dog in Love.

Does anyone know who he is closest with on the team?

I saw this play too. It was Bennett-esqe. Need to get this guy going.

Also, congrats on the promotion.

 

[RchfldCavRaised]

I saw this play too. It was Bennett-esqe. Need to get this guy going.

Also, congrats on the promotion.

I too was thinking Bennet-esque

I dont care if the guy has been an All Star or not, in watching him, I think its imperative that he be made a focal point or at least given a bigger role in initiating offense before you lose him to some Roy Hibbert type of confidence funk. He is too smart and too willing a passer not to take advantage of his skillset and IQ.

Im thinking Bron is sensing that too, and that is some of what we saw in that play last night.

 

[Zen]

I really don't understand the "trade Love" movement. There is literally nothing we can get that is half as good as Kevin Love. And frankly, given our cap situation, I don't give a shit what we pay him.

I don't care about the fact his numbers are not what they were in MIN when he was the only guy who could produce on that team.

When we traded Wiggins for him, we went all-in on Kevin Love for the LONG-TERM.

If he walks, which I highly doubt, we'll then there were bigger issues and shame on us.

There was a trade Kyrie and build around Dion movement last year. You have to just learn which posts to completely skim

 

[Spencer Hawes]

We went to the Finals with Drew Gooden. I don't see why we can't with Love.

 

[Caffegy]

he's injured or something. he can't even get up from the bench without getting help from teammates.