Kevin Love - Miami Ground Machine

[Pioneer10]

Love and Mozgov looks terrific right now. Why even considering moving him when with his shot is off the team is looking great?

His scoring numbers are going to go down if everyone shoots a ridiculous 60% of their shots. But now with Mozgov, our rebounding looks great and the spacing look terrific. For all the rightfully deserved praise Mozgov is getting: no team can double him because teams have to account for Love both inside and outside. So he's open on the pick and roll. Plus teams have to respect the ball rotation across the perimeter because you have3point shooters at 4 spots on the court.

 

[hoops23]

During LeBron's first stint in Cleveland, we all prayed for a 4 who could give us 18/10 a night. It was one of our biggest needs and something we were never able to fill in those 7 fun filled years. We finally have one and some of you act like you wanna run him out of town...

Do you think many other 3rd options are going to average 18/10? Do you think many other 3rd options are going to keep the defense honest and garner the attention of a 1st or 2nd option? I think not. Some of you need to take a step back and realize what we have in place.

Love provides scoring from every where on the court, he provides rebounding, he provides ball movement, and he provides ready made fast break opportunities at any given moment with his outlet passing.

Some of you like to nitpick at certain points within games where he looks frustrated, and that's true, he does.. However, I'm, fairly sure it's not because of his role, but more so because he's frustrated with himself for missing a shot he felt he should make. He's done nothing but show to be a great teammate, he's said all the right things, and he never complains to the media. He's happy here and he's happy winning.

I take you back to Bron's oop that JR threw from half court against Charlotte, as soon as it connected, love threw his arms up in celebration.

He's a competitor and he holds himself to a high standard. I'd take him any day on my team.

 

[Bob_The_Cat]

During LeBron's first stint in Cleveland, we all prayed for a 4 who could give us 18/10 a night. It was one of our biggest needs and something we were never able to fill in those 7 fun filled years. We finally have one and some of you act like you wanna run him out of town...

Do you think many other 3rd options are going to average 18/10? Do you think many other 3rd options are going to keep the defense honest and garner the attention of a 1st or 2nd option? I think not. Some of you need to take a step back and realize what we have in place.

Love provides scoring from every where on the court, he provides rebounding, he provides ball movement, and he provides ready made fast break opportunities at any given moment with his outlet passing.

Some of you like to nitpick at certain points within games where he looks frustrated, and that's true, he does.. However, I'm, fairly sure it's not because of his role, but more so because he's frustrated with himself for missing a shot he felt he should make. He's done nothing but show to be a great teammate, he's said all the right things, and he never complains to the media. He's happy here and he's happy winning.

I take you back to Bron's oop that JR threw from half court against Charlotte, as soon as it connected, love threw his arms up in celebration.

He's a competitor and he holds himself to a high standard. I'd take him any day on my team.

This is a great summary of how I feel. He will eventually find his fit with this team and it will be glorious. It's still about the whole team learning the offensive system and finding exactly where they fit into place. As noted when Blatt was first hired, it's generally easier for guards/ball handlers to find their fit in his system (look at how quickly Smith has found a home).

I mentioned this in another thread, but I feel like his back has been bothering him all season. His shot has looked off to me ever since the year started. I don't know how to really describe it, but after watching him play in Minny, something looks different about his shot. Maybe he could really benefit by sitting a week or so to rehab his back.

 

[Walter White]

I'm waiting for Love to have a 40-20 game. Or even a 30-20 game. That would be a classic Kevin Love game.

 

[tedginnjr]

Kevin Love's True Shooting %: .558

Dirk: .577

Millsap: .567

Griffin: .553

Pau: .546

AKA still elite, even if he hasn't looked it... He also has the highest rebound rate of these players at 16.9, highest of all top 24 TS% PFs... So he's still the rare shooting / rebounding monster he's always been.

We knew his raw numbers would drop but, other than that, what is so shocking about his season???

 

[LeShaq]

Love still has a long ways to go to unlearn some of his bad habits picked up from his years in Minnesota (and maybe from college):

* Doesn't want to pick up fouls (probably from being indispensable in Minnesota so he couldn't foul out)

* Not physical enough around the basket on defense

* Not used to busting his tail all game

* Not in the kind of shape he needs to be in to run the court all game (some of this could be from the back issues)

* Doesn't know what it takes to win in the NBA

I'm one of Love's biggest defenders, but there is still a long way for him to go in order to become what he can be. Same is true for Kyrie, but Love had even more years with a losing franchise in Minnesota so there may be more bad habits than Kyrie built up.

The good thing with Love is he is incredibly skilled. His shot is still way too flat, flatter than it was in Minnesota. I'm guessing that is from the back issues.

Once he starts reliably hitting open shots as he can, he will look a lot better.

It's going to take time for him to become what he can be, but as long as he keeps putting up double doubles while he works to get there and I guess get healthy also, I'll take it.

 

[David.]

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'd put all my money on being closest to kyrie

 

[JJ Smooth]

I'd put all my money on being closest to kyrie

I'd bet on that too. All that "mustache twirling" they do on the side.

 

[iamacavalier]

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.

When has he been selfish? By taking charges with a messed up back, Sitting on the bench at the end of games when they need the extra D, Taking the fewest shots per game since his sophomore season, Sacrificing boards by playing more on the perimeter?

Over the past 4 games (games he has played in during our winning streak.) Cavs have had a Defensive Rating of 96.9 and have been +24 with him on the floor. Sorry to bust your wrong narrative but we are way better with kevin love on the floor. Thats not mentioning his yes ELITE offensive skills and TS% of almost 56%...

We say KLove is struggling but he is the 2nd best PF in the east right even when struggling and will improve as the comfort level and rotations settle.

 

[Zen]

Kevin Love's True Shooting %: .558

Dirk: .577

Millsap: .567

Griffin: .553

Pau: .546

AKA still elite, even if he hasn't looked it... He also has the highest rebound rate of these players at 16.9, highest of all top 24 TS% PFs... So he's still the rare shooting / rebounding monster he's always been.

We knew his raw numbers would drop but, other than that, what is so shocking about his season???

Stop making so much sense

Love still has a long ways to go to unlearn some of his bad habits picked up from his years in Minnesota (and maybe from college):

* Doesn't want to pick up fouls (probably from being indispensable in Minnesota so he couldn't foul out)

* Not physical enough around the basket on defense

* Not used to busting his tail all game

* Not in the kind of shape he needs to be in to run the court all game (some of this could be from the back issues)

* Doesn't know what it takes to win in the NBA

I'm one of Love's biggest defenders, but there is still a long way for him to go in order to become what he can be. Same is true for Kyrie, but Love had even more years with a losing franchise in Minnesota so there may be more bad habits than Kyrie built up.

The good thing with Love is he is incredibly skilled. His shot is still way too flat, flatter than it was in Minnesota. I'm guessing that is from the back issues.

Once he starts reliably hitting open shots as he can, he will look a lot better.

It's going to take time for him to become what he can be, but as long as he keeps putting up double doubles while he works to get there and I guess get healthy also, I'll take it.

I agree with some of what you are posting but not sure about the "doesn't know how to win in nba part"

He won 42 games as the focal point of a west coast team last year. You have to figure that is roughly 50 wins in the east. That is no slouch.

Now can he learn how to win better or gain experience when it really counts ie playoffs? Definitely.

 

[Ruken]

He really should sit out let his back get right..We have a defensive C he can really flourish next to but I don't think it happens with his back bothering him like it has.

 

[SVC]

I must be missing something because I haven't saw a lack of effort on defense.

I've seen him trying hard.

He mostly failed despite trying hard, but he was trying imo.

Without a real center he was defending guys (badly) above his ability. Hes been better since the addition of Moz.

Still a struggle as he's simply a minus defender, but better. He's always been a guy who has to outscore what he gives up. I actually think he's a little less effective on defense lighter as his main move is to lean on guys and try to block lanes.

Still, I think he'll find his stroke, and with other guys to cover for his lack of natural quickness, he'll be very much a positive overall player. He just has to play. If anyone is still pressing on this team it's him. He looks like he's thinking at times rather than just playing. Natural, I guess, when you're trying to fit in with other stars and aren't a ball handler.

 

[LeShaq]

I agree with some of what you are posting but not sure about the "doesn't know how to win in nba part"

He won 42 games as the focal point of a west coast team last year. You have to figure that is roughly 50 wins in the east. That is no slouch.

Now can he learn how to win better or gain experience when it really counts ie playoffs? Definitely.

All I meant was that he's not used to winning at the highest level, or winning in the NBA consistently. As a habit. Same as Kyrie is not used to it.

Not slighting Love. Actually I'm saying that he has some habits and things to learn and then he can become even better.

Blatt said in his postgame press conference after the Charlotte win (or maybe after practice yesterday) something like the team has their own analytics and in those stats Love is like top 5 in the East among all players, and the other 4 players are all All Star game players this year (which I guess would mean 4 out of 5 between LeBron, Lowry, Wall, Gasol and Anthony).

 

[oracio]

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.

I agree with you - I think Love is a great player and the only issue with him right now, which is something that I imagine would be temporary - is his confidence.
For the first time in his life he is playing with better players, who are charismatic and take all the attention in the room. This is something he isn't used to from his time in Minnesota.
And add to this playing for the first time in a team with real championship aspirations, and the fundamental change in his role from being the go-to-guy to being the 3rd string, and you can understand why he might feel uncomfortable, especially in the scenario of the instability with the roster / chill mode / injuries.
But as I mentioned, I see this as a temporary issue, because right now it seems that everything start to fall in place - the environment is starting to be more stable and more healthy, the chemistry is starting to grow and flourish, and this is a fertile ground to build confidence.

And we all can imagine what a confidence boost can do for a talented player such as Kevin Love...

 

[Kizzle]

I love Kevin's game

He's gett at least 10 10 on his worst game

Good for 18 10 normally


Idk for a fact but I'd bet that ranks him pretty high against other 3rd options. If you're comparing this season to Minny just stop. You either have an agenda or are a very dense person. imo 18 and 10 is higher than I thought he'd even score. Lebron getting 25, Kyrie 20, JR Smith somehow dropping 16 with random outbursts of near 30. Mozgov scoring 15 since starting for the Cavs, there's just not enough points for Love to really score a lot. But where he is shining is his rebounding and his passing. He single handedly starts a fast break whenever he wants