Kevin Love - Miami Ground Machine

[bleedwineandgold03]

That chest bump between jr and love was priceless

 

[Sebastian]

I firmly believe that as long as the Cavs are winning and competing and offer Love a max deal, he's not going anywhere.

Over time how he fits with the team will imprive, how we use him will improve, I think we're already seeing signs of it.

But at the end of the day, he's not too much different offensively from what Bosh became in Miami, and it was simply a necessity. He's just a better 3 point shooter, which is why it should, in time work out even better(Mozgov makes up for the defensive edge Bosh has over Love).

Granted that he isn't going to the ASG this year, and that he gets a solid rest, I see him averaging about 22/12 for the remainder of the season.

He's been getting looks lately, just isn't hitting them. His shot has been flat due to poor lift and his back. Come playoff time I think we see him have some really big games as he becomes more and more acclimated.

 

[chuck0609]

I'm not sure what people want from this guy.
He's a big that stretches the floor, and has a post game.
He's draining threes and rebounding the ball consistently.
Now that they have a true big his defense has been better.
He's a vital piece to this team. His presence gives LBJ and KI room to operate, and leaves a scorer like Smith as an afterthought for defenses.
Love is doing exactly what he's supposed to do, and he seems to be enjoying it.

 

[TwoPistols]

I can say with confidence that Love made a noticeable impact today. Definitely a step in the right direction. Cavs need him to keep hitting those threes (5-7 today).

 

[Walter White]

All I care about is getting the win, but Kev only took 10 shots. He needs to be taking 5-8 more shots than that. Some of that is on his own lack of self aggression. Because if he won't take the shots, you know JR will

 

[Rich]

I firmly believe that as long as the Cavs are winning and competing and offer Love a max deal, he's not going anywhere.

Over time how he fits with the team will imprive, how we use him will improve, I think we're already seeing signs of it.

But at the end of the day, he's not too much different offensively from what Bosh became in Miami, and it was simply a necessity. He's just a better 3 point shooter, which is why it should, in time work out even better(Mozgov makes up for the defensive edge Bosh has over Love).

I was met with pretty harsh rebuke when I said this earlier in the season. Wonder if the general opinion has changed now.

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

I was met with pretty harsh rebuke when I said this earlier in the season. Wonder if the general opinion has changed now.

I've thought this the entire time. He struggled a lot more than Bosh did defensively, because Bosh is just longer and more athletic(plus Chalmers/Wade/Bron put so much ball pressure out it helped Bosh immensely)...but offensively, Kevin Love's role on this team is Bosh with more range. They are remarkably similar, both great offensive forwards when asked to be the go-to-option on the team, great floor spaces. Love's better with his back to the basket and bosh is better facing up, but at the end of the day both ways are how the guys operate in the paint.

Bosh sacrificed a lot of statistics, and Love will as well. Bosh was the last of the "big 3" to acclimate, and the same thing is happening here.

 

[SVC]

I can see it going either way. The battered Cleveland fan part of my brain expects him to leave. Logically though, the only two destinations I think are realistic are the LA teams.

The Clippers, unlike us, I think hate each other for real. They are way more dysfunctional than we were during the worst stretch. The Lakers are a mess. With another Kobe season of stealing money ahead, I don't see that as a real option.

He's hard to read. He wears his emotions on his sleeve, but they appear to be directed at himself and being self-critical. He seems to like his teammates and enjoy being on a relevant stage. I just think he's pressing to perform on it.

I doubt he wants to go through the process of adjustment again as long as the chemistry keeps improving. Playing with unselfish superstars is hard to beat.

 

[davedugan43]

Just listening to the Windy ESPN show (it's on from 7-9pm on Sundays; still ongoing now) and Amin Al-Hassan was saying that the Cavs are treating Love like a glorified Channing Frye, and that they should be getting him more touches.

Hassan also said that the Cavs should be working to do more with Love to make sure he stays this summer.

No offense to you personally but Amin Elhassan is the biggest joke of an NBA analyst they have. I literally ignore every word that comes out of his mouth. Love's on a contending team that's above-.500. I'm sure he'd like more touches, but at the end of the day, he's paid handsomely to do what he does and he may end up with a ring or two or three when he's through.

 

[BigJ]

Well its good to see some 3s dropping!

17.5ppg while searching your shot... I bet he would average 21ppg if his 3 was falling al season .. Would be nice to see him keep the shooting up.

 

[The Red Viper]

Great to see Love having a good game.

I still feel we get to see a much better version of Love once he gets a good one odd week rest. Like many have said, the fact that he is averaging around 19 and 10 with a new team, where he is the third option on offense is very encouraging. Some of the shots he is missing now would come and when they come, god save the rest of NBA.

 

[Sebastian]

I expect Love's numbers to go up now that Galavant is done for the season. All that singing and dancing takes a toll.

 

[LeGOAT]

I'm not sure what people want from this guy.
He's a big that stretches the floor, and has a post game.
He's draining threes and rebounding the ball consistently.
Now that they have a true big his defense has been better.
He's a vital piece to this team. His presence gives LBJ and KI room to operate, and leaves a scorer like Smith as an afterthought for defenses.
Love is doing exactly what he's supposed to do, and he seems to be enjoying it.

Agreed, I think he is ridiculously underrated, hopefully all this media garbage isnt getting in his head.

 

[TFIR]

Yesterday was a perfect example of the role Love can thrive in on a winning team!

OK, he posted up. Great. He hit open (and I mean WIDE open) 3's. And he was all over the boards. The guy also made some nice passes, he is a GOOD passer on a team full of good passers now. (And JR has only added to this).

When this team plays well it takes the pressure off everyone. They don't need Love, Kyrie or anyone to do anything more than just play their normal game - and Lebron takes all the pressure off them to do that.

Love didn't do too much. Just enough to play his role. And I think he likes it that way.

 

[Baseline Runner]

Good players get themselves easy shots....you can't just take away all of a player's lay-ups and say "LOOK! SEE! HE SUCKS!" Lebron shot 56% because he got easy lay-ups....over and over.

The stuff about being a 5th option is absolutely absurd. He's averaging 18 and 10. If he were any other player we would be ecstatic. But, he set such a high standard for himself that every little mistake seems to be magnified. Same thing happens with Lebron.

If you want JR getting the ball more than Love, idk what to say to you. Pretty asinine opinion there.

I understand good players get themselves easy shots (I never questioned the fact that Love is a good player). But the point was that those were the only shots he was making for a long period of time. Any time he had to post someone up and do a turn around hook shot or jumper, or shoot a jumper with a guy in his face, or shoot an open three, i.e., all shots with some degree of difficulty, he was missing them at a very high rate. What was the point of getting him the ball more when he wasn't converting the opportunities that he did get?

You say being a 5th option is absurd but JR Smith has been getting more shot attempts than Love since he joined and in several games Mozgov has gotten more touches than Love. The operative word in my post was "if". If he turn things around he will be relegated to a lesser role in the offense (which seems to have happened to an extent already). The OKC game was a great improvement and he was hitting his threes. If he keeps that up he will get more touches and he will be the third of second option that we all want him to be.