Kevin Love - Miami Ground Machine

[tn819]

In a game like tonight where Van Gundy had DET packing the paint like crazy you see how important someone like Love is to the team. It's pick your poison and if Love starts knocking those down it's a wrap for the entire league because LBJ will find him time and time again.

Also loving the defense Love has played lately, both help D and man D has been rock solid from him.

Good points. I think that when teams have two bigger but less mobile guys in the paint, we can really expose them with Love in the lineup and some good offensive movement. Drummond/Monroe just aren't used to chasing guys out that far and shots are wide open. It is funny to watch Love just plant both feet and hit rhythm shots with a late contest all night. The alternative is leaving Kyrie/LBJ to prance into the lane, and no one wants that.

I think that this scheme worked against us in the Chicago game we dropped w/o Love. There are advantages to traditional big men setups, but with Love we can really get around them. We are a dominant offensive team.

 

[STAT]

As good as he was on offense, his defense was the best part of his performance. Keeping Monroe out of rhythm was huge.

Agreed. Love's defense against Monroe's post-ups was very good. He showed really good anticipation in challenging Monroe's shots down on the block, knowing exactly when Monroe was going to go up with it which is no easy task given how nimble he can be with his footwork down low.

Night and day for Love from the beginning of the season in terms of consistently getting a hand up in his opponent's face. Man, it's awesome to see this team rolling. We feel like a top shelf contender.

 

[Rick Astley]

24/9/3 8-14 3PT. EZ.

 

[Pioneer10]

Such a good passer at the PF spot. His assists are interesting as I feel they are more valuable then a typical pass out of say PnR situation. He creates offense such as the fastballs to Mozgov where he dunks it and QB like full court passes that you just don't get from most bigs.

 

[gratefuldead]

if love can shoot like 40% from 3

shut it down, cavs win the trophy

 

[tocov]

Well the ASB sure did wonders to Love's body. I'm glad he's had the time to rest.
He still doesn't look 100% and at times looks heavy and stiff. But compare his shot and elevation to before the ASB and it's a different ballgame altogether.
Not to mention his defense. He was shying away from contact on every posession, and now he puts his body out there and throws players out of rhythm. Hope we can keep him at least this healthy till the playoffs.

 

[Jscc]

Coach sticking up for his player.

http://youtu.be/WiyS808VhBc?t=2m14s

 

[Sebastian]

Coach sticking up for his player.

http://youtu.be/WiyS808VhBc?t=2m14s

And people wanted him fired.... Tsk tsk. Blatt is, and always has been, the man.

Also, Joe Harris singing Happy Birthday to LeBron. ROFL.

 

[TFIR]

If these quotes don't put the Kevin Love bashing to rest, nothing will:

“I knew it was going to be tough for them to guard me with their bigs that just aren’t used to that,” Love said. “Being a 4-man and knowing the game, at least for that position, continues to go away from the basket, it’s a tough guard. I knew the shot was going to be there all night and when you have LeBron finding guys the entire night it’s just really tough to guard.”

In other words, the opponent will often dictate who scores the points. Not that he cares:

"Different guys are going to step up and have big nights," Love said. "We just can’t care who it is. Against Washington, the first game back, I didn’t play particularly well and didn’t shoot the ball that many times, but we won by 38 points. As long as we’re winning, I’m happy and I think that goes all the way down the line. Guys are just happy with the roll we’re on right now."

And finally, to back all that up - a quote from Kendrick Perkins:

"I had been watching the games and I looked at Cleveland and said, 'Man they play great basketball.' I wasn't just looking at the offensive end, I was looking at the little things," Perkins said. "Passing up good shots for great shots, on the defensive end you see guys helping the helper, see guys being at the nail, guys coming out pick and roll, guys bumping early, communication was there.

"I said, 'Man, that team is on a mission. You can tell they're playing agenda-free basketball, trying to get the win and get better.' I just wanted to be part of it.

In other words, this is a TRUE team. And Kevin Love is buying in, just like everyone else.

 

[tedginnjr]

Looks like Love's shooting slump from 3 might be over...

 

[Rick Astley]

Hater-disabling 16/8/1 50% shooting 3-5 3FG performance. You can always pull up the "HE SO MUCH BETTUR DAN DIS" card if you want though.

 

[MirORich]

It was nice for to see the two in the lane baskets Kevin scored in the second half. His baby hook is very effective and a weapon he needs to remember is in the arsenal, as well as his teammates.

But yeah, played a great game tonight. Defensively there was some breakdowns from the whole team(mostly in the first half) but that is hard to avoid against a team that moves the ball around as well as Golden State.

And as far as his 3P stroke, he's now shooting a torrid 48% from 3 for the month of February.

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

Love played well.

Draymond really was given a lot of reign to be overly physical, which I didn't think was fair, but whatever. When Love did catch it on him he scored easily, but they let Green grab and push Kevin off his spots all night.

But Love still hit big shots, facilitated the offense well from a front-court spot, and even gave us a nice little scoring burst to extend the lead when we needed it.

 

[Rick Astley]

I understand not going to him to post tonight because LeBron is so caliente. If that isn't the case tomorrow, I wanna see it happen!

 

[D10S]

Anyone else feel like Blatt is holding out, and that we're going to see wrinkles that involve Kevin when it really matters? Master strategist???