Kevin Love - Miami Ground Machine

[Silky Smooth]

The offense looks great but they have to get Love more in the post. Too much dribbling by Kyrie and even Waiters. If you ask me I say less touches for Waiters and more for Love. Love's too good in the post not to use him there.

 

[brownsbuck6]

Watch Love after Kyrie shoots.

I did. Andy and Love switch spots in the last breath of that video.. as does the Cavs score. (that's the real giveaway) Clearly the last tiny bit of that video was from the previous possession. The question is, why?

 

[theSTEREO.]

I did. Andy and Love switch spots in the last breath of that video.. as does the Cavs score. (that's the real giveaway) Clearly the last tiny bit of that video was from the previous possession. The question is, why?

It's not the glitch. It's that as Kyrie shoots, Love looks pissed and exasperated about it. Throws his hands.

I mean, I don't think it means anything. Just pointing out why the gif prob exists. Bet a Bulls fan made it.

 

[roozy]

It's not the glitch. It's that as Kyrie shoots, Love looks pissed and exasperated about it. Throws his hands.

I mean, I don't think it means anything. Just pointing out why the gif prob exists. Bet a Bulls fan made it.

That looks like a fist pump, at least it did when I watched it live. He also did it during the Milwaukee game when Dion hit a 3.

 

[brownsbuck6]

It's not the glitch. It's that as Kyrie shoots, Love looks pissed and exasperated about it. Throws his hands.

I mean, I don't think it means anything. Just pointing out why the gif prob exists. Bet a Bulls fan made it.

I saw that as well. Good catch. My point is the extreme oddity of the final second of that gif. Watch the score and watch how it switches between Andy and love crashing the boards. I feel like that's not being noticed or acknowledged. It's really odd.

 

[A Squared]

I saw that as well. Good catch. My point is the extreme oddity of the final second of that gif. Watch the score and watch how it switches between Andy and love crashing the boards. I feel like that's not being noticed or acknowledged. It's really odd.

Its probably from a highlight video, not that odd for the plays not to be in the order they happened.

It does look like Love wanted the ball but was happy when Kyrie made it.

 

[TyGuy]

Need to get this man some more touches on the left block. His right handed jump hook is unbelievably good. Get him a couple early looks from down there and I figure he will be in a rhythm for catch and shoot opportunities from three just by seeing the ball go in the basket early.

 

[Pioneer10]

Wondering if people even noticed why you posted that gif...

Irving has always played like this. He's more of a scoring PG and his assists tend in the half court to be dump offs of the pick and roll. This is quite different then a guy like Rubio who plays more of a European style where they drive and kick out to the open shooters. A lot of talk about Lebron and Love meshing but it may take longer for Irving and Love to mesh particularly when the play isn't particularly designed for the two of them like a pick and roll.

 

[Rich]

A starting line-up consisting of Irving, James and Waiters necessitates Love playing off the block. He's just not going to be a post-up guy most of the time when you've got so many dribble-drive players on the court with him. He has to spend most of his time out there. Now, when the subs start coming in and Irving or James go out, there should be room for him to operate on the block.

 

[iamacavalier]

The bulls likely have the best front court in the nba . love probably will not have dominating games vs them often. They were obviously worried about stopping him which was giving Andy open shot like crazy.. if he is mad about it then Irving needs to get him more touches. Period. He is the one running the show and its up to him to get others involved. I will say I saw love open on several of those tough shots that Irving was making. But we will see what happens tonight. Love should get plenty of touches with James out.

 

[elcheato]

The bulls likely have the best front court in the nba . love probably will not have dominating games vs them often. They were obviously worried about stopping him which was giving Andy open shot like crazy.. if he is mad about it then Irving needs to get him more touches. Period. He is the one running the show and its up to him to get others involved. I will say I saw love open on several of those tough shots that Irving was making. But we will see what happens tonight. Love should get plenty of touches with James out.

I don't know how Love looked defensively, as I missed the game, but it appears we had no problem slowing the Bulls bigs down as well

 

[Soda]

Things I take from this:

- These guys don't know each others' games quite yet.
- Kyrie gets tunnel vision at times; KLove will need to get used to it.
- Kyrie needs to understand that you have a stud wide open on in a sweet spot.

These guys are going to need to learn how to harness their games. Especially Kyrie. While you should generally always be taking the shot when you're on fire, you have a ridiculous line-up out there that you must consider at all times.

 

[Kbiz]

It is up to Blatt to incorporate Love into the offense better. We need set plays to feed him in the post with his back to the basket while making sure our wing players move around him.

Patience people. It is pre-season and this is one of the few games we had our starting five playing together. There are gonna be games where Love doesn't put up points but he will effect the stat sheet in other ways. He like 15 rebounds against Chicago and was getting to the line with ease.

 

[Redzone]

Chicago was keying on Love and brought a defender to cover him tight outside. I love the Cavs' reaction to this: they simply left the defender on Love outside and passed to a wide open Andy.

That was the proper response. The Cavs took what was given to them. If the defender collapsed on Andy, Love would have been wide open. The Bulls picked their poison: guard Love or Andy. The choice was obvious. Compare this to years past when the defenders merely collapsed in the middle and left the wings wide open. No threat there.

Now keep in mind LeBron was in coast mode. They are not going to be guarding Love outside during the regular season. If they are, then LeBron is going to be driving to the lane with a single defender--or Kyrie will--and neither can be covered by one person. After this happens three or four times, Chicago will call time out and collapse the defense. Then Love will be wide open and rain with his threes.

So worry not. It's not about getting Love his stats: it's about winning. Besides, once Miller gets his shot back and we sign Ray Allen--and we will--pairing Love with Allen or Miller (or James or Kyrie) on the outside will cause Chicago--or whomever--to either guard the wings or collapse. If they continue to guard both wings, WOW--LeBron, Kyrie, Dion, Andy can have a pick and roll fest at the rim.

Sure it will be ugly during the first month or so against better teams, but it will start to make sense to the younger guys and become second nature. When it does, the Cavs will not be defendable.

We can also play Love at center and use Miller, Kyrie, James or Allen as the wings, with Love and LeBron playing a pick and roll game in the middle. Then the question becomes do you cover the wings or double LeBron or Love. Someone will be open.

 

[cavsfever]

A starting line-up consisting of Irving, James and Waiters necessitates Love playing off the block. He's just not going to be a post-up guy most of the time when you've got so many dribble-drive players on the court with him. He has to spend most of his time out there. Now, when the subs start coming in and Irving or James go out, there should be room for him to operate on the block.

There's a lot more to spacing than just clearing out. Irving/James/Waiters can all hit it from long range too, and doubling Love on the block can open up a lot.