MirORich
Hall-of-Famer
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- Sep 29, 2007
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Not the best use of advanced stats here...it's foolish to think that Love is anywhere near the caliber player as Aldridge or more efficient/effective than him. Never in a million years could Love do what LA did to the Cavs down the stretch of that Blazers game.
Except that he had games like that MULTIPLE times last year when he was, like Aldridge is currently, the number one option on Minnesota. So your never in a million years line is a bit off.
I'm not sure if Post Up efficiency is that much of an abstract advanced stat the way that some of the other ones are.
And while I NEVER claimed that Love was better than Aldridge(who I believe is the best PF in the NBA), its not advnaced stats or playing with numbers to state facts like Love having a better FG% from 10-16 ft and from 16-23 ft this year than Aldridge. Which I brought up because Aldridge is thought to have the best smoothest midrange to deep 2 range in the NBA for PF's.
Let's not sugarcoat it. Love is missing easy shots and he's not hitting threes. He's redeeming himself by getting to the free throw line. I really don't know how he is actually scoring 17 a game but it's a testament to his basketball IQ and natural scoring ability. The all-star break will be huge for him. He needs all the time he can get to work on getting shots up and getting healthy. The Cavs should be on some next-level type stuff if Love can moderately improve his 3pt%.
Its also not abstract advanced stats to say that Love, even in his current form, would be averaging between 22-23 points this year so far if he was simply taking the number of shots he took last year in Minnesota or the number of shots that Kyrie or LeBron take this year.(no knock on them)
All that said, it should be considered a positive that Love is still impacting the game as much as he is while struggling(by his standards) with his three point shot as it is far more likely that he will revert towards his career norms for 3P% than continue on as a 33% 3P shooter(which as is is not a bad % for a PF at all)
Like you said(and I agree he is slumping, just not to the extent that some are suggesting and really just with his 3P shot), when he gets better settled in over time, more healthy, and out of his 3P slump, this team can reach an even higher level. I mean, I think that even if Love stayed where he is the team can still reach a much higher level than its at right now.