buzzdog
Hall-of-Famer
- Joined
- May 26, 2007
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Exactly, but I don't want to see JBB run Love into the ground.It’s not a debate. This site’s analog to Kevin Pangos brought it up as an issue. (Actually, that’s unfair to Kevin.) Nobody would seriously entertain the idea of Wade being in the same zip code as Love.
Here's a few stats for you... 58% of the people (72 out of 124 votes) on this board thought KLove would play 30 games or less this season. 70% (87 of 124) didn't think he'd make it past 40 games. He's already played 38 games at around 21 minutes/game. I think the 21 minutes may be the high side of his capability without grinding him down. Since the last road trip he's shown signs of wearing down.
I was one of 3 people who said he'd play more than 72 games and I was just being optimistic. I don't take polls seriously.
But I am in favor of seeing Love make it through the whole season intact. So far, so good... but I really want to see the team closely monitoring and preserving KLove. And part of that would be strategic rest for him. Anytime our defense drops off and Love is part of the reason I wouldn't mind seeing Wade brought in to help defensively, and keep pushing Wade to shoot threes to see if he has a stroke on that particular night.
So while I can agree Love is hands-down a better contributor than Wade or Windler will ever be, wearing the guy down is not in the best interest of the team over the course of the season. I'm pretty sure there's a sweet spot for managing Love's minutes and when his performance drops off it's an indication to start cutting back and selectively resting him. Keep him as fresh as possible. And do everything possible make sure he's available when the playoffs start while at the same time keeping him sharp and engaged.