Kevin Love - Miami Ground Machine

[Kouki]

It's even more than that....according to this it's simply the most points ever scored in under 15 minutes, in the history of the NBA.

Most Points In An NBA Game In 15 Minutes Or Less | StatMuse

Kevin Love has put up the most points in a game with 15 or fewer minutes played, with 32 points against the Bucks on April 10, 2022.

www.statmuse.com

 

[KevinLoveFan]

It's even more than that....according to this it's simply the most points ever scored in under 15 minutes, in the history of the NBA.

Most Points In An NBA Game In 15 Minutes Or Less | StatMuse

Kevin Love has put up the most points in a game with 15 or fewer minutes played, with 32 points against the Bucks on April 10, 2022.

www.statmuse.com

Sweet. And by the same guy who has the #2 all time for points in a quarter (34, IIRC) after Klay (37, IIRC). Remember that Blazers game from a few years ago? (That wasn't against G-League bums, either, even though Heat Check said last night that he thinks Love only scores like he did last night against G-League competition. )

When Love is hot, he's hot, and can scorch from outside better than just about anyone for brief stretches of time. It's too bad he's never had the stamina to keep it up for longer stretches, but it's fun to see while it lasts.

 

[Heat Check]

That wasn't against G-League bums, either, even though Heat Check said last night that he thinks Love only scores like he did last night against G-League competition. )

Nah, I said that Love was obviously giddy to be playing against a summer league team. Who wouldn't be? It's like he was given superpowers.

 

[KevinLoveFan]

Nah, I said that Love was obviously giddy to be playing against a summer league team. Who wouldn't be? It's like he was given superpowers.

Your exact post was "this is the correct level of competition for Love." Link: https://realcavsfans.com/index.php?...l-10-2022-3-30-p-m.51436/page-13#post-3784539

Such wording strongly implies you think he cannot do it against better competition, though he clearly has in the past.

It was a bad take, and 2 for the Brew called you out on it. We all have bad takes from time to time. It's best not to try to rationalize them.

 

[Heat Check]

Your exact post was "this is the correct level of competition for Love." Link: https://realcavsfans.com/index.php?...l-10-2022-3-30-p-m.51436/page-13#post-3784539

Such wording strongly implies you think he cannot do it against better competition, though he clearly has in the past.

The past, as they say... is the past.

But I'm happy that Love scored 35 against scrubs and we won.

 

[KevinLoveFan]

The past, as they say... is the past.

But I'm happy that Love scored 35 against scrubs and we won.

Glad for a happy Heat Check! For the record, Love has also shot 39% from 3-ball for the entire season, which is very recent, and suggests he hits 3s at a nice percentage against a variety of competition. Interesting that he shot 3 percentage points higher from the perimeter this season than he did last season, even though many NBA players have had a drop-off in their percentage this season with the new ball.

 

[Lee]

It's even more than that....according to this it's simply the most points ever scored in under 15 minutes, in the history of the NBA.

Most Points In An NBA Game In 15 Minutes Or Less | StatMuse

Kevin Love has put up the most points in a game with 15 or fewer minutes played, with 32 points against the Bucks on April 10, 2022.

www.statmuse.com

Thats the thing about age, you might not be able to go as long, but you sure can make those 15 minutes worth it.

Am I right @KevinLoveFan ?

 

[Peacedog]

Love should win 6MOY. Herro is NOT a reserve. He was 3rd on the Heat in MPG. Love was 9th on the Cavs.

 

[KevinLoveFan]

Thats the thing about age, you might not be able to go as long, but you sure can make those 15 minutes worth it.

Am I right @KevinLoveFan ?

Sounds about right to me!

In order to fully gauge what the "correct level of competition" for Love has been this season, I went through other games to see if he's hit four or more threes at a clip better than 40% in victories against teams that didn't have G League guys. Turns out he's done it against teams like the Heat and Nuggets as well -- and note they weren't playing the G Leaguers in those games:

Cavaliers vs Heat, December 1, 2021 | Basketball-Reference.com

CLE (111) vs MIA (85). Get the box score, shot charts and play by play summary of the Cavaliers vs Heat, December 1, 2021.

www.basketball-reference.com

Nuggets vs Cavaliers, March 18, 2022 | Basketball-Reference.com

DEN (116) vs CLE (119). Get the box score, shot charts and play by play summary of the Nuggets vs Cavaliers, March 18, 2022.

www.basketball-reference.com

So no need to move the goalposts anymore. Love shot 39% from three for the entire season, and did it against every type of competition, so it's not like it's something he's only done in the distant past. Argument closed.

One can have valid criticisms of Love -- that he can't defend, for instance. But saying he can't shoot against good teams anymore isn't one of them.

 

[buzzdog]

Sounds about right to me!

In order to fully gauge what the "correct level of competition" for Love has been this season, I went through other games to see if he's hit four or more threes at a clip better than 40% in victories against teams that didn't have G League guys. Turns out he's done it against teams like the Heat and Nuggets as well -- and note they weren't playing the G Leaguers in those games:

Cavaliers vs Heat, December 1, 2021 | Basketball-Reference.com

CLE (111) vs MIA (85). Get the box score, shot charts and play by play summary of the Cavaliers vs Heat, December 1, 2021.

www.basketball-reference.com

Nuggets vs Cavaliers, March 18, 2022 | Basketball-Reference.com

DEN (116) vs CLE (119). Get the box score, shot charts and play by play summary of the Nuggets vs Cavaliers, March 18, 2022.

www.basketball-reference.com

So no need to move the goalposts anymore. Love shot 39% from three for the entire season, and did it against every type of competition, so it's not like it's something he's only done in the distant past. Argument closed.

One can have valid criticisms of Love -- that he can't defend, for instance. But saying he can't shoot against good teams anymore isn't one of them.

His defense isn't as abysmal as people say either. Bottom line is he can't move well and that's been the case for a long time. Defending in space is always a huge weakness which is what made "The Stop" such a distinct and unexpected highlight.

But KLove holds down his end in the paint pretty well for someone who doesn't get off the floor a whole lot. His strength is his ability to maintain position, box out, pull down grown-ass man rebounds in heavy traffic. He's the closest thing on this roster to being a paint banger who can move people. He knows all the old man tricks.

For these traits he gets too little credit, and his strengths are greatly undervalued on this board. People here think if you can't run the perimeter like a rabbit then you're completely worthless defensively. That's true against certain matchups, not so true against others.

And every once on awhile he gets off the floor and makes a nice block or shuts someone down at the rim. Rare but it happens. And that doesn't mention the charges he takes.

So, he's not the complete defensive liability people say he is.

 

[KevinLoveFan]

His defense isn't as abysmal as people say either. Bottom line is he can't move well and that's been the case for a long time. Defending in space is always a huge weakness which is what made "The Stop" such a distinct and unexpected highlight.

But KLove holds down his end in the paint pretty well for someone who doesn't get off the floor a whole lot. His strength is his ability to maintain position, box out, pull down grown-ass man rebounds in heavy traffic. He's the closest thing on this roster to being a paint banger who can move people. He knows all the old man tricks.

For these traits he gets too little credit, and his strengths are greatly undervalued on this board. People here think if you can't run the perimeter like a rabbit then you're completely worthless defensively. That's true against certain matchups, not so true against others.

And every once on awhile he gets off the floor and makes a nice block or shuts someone down at the rim. Rare but it happens. And that doesn't mention the charges he takes.

So, he's not the complete defensive liability people say he is.

He does take charges well, and he's been one of the top defensive boarders for a long time. These things don't get noticed because perimeter coverage is the most sought-after defensive skill in the league at this time, and it's glaring and frustrating when it's not achieved. Love didn't have the foot speed in his prime to do it well, and he definitely doesn't now. That said, I do wish he gave more effort to close out. There are times where he's near enough to run out to contest a shot, but he stands there and gives the player he's supposed to rotate to a very open look. Even an older player with reduced foot speed can give the effort to close out at least some space on those shots. Love almost never does that, and a lot of RCF posters understandably get very irritated with it.

Effort is also a thing on his shot-blocking. Agree that he's fully capable and shows it from time to time. But he rarely does it because he prefers to conserve energy to start getting in box-out position extremely early.

The Stop was interesting because I'd noticed Love had increased his lateral movement to guard people one-on-one during that specific season. His lateral movement has once again decreased with age, but his worst tendency now is actually the complete lack of effort to run in a more direct line toward a shooter on rotations. He's much worse at that than he is even one-on-one, mirroring a guy laterally.

 

[Aeterna]

It's too bad he's never had the stamina to keep it up for longer stretches, but it's fun to see while it lasts.

I heard there are special pills for that "issue".

 

[Jontibs]

Have one of those hot nights from 3 against the Nets and he will have a playoff series to look forward to. 40% career playoff 3 numbers on 3's as well.


The most shocking thing for me this season is that he played every game bar the covid break, wouldn't have believed it.

 

[Dr No]

Thats the thing about age, you might not be able to go as long, but you sure can make those 15 minutes worth it.

Am I right @KevinLoveFan ?

As Toby Keith sang "I'm not as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was".

 

[KevinLoveFan]

He ran out of gas a bit in the 4th when he went past his 20 minute limit, but mostly a nice night off the bench for him -- he hit 3/4 of his 3s against his correct level of competition, grabbed 13 boards, and had the best plus/minus of any Cav in the play-in game. You can tell this is a guy who's been in this sort of environment before.