Kevin Love - Miami Ground Machine

[NorthCoastBias]

View: https://twitter.com/MZavagno11/status/941692052185763840


View: https://twitter.com/MZavagno11/status/941693135100489728

 

[priceFTW]

View: https://twitter.com/MZavagno11/status/941692052185763840


View: https://twitter.com/MZavagno11/status/941693135100489728

As soon as Rose left the lineup, Love’s usage went up. It was disgusting to see Rose use up possessions like he was a still a star. It seems our best offense often comes when we’re actively looking to free up KLove for a barrage of threes like he did last night in the 2nd quarter that finally gave the team a lead it would not relinquish.

Last 15 games per 36: 26/12.8 on 50.5/43/84 shooting.

 

[czvo]

As soon as Rose left the lineup, Love’s usage went up. It was disgusting to see Rose use up possessions like he was a still a star. It seems our best offense often comes when we’re actively looking to free up KLove for a barrage of threes like he did last night in the 2nd quarter that finally gave the team a lead it would not relinquish.

Last 15 games per 36: 26/12.8 on 50.5/43/84 shooting.

Not to pile on Rose here (but totally piling on Rose): there was a play last night where Wade came off a Love ball screen occupied Love's man, who was trying to contain him, all the way down to the baseline, then whipped a pass back to the wing for an open Love three.

Those are the kind of plays you saw Rose make with Pau and Boozer in Chicago, but, for whatever reason, was incapable of making here. It was one of the reasons I became a little more optimistic about Rose and thought he could work, because, instead of kicking back for long twos, love would get behind that line. However, it was infuriating to watch him come off that screen and just barrel to the rim.

 

[Real Deal]

I was always up and down on Love, he'd have me praising him to rage trading him if he was bad. But when Love is on, he's a top 15 player, top 15! Inconsistencies always bites Love in the ass but this season he's been more consistent since Minnesota.

Just last season Love had a PER of 21, ranked #33 and was sitting around bigs like Howard, Drummond, and Monroe.

This season he's at 24.60 and ranked #15, close to Jokic, and ahead of players like Embiid, Boogie, Towns, Porzingis. Besides Jokic, Love's usage is way lower than the players above, almost 8-9% less.

Love's TS% jumped up 5% this year as well, was 57% in 16-17, now 62% this season.

Besides (some) inconsistent games, Love has been one of the toughest SoB's out there. Shout out to Stone Cold. Love deserves that glass breaking when he wrecks shit on the court.

 

[TyGuy]

Just looking at the PER of the role playing starters.

Crowder 9
JR 8.1
Calderon 6.7

The Pacers, Celtics, Wizards, Raptors, and Sixers, don't have a player in their rotation with a PER under 10.

Pistons only have 1 and thats Stanley Johnson (bust)

PER isn't a good stat for roleplayers. Or really all that useful at all as a matter of fact. It's a neat thing to look at but it doesn't even come close to showing the true value of a player.

 

[Jontibs]

Feels like he is more consistently involved. Cavs still look to feature him early but maybe less of those games where he will have 8-10 shots in the first quarter then 3-5 the rest of the game. Not just about shooting, actually taking fewer shots this year compared to last when he was the defined 3rd option. Greater ball movement is helping everyone, allows them to be more selective instead of forcing a bad shot. So many times in the last couple of years the 4th quarter would just be Kyrie and LBJ taking iso turns.

Have liked how assertive Love has been when LBJ is on the bench, hope with IT back that can continue. Their relationship will be important, one of the disappointing things in recent years was how poorly Kyrie and Love looked to fit together, for all that talent it did not seem a natural pair.

 

[Cavatt]

I just hope we can continue to get Love going while integrating IT. That is the biggest Hurdle IMO. Maybe more important than the defense at this point.

 

[TyGuy]

I just hope we can continue to get Love going while integrating IT. That is the biggest Hurdle IMO. Maybe more important than the defense at this point.

He's currently taking less shots per 100 than he did last year with Kyrie around. Lue can stagger LeBron and IT as much as possible however. I think Love + IT should work well because Isaiah is very good off the ball and love functions extremely well as a hub.

 

[Cavatt]

He's currently taking less shots per 100 than he did last year with Kyrie around. Lue can stagger LeBron and IT as much as possible however. I think Love + IT should work well because Isaiah is very good off the ball and love functions extremely well as a hub.

I'm a little surprised Kevin is getting fewer shots. He is getting much better shots though, and is being more efficient. The elbows thing Lue has been talking about for 2 years has actually been implemented. Good evidence that Kevin had not been properly utilized.

 

[Jordan]

I'm amazed that people are talking about Love's "poor" fit against the Warriors, and his bad defense, after last night's game.

Love's ability to operate in all three main offensive spaces - behind the three-point line, the elbow, and the post - make him a matchup problem for every team in the league, including the Warriors. The Warriors just have versatile defenders who try and keep Love out of the elbow and post, which is why he seems to do poorly offensively in those series.

Ultimately, having a guard like IT who is not nearly as gifted as Kyrie one-on-one, but is a more versatile cutter and secondary playmaker, may open up the elbow for Kevin Love against the Warriors in a way Kyrie could not.

Also, Love has really worked on going in the post against length. I have not seen him do what he did to Ingram last night - i.e., destroy him in the post - against long defenders during his entire NBA career. He has done this to Ingram, Simmons, Blake, etc. all season. I do not think Durant will be as good of a defensive option against Love, mainly because of this improvement, during the 2018 Finals.

Either way, Love makes the East incredibly easy to advance through. He is the perfect player to put next to LeBron because of how much Love can warp the defense. He is a top-20 player. I honestly do not understand all of the complaining.

 

[TyGuy]

I'm amazed that people are talking about Love's "poor" fit against the Warriors, and his bad defense, after last night's game.

Love's ability to operate in all three main offensive spaces - behind the three-point line, the elbow, and the post - make him a matchup problem for every team in the league, including the Warriors. The Warriors just have versatile defenders who try and keep Love out of the elbow and post, which is why he seems to do poorly offensively in those series.

Ultimately, having a guard like IT who is not nearly as gifted as Kyrie one-on-one, but is a more versatile cutter and secondary playmaker, may open up the elbow for Kevin Love against the Warriors in a way Kyrie could not.

Also, Love has really worked on going in the post against length. I have not seen him do what he did to Ingram last night - i.e., destroy him in the post - against long defenders during his entire NBA career. He has done this to Ingram, Simmons, Blake, etc. all season. I do not think Durant will be as good of a defensive option against Love, mainly because of this improvement, during the 2018 Finals.

Either way, Love makes the East incredibly easy to advance through. He is the perfect player to put next to LeBron because of how much Love can warp the defense. He is a top-20 player. I honestly do not understand all of the complaining.

He doesn't look all fancy dribbling on the perimeter so that he can hoist a 20 footer. People severely underestimate how good Kevin Love is.

 

[Vee-Rex]

I'm amazed that people are talking about Love's "poor" fit against the Warriors, and his bad defense, after last night's game.

Love's ability to operate in all three main offensive spaces - behind the three-point line, the elbow, and the post - make him a matchup problem for every team in the league, including the Warriors. The Warriors just have versatile defenders who try and keep Love out of the elbow and post, which is why he seems to do poorly offensively in those series.

Ultimately, having a guard like IT who is not nearly as gifted as Kyrie one-on-one, but is a more versatile cutter and secondary playmaker, may open up the elbow for Kevin Love against the Warriors in a way Kyrie could not.

Also, Love has really worked on going in the post against length. I have not seen him do what he did to Ingram last night - i.e., destroy him in the post - against long defenders during his entire NBA career. He has done this to Ingram, Simmons, Blake, etc. all season. I do not think Durant will be as good of a defensive option against Love, mainly because of this improvement, during the 2018 Finals.

Either way, Love makes the East incredibly easy to advance through. He is the perfect player to put next to LeBron because of how much Love can warp the defense. He is a top-20 player. I honestly do not understand all of the complaining.

I also feel like teams and players that have a reputation for good defense are allowed to get away with murder.

We've seen it with Draymond numerous times, and the Celtics games I caught this year showed a team that fouled the opponent on practically every possession when they "turn up" their defense a notch. The refs aren't going to KEEP calling fouls over and over and over.

 

[rabman_gold]

Certainly a good fit next to LeBron offensively... even more so than Bosh was. Still lacking length to defend particular players on a regular basis, but if thrown into a series with one of them (like Joel Embiid), I have faith in the coach and the team in game planning against it.

The real issue I have is if he can make it through the season in one piece. He's not the tallest, longest, nor built the toughest. His health can dictate how well we finish the year as we transition to the Trade Deadline. Our team has always had an issue with health, historically. One injury could ruin the whole season. At the same time, preventing an injury could lead to the primary goal: the Championship.

 

[TyGuy]

Certainly a good fit next to LeBron offensively... even more so than Bosh was. Still lacking length to defend particular players on a regular basis, but if thrown into a series with one of them (like Joel Embiid), I have faith in the coach and the team in game planning against it.

The real issue I have is if he can make it through the season in one piece. He's not the tallest, longest, nor built the toughest. His health can dictate how well we finish the year as we transition to the Trade Deadline. Our team has always had an issue with health, historically. One injury could ruin the whole season. At the same time, preventing an injury could lead to the primary goal: the Championship.

The beatings he takes is worth monitoring. There are some powerforwards that are even more bruising than centers. There's been a couple times i've really felt he's taken a pounding, but that's in the minority. We can protect him in those matchups throughout the year.

He isn't facing a bulldozer like shaq on the regular.

 

[rabman_gold]

Certainly wouldn't hurt to add some bigger bodies to the depth chart. Is Tristan gonna get back or not? Without a trade, he's the only one right now that Coach Lue trusts that could handle the job.