Love missed the start of the season with a broken bone in his hand, but he's been ridiculously efficient since returning 18 games ago. For starters, he leads all power forwards in rebound rate -- and only Dwight Howard and Greg Oden outrank him leaguewide. Additionally, he's shown himself to be a capable scorer. Love's 19.5 points per 40 minutes make him a solid third option in Minny, especially since he's nearly doubled his assist ratio from last season.
Sum it all up, and his 23.37 PER ranks fourth among power forwards and is just 0.21 from being second. He won't make the All-Star team because his team is bad and his D remains suspect, but at age 21 Love already is an All-Star caliber player.
From John Hollinger's top under-the-radar performers column at ESPN Insider.
about 2 years ago
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Weeeeeeeee
Hollinger must be a closet TWolves fan.
He's definitely a Love fan
KLove is the epitome of a fantastic stats player.
Not that what Hollinger is saying is wrong by any means, but he does focus on the aspect of the game that Love is going to look the best in.
ESPN’s closet Wolves fan is Marc Stein though.
To Love's credit though
most of Hollinger’s opinions are based off of PER, and PER is a scoring-weighted statistic. Considering rebounding is Love’s best quality, not bad!
Love's become a better scorer than I ever thought he'd be when he first started.
I still don’t think he draws much defensive attention, but he certainly cashes in when he’s got a favorable matchup or is left open. Great complementary scorer.
I'd like to see more sets called for him
Just to see how he does with the defense zeroed in on him. We’d get a much more accurate feel for his ceiling that way. If he does really well, then Jefferson is all the more expendable. If not, then that’s certainly something we should know when considering of Jefferson is expendable at all.
I think he ends up...
…around 18/14/6 when the personnel on this team improves. It will really be interesting to see how he can improve next season. He’s done some pretty insane things this season compared to last year. Turnover rate is down, assist rate has essentially doubled, rebound rates are up, eFG is up by 4%…and he’s 21 with less than 60 games in the starting lineup and with clear improvement available to his physique and conditioning. When was the last time the league saw this blue collar of a player with this much skill? I really think he’s more unique than what we’ve seen so far.
Forever splitting the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs
www.canishoopus.com
not sure stupid is the right word
maybe Love is just more focused and consistent? Odom has this “oh crap, where am I?” look to his face sometimes.
by TheEvilProfessor on Jan 7, 2010 9:49 PM CST up reply actions
Ok, stupid is probably too harsh a word...
I’ll just never get over him tackling Ray Allen, or dribbling the ball up the court when he was supposed to inbound it.
Definitely not stupid.
I’ve seen L.O. make some unbelievably smart basketball plays. He just doesn’t always remember to pay attention. Maybe it depends on what point he’s at in his current sugar rush?
by princelyfrank on Jan 8, 2010 11:40 AM CST up reply actions
I keep having a vision in my mind
of what Love will do with a three point shooting specialist. Right now he gets an offensive rebound and his perimeter passes have to go to Brewer or Flynn, just imagine if he can pass out to a wide open 2010 version of Ray Allen. Insert Homer Simpson drooling at donuts look and sound here.
Or when players apart from Brewer
learn to cut through the lane. It is likely a new concept, though. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen any Wolves cutting while Jefferson stands with the ball on the left block, facing the basket, casually perusing his mental encyclopedia of pump fakes, spins, and push shots.
Jefferson sometimes stands there looking for a cutter - and not many cuts.
with the exception of Love our team doesn’t know how to move without the ball. Love is the best at it.
In the last few games alone I’ve seen Love make “back cuts” to the hoop [wide open layups or dunks] a bunch of times, and the ball handler – generally flynn doesn’t have clue how to pass it to him.
On offense can continue to make big improvements just by moving without the ball and passers looking for it. – we could be scoring 103 ppg by the end of this season, even without shooters.
We could be a scary good offensive team with some good perimeter shooters.
by Kevin Love Jefferson on Jan 8, 2010 3:32 AM CST up reply actions
And with a big wing who can handle the ball well enough to get to the rim. Imagine Evan Turner running ball screen plays with Love or catching the ball on the move to the hoop in some of the triangle cuts.
If there’s any way they could pick up Turner AND Henry, I would be elated.
When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True story.
Brewer makes some very nice cuts without the ball...
… and Jefferson often fails to see him when he’s all alone under the basket. Al’s passing has improved a lot this year, but he still has a lot of room for improvement.
Anyway, I’d say Corey is at least as good at moving without the ball as Love, which shows how smart of a player Corey is (or can be) despite the mistakes he continues to make. (i.e., which are now mostly limited to bad passes—his shot selection has improved since the beginning of the season.)
I disagree
Al has a ways to go before I’ll call him a good passer, but Brewer’s cuts are the one instance where Al seems to find him for easy buckets. There have been games where Al hits a cutting Brewer more than once for uncontested dunks/layups.
Al’s biggest passing deficiency is when he has the ball with his back to the basket — but not in great position — and he holds the ball to plan his move. He often gets doubled and a shooter is open, but he still doesn’t pass it. I’m pretty sure this is what drives his critics nuts. If there were shooters worth passing to, it would probably drive me nuts as well.
But I don’t think he misses a cutting Brewer very often.
It is unbelievable how well he moves without the ball. In Wednesday’s game Love flashed to the hoop at least 3 times and was wide open, but whoever had the ball was quick enough to get it to him. Then his offensive rebounding if off the charts. He truly is dynamic and can do a little of everything. The problem is though, when you call a play for him and a shot on the outside, it takes him away from the hoop and away from quite possibly his greatest strength.
I would love to see what a lineup of Evan Turner at the 2, Wesley Johnson at the 3, Love at the 4, and Big Al at the 5 could do on the offensive glass. I am hoping Kahn could add another Top 7 pick. I think this year’s draft is going to go down with the 1984, 1996, and 2003 draft as one of the strongest in history.
sorry didn't see your post until after I'd written mine... redundancy...
by Kevin Love Jefferson on Jan 8, 2010 3:32 AM CST up reply actions
Sometimes repitition serves a purpose
like if the information is important enough to say twice.
Man, I looked at those #‘s and thought it was crazy, but just for just a second before I actually thought it through and realized that you could actually be right if he gets good enough teammates. His athletic and size limitations will stop him from ever being a superstar, but I think he could be one of the most useful guys in the league when all is said and done. I was watching him a few games ago and it came to me that I should probably feel lucky for watching him, because he’s a very special player. It’s been a loooong time since we’ve been lucky enough to have that on this team.
Here’s to hoping Kahn can build this team the right way so we can see Klove perform at his best.
When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True story.
6 assists...
seems a little high. If Love averaged 4 assists per game, that’d be very good. I don’t know if he’ll ever handle the ball enough to get 6 apg. Especially if and when we get a guard that can pass.
Yeah, probably true, but I think it depends on if we get the personnel to set him up with multiple outlet opps each game, and if the league decides to count them as assists. I could see 5+ apg happening for at least a year or two if he had the right targets.
When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True story.
Depends on if Rambis fully integrate the triangle here or not. Love is an amazing passer and he will hit wide open shooters or cutters. The other thing that would need to happen is the improvement on the perimeter. If Kahn was able to add a shooter, like Morrow or Henry, and cutter with an excellent midrange game, like Evan Turner or Rudy Gay, and I think 6 assists per game is certainly attainable.
Maybe...
but I think better perimeter shooting would put a bump in Jefferson and Flynn’s assist numbers before Love’s — Love’s best passes are his outlets and high-low action to Jefferson, as opposed to the post up/kick out types that some big men get. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a very good passer — I just don’t think he’ll be a really high assist guy — that’s a ton of assists for any non-point guard to get — for a power forward, it’s extremely high.
In our offense as it’s currently constructed, Love does a lot of high post handoffs to guards — usually that guard is moving when he takes it and dribbles somewhere — even if it leads to baskets, I doubt it goes in the book as an assist.
Good point
He’ll probably be a great “hockey assist” guy, especially in the triangle. In talking about the triangle (not sure if it was Rambis or Jackson or whomever) you hear a lot about the pass before the assist being the most important.
Too bad
we don’t have anyway of tracking that pass before the assist pass. I wonder who would be leading the Wolves? I’d love to see that stat. I bet it would be very, very revealing.
"Come on Eddie, let's get serious."
In the triangle the offense often goes inside out, so jefferson and love would both have lots of opportunities
to find open men. I could see both of them having more than 5 assists per game.
by Kevin Love Jefferson on Jan 8, 2010 6:08 PM CST up reply actions
I was thinking along the lines of those numbers as well.
Love is capable of being the heart of a very good team. If the Wolves can team him with a perimeter shot, some who know how to score off the cut, and some one who can get the ball to Love when he cuts to the basket… man, that could be a fun team. I don’t think love is ever the centerpiece, that first scoring option, but he can certainly be the engine that makes the team go.
I think Kevin is a special player, and I hope we get to see him at his best.
by Krotz the Wall on Jan 8, 2010 11:44 AM CST up reply actions
It's certainly not Chad Ford
"I tell one of my media colleagues to watch Hollins, who regards cutters entering his vicinity with the sort of startled amazement newborn infants have when their own appendages enter their vision for the first times."
-Britt Robson
Has been since before the draft last year
He projected Love as a very solid second to Beasley in the ’08 draft, based on projected third year PER or somesuch.
"It has come to the editor’s attention that the Herald-Leader neglected to cover the civil rights movement. We regret the omission."
PER
Isn’t the best or most accurate indicator (or projector) of talent, but it seems to be a solid point around which to measure effectiveness. The top PER prospects aren’t always the best players, but you can be pretty sure they’ll be good at the least.
Also, you know if a guy plays solid minutes and has a really high PER, he’s a stud. You can’t be a 20+ PER guy and suck. There are and have been guys with low PERs out there that are pretty good (Bowen being the prime example) but a guy who has a 20 PER is gonna be a good player. Though if a guy doesn’t play heavy minutes, it’s common sense to know that it may not be accurate if he plays more – Hollinger admits that. You just have to know how and when to apply it and look at it.
Sure, like any other "One Stat to Rule Them All"
I personally don’t particularly like attempts to use a single stat to describe a player’s “worth” or “effectiveness,” but among them PER isn’t in any way offensive. It’s as good as anything, I s’pose.
Hollinger was on the Love bandwagon very early, is my main point. He was basing that on projected PER three years into the NBA, based on a single year of college.
"It has come to the editor’s attention that the Herald-Leader neglected to cover the civil rights movement. We regret the omission."
making personnel decisions is very complicated
and requires a GM to look at multiple elements. Not to be limited to, offensive skillset versus what is already on the team, defensive abilities (and maybe more importantly, defensive limitations), and fit (how well do they complement the rest of your roster from an age, abilities, playing style, etc standpoint).
There are too many subjective variables to simply rely on a on stat to rule them all when comparing who is the better player. Because you are really talking about which is the best five man lineup. It is a team game afterall.
by TheEvilProfessor on Jan 8, 2010 12:23 PM CST up reply actions
Nobody's disagreeing with that
Just noting Hollinger’s continuing mancrush on Kevin L.
Personally I do think GMs should include a robust and thoughtful stat grinding perspective on things. I just doubt very much that such analysis would bother with trying to stomp careers flat in one supposedly-comprehensive stat. Morey in Houston is definitely that sort of GM, and he’s been quite successful under trying circumstances.
"It has come to the editor’s attention that the Herald-Leader neglected to cover the civil rights movement. We regret the omission."
I wasn't disagreeing with you
In fact, I completely agree with your entire response. I guess I should’ve framed it differently – as a disclaimer to others who would read your comment skeptically , I suppose – instead of making it look like a disagreement; you’ve basically repeated what I’m thinking in my head anyway. I see my response as in addendum.
Plus I’ve already forgotten why I posted a response to your comment specifically. The thread of comments is so tangled that I’m a bit confused as to what spurred me to write that.
when corrected for both level of competition and pace he had Love ranked #1 and Beasley #2.
by Kevin Love Jefferson on Jan 8, 2010 6:11 PM CST up reply actions
Really?
The old articles about bigs and perimeter players from that draft are vanished from ESPN’s record, or securely hidden as “insider” stuff or something.
Either way Hollinger does seem to have a bit of credibility invested in Love at some point, I think. You take a controversial stance (like Mayo being a mediocre prospect, for example, which he also said in those previews), you’re inclined to defend it a bit.
"It has come to the editor’s attention that the Herald-Leader neglected to cover the civil rights movement. We regret the omission."
well
Love hasn’t let him down. But neither has Mayo really proved him right.
by TheEvilProfessor on Jan 9, 2010 11:16 AM CST up reply actions
Love Line
My question is how much of his offense is O-Board putbacks? Someone who knows how to track down stuff like that – please take a moment and let us know. His nose for those is remarkable. He is my favorite Timberwolf player.
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