Wolves Updates 7/30

but then again I don’t really have much to go off either.

Point 1 – I agree, a leader is a leader, and not because they talk about it. But this is also a team in flux, and by Love’s own admission he’s a young guy (very young) trying to make that leap. The fact that he understands that what’s needed for him to do so is to grow up is very promising for us. I’ve been as hard on Love (Google searches – yes!) as anyone else here, but his continued statements about wanting to be the leader and be the guy who is put in control of the team at the of games is exactly what I want to see out of him. I have no idea whether he can do it or whether this will develop into ‘true’ leadership, but it beats the alternative of him backing off because no one takes him seriously, know what I mean?

Point 2 – see above about Love’s awareness that his own maturity is what needs to improve for him to be a great leader.

Point 3 – yes, and no. You can kind of interpret his comments in a variety of ways. Trust me, I have written at least two other fanposts trying to make Love the bad guy re: his comments about the team and haven’t published them simply because I couldn’t find conclusive evidence to back it up. Ya, he sounds sometimes like he’s laughing at the team and the accumulation of players at a given position, but at the end of every interview I’ve read or listened to he always comes back around to talking about how young we are, how much more athletic and long we are, and how the team needs to improve defensively – and as a team.

He’s a smart guy, actually, very smart. After all this time spent looking at this stuff the only conclusion I can come to is that Love is very aware of all these guys and what they can (and can’t) do, almost like a Corey Chavous type, and that he’d actually make a pretty decent FO type someday. I think he sees the talent on this team and he actually has no problem with it. He just wants his piece of the pie – he wants in. And you know what? I can’t blame him. There is no one else on the roster who, at this time, can be called a better NBA player. I just ran his numbers from last year in games he played 29 minutes or more (34 games) – and Love averages 16.6 ppg, 12.7 reb/g, and 2.6 assists. Those are some damn good numbers, damn good. In fact, in increased minutes Love actually improved upon his per36 scoring and rebounding numbers (+.2 in scoring and +.6 in rebounding).

I have spent a lot of time and energy over the last number of months essentially trying to frame the discussion and argue that Love is basically a super-glue guy, the best ‘between the cracks’ player in the NBA but no better than a 3rd or 4th best player on a championship squad. And I think I was wrong. The book has not been written about Love yet, at least not fully. We haven’t seen yet fully what he can do because we’ve never given him the chance (and Love knows it, hence his griping). This has been Al’s team since Love got here. Last year was a clusterf#ck and outside of Darko shouldn’t be used as anything more than speculative direction on how guys will be used this year (those that are left).

Kahn has made waves comparing Darko to Vlade, but the real truth is that Kahn compared him to the wrong player. Darko’s not like Vlade, Love is. Let me remind you – in games where he played over 29 minutes last year Love scored 16.6 ppg, grabbed 12.7 boards, and dished out 2.6 assists (to the likes of Ryan “Stone Mitt” Hollins, Pavs, Wilkins, Sessions, etc – in other words, not exactly your A-team of assist finishers…although they could be your A-team of assist missers I guess). The kid deserves the chance to start and play significant minutes and see what he can do. Seriously, what more reason is there not to at this point?

What are his weaknesses? Defense? Maybe, but the Synergy stuff from last year makes it seem as though he’s not nearly as bad as we often assume him to be. Looking at his 82games stuff does backup Synergy to a certain extent. At first blush it appears as though we were still 225 with Love in the game, but if you look at the on/off court splits you see that we were -562 with Love off the court. In other words, Love’s net +/ for when he was in the game versus not was actually 337. Al Jefferson was a net -249 last year. This broad suggestion of Love’s defensive abilities is further supported by comparing his production against the other team’s PF when he’s playing – per48 Love scored more (1.1 points), rebounded more (5.8 boards), fouled less (2.4 fewer fouls), dished more (1.1 assists), and was overall more efficient (+4.9 in PER and scored more while taking 1.1 fewer FGAs). I don’t think defense is really that big of a problem for Love, and even if it is look at what we’ve done – brought in a legit defensive center who can protect the rim and block shots, and signed a capable defensive backup center who represents a massive upgrade over Hollins in almost every way.

So then it’s his size, right? He’s too small, can’t get his own shot off. Look at this list. It’s a veritable who’s who of scoring ability in the NBA. There are some guys who have amazing abilities to get their shot off whenever they want to, but when I think about the best scorers in the NBA the guys I almost inevitably think of are the guys who are best at drawing fouls. I can even remember watching Karl Malone play the Wolves once and getting super pissed that they kept calling him a great scorer because all he was doing was just putting his head down and barrel towards the rim. Invariably he’d draw the foul and sink his free throws. As a kid I looked at this and said to myself, ’He’s not a great scorer – he just keeps driving to the rim and some idiot keeps fouling him. That’s not scoring (as in shooting baskets) – it’s just gaming the system!’ So what’s my point? Drawing fouls is every bit the scoring weapon that superior size and athleticism is, if not a greater weapon. Love’s never going to be a scoring champion, but he could realistically attempt 4-6 FTAs a game, and if he does that makes him a bona fide scoring threat in this league – not a 25 ppg scoring threat but the kind that other teams have to game plan around. I’m sure I’ll get a fair amount of argument about this, but a guy with his outside shot and ability to draw fouls COMBINED with his ability to not only see but also run the offense makes for a unique and potent offensive player. He may only max out at 18 ppg, but the effect of his 18 ppg will far surpass Monta Ellis’ 25.5 ppg.

What else is a weakness? He’s out of shape, or a bad attitude guy. Maybe, but honestly I think I could go out with this team and they’d be able to cover my athletic and size deficiencies. I always take Bleacher Report stuff with a big bucket of salt, but this article raises a very good point. If the team really does believe Beasley is a starting 3 in their system – which would mean Wes or Webster is the starting 2, in the near and long term you have an amazing amount of length and athleticism at just about every position. Let’s go through this for a second:
Center – Darko is huge and mobile. Pek is also huge and pretty mobile, but is super strong. Not an area of size/athletic disadvantage
PF – Love is short, perhaps, but also very strong and crafty.
SF – Beasley is strong, good sized for a SF, and very athletic. Brewer has great length and athleticism as a backup here.
SG – Wes and Webster have terrific size, length, and athleticism for this position. Lazar adds toughness and Ellington is very solid.
PG – Jonny is very, very fast and strong (come on Jonny! Figure out how to play defense!). Luke has decent size, more crafty. Long term though you’re looking at Rubio – great size and length and good enough athleticism.

In that lineup is Love really a weakness? No, he’s not. No one’s counting on Love to become the defensive anchor of this team – he’s not KG. Let me repeat – he’s not KG. He’s not going to be the best scorer, best rebounder, best passer, best athlete, biggest guy, best defender on the team like KG was. If this is how we’re going to choose to view Love defensively then there is simply no way he can compete. If we view Love as just one defender in the context with the other four guys on the squad, then he becomes a pretty decent fit.

Attitude? You know what – I’ll take a guy who wants to win and who believes he’s the guy to do it. He’s 21, very intelligent and observant when it comes to basketball, and absolutely chomping at the bit to go out and show to the world just how big of an impact he can have on a game and a season. Give him a chance. Out of anybody on this roster, and that includes Beasley, Love has to be the first guy in line to get the chance to play serious minutes and have the offense run through him.