Another season, and another sad year for Minnesota Timberwolves fans. Near last place in the West, they are just waiting for another lottery pick, and considering their last couple of picks (Jonny Flynn, Ricky Rubio, Wesley Johnson) it looks like they are destined to pick up another bust. But they can take solace in that one player has lived up to, or exceeded, expectations. I present to you Kevin Love.
Love has many reasons to be excited after this season, but his team is definitely not one of them. There are some decent players on the team like "bust" Michael Beasley, but they never got anything together. They don't have the necessary chemistry to work as a team, and they don't have the pieces necessary to run their triangle offense. Kurt Rambis should not have employed this offense, primarily known for its effectiveness with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Rambis was in over his head. But he has Kevin Love to work his team around.
Love has a lot of potential in this league. He is an amazing rebounder, even though he is not the highest jumper. He is a great rebounded because he has mastered the timing. And it isn't just on defensive boards. He is a great offensive rebounder, averaging 4.6 offensive rebounds this season. He averages an astounding 15.7 rebounds total, and he looks to be the next player to average more than 15 rebounds a game since Ben Wallace in the 2002-03 season. He also is not a liability on offense. He can work the post if it is necessary, but where he really kills you is on putbacks from offensive rebounds and from the outside. At 6'10'', he doesn't seem to be an outside shooter. But he is hitting three-pointers at a 43% clip, which is amazing for a big man like him. He could improve his percentage of both field goal percentage and 3-point percentage is he started attacking the post more often, but that's a nitty-gritty detail that he can improve in the off-season.
Then you look at the individual performances and accolades that Love has gained this season. He was an NBA All-Star, one of two all-stars on a losing team (the other being Blake Griffin). He has the first 30 point-30 rebound game in 28 years. The most recent since his went to Moses Malone, who is currently in the Hall of Fame. He broke the record for most double-doubles in a row since the ABA-NBA merger, also held by Moses Malone. Individually, Kevin Love may have had one of the best seasons ever. Too bad, it will be one of the few high points in this abysmal season.
Kevin Love is a great player, but is he going to be stuck on a horrible team like the Timberwolves for the rest of his career? LeBron James may be right that Love is in the wrong place. Maybe he deserves to be on a contender, because the way the Timberwolves are going, it does not seem like they are on their way up. Should Love jump from the sinking boat, or should he bail them out? The one question that is no longer on anybody's mind is whether Kevin Love is going to be a star in this league. Let's just see how bright that star is gonna shine.
No comments:
Post a Comment