Tag Archives: kevin love

Love will have to wait for All-Star selection

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I’ve blogged about Kevin Love‘s impressive statistical season so much that I’m not sure what’s left to write. Yet his team’s unimpressive record will keep the Minnesota Timberwolves forward out of the NBA All-Star Game for now.

Love wasn’t picked as a reserve for the team Wednesday, despite averaging more than 20 points per game and leading the NBA in rebounding. And ranking in the top 20 in 3-point percentage. And ranking in the top 20 in free-throw shooting. No, none of that was enough.

But with the injured Yao Ming being voted onto the Western Conference squad, it’s hard to imagine Love won’t end up on the team once a decision on Ming’s replacement is made.

The Western Conference roster is pretty loaded. But I have to admit I’m surprised Love was left off. I have a hard time saying who should have been left off in his place, but it just seems to me there’s not much more he can do, other than find better teammates and win more games.

UPDATED: Love is the injury replacement for Yao Ming.

When Kevin Love is good, the Timberwolves are not

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For the 17th - count it, 17th! – time this season, Kevin Love on Friday night had at least 20 points and 15 rebounds. In fact, in the loss to Portland, he had 30 points and 19 rebounds.

When I saw the number, I wondered, “What is the Wolves record when Love goes at least 20-15?” The answer: A disappointing 3-14. When he doesn’t go 20-15, the Wolves are 6-14.

Let’s look at the 17 games of 20-15 this season:

  • Nov. 9: Lakers 99, Timberwolves 94: 23 points, 24 rebounds
  • Nov. 12: Timberwolves 112, Knicks 103: Love has his breakout night with 31 points and 31 rebounds.
  • Nov. 14: Hawks 111, Timberwolves 105: 22 points, 17 rebounds
  • Nov. 22: Thunder 117, Timberwolves 107: 24 points, 17 rebounds
  • Nov. 24: Spurs 113, Timberwolves 109: 32 points, 22 rebounds
  • Nov. 27: Warriors 104, Timberwolves 94: 21 points, 22 rebounds
  • Dec. 3: Spurs 107, Timberwolves 101: 25 points, 18 rebounds
  • Dec. 4: Timberwolves 129, Cavaliers 95: 28 points, 19 rebounds
  • Dec. 6: Knicks 121, Timberwolves 114: 33 points, 15 rebounds
  • Dec. 8: Thunder 111, Timberwolves 103: 22 points, 21 rebounds
  • Dec. 10: Timberwolves 109, Pistons 99: 27 points, 18 rebounds
  • Dec. 11: Bulls 113, Timberwolves 82: 23 points, 15 rebounds
  • Dec. 15: Suns 128, Timberwolves 122: 23 points, 16 rebounds
  • Dec. 18: Nuggets 115, Timberwolves 113: 43 points, 17 rebounds
  • Dec. 22: Jazz 112, Timberwolves 107: 25 points, 19 rebounds
  • Jan. 5: Bobcats 108, Timberwolves 105: 35 points, 15 rebounds
  • Jan. 7: Trail Blazers 108, Timberwolves 98: 30 points, 19 rebounds

What’s Love got to do with it?

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One of my co-workers pointed out an interesting yet obvious stat about what appears to be an improving Minnesota Timberwolves squad: They’re tied for last in the NBA in wins with five.

Kevin Love

There's no denying Kevin Love is among the NBA's best big men. Associated Press photo

To me, there seems to be some building blocks worth believing in, despite the very poor 5-17 record entering Friday’s game against Detroit.

The key cog for this team, of course, is power forward Kevin Love. That Wolves record might not impress you, but Love’s 15.6 rebounds per game average should. That’s three more rebounds per game than the next best player (Dwight Howard and Joakim Noah).

To go with that gaudy rebounding number is a scoring average of 20.1 points per game. That’s the second-highest scoring average for any player that is also averaging double digits in rebounds per game (this time, he’s behind Howard).

I’m just wondering where people rank Love among the NBA’s best big men. Is he top five? Top 10?

A quick glance at the NBA stat leaders, and I’d say there aren’t too many centers or power forward I’d rather have than Love if I was building an NBA roster. I’d take Howard for sure over Love. Despite the lack of impressive stats, I’d take Tim Duncan, too. Probably take Amare Stoudemire over him. Possibly Blake Griffin. Am I missing anyone?

I’m left thinking two things: 1) Love is a lot better than I thought. 2) There aren’t too many great post players in the NBA right now.

Timberwolves making strides, albeit baby steps

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I’m sure a lot of Minnesota Timberwolves fans were disappointed by the team blowing a 21-point lead Wednesday night en route to an overtime home loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

David Kahn

Is Timberwolves president David Kahn a mad genius, or just plain mad? Associated Press photo

I still have some doubts as to whether or not a foul should have been called on that Spurs’ 3-point attempt in the final seconds of regulation. The ensuing free throws allowed San Antonio to tie the game and send it to overtime.

But forget about that. They may have blown the game so to speak. But I still see some things I like:

  • As I’ve blogged about before, Kevin Love is an absolute force on the glass, and he’s not a bad scorer either. Plenty of players have made a good living averaging 19 points and 14.5 rebounds per game, as Love has so far this season.
  • Timberwolves president David Kahn became a punchline in the offseason after re-signing Darko Milicic to a four-year, $20 million contract. But Milicic has not been too bad. He’s tied for first in the NBA in blocks, averaging 2.9 per game. And in the last three games, it seems like something has clicked with him. He’s scored at least 20 points in each of those games, shooting over 50 percent from the floor in each. How about Milicic repeatedly posting up against Tim Duncan? Hook shot after hook shot. Didn’t expect to see that.
  • Wesley Johnson, who was drafted fourth overall in the 2010 NBA draft, has been a nice addition so far. He’s averaging nearly 10 points per game this season and given the team the long-range shooting that they were lacking last season. Still plenty of room for improvement, notably with his pre-free throw handshakes.
  • And finally, there’s Michael Beasley. He’s averaged 21 points and 6 rebounds per game. Great numbers on the surface. But then there’s games like the one Wednesday night against the Spurs, where you forgot he was in the game when he wasn’t throwing the ball into the front row, which he did a couple of times I believe. Still, Kahn got a pretty good price.

A few links:

Kevin Love forces us to pay attention to Timberwolves

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Kevin Love is helping us forget about Kevin Garnett and making us care about the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Kevin Love

Kevin Love, left, had an epic night on Friday. Associated Press photo

OK, the first part of that isn’t really true. Minnesotans will always love “The Big Ticket.” But when an athlete does what Love did Friday night, it’s hard to keep ignoring the T-Pups.

The Wolves rallied from a 21-point deficit against the New York Knicks on Friday, thanks mostly to the 31-point, 31-rebound effort from Love.

It was the NBA’s first 30-30 game in 28 years, and that was posted by Hall of Famer Moses Malone. And the 31 rebounds are a franchise record for the Wolves.

Love has quickly become the second-best player in Timberwolves history. Of course, there’s probably not much competition for that. Doug West? Sam Mitchell? Anyone?

So, to those of you who didn’t like the draft day Love-for-O.J. Mayo swap a few years ago, do you still hate it?

Kevin Love is a man among boys

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Kevin Love

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love defends Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant on Tuesday in Los Angeles. Associated Press photo

The Minnesota Timberwolves suffered just their latest disappointment on Tuesday night, dropping a 99-94 decision to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Somehow, the Wolves (1-7) managed to stay in that game despite 27 turnovers. That’s just three shy of the franchise record. Michael Beasley committed five. Sebastian Telfair – can anyone tell me how he ended up back with this team? – committed four.

But what can’t be overlooked is the huge game that Kevin Love had. The third-year power forward – who earlier in this season appeared to have fallen out of favor with head coach Kurt Rambis – produced one of his best games as a pro, scoring 23 points and grabbing 24 rebounds.

This guy is good. I’m left thinking he’s the one guy on this team I could see playing for a perennial playoff contender. If only that were the case for him though.

Instead, he’s left owning the glass on a team that doesn’t look like it’s improved at all from a year ago. They are young though. Very young.

But enough bad words have been written about the Wolves. Thought it should be pointed out that a player through eight games is averaging 18 points and 13 rebounds per game.

Wolves’ woes overshadow Love’s career night

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I guess you could say the following post represent a glass half-full look at the Minnesota Timberwolves.

But first, the bad: The Wolves lost their 16th straight game on Sunday, losing to the Phoenix Suns 105-101.

But now, the good: Kevin Love had a ridiculous night.

I’ll admit that I had no idea until his stats were announced while he delivered "Let’s Play Hockey" at the Minnesota Wild game on Monday. During that loss to Phoenix, Love had 23 points and 22 rebounds.

And for a team that’s been flat-out terrible this year, he’s the second Timberwolves player this season to go 20-20. Al Jefferson pulled off the feat earlier this year.

I know there’s still a lot of Wolves fans out there – unfortunately, there’s not as many Wolves fans as there used to be – that wish they hadn’t traded O.J. Mayo to Memphis on draft day a couple years ago for Love. And I get the argument. The Wolves could definitely use a scoring guard at this point.

But there’s no denying how good Love has been. Averaging just 28 minutes per game, Love is averaging a double-double with 14.5 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. That’s no easy task on a team that’s best player plays the same position as him. There’s only about nine players in the NBA right now averaging double figures in points and rebounds, so he’s in some exclusive company (though it’s worth noting his games played fall just short of qualifying for the league leaderboard in either category).

Wolves insist nothing big coming with big men

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Despite all of the trade rumors floating around the Minnesota Timberwolves this year, general manager David Kahn insists the team won’t do anything beyond minor moves prior the Feb. 18 trade deadline.

This would run contrary to previous reports. Yahoo even had at one point that the Wolves offered power forward/center Al Jefferson to Indiana for forward Danny Granger.

The Pacers reportedly rejected that offer.

Kahn has a lot of solid pieces to build around, but too many of them play the same positions. Jonny Flynn and Ramon Sessions both are point guards, as is the yet-to-arrive (and may never arrive) Ricky Rubio.

Then, of course, there’s Jefferson and Kevin Love. Both of them play power forward, or at least ideally would if the team had a true center to rely on.

But the biggest reason why it’s hard to believe the Wolves wouldn’t at least entertain moving major pieces before next week’s trade deadline is because nothing about what Kahn has done so far suggests that he will just sit back and wait for the offseason. He’s been tremendously active in his short tenure with the Wolves.

The team has only a handful of players – I believe five – from last year’s squad.

Big Al the subject of trade rumors

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Didn’t notice this until I got to work today, but Minnesota Timberwolves general manager David Kahn is reportedly shopping his team’s best player.

Yahoo reported Monday that Kahn offered power forward Al Jefferson to the Indiana Pacers for forward Danny Granger.

It’s hardly a surprise to hear about such rumors, though it always brow-raising to see a team’s best player on the trading block. But when you consider the Wolves’ two best players – Jefferson and Kevin Love – play the same position, it’s not too hard to believe.

One league source in the Yahoo report said, "There’s some jealous stuff that’s playing out."

Dangerous Love proves Wolves did right thing

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My New Year’s resolution is to be less cynical. Well, not really. But let’s start the New Year – and the new decade – by applauding the oft-criticized Minnesota Timberwolves.

Since trading the face of their franchise in Kevin Garnett a few years ago, little has gone right for the Wolves.

But it’s time to give credit where credit is due: The Wolves made the right play in trading for Kevin Love on Draft Day 2008.

The Wolves, if you remember, drafted guard O.J. Mayo out of USC on that night. But around midnight, then-GM Kevin McHale orchestrated a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies, sending Mayo for the draft rights to Love. A veteran player or two exchanged hands as well.

I realize many disagree with the assessment. The Wolves are in dire need of a scoring guard, and Mayo – who is averaging 17 points per game – can do that. And with Love and fellow big man Al Jefferson, the Wolves’ two best players essentially play the same position.

But anyone who watched Wednesday’s loss to the Utah Jazz could see the promise Love is starting to fulfill. He hit two big 3-pointers in the final minute to cut into Utah’s deficit and came within an assist of a triple-double.

He’s developing a skill set rarely seen in big men. He handles the ball well, his a big-time rebounder and has developed as a shooter.

His 12.7 rebounds per game this season would rank second in the NBA if he’d played enough games. And he’s 12-for-24 from 3-point range. He’s attempted more 3s through 15 games than he did in 81 games all last season. Granted, he won’t shoot at a 50 percent clip all season, but he’s becoming one of the more well-rounded big men in the NBA.

The Wolves could really use a big-time scoring threat at shooting guard. However, players of Love’s caliber are hard to find. As long as he can continue to play on the court with Jefferson and be successful, both big men are sound building blocks for the future.

Plus, I’d like to see Mayo hit this shot: