What is Kevin Love?

What is Kevin Love?

Kevin Love has been both an integral part of an NBA title team and an afterthought in the playoffs. What in the world is he and what can he do for the Cavaliers right now?

Kevin Love has been both an integral part of an NBA title team and an afterthought in the playoffs. What in the world is he and what can he do for the Cavaliers right now?

I like Kevin Love. I have to lead with that because I think this might end up being a hit-piece on the guy. He's been very good at certain times - certain important times included - but we forget all of that when he disappears or appears unplayable in key moments.

Here are some of the things Kevin Love has done in his tenure with the Cavaliers:

  • Has made nearly 38% of his three-pointers
  • Has averaged 10.0 rebounds per game
  • Scored 34 points in one quarter (1st quarter vs. Portland, November 23, 2016)
  • Developed incredible full-court pass chemistry with LeBron James
  • Deftly accepted a role change that very few star players would accept
  • Dealt with numerous injuries, media scrutiny, and constant roster turmoil
  • Switched out on Steph Curry for the 2nd most important defensive play in Cavaliers history

He has pretty clearly been a good player, sometimes a great player, while always being second or third fiddle to LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. He has done almost everything the team has asked of him, particularly in the first three seasons and en route to a title. 

But what is Kevin Love? Is he a shooter? Is he a star? Is he overpaid? Is he mis-utilized? Is he glossed over? Is he underappreciated? Is he...good? I'm going to break down some crazy statistics in an effort to figure this out.

Inside Presence

Last year I took a look at how Kevin Love would be an X-Factor in the playoffs, and one of my points was how he is surprisingly inefficient in the post. If you've watched this Cavs/Pacers series, you know he's been especially awful down there, but it's no longer clear what is an outlier. Those stats from last year still hold true: Love was far more efficient from the right side of the floor but had way fewer chances from the right side. In short: The Cavs didn't give him the ball where he's most effective.

So far in these playoffs (before Monday's games), nine players have had 10 possessions on post-ups, per Synergy. Kevin Love is the 8th most efficient among them. Eleven of the 62 total possessions that have ended with the ball in Love's hands (regardless of location) have resulted in turnovers. He has made only nine of the 27 two-point field goals he has attempted in the series - this marks the 4th straight year he has been substantially worse inside the arc than outside AND the 4th straight year he has been at least 6% worse on two-pointers during the playoffs than the regular season. All of these things are gross and unpleasant.

In the 2012-13 season, Kevin Love played in just 18 games due to injury problems. During those 18 games, he dunked the ball eight times. That's not a ton, as he's never been a bigtime dunker, but it's a serviceable amount. In 59 games this season, Kevin Love (who is probably 30 lbs lighter than he was in 2012-13) dunked five times. Five dunks is fewer than Joe Ingles had. Of course, he didn't get the ball inside anywhere near as often this year as he did with Minnesota, but just imagine Kevin Love dunking. Can you? What would it look like? It's not a natural image, is it?

Role with Team

If Kevin Love is not an interior player - and let's be clear, right now he is not - then what's his role? He's not a defensive stopper, of course, although he played really good 1-on-1 defense vs. Collison on a switch late in game four. He's not been able to create his own shot. He has turned the ball over at a higher clip in these past four games than at any point in his career (looking at turnovers per 36 minutes). He doesn't get the ball in positions to utilize his passing skills. He isn't being used in pick-and-pop or pick-and-roll action.

At this point, with the way the Cavs are utilizing him (Ty Lue is largely responsible for this), Kevin Love is a shooter who can get a few defensive rebounds. Nothing else. He is a role-playing shooter who is only useful if his shot is going in. He is a floor-spacer.

On the bright side, he's actually really good at that. For all the awful inside play, and the general feeling that Kevin Love is a shell of his former self, he is once again shooting 40% on three-pointers. He has never shot worse than 40% on three-pointers in the playoffs. In fact, if he holds on at this 40% mark the rest of the way, it would be the worst outside shooting mark of his playoff career.

So What's the Problem?

He's not being used in anything resembling an effective way. If Kevin Love can't score in the post - and once again, right now he cannot - then quit putting him down there and force-feeding him the ball. If he's going to score ridiculously inefficiently from the block, then don't post him up. If he's still going to score on pick-and-pops, which he was phenomenal at during the regular season, then maybe try doing that.

Regardless of what he's not doing well, Kevin Love is still shooting three-pointers well. How many times have the Cavaliers run plays to get him open threes?

The answer is roughly four. Four times this series we've seen a possession end with Kevin Love getting the ball in a pick-and-roll situation. Three of the times he was fading back for a shot (he went 1-2 on the two three-pointers, plus one miss coming on a pump fake and 18-foot jumper). The one time he rolled to the basket, he missed. He has also come off a screen for a three-pointer once. He made it.

The dirty little secret is that Kevin Love will not shoot as badly as he has shot thus far, so continuing to set him up for open shots is unquestionably the right move. However, those shots should be coming outside the arc instead of inside. If he's not making his shots, the Cavaliers are in trouble, as has been abundantly clear.

The Cavs and their staff (and their players) always talk about "getting Kevin Love involved" but to do that they just throw the ball to him on the left block. It's not working. It's not going to work. Stop doing it. Look at what works, then maybe do that. Pick and pops, pick and rolls, pin-down screens like he's Kyle Korver (because, guess what! Love is shooting better than Korver right now). Do something that maximizes what Kevin Love currently does well instead of things that he used to do well.

Kevin Love is not broken. Kevin Love has changed. The way the Cavaliers use him was a major change four years ago, but it hasn't changed much since then. At the risk of overusing a word...that needs to change.

Despite all this, the Cavs are sitting at 2-2 and If you look at the game schedule and sites to browse for NBA betting, you'll see that Cleveland are favored to win the series. They have the best player and home-court advantage. They also have the luxury of knowing that through four games, nobody other than LeBron James has played a game that's better than what could reasonably be expected of them. Everyone has been worse than or equal to their baseline in each of the four games.

And now it's a three-game series.

I like Kevin Love. I have to lead with that because I think this might end up being a hit-piece on the guy. He's been very good at certain times - certain important times included - but we forget all of that when he disappears or appears unplayable in key moments.

Here are some of the things Kevin Love has done in his tenure with the Cavaliers:

  • Has made nearly 38% of his three-pointers
  • Has averaged 10.0 rebounds per game
  • Scored 34 points in one quarter (1st quarter vs. Portland, November 23, 2016)
  • Developed incredible full-court pass chemistry with LeBron James
  • Deftly accepted a role change that very few star players would accept
  • Dealt with numerous injuries, media scrutiny, and constant roster turmoil
  • Switched out on Steph Curry for the 2nd most important defensive play in Cavaliers history

He has pretty clearly been a good player, sometimes a great player, while always being second or third fiddle to LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. He has done almost everything the team has asked of him, particularly in the first three seasons and en route to a title. 

But what is Kevin Love? Is he a shooter? Is he a star? Is he overpaid? Is he mis-utilized? Is he glossed over? Is he underappreciated? Is he...good? I'm going to break down some crazy statistics in an effort to figure this out.

Inside Presence

Last year I took a look at how Kevin Love would be an X-Factor in the playoffs, and one of my points was how he is surprisingly inefficient in the post. If you've watched this Cavs/Pacers series, you know he's been especially awful down there, but it's no longer clear what is an outlier. Those stats from last year still hold true: Love was far more efficient from the right side of the floor but had way fewer chances from the right side. In short: The Cavs didn't give him the ball where he's most effective.

So far in these playoffs (before Monday's games), nine players have had 10 possessions on post-ups, per Synergy. Kevin Love is the 8th most efficient among them. Eleven of the 62 total possessions that have ended with the ball in Love's hands (regardless of location) have resulted in turnovers. He has made only nine of the 27 two-point field goals he has attempted in the series - this marks the 4th straight year he has been substantially worse inside the arc than outside AND the 4th straight year he has been at least 6% worse on two-pointers during the playoffs than the regular season. All of these things are gross and unpleasant.

In the 2012-13 season, Kevin Love played in just 18 games due to injury problems. During those 18 games, he dunked the ball eight times. That's not a ton, as he's never been a bigtime dunker, but it's a serviceable amount. In 59 games this season, Kevin Love (who is probably 30 lbs lighter than he was in 2012-13) dunked five times. Five dunks is fewer than Joe Ingles had. Of course, he didn't get the ball inside anywhere near as often this year as he did with Minnesota, but just imagine Kevin Love dunking. Can you? What would it look like? It's not a natural image, is it?

Role with Team

If Kevin Love is not an interior player - and let's be clear, right now he is not - then what's his role? He's not a defensive stopper, of course, although he played really good 1-on-1 defense vs. Collison on a switch late in game four. He's not been able to create his own shot. He has turned the ball over at a higher clip in these past four games than at any point in his career (looking at turnovers per 36 minutes). He doesn't get the ball in positions to utilize his passing skills. He isn't being used in pick-and-pop or pick-and-roll action.

At this point, with the way the Cavs are utilizing him (Ty Lue is largely responsible for this), Kevin Love is a shooter who can get a few defensive rebounds. Nothing else. He is a role-playing shooter who is only useful if his shot is going in. He is a floor-spacer.

On the bright side, he's actually really good at that. For all the awful inside play, and the general feeling that Kevin Love is a shell of his former self, he is once again shooting 40% on three-pointers. He has never shot worse than 40% on three-pointers in the playoffs. In fact, if he holds on at this 40% mark the rest of the way, it would be the worst outside shooting mark of his playoff career.

So What's the Problem?

He's not being used in anything resembling an effective way. If Kevin Love can't score in the post - and once again, right now he cannot - then quit putting him down there and force-feeding him the ball. If he's going to score ridiculously inefficiently from the block, then don't post him up. If he's still going to score on pick-and-pops, which he was phenomenal at during the regular season, then maybe try doing that.

Regardless of what he's not doing well, Kevin Love is still shooting three-pointers well. How many times have the Cavaliers run plays to get him open threes?

The answer is roughly four. Four times this series we've seen a possession end with Kevin Love getting the ball in a pick-and-roll situation. Three of the times he was fading back for a shot (he went 1-2 on the two three-pointers, plus one miss coming on a pump fake and 18-foot jumper). The one time he rolled to the basket, he missed. He has also come off a screen for a three-pointer once. He made it.

The dirty little secret is that Kevin Love will not shoot as badly as he has shot thus far, so continuing to set him up for open shots is unquestionably the right move. However, those shots should be coming outside the arc instead of inside. If he's not making his shots, the Cavaliers are in trouble, as has been abundantly clear.

The Cavs and their staff (and their players) always talk about "getting Kevin Love involved" but to do that they just throw the ball to him on the left block. It's not working. It's not going to work. Stop doing it. Look at what works, then maybe do that. Pick and pops, pick and rolls, pin-down screens like he's Kyle Korver (because, guess what! Love is shooting better than Korver right now). Do something that maximizes what Kevin Love currently does well instead of things that he used to do well.

Kevin Love is not broken. Kevin Love has changed. The way the Cavaliers use him was a major change four years ago, but it hasn't changed much since then. At the risk of overusing a word...that needs to change.

Despite all this, the Cavs are sitting at 2-2 and If you look at the game schedule and sites to browse for NBA betting, you'll see that Cleveland are favored to win the series. They have the best player and home-court advantage. They also have the luxury of knowing that through four games, nobody other than LeBron James has played a game that's better than what could reasonably be expected of them. Everyone has been worse than or equal to their baseline in each of the four games.

And now it's a three-game series.

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