Cleveland Cavaliers v Memphis Grizzlies Kevin Love will have a lot of fun playing with LeBron James in Kyrie Irving this year. He already is.
LeBron and Irving are better than any of Love’s teammates in Minnesota, and both are willing distributors.
In time, this should go really well – offensively at least.
But there’s an adjust period, and Love is feeling its effects.
Love, via Chris Haynes of The Plain Dealer:
“My entire life I’ve played the game from inside-out,” Love explained to NEOMG. “So the more touches I can get inside to get myself going, the better. I’m not accustomed to starting out a game shooting a three, so it’s just something that I see.
“Yeah, the offense is built that way but I just have to make a conscious decision to get myself in there,” Love said. “There are a lot of times where I just find myself fading to the three-point line. For me, it’s a mentality and that’s easy to fix.
Love is an excellent 3-point shooter for his size, but what makes him stand out is his ability to score outside AND inside. To maximize his skills, the Cavaliers need him to both.
But this is what Chris Bosh was talking about. Love must change his game to complement LeBron and Irving.
Plus, David Blatt’s offense calls for a floor-stretching big.
The situation, more than Love’s skill set, is pulling him to the perimeter – and that’s OK.
The Cavaliers can’t be about maximizing Love’s skills – or LeBron’s skills or Irving’s skills. They have to be about finding the equilibrium that best serves the team, and likely, that means each of the three playing a style not perfectly tailored to him.
Love can probably stand to get more inside touches within that system, but he has to understand Cleveland putting him in ideal positions to succeed individually – while ignoring what that would mean for everyone else – shouldn’t be the goal. Everyone has to find happy mediums, and that takes time.
-
- miamibeatles - Oct 23, 2014 at 2:51 PM
-
Pat “GodFather” Riley kept Miami’s lockerroom together. Who’s gonna hold the Cavalier’s together?
-
- tashkalucy - Oct 23, 2014 at 6:32 PM
-
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/lebron-james-made-list-expectations-181400825.html
-
- miamboy - Oct 24, 2014 at 12:06 PM
-
a heat fan! I concur…he better ask lerbron first.kevein better know his place in the cav’s line-up!and that’s #2.
-
- boutdatcomment - Oct 23, 2014 at 2:58 PM
-
somebody not happy!
-
- edon8334 - Oct 23, 2014 at 3:02 PM
-
he couldve fooled me with that in 2K it’s like he had a dog collar on in that game that restricted him from going in the paint …i hate 2k
-
- myhawks1976 - Oct 23, 2014 at 3:28 PM
-
Ummmm…. OK Feldman. Trying to create a story here?
-
- urodaddy07 - Oct 23, 2014 at 11:34 PM
-
Not the first time
-
- therealhtj - Oct 23, 2014 at 3:41 PM
-
And so it begins. See you in LA next summer, Klove.
-
- blazenhawks - Oct 23, 2014 at 3:53 PM
-
If he leave he would leave for Portland sorry!!! If Portland can’t re-sign Aldridge. Love is from Lake O and I’m sure if he got the chance he could.. not saying with will happen just watch out for that.
-
- truehooper1421 - Oct 23, 2014 at 3:55 PM
-
The LeBron effect. I’ll probably repeat this 100 times and get a 100 thumbs downs but but Bosh, Wade, now Love have all said similar things about adjusting and changing their game to play with him. He’s great for role players, not so great for all stars. Ultimately, the team wins which is what matters, but LeBron takes away from what other great players do well. Everyone has to adjust to him but he doesn’t have to adjust to anybody. Since Kyrie is a wizard with the ball in his hands, has LeBron been focusing on his spot up shooting? Or was Kyrie the one who said he’ll be ready to shoot when LeBron drives?
-
- jasper36 - Oct 23, 2014 at 4:19 PM
-
truehooper1421 you are right on the money, and most people will take it as a knock on LeBron, but it’s not. It’s the truth, LeBron is a Great Great player, but what the Cleveland fans will come to realize is that, there is so much sacrificing that has to be done to compliment LeBron if you’re a superstar. That doesn’t mean Cleveland wont win a title. What it does mean is that the regular season will look totally different than the preseason, because Kyrie will not be handling the ball as much, and Kevin Love will have to really adjust. This is what I think Bosh, and Wade don’t get enough credit for. They sacrificed so much of themselves for the greater good of the team. And people make it seem like it’s easy. They will see this year that it’s not as easy as they think. Yes the Cavaliers will be better than the Heat this year, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a piece of cake there. And you can bring in all the former Heat player you want to try and recreate that culture. But the main guys that established the sacrificing culture still reside in Miami.
-
- tashkalucy - Oct 23, 2014 at 6:39 PM
-
I think Cleveland fans understand the player Lebron is. They watched him his whole life until he went to Miami. They don’t need to “come to realize” anything.
Pierce, Allen and Garnett were the focal parts of their teams, and only Garnett played any D. When they went to the Celtics they changed.
These are among the top tier of professional basketball players in the world. They will adjust their games to give their team the best chance to win a championship. No one dragged them to Cleveland against their will. And that goes for more then 2 or 3 players on the team.
-
- toycannoni - Oct 23, 2014 at 11:42 PM
-
ludicrous to say the least….both posts
lebron is the most unselfish player in the game and he makes everyone around him better
that’s why bosh and wade were willing to take a lot less this year for him to stay….bosh was leaving for houston after he heard lebron was going home and riley had to cough up 30 million more than houston offered to talk him out of it
what may be being said by the heat now, if anything, is all sour grapes…. it’s all available to read and all you have to do is look for it
bosh should be happy he’s gone with all the extra cash he made off of it….problem is, he’s got to deliver now or he’ll be getting raked over the coals while he’s heading for the bank
gonna be interesting to see how he does not having to sacrifice his game….he sure won’t be getting all those open shots anymore
i wish him and the heat all the best but they’ll be better off just keeping quiet no matter what happens
-
- truehooper1421 - Oct 24, 2014 at 9:35 AM
-
@toy – You mean Bosh won’t get any open 3’s? The open 3’s HE NEVER HAD TO SHOOT BEFORE HE PLAYED WITH LEBRON!?
Bosh’s stats pre-Heat are available to read, you just have to look it up. He didn’t need LeBron to get 22 and 10. He needed him to win a championship, not to be a better individual player.
-
- mrphotograph94 - Oct 23, 2014 at 8:50 PM
-
No matter how LeBron plays he’ll help is team. He’s underrated in the post, plus he’s added a skyhook which will be interesting to see this year. But also he’s one of the best spot up shooters in the NBA, I think he was something like 60% from deep on spot ups last year. LeBron doesn’t really need to adjust must b/c he fits in any/every system. He can play on ball or off. But it is gonna be more difficult this year b/c in Miami they didn’t all need the ball, they could feed off each other a little more b/c at least in the beginning they were all more athletic. But these guys all are used to having the ball and creating for themselves all the time. But I think it’ll work. Just give it some time. Took Miami 17 games before they started to get rolling.
-
- toycannoni - Oct 23, 2014 at 11:53 PM
-
that baby sky hook is going to be devastating to defenses….as you can see in the picture it’s going to open up some wide open 3’s when the d collapses in on it
looks like the magic johnson sky
-
- mrphotograph94 - Oct 23, 2014 at 8:54 PM
-
I think it’ll be interesting this year. I do think the best way for them to start the game would be to feed the ball to love 3-4 times in the paint real quick and then go into their offense. That way Love would get some easy buckets and touches and if they doubled him then Kyrie/LeBron and the rest of the team could get some easy jumpers. But then once they go into their offense there’s probably going to be a lot more movement and 1v1 most of this team can beat many defenders off the dribble. Plus the new big 3 are all pretty good shooters, they’re going to be a threat from everywhere on the floor. I imagine many times this will happen: Love gets the defensive rebound, throws the long outlet pass to Kyrie on the wing, and Kyrie lobs it up to LeBron for the slam. Their fastbreak should be a thing of beauty and I’d bet that the ball won’t touch the ground very often.
-
- toycannoni - Oct 23, 2014 at 11:18 PM
-
haha,,,,to all you wishy washy fans that think he’ll be leaving all you have to do is read his own words
lebron is large and in charge ….love ain’t going anywhere until he gets his 4 or 5 rings
here’s the read…read it and weep
http://www.theplayerstribune.com/kevin-love-how-i-spent-my-summer-vacation/
here’s the ending…
Are you the second wheel? Are you the third wheel? What about your stats?
To them I say: I don’t care. I’ve never played in a playoff game. I came to Cleveland because I want to win. I’ll grab a broom and sweep the floors if it gets me an NBA title.
-
- truehooper1421 - Oct 24, 2014 at 9:23 AM
-
They say that now, until they don’t win and everybody blames Love and Kyrie and don’t saying anything about LeBron.
“Wade’s knees”
“Bosh is soft now”
“Bosh just shoots 3’s”
“Wade can’t play D”Remember, LeBron won absolutely nothing without Wade and Bosh..it’s not like LeBron was perfection before joining up with hall of famers.
-
- tcharles2376 - Oct 24, 2014 at 11:07 AM
-
@ toy… Hey, thanks for that link. Very good read, and I like Love even more after reading that. I’m also finding myself actually warming to Lebron as well. From Love’s description, Lebron seems to actually be a GREAT teammate. Maybe…just maybe, this also had something to do with his teammates in Miami being willing to take pay cuts, and others even following him to Cleveland. You don’t see too many superstars doing this for Kobe over the years. Sounds like Kobe could learn a thing or two about being a good teammate from Lebron. If anything all three are going to need to make sacrifices for one another, because this is possibly the most offensively capable big 3 in history (time will tell)! This is all coming from a San Antonio residing SPURS fan! Oh, and I loved the Duncan reference in that article by Love.. Priceless!
-
- toycannoni - Oct 24, 2014 at 12:11 PM
-
wade is a hall of famer that was a gimp after the first 2 years….bosh, i doubt he gets in unless he can carry miami to a championship and i doubt that will ever happen
lebron won with a wet behind the ears coach
jordan played with hall of famers and the greatest coach of all time….he never won anything without them
shaq played with hall of famers and the greatest coach of all time….he never won anything without them
kobe played with hall of famers and the greatest coach of all time….he never won anything without them
exactly why rings mean nothing after you get your first, when you’re debating the GOAT
lebron took the cavs to the finals with no one else on the team to help….he had to score the last 25 points in the final game to get them there
the hate card gets old, my friend….just be happy that you got to view greatness at its best
all i did was show you clowns what love said…
he ain’t going nowhere and if he ever did, someone else would want to come and replace him….this isn’t kobe were talking about
-
- truehooper1421 - Oct 24, 2014 at 9:20 AM
-
@toycannani – LeBron is very unselfish, nobody said he wasn’t. Stop being emotional about him and defending him because it’s not necessary. This is the point though, he is unselfish but he needs the ball in his hands to make plays. Dwade used to be that guy, then he had to change his game to being a cutter and playing off the ball so LeBron could pass it to him.
Kyrie will have to do the same thing. Instead of being the one to shred up defenses, he will have to cut more and spot up more. Not a knock against anyone just fact that since LeBron is better than everyone, no matter how good you are you will have to change up your game for him. One of their preseason games, Love got a rebound, looked at Kyrie for an outlet pass, then turned and passed it to LeBron instead. Kyrie started walking up the court like he was pissed and LeBron saw so he threw it across the court to him so he could bring it up.
People are so quick to forget how good Bosh was (statistically) before joining the Heat. Bosh ended up getting all the backlash of people saying he was soft and should do this and do that. The reality is that Bosh had to change his game for the good of the team and it worked. But he still got the backlash when they lost, not LeBron.
Kevin Love will be in the same situation. His 26 and 13 will be cut to like 17 and 10 which is still good. But if the CAVS lose, people will look at the numbers and say, wow Love fell off.. Just like they did with Bosh.
But statistics don’t matter. As long as they win. But it is still a fact that LeBron on the team will takeaway from what other superstars do. It’s just true.
-
- toycannoni - Oct 25, 2014 at 10:53 AM
-
all i’m saying is you can’t believe everything the media tosses out there
here’s lebrons reaction to this very topic….people don’t understand that this is not just a team but this is the kings family and he’s the leader, there won’t be any back stabbing like you saw with kobe and dwight howard in lala land
that s**t was toxic and got blown out of proportion and never got straightened out….believe me i saw it after every game in the locker room interviews
won’t happen under lebron’s watch trust me, here’s his take….
James didn’t like the way new teammate Kevin Love’s comments after Wednesday’s preseason finale in Memphis were headlined. Love said he had played his entire career from the inside-out and wasn’t used to having his first shot of the game be a 3-pointer. He said he needed more shots inside to get his game back.
“We’re all going to go through an adjustment,” James said. “Any time one of us says something, it will get blown out of proportion. I think that got blown out of proportion. I read the clips, what he stressed, and the first thing you see is, ‘Kevin Love wants more touches. He’s unhappy.’ I’ve had zero reaction because I know all about that. He will get his touches. We need him to get his touches in order for us to be successful, both inside and outside.”
Blatt said the Cavs will make an effort to accommodate Love’s wishes.
-
- tcharles2376 - Oct 24, 2014 at 10:51 AM
-
Rubbish..Yes, playing with Lebron does require altering your game (but that applies when any superstar joins a new team. I remember the first season or two (when Wade had good health), Wade was pretty much matching Lebron in pts, assists, and rebounds. He never really toned his game down, it was his health that slowed him down, not Lebron! As for Bosh… he was never anywhere near Wade’s, or Lebron’s level to begin with, period…But I repeat preWadeinjuries, Lebron & Wade were both tearing it up almost equally.
-
- toycannoni - Oct 25, 2014 at 10:56 AM
-
you’re welcome tcharles….good luck with your spurs this year, nothing but a class organization
would love to see the spurs and cavs play for the title when it’s all said and done
-
- andrewwiggins22 - Oct 23, 2014 at 4:00 PM
-
You should be training with The Dream first before demanding some touches down low.
-
- jeffkx - Oct 23, 2014 at 4:03 PM
-
Big time lol at the clowns on here thinking Love is going to leave after 7 pre-season games. Good lord you guys are stupid.
-
- therealhtj - Oct 23, 2014 at 5:07 PM
-
It normally takes about 7 minutes in Cleveland to want to leave. We’re giving Love extra credit for sticking it out this long.
-
- tashkalucy - Oct 23, 2014 at 6:40 PM
-
That’s a dumb comment.
-
- feb16oh - Oct 23, 2014 at 4:13 PM
-
This quote is completely taken out of context. Read the original article. He’s saying he’ll be more comfortable AS he gets more and more touches inside throughout the year. You’re all idiots. Writer included.
-
- hwatt - Oct 23, 2014 at 4:27 PM
-
you really think this is gonna change? You REALLY think, when they go into crunch time, and they need the guy to take over a game.. who do you really think that’s gonna be?
-
- tashkalucy - Oct 23, 2014 at 6:41 PM
-
I think they’re going to go to the open guy, as they have 3 closers,
-
- truehooper1421 - Oct 24, 2014 at 9:26 AM
-
No, Tasha, it will be LeBron James with the ball and everybody else spotting up.
-
- jasper36 - Oct 23, 2014 at 4:50 PM
-
Who is to say he will get those touches throughout the year? That’s the point, it’s only one ball that is a fact that will not change, and Kevin Love will have to adjust accordingly.
-
- tashkalucy - Oct 23, 2014 at 6:42 PM
-
He probably never realized that until you wrote it here.
-
- rafy7551 - Oct 24, 2014 at 10:18 AM
-
Which he will never get more touches… Actually he will get less & less touches!!! Playing with Lebron is not easy and specially for selfish players like Love that is already demanding more touches…
-
- feb16oh - Oct 24, 2014 at 6:48 PM
-
Pretty astounded that I have to clear this up further, but whatever: HE WAS NOT REFERRING TO “TOUCHES PER GAME.” He literally means “as he plays more and more in the offense.”
In other words, ya bags of moron, EACH TIME he gets a touch inside, he will be a little more experienced and comfortable than the previous time. He’s talking about familiarity.
-
- jasper36 - Oct 23, 2014 at 7:18 PM
-
tashkalucy you are right about one thing, Cleveland fans don’t have to realize anything. Though I doubt they watched LeBron when he went to Miami (far from his entire career), and that Celtic team you mentioned had Rajon Rondo (a great defensive point guard), Tony Allen (another great defensive guard), Kendrick Perkins (plays pretty good defense), and James Posey. So no the Celtics did not turn into this great defensive juggernaut by chance. They easily masked the defensive deficiencies of Allen, and Pierce. And just because they are top tier basketball players does not mean it’s meant to work. Remember the Lakers with Dwight Howard that everyone thought was a lock to go to the championship? I do, no I don’t believe that will be Cleveland; as I stated above, but I know there will be some adjusting for sure.
-
- packergator - Oct 24, 2014 at 9:45 AM
-
The Cavs will need him to play well at the other end of the court in order to be in position for a title.
-
- hildacorduno - Oct 24, 2014 at 11:35 AM
-
And so it starts, season not even started and someone is ALREADY whining. Really?
