Can Love AVERAGE 20 rebounds at some point in his career?

[mark blunt]

No.

And Kevin Love is officially the biggest stat padder in the NBA.

Dude's averaging 24.5 PPG & 17.7 RPG on 62% TS in December.

If he was bouncing balls off the backboard this number would be lower.

[Greyhound]

With that said, the way you're equating Love to Lucas smacks of the white guy = white guy comparisons people are prone to do, and to me that doesn't make any sense because the two guys have very different body types. Love is a Barkley-style guy. People get fixated on his height, but it's all about the dude's girth (and IQ of course). A heavy mass, low center of mass guy can push taller, more athletic guys out of the way.

Not only was Lucas not of that build, neither were Wilt or Russell. So yeah, Love maybe can do things these other guys cannot.

And with all that said, I think it is telling that the guy who comes along in this age of putative hyper-athletes and slaughters the rest of the league in rebounding, is a "slow, fat, white guy" - and that does hammer home the comical nature of stating that Wilt & co didn't have to compete with the athletes of today.

The Lucas comparison may be a bit off, but so too is your counter comparison of Barkley. Barkley was short in stature with a beefy lower body and low overall center of gravity, but he was also an explosive athlete. His rebounding depended largely on his ability to cover ground and out jump guys to rebounds outside of his own personal space. His strength and low center of gravity allowed him to carve out space and battle for rebounds in traffic the way Love does, but that was only a portion of his approach. The player that Love most reminds me of from a rebounding approach POV is Danny Fortson (and Wes Unseld before him). Like Fortson, Love has a knack for the ball that cannot be taught and he uses his low center of gravity to clear out space under the hoop relentlessly. Another thing they share is that they elevate for rebounds out of a stance of strength not overly reliant on explosiveness. They carve out space in the box out crouch then power straight up towards the ball (textbook rebounding form) as opposed to the on step gather and explode most players use to maximize the height of their jump.

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Love possesses Unseld's outlet pass as well.

[Doctor MJ]

The Lucas comparison may be a bit off, but so too is your counter comparison of Barkley. Barkley was short in stature with a beefy lower body and low overall center of gravity, but he was also an explosive athlete. His rebounding depended largely on his ability to cover ground and out jump guys to rebounds outside of his own personal space. His strength and low center of gravity allowed him to carve out space and battle for rebounds in traffic the way Love does, but that was only a portion of his approach. The player that Love most reminds me of from a rebounding approach POV is Danny Fortson (and Wes Unseld before him). Like Fortson, Love has a knack for the ball that cannot be taught and he uses his low center of gravity to clear out space under the hoop relentlessly. Another thing they share is that they elevate for rebounds out of a stance of strength not overly reliant on explosiveness. They carve out space in the box out crouch then power straight up towards the ball (textbook rebounding form) as opposed to the on step gather and explode most players use to maximize the height of their jump.

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Love possesses Unseld's outlet pass as well.

Good post, and yeah, you don't hear much about Love's outlet now, but it is excellent.

[tsherkin]

Barkley was short in stature with a beefy lower body and low overall center of gravity, but he was also an explosive athlete. His rebounding depended largely on his ability to cover ground and out jump guys to rebounds outside of his own personal space. His strength and low center of gravity allowed him to carve out space and battle for rebounds in traffic the way Love does, but that was only a portion of his approach.

Funny story, true story, Barkley wasn't significantly worse on the glass in his mid-30s than he was at any other time in his career. I really don't think his athleticism was seriously important to his rebounding at all, except for the occasional flashy rebound. He averaged 12+ REB36 in each of his last 4 seasons. Granted, they were injured seasons, but there's a 68-game season in there too, in which he averaged 11.7 rpg at the age of 34. That was at 12.7 REB36, and he only exceeded that twice (the year after, in an injury-shortened season, and when he was 23).

Barkley did just fine on the glass without serious athleticism; once the hamstring and quad injuries and stuff started to pile up, he was still getting it done with his low center of gravity, anticipation and raw power, not from explosive athletic ability.

[Dupp]

Its not insane or completely out of the question, but its highly unlikely. I would put it at about the same likely of Durant ever scoring 40ppg over a full season. He has the ability, and if the right circumstances with playing time, teammates, system, etc etc all fell into place at exactly the right time...maybe. But I think his realistic limit for a season is 18 and he will likely fall into the 14-16 area for the next 5 seasons. But he is a monster on the glass like we haven't seen in a good long time.

no he doesnt

[richboy]

Its not impossible when you consider he only plays 34 minutes. Wilt only averaged 20 per 36 minutes twice. In a much higher pace league. If Love played 40 minutes a game he could pull it off.

[Based]

skinny fat is the new ripped.

[Bergy]

that 2008 draft looks better all the time

[Yuri Vaultin]

Love can absolutely average 20 rebounds at some point in his career. For example, if after his NBA career winds down he may decide to go overseas and play against these guys...

[ChuckTheD]

Let's wait for him to maintain 15 for more than a month and a half before we start thinking about 20.

[Doctor MJ]

Let's wait for him to maintain 15 for more than a month and a half before we start thinking about 20.

Hmm, how long should we wait?

[TheRightAnswer]

The NBA has seen an increased pace the last handful of years and i don't think it's plateaud. If it keeps increasing, there's a greater possibility for him to do it.

Also, with Rubio coming in next year (probably), you have to assume they're going to run an offense that plays to his strengths, which means a lot of running and fastbreaks. More opportunities for Love to get rebounds.

Or maybe he signs with a team down the road that plays at a fast pace.

If he's in the right situation, I think he can do it.

[Andrewchos]

Love is amazing, he's been playing like a fusion mix of Dirk and Rodman.

Really unbelievable how talented he looks at times.

[kingkirk]

Love is amazing, he's been playing like a fusion mix of Dirk and Rodman.

Really unbelievable how talented he looks at times.

Yer, naaaa.

And no, he cant. Not in the NBA.

[C.lupus]

The NBA has seen an increased pace the last handful of years and i don't think it's plateaud. If it keeps increasing, there's a greater possibility for him to do it.

Also, with Rubio coming in next year (probably), you have to assume they're going to run an offense that plays to his strengths, which means a lot of running and fastbreaks. More opportunities for Love to get rebounds.

Or maybe he signs with a team down the road that plays at a fast pace.

If he's in the right situation, I think he can do it.

Minnesota leads the league in pace.

http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/teamst ... paceFactor