Draft prospect question

[Zeitgeister]

It was a common draft thing last year. That love was undersized even for a pf.

A little undersized as power forward (not by much though) but also average athleticism or a little worse. I think that's where the concerns came into play. Obviously he's done well so far to overcome those concerns.

I wouldn't say that. There's not another big man in the entire league who got his shot blocked at the rim as often as Love (link).

Yeah, I was thinking about mentioning that, but I figured I would get called a hater etc. It was a big problem of his for much of the year. He would get the offensive rebound, but he didn't have the length or athleticism to finish close to the basket, so he would often times get his shot blocked.

[casey]

From watching the games we all know that he struggled with that at the beginning of the year but it was not much of a problem as he progressed.

Month --- Blk'd - FGA - %Blk'd
October --- 1 ---- 8 -- 12.5%
November - 13 -- 116 - 11.2%
December - 14 --- 97 - 14.4%
January --- 12 --- 97 - 12.4%
February -- 11 -- 104 - 10.6%
March ---- 20 -- 209 -- 9.6%
April ------ 7 --- 57 -- 12.3%
Total ----- 76 -- 688 - 11.3%

That's for all shots, not just inside. Drops off a bit, but is still really high.

[C.lupus]

Is that an issue with Love per se or because we have him playing out of position at center frequently?

Just asking.

[mandurugo]

Is that an issue with Love per se or because we have him playing out of position at center frequently?

Just asking.

That's a Love issue - anybody can block his shot. But to his credit, he is very good at recovering the block and going up for another shot. This has the advantage of padding his rebounding numbers while not losing the offensive possession, works for him. Actually I think Love is much better off with a broken play than he is from a set play. He really struggles to score from any position when the defense is set against him, but if the play breaks down and people are scrambling/out of position he is surprisingly effective. He might end up having a Cedric Ceballos type role (with a different game) - most effective when plays aren't run for him but he just reacts to miscues.

[C.lupus]

Wow. Cedric Ceballos - that's a name I haven't heard in a long time.

Thanks. I'm really interested to see how Love comes in next year. If he works on keeping his weight down and building up his leg strength and stamina, it might really help him in this regard.

[revprodeji]

I agree with the CC comment. I think it is an issue Love will work with and against for his career. But to be fair, as the 2nd post player he will be drawing the weaker of the 2 defenders with Al as the center.

[john2jer]

Zeitgeister, where's that KWSN-Men quote from? That's funny stuff. I'd love to read that thread. I'm curious how the exchange rate and language barrier/translation skewed the result.

[Worm Guts]

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=908342&start=45

[john2jer]

Oh dear I almost dropped tears I was laughing so hard at that thread.

[revprodeji]

worm..wow