He averages 25 ppg and 14 rebounds. I don't see anyone saying he's the best player in the League or even in the discussion as a possible great player. Those are great stats, and he's absolutely not the reason that Minnesota's losing.
Don't hear much about him anymore, but Steve Nash has to be up there. He's a good PG, who's a below average athlete, average ball handler at best, and an absolutely worthless defender. He won two damn MVPs. That's bullshit IMO.
I do. When ESPN has a poll asking about long-term potential and Love is tied with Blake Griffin with LaMarcus Aldridge a distant third, he's overrated. When a similar poll about ranking Olympic hopefuls has him 9th--ahead of Deron Williams and Russell Westbrook, along with Aldridge and Griffin--it's frankly getting ridiculous.
So, people voting in a poll is similar to the media hyping someone? I don't see any media types hyping Love as the best player in the League. And, if one is objective, Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, and Aldridge might very well be the best three players at that position right now.
Sure. Regarding Love: he is an excellent player that I don't believe to be overhyped at all. Any "Love" that he gets is justified by a stat line that is far and away the best PF stat line in the league, unless you count Lebron James as a PF. 25pts, 14rebs, 2 treys, 46% FG, 81% FT Regarding Durant: he is arguably the best scorer in the game who is known as arguably the best scorer in the game. Lebron James is the best player in the game, and everybody knows that. But Durant is top 5, and is known as being top 5. He is therefore neither underrated nor overrated, but appropriately rated.
Present me with an argument that Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge are better basketball players than Kevin Love. I'm being completely serious and I'm not implying that this argument cannot be reasonably presented. I'd just like to hear your rationale.
Love shoots more threes (and makes more threes). Two per game as compared to one every other game. And that is kind of funny because Westbrook is a shooting guard....I mean a point guard.
He shoots 42% from the three point line. What am I missing? Hold on, let me check to see if I'm wearing pants. Okay, I figured out what I'm missing.
This does nothing to dispute my point. Take threes out of the equation and from inside the line, Love STILL shoots a lower percentage than the PG Westbrook.
Both are much more athletic, better defenders (especially if we're comparing potential, as Griffin has much more room to improve than Love does) who can make at least half of their shots. Aldridge is a much better midrange shooter as well. Love has rebounding and threes, which becomes somewhat less impressive when you realize that a 37% 3-point shooter maybe shouldn't be jacking them up more often than Ray Allen does.
1. I don't even think there is a colorable argument that Griffin is better than Love. 2. I'll grant you that Aldridge vs. Love is debatable. I agree that Aldridge is more athletic, but Love is pulling down more than 3 rebounds for every two Aldridge pulls down, so I've got to give that more weight. I also disagree that Aldridge is a better mid-range shooter. 3. Love is hitting 38% this year and hit 42% last year from behind the arc. At what percentage do you think he should get the green light?
Kevin Love is on a complete shit team where he is essentially the only option. And, shooting 37% from 3 is certainly not bad.
If we're taking the future into account, any NBA GM would take Griffin 10 times out of 10. Why do you think the Wolves wouldn't offer Love the max? Griffin is raw in terms of free throws and defense, but is already a better shotblocker, will always be more athletic, is about the same as a rebounder and is a much better finisher at the rim (Love's career high there is 60.5% and Griffin shot 68% at the rim as a rookie; 72% right now.) Love is much closer to his potential than Griffin is right now, so the fact that Griffin is already better at most of the things a PF normally does is pretty damning for Love. No sub-40% big man (Love is at 37% career) should be shooting five threes a game. It's not really part of what's asked of a PF anyway, so unless you're exceptionally good at it (which he's not), you shouldn't be hanging out on the outside and shooting that much. Take a lesson from Wayne Chism, cut that attempts total in half, and focus on not sucking at the higher-percentage shots a 4 is supposed to make.
If Love essentially is the Timberwolves, why wouldn't they pay him as much as possible to keep him there? Why weren't they a .500 team last year like they are now?
So your problem with Kevin Love is that he doesn't play how you determine a PF play? Who gives a [uck fay] how he gets his points, he gets 25 a night. Why is it that Griffin is just a beaken of untapped potential, while Love has hit his ceiling? Can Love not develop a 15 foot shot? Or a couple of post moves? The argument about Westbrook's FG% vs Love's FG% is skewed, considering Westbrook takes more shots in the paint than any other guard in the NBA, also has the best scorer in the NBA in Kevin Durant and one of the NBA's best players off the bench in James Harden to help create space for him to take whoever is trying to guard him straight to the rim. Griffin, at this point can't hit a FT to save his life, has a weak jumper, can't play defense. He is an exciting player that can do things that make your eyes bug out but he is far from a complete player, not sure he will ever get there either.