Kevin Love is Not Fitting In (to your Preconceived Notions of Kevin Love Fitting In)
2015-03-24
Editors Note: This piece was published with editorial contributions from Nate Smith and EvilGenius, and with scouting contributions from Ben Werth. Also, please check out David Wood’s Links to the Present published earlier today.
On January 13, the Cavaliers lost their sixth game in a row to drop below .500 (19-20). Kevin Love played particularly poorly, shooting 3-11 from the floor and posting a team-worst -19 in under 27 minutes. He rode the pine for the entire fourth quarter. (It was not the first time Love had been benched for the entire fourth quarter of a non-blowout: on December 26th, Coach Blatt, searching for answers, ran with an ultra-small lineup of LeBron-Delly-Dion-MMiller-TT in the fourth quarter and it worked – the Cavs outscored the Magic 27-14 and won by nine.) Despite the fact that Markieff Morris (or as LeBron referred to him “one of the Morris twins”) torched King James in the fourth, it was Kevin Love’s lackluster defense and poor shooting that was the story of the game, and the “Kevin Love’s Not Fitting In” theme was an undeniable reality of the young (but not that young) season. Ten weeks later, is that “theme” still even relevant? (Spoiler Alert: NO!)
Just two nights later, an acute onset of back spasms came over K Love right before tipoff in the start of a Staples Center back-to-back. It’s hard to imagine this now, but a loss to the Lakers that night just may have led to David Blatt’s immediate firing. The “Blatt has lost team, and doesn’t have LeBron’s support” narrative had reached a fever pitch, the Cavs had lost six in a row, they had started the Mozgov/Smith/Shumpert era with a terrifying record of Goose Egg wins and four losses. Even LeBron’s return from his south Florida hiatus hadn’t cured their disease. Cleveland’s defense never looked worse and they got blown out of the gym against the “freaking Kings” once again. A loss to the laughably inept Lakers could have spelled for David Blatt certain doom, much like Chris Grant the previous season.
The Cavs were in such a state of crisis that I think few of us appreciated what transpired that evening. We were just glad the bleeding amputations had finally subsided. Let’s take a look through the archives.
Trainer Steve Spiro basically working on Kevin Love's back at every chance. Has a wrap on it again during TO. Love really hurting tonight
— Jason Lloyd (@ByJasonLloyd) January 16, 2015
From our own Nate Smith:
CtB commenter, Mac, noted, “”Blatt’s substitution patterns are going from questionable to criminally negligent. Why is Love playing?” Love mercifully went to the bench at the 4:33 mark. We all thought he wouldn’t be back. The Good Guys fought off a four minute scoreless stretch when LeBron and Marion got to the line. And then suddenly, barely able to walk earlier, Kevin Love was back at the scorer’s table.
"Daniel LaRusso is going to fight? Daniel LaRusso is going to fight!"
— Jason Lloyd (@ByJasonLloyd) January 16, 2015
Nate again, in his recap:
Then, Kevin Love made the play of the game on defense. He took a charge on a Jeremy Lin drive from just outside the circle that just looked like it hurt. Kevin crumpled like a sack of potatoes. He was noticeably shaken, and it took four Cavs to help him up. It was Cleveland’s grittiest defensive stop of the year. If this season has a turning point, that was it. It was positively inspirational.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhSLiOFRJe4#t=2m13s
After the game, LeBron had this to say:
I said, ‘Whatever you got. Whatever you can give.’ He did that. He knocked down a 3, he battled on the glass, and even with his back basically feeling like he couldn’t play no more, he took a charge. Those are moments in a season where you know your team is taking a step forward. To have one of your big guys do that, that was huge.
Said David Blatt:
That was the play of the game. Everyone is asking me again. Kevin Love is doing a lot of things that he hasn’t done in the past, and he’s doing them well. Again, I take my hat off to him for his performance.
Remember the date January 15th. It’s the date that almost everything about the Cavs changed. Everything, that is, except all the talk about Kevin Love not fitting in, which, as I sit here on March 23rd, has reached a level of absurdity I can no longer ignore.
I’ve spent the season in a blithe disregard for the conversations swirling around Kevin Love’s future. You gotta understand, this is a big step for me – I’ve always considered myself something of a Cavs-media watchdog. The thing is, after the #seasonofhuh, with buddy ball and Josh Gordon hottakes and Mike Brown getting rehired and re-fired and tracking Dan Gilbert’s plane – I was finally pulverized into submission: I just have to accept that in the NBA, pretty much anything is possible, and engaging in crippling anxiety over the future is futile. So this article isn’t going to be about Kevin Love’s future. I have no idea what the future holds. My gut tells me there’s a better than 50% chance he stays in Cleveland. Kevin Love tells me there is a 100% chance (yeah like he knows). Anyway, I fail to see the financial incentives or the winning-more-basketball-games incentives for Love if he leaves Cleveland. So the main reason he would leave is he’s unhappy about his fit, right?
So how did “Kevin Love is not fitting in” become this infallible truth of our time? I have some theories, and they all involve tired old NBA tropes that just refuse to die no matter how much we worship at the altar of “analytics.” The reality is that whether or not “Kevin Love is Fitting In” might not matter all that much when it comes to Kevin Love’s future. But you already know that. Of exponentially more value to you is the knowledge that Kevin Love is not only fitting in just fine, he’s fitting in exceptionally well. But if you listened to the questions this morning on Mike and Mike, the Dan Patrick Show, or any other number of sportsmedia heads discussing Kevin Love, they all said essentially the same thing: that Kevin Love isn’t fitting in at all.
What the Analysts and Pundits are Saying:
Brian Windhorst: “He has never fit in with this Cavs team… yet the Cavs have been doing fantastic.”
Mike Greenberg: “Every week or two there is another referendum on how Kevin Love is fitting into what’s going on in Cleveland…
Mike Golic: “When you are sitting on the bench in the fourth quarter of games…”
Greenberg: “I can only imagine myself saying, “wait a minute, I’m a star in this league, and ya know, the fourth quarter is going on, these games are being decided, I should be out there.”
Dan Patrick: “Hmm. Ya, I just… you don’t seem happy… having fun. And you’ve always been The Man, and I don’t know how difficult that is to hit the reset and say ‘I’m not the man, I’m not even the second option some nights.'”
Despite our best efforts, the idea that points scored in the fourth quarter matter more than those scored in first quarters cannot be killed off by mere mortals. It’s worth noting, however, that the Cavs sit comfortably at the second seed in the East precisely because they have been killing teams in first quarters all season long (yes, even during the crappy part of the season). Games are being decided before the fourth quarter, and guess who is second to only LeBron in usage during opening quarters and playing exceptionally well in the first and third quarters (all season long)? Yeah, it’s Kevin Love.
Before January 15th, Kevin Love even had some notable fourth quarters, including the Cavs lone win in a span of two weeks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lujxa00FK_A#t=1m55s
He played almost the entire fourth quarter in an impressive come-from-behind victory over the formidable Raptors back on December ninth, including a momentum-changing 3-pointer that tied the game late in the fourth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktLAnVMqDMI#t=1m44s
So the point I’m making is, yes, Kevin Love was benched for two fourth quarters during a particularly dark time in the season. But it wasn’t like he was a non-factor otherwise. And what is so puzzling to me is that, as everything started to click for the Cavs, the only thing anyone finds worthy of conversation is this idea that Kevin Love is not fitting in even now (and the Cavs are winning despite this) and Kevin Love is just chilling on the bench during all these meaningful fourth quarters for no reason at all.
The Myth that Kevin Love isn’t “fitting in at all,” debunked in one graphic.
Since January 15th
With the requisite amount of disclaimers about the limited value of raw plus/minus over a 30-game sample, I’m going to just spike this truth-bomb because while it may not mean everything, it certainly means that “Kevin Love is not fitting in at all” loses its air of infallibility and requires a deeper look. Look at our unhappy victim, nestled so unnaturally between two guys that certainly have “The Man” status. Since January 15th, Kevin Love is ranked second behind LeBron James, and sits above MVP-frontrunner Stephen Curry for raw plus/minus, at +10.8 per game.
For all the “not fitting in at all” that Kevin Love is doing, LeBron is doing a great job of taking it upon himself to be a much better player when Kevin Love is on the court. It’s so impressive that LeBron is able to overcome Love’s inability to fit in. For that alone, LeBron should garner more MVP consideration.
Right-Click and Open in New Tab for Higher Resolution.
Since Jan 15, in 421 minutes without Kevin Love, LeBron’s FG%, 3PFG%, Ast/TO and plus-minus pales in comparison to when he shares the hardwood (670 min) with our refugee from the island of misfit toys. In terms of +/- per minute, LeBron averages +.19 points per minute with Love on the bench, but +.40 points per minute with Love on the floor. That pretty much puts a kibosh on the whole notion that “No child wants to play with a Kevin in the Box that only wants to be a stretch four.”
It’s true, Kevin Love sits on the bench during the fourth quarter of a lot of games.
In fact, crazy stat that is going to sabotage my entire piece: Kevin Love has not stepped onto the court during the fourth quarter in 14 of the Cavs last 33 games. Wow. How do I recover from that? Fortunately, a long time ago, humans determined that it’s not sufficient to tell the truth. You have to tell the “whole truth” and “nothing but the truth” (So help you God!) Why can’t you just tell the “truth?” Turns out the truth, without context, can be more dangerous than a lie.
Of those 14 (of the last 33) games where Kevin Love has been absent during fourth quarters:
-Four were because he wasn’t available for the game at all.
-Eight were because the Cavs were blowing out their opponents by at least 16 points, sometimes 30 or 40 points heading in the fourth quarter. Due, in large part to… Kevin Love!
-One was that incredible game against the Spurs, and much was made during and after the game about Love not getting the call at any time during the fourth quarter, when Kyrie Irving completely took over the game. How many people have pointed out that Love checked in with the Cavs down three in overtime and was plus-7 for the reminder of OT? Interestingly enough, Charles Barkley hated that Love didn’t play in the fourth quarter (when Kyrie’s heroics forced OT), and he hated that Love was put back in in OT (because he would be too tight to contribute). Love’s dime lead to a LeBron 3 that put the Cavs on top for good.
-One was the most recent win against the Bucks. The thing is, Kevin Love almost never starts fourth quarters. Neither does Kyrie Irving. The Cavs whipped the Bucks so thoroughly during the opening minutes of the fourth quarter with LeBron-JR-Shump-Delly-TT that Blatt just rode the hot hands straight into garbage time. Neither Kyrie nor Love checked back in and it was simply because that’s how David Blatt rolls. We knew this about him going into the season, as our own Robert Attenweiler provided that scouting report in the summer. For the game, Love was +1.
So here’s a detailed breakdown of Kevin Love and the fourth quarters since Jan. 15th. The right-most column is my subjective take on whether Kevin Love “fit” in this game.
So, in 33 games, “Kevin Love did not fit in” a whopping three times. And you could make the case that he didn’t fit in during that delightful match with the world champs. That’d be four times since January 15, out of 33 games. That’s a pretty good “Fit In/Fit Out” ratio.
Everyone is Ignoring Defense
No one knows what to make of the Cavs defensively this season. They were a train wreck for the first few months, placing in the bottom five of the entire NBA for significant stretches. Kevin Love had a particularly difficult time dealing with back-to-the-basket bigs and ceded a depressingly-high FG% to opponents in the immediate basket area. And then Timofey came along and was the answer to the question Bill Simmons didn’t want to know, right? Actually, the Cavs defense continued to struggle in the immediate aftermath of the Mozgov acquisition. It took time for everyone to come together. But they did make significant improvements, found ways to tighten the screws when they needed to, and even began playing 48-minutes of basketball (something unthinkable in December). Outside of David Blatt (who everyone just ignores when it comes to this Kevin-Love-fitting-in business) no one gave Love any of the credit for the improved defense. Maybe we should? Check out NBA.com’s defensive rating (the number of points a team allows per 100 possessions while a player is on the court).
Before Jan 15th
After January 15th
It’s crazy, but when Kevin Love, that ol’ sieve of a defender, goes into battle alongside The Iron Curtain, Moz finds a way to more than make up for Love’s inability to fit in. Consider:
In comparing pre-Jauary 15th to post January 15th, Love’s Defensive Rating has dropped from 106.4 to 99.8 (lower is better). In addition, Mozgov has a defensive rating of 100.3 with Love on the bench, and a defensive rating of 97.7 with Love on the floor.
How is K Love doing this? I see him getting his hands up and challenging shots so much more than he used to. He doesn’t play D with his hands at his waist anymore. He’s been able to challenge shots and still get into excellent defensive rebounding position. Love is also doing much better at icing the pick and roll in tandem with his guards. Having Mozgov has limited the overall space for the offense. Love is sending the ball handler either to the baseline or funneling the ball toward Moz. It allows him to use that half step shade to inhibit both roller and handler with one less angle to defend (Moz eliminates the easy drive). Love will still occasionally mini-show on the PnR but much less often than pre-trade. One can’t underestimate the role Shump and JR have played. They both do a good job of chucking the roll man off ball and getting over a screen onball. I especially like the hard fouls JR puts on a lob dunk attempt as a chucker. He had one against DeAndre Jordan that set a great tone. All of that helps Love defend less space. The communication on which strategy to use for certain ball handlers has also much improved.
…This all begs the question: on what planet is this level of intellectual laziness tolerated when a simple blogger who has a family and a different day job can spend a few hours pouring through free and widely available data on the internet and make swiss cheese out of this Tsunami-powered narrative? What is going on that people don’t even debate this point – they just try to cope with the “fascinating” stark reality of it?
Three Theories for Why We’re Here
1.) Kevin Love and David Blatt are two very candid guys in a profession where that is so uncommon that people are ignoring most of what they are saying, because they don’t really believe the words. Have you ever read a military OPR (Officer Performance Report)? Most of them are more impressive than if John Wayne and The Statue of Liberty had a baby that grew up, joined the Air Force, and saved Earth from an Alien Invasion by flying a commandeered alien vessel into the mothership while carrying a nuclear bomb strapped in with duct tape and secured with freedom. An OPR that simply says “Lt So-and-So did his job very well and met all expectations” would indicate that Lt. So-and-So sucked so hard he should just quit America and move to Canada. So how do you discern what’s actually valuable when the noise floor is so high and the hyperbole has saturated the system? Well, you’d just try to make the OPR even more incredible. Which would make it even more difficult to discern value. We are dealing with a similar phenomenon in the sports-media world. Here’s a little graphic I made to illustrate:
What struck me today during the interviews was how everything that Kevin Love said was treated as lip service. When asked about sitting out fourth quarters, Love stated that it was challenging for him at first, but that he realized it was often situational/matchup related and that he decided he was just going to be ready when called upon. So Blatt has said those things, Love is saying those things, and a close-up of the individual games corroborates that it is not some kind of default crutch to overcome Kevin Love’s inability to fit in, but a choice to go extra small, ride the hot hand, or give Kevin Love’s nagging back a rest. All I know is, it took a long freaking time for people to get over Russell Westbrook’s chucking, and I’m still not sure people are done criticizing Kyrie Irving for not being a pure point guard. This whole “Kevin Love doesn’t fit in” thing might be hard to eradicate.
2.) There has to be a story, and this is the last one standing. The NBA is about stars and storylines. More-so now than ever. Think of all the storylines from just this year:
LeBron could be done
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AIyr1tomHQ
Kyrie and LeBron don’t get along and Kyrie never passes.
Tyronn Lue is calling timeouts from the bench and LeBron is undermining Blatt in timeouts. He also grabbed Blatt, and, well, Blatt is probably done. Could be a lost season.
Dion Waiters doesn’t stand for the National Anthem because of his Muslim Faith.
We all know what happened here. LeBron and Kyrie get along great, Kyrie is an offensive wunderkind the likes of which the world has not yet seen and is capable of being the best player on the court or being a distributor. He thrives in catch-and-shoot situations and has ceded control of the team to LeBron, who is playing de-facto PG. Tyronn Lue wasn’t calling timeouts from the bench, because that’s ridiculous and against league rules. David Blatt is just hitting his stride (thanks in part to this effort). Dion Waiters can just be a weird dude sometimes. He’s good-hearted and meant no disrespect to the stars and stripes. He’s also someone else’s story now. That leaves Kevin Love, Kevin Love’s impending Free Agency, Kevin Love’s future, and “Kevin Love is not fitting in.” Honestly, with LeBron out of the MVP running, there is nothing left to talk about until the playoffs. This story would have much less momentum if that whole LeBron “Don’t Fit Out” snafu had never happened. LeBron seems weirdly passive-aggressive at times. Some of this is on him.
3.) For all the Sloan conventions and supposed affinity to the “analytics movement” our sports media figures are still wedded to raw box score stats and other useless relics such as “triple doubles,” “starting lineups,” “fourth quarter closers,” and “alpha dogs” taking over.
Many in the media who’ve been trumpeters of advanced analytics want to have it both ways. They want to blow the horns of analytics when it supports their narrative, but ignore it when it doesn’t fit in with Telenovella style storylines, and lowest-common-denominator talk radio #HotSportsTakes. The media is by-and-large ignoring the positive analytics storyline about Love when it comes to how well the Cavs are playing.
Kevin Love’s raw box score stats are pretty underwhelming – especially when you compare them to his eye-popping numbers from years past. I know as well as anyone, he carried my fantasy team to the championship last season. In terms of raw output he has not delivered. He’s not shooting a good percentage from downtown despite the fact that the vast majority of his looks are spotted-up and open. He has been much more “stretch-four” on offense and looked more like a role-player than an alpha dog. He’s leaving points on the table. The Cavs have struggled (particularly in the early season) to prioritize Love’s touches. As the season wore on they got better at it, but Love has chosen at times to flare to the periphery instead of establishing position on the elbow or block. It’s a work in progress. But to say he’s not fitting in because of his individual numbers is at best half of the equation. The other half is how everyone else is playing because of Love’s presence. And right now, a combination of his defensive rebounding, help defense, court vision, bball IQ, floor spacing and offensive triple threat-ery has the Cavs HUMMING when he’s on the floor. Am I supposed to believe this is happening in spite of Kevin Love?
I realize I am waay late to this party (in fact the party is not only over but there have been several parties in the interim, which I have missed as well) but I feel like I need to congratulate Tom and his crack team for a killer article. I have to admit that I am one of the people who believed that K-Love wasn’t being used properly and that might impact his decision to stay or leave. After reading this article, I have to admit the team has been devastatingly effective (since January) with Love on the floor. I… Read more »
Great article Tom and I like the comparison with AI. Not sure how long it took you but it didnt seem like you cut corners. It is worthy of being an Insider or ESPN NBA main page article (if not for the part where you call out certain media people, which I appreciate). Great stuff. I will be sure to let others know. Definitely the best thing I read on the Cavs blog.
Thank you everyone for all the enthusiasm and kind words. It really does make my day. I read every single comment and process the feedback internally (and differently). I’m glad this resonated with the faithful. In some ways the message in this piece is something we’ve all known implicitly for some time – that K Love may not be dominating in the traditional sense, and it’s fair to say he’s had his struggles individually (as many have pointed out in these comments), but he’s a huge net positive to the TEAM. To me, that is what we should be talking… Read more »
Excellent point about Iggy. He’s worth ten wins minimum for them, I dont’ care what the stats say.
This is really excellent analysis Tom (and contributors). Would love it if Zach Lowe picked this up and beat Simmons over the head with it on his podcast. It is incredible how lazy some folks have been with the numbers, especially when the raw box score doesn’t add up to the success the Cavs have had with Love on the floor. Dig deeper people!
Great, great article. I’d love to print and reprint it into a 500 page copy and smack Dan Patrick or anybody who works for ESPN in the face with it every time they try to make up things that aren’t even there. “Oh he said explicitly that he’s staying? We’ll just ignore that … Oh he said Westbrook for MVP, like just about anybody would say? Yep, he’s on his way out of Clevela–*smack in the face with this post*
Fantastic article. Just re-read again today. Totally convincing. Those of us watching the games have no issues with KLove, who is excellent and will go super-nova if he can get his shot back to normal (for him) percentages.
Part of the issue is that the national media can’t give up on the “leaving Cleveland” narrative. Having played out the string on LeBron and Kyrie leaving that just leaves KLove. Whatever. CtB is where its at. Actual news about the actual team.
Big game tonight. GO CAVS!
that was great. So much Kevin Love love. I’m curious to see if he starts playing in crunch time against the better opponents (tonight against the Grizz), and when the playoffs begin.
Found this funny – in the Mike and Mike interview KL fields a few softball questions about his fit with some positive team oriented responses. He seemed at ease and relatively happy. During the interview ESPN puts on highlight (lowlight?) video clips of him bricking shots and getting abused on defense. No positive play shown at all…
I get why ESPN does what it does, but poor KL is going to be on the receiving end of this BS so long as LBJ and KI continue to pop-off.
This is probably the best thing I’ve ever read that was affiliated with ESPN in any capacity. Simply Fantastic!
I hate to be repetitive with the other commenters, but this article is amazing. Best thing I’ve read in a long time. Maybe ever. Awesome work.
Great work everyone. CtB has definitely become my primary (and most of the time, sole) avenue for Cavs news. Between the thought put into the articles and educated comments from everyone, it’s a waste of time to go anywhere else.
I agree with this completely. I actually enjoy reading the articles here. Granted, I’m a Cavs fan, but the articles are always objective, at least on a general level.
Its late and I need to be up early so I’ll read everyone’s comments tomorrow. For now, my response:
Yes, yes, yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ve been waiting for this article all season long. Its incredible to me that this “new” statistics and analytics fueled NBA is only looking at one facet of Kevin’s game, made baskets. Unbelievable. Proud that this finally got up on CtB. Can we send this to KLove so he knows that there are some of us out there who can see the truth?
Great writeup. I do think Loves shooting percentages vs rest of league are poor – do they make those grantland charts on shooting for every player? I think love needs to shoot about 5-10% better. I think his poor shooting is unfortunately obscuring all his other great play, messing up his box score, and hurting the cavs by taking 4-6 points off the board every night.
Can you imagine how little fourth quarter action Kevin Love would see if he were shooting 10% better? There would be riots in the streets. He’d be averaging 20 mins a game, and we’d be up by forty by halftime, hit 100 by all third quarters, and Kendrick Perkins would see so much court time he’d average a double double and 6 fouls a game.
Ok maybe im not very good with percentages :) but i do think hes been shooting poorly to the tune of -4 to -6 points per game. I found some shot charts that seem to agree on vorped but its hard to compare on my phone.
This team just needs to play games. Off days seem to bring out every possible narrative from media/fans/trolls/whomever just to have something to discuss, no matter if it is made up or not.
^Reread my post and not meaning to say this post is made up if it came across that way. I’m talking about ESPN/Yahoo/PBT/etc in general. The national gooberheads, you know.
This was a great post and I hope somewhere in the next few days, at least one person nationally picks it up.
Great article Tom. Appreciate all the effort from you, Nate, EG, and Ben. So much of what I internally felt about Love and what he means to this team was reflected in this piece and backed up by actual data. The honesty and statements based on facts rather than perceptions and assumptions was really a breath of fresh air.
Have grown very tired of the nonsense that is national media narratives.
isn’t that about the time of the famous ‘ no practice—-everyone going bowling decision “—-blatt should have shirts made up ” BOWLING FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP “—-USED AS A BATTLE CRY / MOTTO—- TEAM COMMRADERIE
Excellent article! I agree a 100% with it.
Now come playoff time is were players get exposed and we will really see what this whole team is made off. We’ll get to see if Love, Kyrie and Co. have what it takes when it matters.
That’s why I believe is better for the Cavs to face some tough opposition in the east so that they can be ready mentally for the later rounds.
How is this story not on the ESPN Cavs home page yet? It should be on the front page!
Tom, your story is getting tremendous feedback and mad respect on Twitter! We need to get you on the next Grantland TV show…
I have just been treated to ‘ GREATNESS ” —WOW !!—-CLASSIC WRITE UP —–thank you for an entertaining / educated write up that hopefully puts everything to rest and we can now just concentrate on watching/ supporting / enjoying GREATNESS FROM OUR CAVS !!
Thanks NOMAD!
This is sane, clear thinking in a wretched sea of sensationalist, click-mongering, gossip driven yellow fluff journalism. The Hyperbolic Sports Media Cycle is a closed feedback system. It is self-sustaining, and its only a matter of time until it becomes self-aware and consumes us all. http://deadspin.com/a-nation-of-echo-chambers-how-the-internet-closed-off-1674576436
Finally got home from work! I’m so glad you guys enjoyed this. Gotta be honest, the more I dug into the numbers, the more excited I was to write this. I knew that Love was helping the Cavs in non-sexy ways but I had no idea it was to this extent. Big time thanks to Nate, EeeGee, and Ben. I wrote like a madman until 4am and passed out. This was in a horrific state this morning and at my new job I can’t access CtB (it’s blocked for some reason). So those guys made tons of edits, put together… Read more »
Make friends with the IT guys, find out if they are Cavs fans, tell them you are THE Tom Pestak and voila, unblocked for you!
Great post, gonna widely share this one. Thanks, Tom.
I am so happy to see that someone has pointed out Love’s improved defense. Has anyone felt that there might be a huge correlation between not needing to be the focus on the offensive side of the ball and pounding down low, and his increased activity and effectiveness on the defensive side of the ball? Everyone loves mentioning about how players will take plays off on defense so their offense won’t suffer, or that if a player needs to concentrate on defense, their offense suffers. Why isn’t the opposite true? If you don’t have to put as much effort on… Read more »
Fantastic blog! I’ve learned to totally tune out ESPN and the mass media… it’s become unbearable. I will def share this piece. Go Cavs!
Good article. But players and coaches lie. I know everyone hates “anonymous sources,” but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist and aren’t providing meaningful insights that conflict with a player’s quotes. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Here’s my feeling about “anonymous sources” If print journalists have to be extremely selective about using them, why don’t tele-journalists have to adopt the same standard… instead of just throwing “sources” around willy-nilly? Some excerpts from The Elements of Journalism regarding anonymous sources: * The discipline of verification is what distinguishes journalism from other forms of communication. But information is very difficult to verify if we don’t know where it came from. * Anonymous sources put the public at a disadvantage. Pertinent information needed to judge the veracity or reliability of information is unavailable. * If an anonymous source says… Read more »
Again, it does not mean they don’t exist. The trick is being a reporter who gains the trust of his audience by selectively reporting what his or her sources tell them. Windhorst has failed brilliantly at this.
Of course they exist… they are the nameless cowards who like to throw stones from afar without having to take any responsibility for their information. Sort of like eggs on Twitter…
How many Tweets will this take to start trending?
#breakTwitter!
LOL. Most of them were me.
Wow thanks so much Tom! You made my day. I have been s huge Lovee fan all season for all the reasons you put in this piece but I have neither the skill nor knowledge to put these facts together to back my eyesight. He clearly makes the team better, significantly. I remember a coach scouting the cavs saying how hard it is to defend them, that you just no matter what can never ignore or forget where Love is. And because of that he everyone else gets easier shots. I wish Tom you could be on ESPN and interview… Read more »
Haha here’s an article by Ken Carmen that touches this subject – http://cleveland.cbslocal.com/2015/03/24/its-a-shame-that-drama-not-wins-stir-up-cavs-fans/#.VRHFxHoZOnA.twitter
Great piece.
“So what do we do? We make it up.”
Refreshingly honest. But he’ll probably be back tomorrow with a new hot take. Gotta feed the beast!
I do like Carman… he’s a guilty pleasure sometimes on his radio show, but he does go on some pretty intelligent and cogent rants about things… this was a good read.
Heh. I got into a twitter snit with him a couple months ago…
LOL! Love that you got a #hatehardapproved
Carmen loves Toms piece.
A big part of the problem is that Love isn’t exactly doing his part to squash this stuff.
I think he’s fantastic and we all know the team is better with him on the floor because we watch every minute of every game.
He is missing a few signature 4th quarter moments though. He hasn’t hit many game-changing shots when he’s had the chance.
Did you read the entire section of the article on this?
The part that focuses on all the games since Jan 15? The part where you list exactly one “dagger”? You list one 4th quarter in 70 games where he had an important offensive impact (Toronto)? Yes we’ve been blazing hot the last 30 games and he hasn’t been needed most nights, but his unreliable play in the 4th quarters of most of the first 40 games is a big reason we were under .500. Kyrie/Lebron/KLove shouldn’t have needed to be rescued by Moz/Shump/JR. My comment was that he’s “missing a few signature 4th quarter moments”. That is a fact. Even… Read more »
Apologies… you seem so defensive I assume you wrote it Nate. It’s a great article, I just think Love has a part in this perception. It’s being forced on him. “I’m just doing what they ask me to do” is fully sports speak for “this sucks but it is what it is.”
Last point. People “fit in” and do great work at jobs don’t enjoy every day. Kevin Love “fits in” technically because he’s fantastic at his job. Technically “fitting in” and emotionally “fitting in” can be two totally different things.
This post is the blog equivalent of a dagger. It deserves to be on the ESPN.com home page, or at least their main NBA page. Over the weekend Pluto posted +/- per 100 possessions for the Cavs. Love does pretty well: Mozgov, +19.4 Love, +17.7 James, +17.6 Irving, +13.6 Smith, +10.9 Shumpert, +10.6 By temperament Love seems not to be a “bonder” — certainly not in the effusive, demonstrative way that LeBron is. That makes it easier for the “not fitting in” narrative to stick. But it’s still just lazy — too much talk, and not enough actual reporting and… Read more »
Lol I saw the free throw stat and laughed at how that must mean he doesn’t fit in! He must be expecting Love to get the offensive board and make 2.
Phenomenal work. Absolutely love the hyperbolic sports media cycle and you nailed it. I’ve been harping on page view spam for morons for awhile and you put it so much better than I could have imagined. You did the damn thing. Love fits fine now and his role will expand in the future.
Excellent work, Tom. Couldn’t agree more and hopefully some naysayers will be directed to your post.
THANK FOR YOU THIS TOM
I agree with Yoda. Tom, you are my hero today. Somebody Tweet this at Bill Simmons STAT!
It’s funny about the ebbs and flows of an NBA season… not to mention how strong the media undertow can seem during a season spent under the brand of microscope the Cavs have been experiencing this year. The magnitude of what has been unfolding ever since a certain essay was published on June 11 of last year, is daunting, and there are so many storylines that have become never-ending pablum for the media machine. That said, I’m really glad Tom decided to start this piece with a moment in time that sometimes gets forgotten in the grand scheme of things.… Read more »
I told my son the other day to revisit “the charge” as a huge turning point. And still remember Nates words that night.
If there was a KLove t-shirt created to encapsulate this season… that shot of him laying on the floor post-“The Charge” would be the visual…
Love this (no pun intended). Its something this blog has been trumpeting for a long time and its was great work to put all of these statistics together AND in context. To a point you made about the media not believing what is said publicly, its ridiculous that no one is asking these reporters why they don’t believe these statements. Have they given you a reason to believe that they are lying or are a very secretive person? Do you associate yourself with this person everyday in a nonprofessional setting and therefore know what he would and would not do… Read more »
Exactly. I see no reason to worry about Kevin Love’s future as a Cavalier.
Agree… but Ross, that post sounded almost Cols-ian… ;)
Great point about Kevin talking to the media and telling the truth. Perfect example – they ask him MVP, and he tells his true opinion, that the thinks Westbrook deserves it. Then they use that to show how miserable Love is with LBJ – because he told the truth. Then they ask him if he’s going to leave in FA, and he says he staying in Cleveland. HE MUST BE LYING!!! So stupid. He isn’t afraid to tell what he thinks. He’s not best buds with Lebron. He got frustrated early in the year. He doesn’t mind losing stats for… Read more »
I’ve been thinking about this comment for a few hours now.
Great stuff
Thanks, Tom. I’m so glad you wrote this article pointing out what many of us felt but didn’t know through the numbers.
Great points, Joey. I just heard about Love’s MVP comments myself and thought the same thing. This isn’t out of character for him at all.
Excellent article. I miss good journalism and research, especially when all people seem to do nowadays is just look at the box-score or watch highlights. Love’s contributions have been great all year. Even though Andrew Wiggins is playing very well, no way are the Cavs in this position w/o KLove
And of course, January 14th is the cursed anniversary of the Sundiata Gaines game. It’s all connected.
Yes! I remember that game. Big LeBron comeback (we came to expect them, didn’t we?) wiped away by a fearless D-leaguer.
The original Sub-Fuego?
Or “scrub-fuego” as the case may be…
Very nice article Tom. I think early on I was more concerned with these KLove Hot Takes, but they’ve gone beyond absurd that I no longer care what the media is spinning. There is nothing to talk about with this Cavs team from a drama perspective because there isn’t any. And I’m not sure there was a whole lot before w/ Dion or Blatt/LeBron relationship. I think Talking Heads need to sell page clicks and while doing so, they also sell there souls to TMZ.
Every employee of a national sports media outlet should be required to tattoo your Hyperbolic SportsMedia Cycle graphic onto their wrist so that they could see and be reminded every time they go to write or type something… hyperbolic. Superb work, Tom.
Not mentioned, but almost certainly relevant: January 15th is my birthday. #StayWoke
I just knew that day was special for some reason…
The current version of the Cavs is truly a team in that a lot of players can step up, so usually the team is playing pretty good. Love is a big part of this. All sorts of pundits are gripping that “Love is not playing in the fourth quarter”, and “Moz is not playing in the fourth quarter”, etc. Guess what? You can only play five guys at a time. And having a strategy that depends on what part of the game it is is great. The basic plan of “work to ball to Love and Moz early, and let… Read more »
I’ve mentioned it here and there, but I’ll say it again: I’ve been more impressed with Love than anyone else on the team this season. He has been the ultimate glue guy. He’s played through pain. He’s improved his defense, more than Kyrie has improved his defense. He throws no one under the bus. He’s been committed. He’s never complained. He’s improved the players around him, played unselfishly, and does what is asked of him on offense and defense. The things that have always made him great are still there – passing, IQ, post ability, 3pt shooting. And now, this… Read more »
AMEN! Love has been the Cavs’ ultimate bring-your-lunch-pail-and-hard-hat-to-work player all season. Mountain Man. Perfect for CLEVELAND.
Hear Hear, Hear Hear
Can we send this as a certified letter to the Cavs brass? Better yet as individual certified letters to each of their home address’? Very well said!
Terrific analysis. Your blog is a must read for me, and thx for all the effort. You should write for the PD instead of Vardon and Fedor. You probably saw Pluto took a somewhat veiled swipe at their reporting in his column on Lone today.
Great work, Tom. Captured a lot of what I’ve been feeling and seeing. Love is having to generate a new and much less visible kind of awesome–but he’s doing it and his team is a juggernaut.
Still, I’d like to see him abuse some people or go off in a fourth quarter. Then, maybe, the feral press will change its tune.
Good work, Tom. This pretty much wraps up the issue.
This was probably the best/most entertaining article I’ve ever read on CtB. Thanks for writing this. It really put a lot of things in perspective!
Just republished with a couple changes, FYI.
wow I appreciate that Gordon.