ESPN First Take - What Do You Expect From Kevin Love In Game 6?
Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love has struggled mightily thus far in the NBA Finals, and LeBron James stressed the importance of him getting out of his funk Wednesday.
According to Rick Noland of theElyria Chronicle-Telegram, King James acknowledged that the three-time All-Star has been nowhere near his best:"We definitely need Kev to play better. ...We definitely need him. He"s too big of a piece to our puzzle."
The Undefeated also provided a video of LeBron"s comments:
Love is averaging just 8.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game against the Golden State Warriors in the Finals, and he is shooting a mere 37.1 percent from the field.
He missed Game 3 due to a head injury and has just 13 points in two contests since returning.
Despite playing nearly 33 minutes in Cleveland"s Game 5 win Monday, he made just one of five attempts from the field and scored two points, while LeBron and Kyrie Irving poured in 41 apiece.
Per Noland, Love suggested he ceded control on the offensive end to James and Irving on Monday due to how well they were playing: "It just felt like it was one of those nights where you just kind of roll out the ball for them and get out of the way."
Love was a big reason why the Cavs rolled through the first three rounds of the playoffs with a 12-2 record. He averaged 18.8 points per game against the Detroit Pistons, 19 against the Atlanta Hawks and 15.2 against the Toronto Raptors, but he has been nowhere near that level in the Finals.
Cleveland is one win away from forcing a decisive Game 7 after initially falling behind 2-0 in the series, and a locked-in Love could go a long way toward making that happen.
Kevin Love would rather watch Game Of Thrones than discuss chemistry with Cleveland Cavaliers" Big 3
It"s been an interesting year for Kevin Love. He"s been criticized, at times looked like the third wheel of the Cavs locker room and generally been quiet. He took this quietness into his postgame press conference after the Cavaliers beat the Raptors.
Love tends to march to the beat of his own drum -- regardless of what"s around him. LeBron James had the perfect answer when the Cavaliers were asked why they didn"t have a champagne celebration after advancing to the NBA Finals, but Love -- well, he did what he does best.
"I had chocolate milk."
It"s poetry. It"s perfection. It"s Kevin Love distilled to a single sentence. We all wish we had some chocolate milk, Kevin -- all of us.
LeBron James says Kevin Love & Kyrie Irving will always be involved for Cleveland Cavaliers
Don"t try to dunk on one of the best shot-blockers in the NBA if posterizing players isn"t your game.
One of my favorite Drake songs is called "Know Yourself" from his 2015 album If You"re Reading This It"s Too Late. The title is self-explanatory: Drake raps about the virtues of being honest with oneself while chiding his invisible competitors for posturing as something they"re not. It"s an ode to knowing one"s limitations and strengths, then discovering greatness within that knowledge.
This is important because we have to ask an important question: What the h**l was Kevin Love thinking trying to dunk on Bismack Biyombo?
Ambition is an immense thing that has the power to help or harm. Combine it with the necessary talent, work and luck, and you could become one of the best basketball players in the world. Maybe you"ll even find yourself competing in the Eastern Conference Finals one day.
But when mixed with folly, ambition can kill. Just ask Icarus.
I understand that Kevin Love is ambitious. He should be because he"s a gifted and accomplished professional athlete with multiple All-Star appearances to his name. But let"s be sensible here. That"s Bismack Biyombo under the rim.
Biyombo is a walking college rejection letter -- the kind that makes you ashamed for even applying. The one where you can almost hear the laughter in the admissions office when the workers used your application as an example of dumb people not knowing their place. He was only class president for three years. Let"s laugh at him!
That"s who Kevin Love tried to dunk on.
Biyombo blocked this shot so badly that Love is apologizing in mid-air. Love took off with the apprehension of a socially awkward boy trying to publicly confess his love to the crush that is obviously too good for him. He goes in hopeful, but without much confidence because, well, there"s nothing to be confident about. He might get lucky, but that"s against the mountains of evidence to the contrary.
Just look at how Love scurries away from the rim after Biyombo publicly shames him. That"s a man that"s going to spend years repressing the hurt. The next time Love cuts to the basket near Biyombo, he might have an anxiety attack, Hodor-style. He has already seen his own demise.
While we"re at it, why is Love trying to dunk to begin with? When did that become a big part of his game? I understand that his coach called for him to be more assertive to help his team re-position itself as the true kings of the Eastern Conference. But really, come on now. He"s trying to put Biyombo on a poster with a Crying Jordan-faced vertical leap. That"s not going to work.
I wish we could hear Love"s thoughts at the exact moment he realized he made a huge mistake. You can see the epiphany in his body when he gets ready to jump. The adrenaline and momentum built from getting past his defender quickly dissipated the moment he bent his knees and realized there"s not a snowball"s chance in h**l he"s getting those two points.
But by then, it"s too late. His body"s too far into the progression for his brain to hit the fail-safe button. He knows he"s about to get laughed at and he"s powerless to stop it. I want to know if his brain formally accepted the mistake -- I"ve made a slight miscalculation -- or if it went to the simple, accepting route -- Ah, I f****d up.
There are a few lessons to be learned from this embarrassment. One, don"t try to dunk on Bismack Biyombo if you have the jumping capabilities of a pre-next generation RPG character. Two, know what your strengths and limits are, and play to them. Don"t go to the basket trying to posterize someone when the building blocks of your game are more subtle. There"s no shame in shooting elbow jumpers. There"s only shame in trying to be something you"re not and promptly being stopped by forces bigger and more honest than you.
Know yourself Kevin Love. Know that you are not dunking on Bismack Biyombo.
