12:00 PM CT 10/16/08 By Alec Schimke TimberwolvesPress.com Beat Writer After spotting Kevin Love partying up at the U of M last night it appears that he is getting quite comfortable in the great state of Minnesota. Now the question is he getting comfortable in a Timberwolves uniform and specifically playing next to Al Jefferson? The Timberwolves saw something pretty special in Love otherwise he would be playing next to Rudy Gay and Co. in Memphis. So far the Timberwolves have to be impressed in what they have seen from the young 19 year old based on his performances in the summer league and the preseason. Love has been very active on the boards and especially effective on the offensive end getting tip-ins and offensive rebounds. The only big concern right now is Love’s conditioning and his ability to move up and down the court. Thus far in the preseason Love looks a lot slower than the other big men he has faced off against. It’s nothing that we should be too concerned about however because the Timberwolves have an excellent training staff and will get Love in top form by the end of the season. I’m sure the big question that everyone and including myself has is how will Kevin Love work next to Al Jefferson? These two young guys are basically the same players which will make it difficult to match-up against bigger teams yet it also makes us one of the most difficult teams to match-up with down low in the post. Al Jefferson certainly needed some help on the offensive end to free up more opportunities for himself and Kevin love will be the perfect player to compliment him. Love not only brings great post moves like Big Al but he also brings the ability to pass the basketball and shoot the open jump shot, both areas which Jefferson still seems to struggle with. Love should give Jefferson plenty of extra opportunities down low with his ability to draw defenders out to the wing and his ability to slip in some passes in the post. Offensively these two should be fine but on the defensive end some problems may occur. Both guys are undersized to play the center position at 6’9 and they don’t have the defensive mentality to play the center position right now either. The Timberwolves will most likely open up the season starting Madsen at center and bringing Love off the bench to give the team a boost offensively when Jefferson comes off the court. However don’t be surprised if Love does end up starting on opening day as he has been very impressive with his rebounding. But Love will have to earn his minutes and will most likely end up coming off the bench and playing 25-30 minutes a game. Ultimately the key for this duo to really be a force in this league will simply be their defense. If these two guys can become average defensive players in the league or if one can put in the work to play center, they will see more time on the court together. It's that simple. We may see some rough spots in the first season with these two in terms of getting used to eachothers' game, but if there is one thing that we can be sure about it's that Kevin Love will continue to get better as a basketball player and we should not judge them too hard in their first season together. Love may not have as much as a scoring impact as Mayo will have with the Grizzlies but Love's toughness down low will surely not go unnoticed. Love has a been a winner is whole career and that winning attitude is something the Timberwolves desperately need after a 22-60 season.
i think that the wolves will get around 40 wins this year only we can get some defensive stops from our two big men. u r right that the wolves will take about a year to get the chemistry down and hopefully with mike miller in the mix we can put up some long distance shots, especially when big al get double down low.
I see no reason why they can't coexist. Jefferson is a low post player and Love can play in the high post. There shouldn't be any issues with them taking up each-others space or anything. Plus, with Love's passing ability, I think his presence can really only help the Wolves.
Offensively, they'll be fine. It's the defensive end that could be the problem. Neither are great defenders, and both are undersized to be playing center. To me, Brook Lopez would have been a better fit here.
Al Jefferson is a damn good center, and Kevin Love+Mike Miller makes way more sense than Brook Lopez. Brook Lopez isn't known for his defense anyway. He's a big body, and a better defender than Love, but Lopez certainly would not have made them that much better defensively.
Agreed, Brook wouldn't have done much more, but the other brother, Robin would have helped them out defencive end. There's always Blake Griffin or Thabeet in next years draft....lol.
