If Kevin Love were a car he's be a brand new Mustang Boss. Amazing Specs/Stats but at the end of the day it's still just a Ford.
Defending the paint is paramount to winning hoops. Because of this, there is no way I'd consider a Big to be the best in the game if they suck at defense. Love is a stats monster for sure, but he'll need to play with a dominant shotblocker/defensive force at the 5 for his team to contend. STOMP
As much as people on here rag on Love's defense they're so quick to forget how worthless Aldridge is at defense. In fact if you look at the advance defensive statistic barometers, Love is a better defender than LMA.
Who here is claiming that Aldridge is a good defender? In fact, I think a lot of people have said the comparison to Sheed is a bad one because Sheed actually played D. I think right now there's a serious lack of great defending power forwards in the game. That might change with Anthony Davis though.
And if Love keeps up these kinds of stats he'll go down as one of the best PFs of ALL TIME. But does he play defense? No.
When Love is brought up on here it is immediately pointed out how horrible he is at defense and thats why people wouldn't want him. Nobody ever mentions Aldridge's defense, or lackthereof.
Well, there's a difference between someone who plays mediocre defense, and someone who plays no defense at all.
Why did Kahn refuse to max out Love? At the time of his extension he was a double-double machine with a +20PER. THAT will end up being his biggest blunder.
yet another example of why the advanced defensive stats are taken with large grains of salt or completely ignored. Anyone watching the game can see that while defending a real low post threat, Kevin requires another defender to collapse with the help D. I've seen him picked on so many times. His man rises for uncontested shots while Love turns to box him out. Aldridge isn't a great defender, but he matches up pretty well on a variety of low and high post players. His extra height & length allows him to contest shots and passing lanes just by being in proper position. LA and Kevin aren't remotely comparable on the defensive end. One sucks while the other is pretty decent
When Kevin Love is brought up and immediately you're trumpeting him as the best player ever, many people then point out his obvious achilles heal... because we're evaluating a players strengths and weaknesses. I don't think anyone wouldn't want him on the Blazers if he were available at a reasonable price. But he's not, and he'll probably go to LA as soon as he can anyway so... STOMP
I like this take. Love piles up a lot of stats and he's a good player. However, as a practical matter his play isn't as good as his stats. He seems like a Zach Randolph- great stats but not one who makes those around him better or really helps his team as much as he should.
Ibaka. (similar to Harden, think he is held back - always thought Harden was an elite playerg Favors. (Young, doesn't get minutes/opportunities at this moment, strong defender) Josh Smith (borderline). All players I would take over Love, Aldridge.
I wouldn't want Love on our team except for maybe 10-15 minutes off the bench and I doubt he'd be happy with that.
Blazer fans are always so jaded when it comes to player evaluations. I'm not so sure what this stems from.
