Thursday, April 23rd, 2009 at 10:00 am  |  142 responses

Kevin Love: ‘I Was Screwed’

But it’s just more motivation.

by Marcel Mutoni

One thing has become abundantly clear with the Timberwolves’ Kevin Love: Whenever he feels wronged, we’re going to hear all about it. And for that, we should be thankful. As it makes for good reading.

Love was at it again yesterday, complaining about his finish in the Rookie of the Year voting. K-Love thought he should have finished a lot higher than he did.

The Pioneer Press reports:

Love said he had no quarrel with the selection of Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose, who won in a landslide with 574 points and 111 of the 120 first-place votes. He just didn’t feel there were five first-year players who played better than him during a season in which Love led all rookies in rebounding (9.1 per game) and double-doubles (29).

“Pardon my French, but it’s the second time I’ve gotten screwed,” he said from Los Angeles. “I definitely thought I would finish higher, but after the rookie-sophomore snub, I guess anything can happen…I guess I just needed to play a little better. Maybe a 30th double-double would have made a difference.”

“That’s kind of how I feel,” he said. “I’ll take care of my business this summer, either here in Los Angeles or in Minnesota, and come back a better player and try to help my team win. Hopefully, 15 years from now I’ll be able to look back on this and laugh.”

I love the biting sarcasm about the 30th double-double.

His reactions are almost enough to make one wish Kevin Love would get ‘screwed’ more often.

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  • http://www.slamonline.com Ryan Jones

    100? Ah.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Ryan Jones

    100? Ah.

  • $tev3

    So where did he finish?

  • ferrarigto

    can we just all agree that this is one of the deepest draft classes ever!
    westbrook
    rose
    love
    mayo
    lopez x 2
    oden
    fernandez
    gasol
    hill
    batum
    lee
    thompson
    beasley
    gordon
    chalmers
    augustine
    this list goes on

  • jumpman3224

    Yea this class is obviously deeper than last years. Evidence of this is that Love put up very similar averages as Horford in his rookie year and Horfrod finished 2nd in ROY voting. As far as Kevin Love’s preceived slight…its obvious that Ro(y)se, OJ, Westbrook, and Lopez had better seasons. And, Gordon averaged over 15 points a game, so I would Love finished right were he belonged.

    If Double-Doubles mattered that much for these things maybe we should see David Lee as first team All-NBA center over Superman.

  • http://double-technical.blogspot.com Zee!

    Please cut off his water wiiiinggggsss….

  • Tavoris

    thanks allenp and coilkstar…numbers don’t tell the story…cuz if they did, then David Lee would be better than Dwight Howard (cuz David Lee led the league in double-doubles, right?).

    Brook Lopez-as he is now-is a player that opposing coaches have to plan for. He’s probably the most complete YOUNG big man in the game not named Lamarcus Aldridge. He’s definitely not nearly as dominant as Dwight, but he DID outplay him the last time the Nets played the Magic. Sure he moves like he’s Gumby, but Lopez does a very good job of facing up from 15 and blowing (albeit slowly) by his man.

    I’d say that just about any team (not named the Magic, Rockets, or Lakers) would be THRILLED to have Brook Lopez as their starting center for the next decade.

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    If you have just gone and put Ol Greg in THIS years draft class your getting a beating…why do you think he didnt get any selections for ROY? He wasnt in this years class…

  • http://slamonline.com James The Balla

    How come there is no Link of the night for the Lakers and Jazz game??

  • Jacob

    shut up kevin love, d-rose didnt make a stupid commercial to advertise himself, rose played and proved he deserved it

  • http://www.broy7.com/roy/index nate the great

    kevin on twitter.
    charlie V = kevin love
    on gayness with twitter.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Blinguo

    Next Farmer surname topic… Farmer Bones?
    As in “nice jacket.”
    Zoom Flight 95′s TB.
    And if Kevin Love + the retro(not in TB tho) = FT line space jam.

  • http://sfdjilf.com Jukai

    Ciolkstar and Allenp: You all make good points. Can’t really argue. I just don’t see Brook Lopez improving, and if Love gets into a different situation (he can’t excel with Al Jefferson), I think he can improve drastically on his passing and offensive skills.

  • Tavoris

    Jukai, I don’t see it with Kevin Love…I think he’ll always be a goood rebounder (as his instincts and timing are impeccable), but offensively, I see Brad Miller as his ceiling. And to be honest, he’s almost there already.

  • http://sfdjilf.com Jukai

    Tavoris: I guess that’s a pure difference in our opinion then. Sorta hard to tell with K-Love at this point anyway; I can see Kevin Love’s game expanding in the PASSING range of things, as well as developing a more consistant outside shot. Those two things can really open up ones game. The speed of the pro-game threw off these two normally solid aspects of Love’s game, but I don’t think that’ll be a constant.. after all, he started off not being able to rebound because everyone was bigger and stronger than him, and look how he ended up at the end of the season? Out rebounding dudes twice his size. Plus, what is he, 20? He’s got massive room for improvement.
    But I’m not putting my money on this, obviously. We’ll see.

  • Tavoris

    Jukai, u just described Brad Miller…those are the 3 things that Brad Miller does well (as well as Mehmet Okur).

    He does have age on his side-which means he probably has 10 good years before those knees start to wear down…and he actually was a decent rebounder from the jump…Al jefferson just took them all…his numbers began to improve as the season progressed (as they should with the minutes he gets), and they jumped dramatically once Jeff got hurt. It wasnt a drastic improvement on his part, however.

    The league is getting quicker, but it’s also getting bigger, and if Oden and Bynum keep improving at their current rates (and stay healthy), Love is gonna b in for a lot of long nights over the next decade. He just doesnt’ seem like he’s ever gonna improve as a defender.

  • Tavoris

    nobody’s twice K-Love’s size but Shaq…he actually had to LOSE weight when he got in the L.

  • Tavoris

    there are plenty of rebounds 2 b had when 1)your best shooter refuses to shoot (Mike Miller) and 2) you have Mark Madsen on your team

  • http://neworleansbasketball.blogspot.com Caleb

    “The league is getting quicker”

    It is? It’s been getting consistently slower for years now I thought.

  • http://neworleansbasketball.blogspot.com Caleb

    Look at Love’s rebounding % as opposed to his per game numbers (since everyone keeps saying – “his team misses a lot of shots”). He grabbed 15.1% of available offensive rebounds – that led the league this year, and is the 51st highest percentage ALL-TIME. He also finished 6th this year in defensive rebounding % and was second only to Dwight Howard in Total rebounding %. Dude’s a beast on the boards.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Ryan Jones

    Those of you who think Kevin’s head is too big — and it is, of course — just know how much he’ll love being the most commented post two days running in the midst of the playoffs he’s not even a part of.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Ryan Jones

    Needless to say, I’m quite enjoying it myself.

  • http://sfdjilf.com Jukai

    Tavoris: Brad Miller was a two time all-star. So, you know, if Kevin Love turns out to be Brad Miller, he’s automatically better than Lopez, who will probably be a no-time all-star. But I don’t think Brad Miller is the ceiling for Love. I think Love has smarter, and more mobile (he’s slow in a sprint, but people dont’ give him credit for how he’s able to squeeze and hustle into spaces Miller never could). That being said, he also could be much worse than Brad Miller. I’m not putting my money on Kevin Love as of yet. I just say you shouldn’t entirely doubt him.
    As for your angry rebound issues, I really can say the same for Brook Lopez. Who exactly, on New Jersey, is a tall scrappy rebounder? There’s a lot of people in New Jersey who LIKE to shoot, but can anyone hit a shot at a decent clip? For a seven footer, Lopez should have had better rebound numbers.

  • http://sfdjilf.com Jukai

    I do agree that Kevin Love’s defense is questionable and that will definitely hurt his value in the long run.

  • http://basketball-reference.com nbk

    How is Lopez automatically worse then Brad Miller Jukai? 13 pts 8 rbnds 1.9 blocks a game. Yao Ming’s rookie year, 13 pts, 8 rbnds, 1.7 blocks. Weird isn’t Yao better then Brad Miller? If Lopez keeps what he is doing up in the fashion he is doing it he will end up like Yao Ming.

  • Tavoris

    Jukai…I’d b suprised if Brook Lopez isn’t an All-star NEXT year. After Dwight Howard, there isn’t a center in the East that’s better.

    and Brad Miller was an All-Star in an era where Jamall Magliore and Nazr Mohammed were virtual all-star locks…there isn’t really a comparison. Caleb, the league is getting quicker…the game may ot reflect it score-wise, but players are bigger and faster than they have EVER been. Lebron-that’s all that needs 2 b said.

  • http://basketball-reference.com nbk

    Players getting quicker, and the game slowing down are two different things Caleb.

  • Tavoris

    Caleb-who pays attention to rebounding precentage? it doesn’t take a genius statisician to notice that there are only gonna b so many caroms to be had. If no one else on the team is trying to rebound, then you are gonna have a higher percentage.

    Kevin Garnett led the league in rebounding for like 27 years straight until he got to Boston. Now that he has a PG who gets 5+, a SG that gets 4,a SF that gets 6-7, and a C that gets 8, he doesn’t have to grab 13 a game anymore…In Minny, he had Mark Blount to back him up (who averaged 4RPG) and Mark Madsen (who averaged like 4)…

  • Tavoris

    thanks nbk…

  • http://basketball-reference.com nbk

    I think defensive rebounds shouldn’t even be measured they prove nothing except your team did their job. Offensive Rebounds are all that matter statistically and the fact that he got such a high percentage says a lot about his IQ. But it also says the T-Wolves miss a lot, and it implies that (if you have any common sense) Al Jefferson is not playing. Love had a great rookie campaign and all but his impact is handicapped by what the Wolves lacked. And thats why he got no ROY love.

  • Tavoris

    Very well put, nbk.

  • http://basketball-reference.com nbk

    thank u

  • Tavoris

    I still say that when u have a center (Lopez) shooting 53% from the field and 80% from the line while blocking almost 2 shots a game, u keep giving him the ball.

  • http://sfdjilf.com Jukai

    If you guys think Lopez is all-star material, then clearly either I haven’t watched enough Nets games or you guys have watched FAR too much. As I said, I think the New Jersey have a team that makes rebounding just as easy as it is for Minny, so Lopez’s numbers should be better than they are for his height.

  • Tavoris

    Jukai…Devin Harris >Randy Foye (not by much tho), VC >the rest of the T-Wolves…

    All it really takes is one game, one quarter to see how the Nets (who don’t really have another post scorer) use Lopez on EVERY screen-roll with Harris or Carter…how he scores with the face up game, posting up on either side, on the move with alley-oops. How he hits free throws better than most centers in the league. How he’s a LEGIT 7-foot, 260 and does a good-almost great job blocking and altering shots. How he’s NOT a liability in close games, because he makes free throws and doesn’t commit silly fouls

    He is really good enuf 2 b a 18-20 ppg, 10rpg, 2.5 bpg center in the L, shooting 52% from the field and 80% from the line. That’s all-star numbers for the next decade, homie

  • http://basketball-reference.com nbk

    Jukai you watched far too little Nets games, but its not your fault, who the f, other then a jersey native would like watching them…. but Lopez has virtually no weaknesses, and can get better at everything. So yeah is Rebounding numbers could have been better, but then again they could have been worse. In fact he outrebounded Andrew Bynum, Brad Miller (who you say he is “worse then”, and Nene. Those are 3 of the top centers in the league (not top 3 but 3 of the better centers) he outrebounded as a rookie. You can’t possibly think he won’t get better.

  • BostonBaller

    If you don’t win the award it doesn’t matter where you placed. It’s easy to get numbers on a team that stinks. All of the aforementioned players were better than he was but if this gets him juiced enough to improve over the Summer then great for him. Imagine if Shaq said this. lol. What an attention hog!

  • http://www.slamonline.com Myles Brown

    Im pretty sure that no one in this thread-sans K.Love-actually watches T Wolves basketball.

  • Tavoris

    Myles, I have checked them out on occasion. They are slowly-but surely realizing that Randy Foye is pretty darn good playing the 2. Mike Miller is one of the ten best shooters in basketball-yet passes up shots he has no business passing up. Watching Al Jefferson work in the post is a beautiful thing, even tho he gets his shot blocked more than anybody I’ve ever seen. Nobody on the team TRIES to play defense. They need to give Ryan Gomes more minutes and shots. Telfair does an excellent job distributing the ball FAR away from the spotlight (and his NYC legend).

    They will improve dramatically if they had a true center, so Jefferson can play at the 4.

  • chazz michael michaels

    “ive gotten screwed” isn’t french what a dumbholio hahaha

  • Jimmy C

    hey K-Love. how bout i buy pack of gum and show u how to chew it.

  • JLee

    Westbrook killed. But Derrick Rose is better. Both are better than K-Love. Sorry Kevin. You deserve what you got.

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