Tuesday, July 24th, 2012 at 10:05 am  |  98 responses

Kevin Love Finds Limited Playing Time With Team USA ‘Tough’


There are whispers that the powers that be at Team USA aren’t exactly with Kevin Love’s play and level of aggression thus far, which has resulted in Love not playing a whole lot. The star forward admits that he’s having a tough time proving to the coaching staff that he deserves more playing time. Per Sheridan Hoops: “Obviously I’d like to go out there and be playing with these guys, I really feel like I can help. I know my abilities and know what I’m capable of,’ Love said Monday. ‘You know, Coach K and I have talked about it — this isn’t 2010. I obviously played more in 2010, but I’m a completely different player now and a far better player. So we’ll wait and see what happens. I worked into my playing time in 2010, and hopefully that’ll happen here. I just need to find a way to get into a rhythm in limited minutes, which is tough.’ Love logged only 5 minutes of burn in the American’ 11-point victory over Brazil a week ago, played garbage time minutes in Manchester, England, against Great Britain after picking up three quick fouls without accumulating any other statistics in the first three quarters of that 40-point victory, then logged only seven minutes against Argentina with two rebounds and an assist, and no points. [...] Love is playing 25 pounds lighter than he was two summers ago in Turkey, which he says has been to his advantage. ‘That’s helped me. If you look at last season and the season before, I had a breakthrough season in 2010-11, and then last year I felt, and I still feel, I’m one of the best players in the league. I just need to get into a rhythm, and there’s no real chances out here to do that. I was playing more minutes in Turkey than I am now, and they can say I’m not playing great. But I didn’t touch the ball yesterday, and there’s nothing I can really do in that regard. As far as rebounding the ball, I’m always going to do that. But if they don’t think I’m playing great, then fine. But hopefully I can prove that I am once I get a chance to get out there. Guys like LeBron and Kevin and Carmelo are playing a lot of 4. I’ve been playing mostly 5, playing out of position, so who knows?’”

  • Add a Comment
  • Share
  • RSS

Tags: , , , ,

Newer Comments →
  • http://slamonline.com jer

    What else do you expect him to say? its easy? The teams way too loaded so unless they decide to change up to play some bigs against argentina, brazil and spain. KLove is going to have to “TOUGH” it out lol

  • http://www.twitter.com/hurstysyd Hursty

    So go out there and guard someone Kevin. Might make a difference. Carmelo’s been subpar so far in International play this year. His +/- is one of the lowest on the team too. Chandler is at a ridiculously high number.
    John Hollinger was crunching numbers on Twitter the other day,

  • http://www.amazon.com sadeye2507

    He will get his chance today defending the bigs of Spain

  • http://www.twitter.com/_dfrance dfrance21

    The problem is defense is not his strong suit. They have enough scoring and 3 point shooting, they need the bigs to defend and rebound.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woWqSmichOo RunNGun

    Carmelo Anthony is just putrid. As for Kevin Love, he should learn how to play defense. Coach K can careless about his attitude. Until then, warm those benches K-LOVE.

  • FnF

    What shoe company is Kevin Love with? Thought so…

  • http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

    This is why CB1 in my opinion is still a better PF than Love.
    Without a doubt, Love puts up superior numbers but CB’s ability to adapt his game makes him better.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Then get better.
    Play better defense, develop a dependable back to the basket game and specialize in doing all the little things that make teams win. It’s not that hard.

  • http://thahiphopcorner.com Kevin

    I’d rather see Unibrow get more PT over Kevin Love. Especially against Spain

  • http://gmail.com z

    It gets on my nerves how much of a pass this cat gets from the media. If certain other players said this theyd be criticized as “selfish” but nope not kev! Wonder why… then again the media loses more and more credibility every day.

  • http://www.dimemag.com showtime

    this dude complain more than anything..do like wiz..play hard lol..

  • http://www.slamonline.com Nick Tha Quick

    From watching the past 3 exhibition games, KLove’s defense or lack thereof really stands out. It’s like night and day when he comes in for Chandler. He isn’t aggressive on the 60 billion pick and rolls all FIBA teams run. He takes bad angles to cut off drivers. Is usually late on rotations. He gets caught in that no man’s land of indecision. It also doesn’t help that he usually plays with Westbrook, who has been cheating a lot going for steals, leaving Klove to cover up behind him. And it’s like he’s pulling down 15 boards a game to make up for all this.

  • http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

    pigmentation plays a role.

  • MirChilly

    If any other player makes them comments they’re automatically ripped!!! Let Kobe or Melo say that. The first nine comments would be about how selfish they are and how they’re not as good as they think. Yet this guy get’s pseudo encouragement. Hilarious. But then again, when has this guy ever not been about self?

  • http://gmail.com z

    No doubt pigment plays a role. For all the fantasizing that the usa is a post racial society the fact is that poverty levels are the highest theyve been in 50 years and we all know which demographics are at the bottom of the socioeconomic totem pole. When youre a member of the demographic thats at the top of the socioeconomic totem pole you get to complain about stuff constantly like this dude klove…all while being lauded by the mainstream. Post-racial lol…race itself is an imaginary concept invented and perpetuated by the haves who utilize race as a divisive issue amongst the have nots thus giving the rich MORE opportunities to screw em over…sigh…wake up america

  • T-Money

    klove has been complaining a lot this summer. sheridan has an agenda, he predicted that klove would be the 3rd best player on this team so he’s pushing that.

  • http://gmail.com z

    Cmon allenp drop some knowledge on me

  • T-Money

    what really doesn’t help his claim that he hasn’t gotten enough minutes to get going is that anthony davis has been ballin outta control with instant energy and impact in very limited minutes.

  • http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

    The fact that he has the nerve to complain about not getting enough touches on a team like and the fact that no one in the media will criticize him irks me. Harden is going through a similar situation yet he hasn’t complained one bit. Same thing with AD. Those guys put their ego aside for the good of the team.

  • Orlando Woolridge (RIP)

    Maybe its me, but it seems like there are more and more articles showing up here where this guy seems to think he’s entitled to succeed. Somebody needs to humble dude before it gets out of control. He’s already on my “annoying as hell” list…and I know these players care deeply about what I think of them. Is he completely unaware of the holes in his game? Play some defense man!

  • Tempest

    Ironically, some of the people agreeing with love not playing due to his D would probably have been campaigning for griffin to get more minutes so they can see him dunk on people (while also playing far worse D than k-love and bricking anything more than 5 feet from the rim)

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Z
    You did just fine by yourself. People who want to know what’s up can see it for themselves. Those who would rather be blind are going to be blind.
    Like I said the other day, the only cat that gets an equivalent pass to Kevin Love is Kobe Bryant, and he earned that pass by helping to win 5 championships and building himself into an amazing player.
    Kevin Love has not done either of those things. And he regularly says and does things that get other players branded as selfish, flawed malcontents.
    The complexion for protection is still real. But, that isn’t a productive conversation to have, so I try to avoid having it unless I really feel up to it.

  • http://www.kb24.com The Seed

    People are dead wrong up hear with their thoughts, Most superstars who have won rings get a pass. Kevin Love gets a pass, because he is overrated, nobody cares about him and his team sucks. He should not be on the team in my opinion. We needed some color on the team, to me is why. He needs to get relevant first. People always bringing up Kobe’s name, with dumb stuff. Kobe has earned his stripes and can say what he wants. Just because he is not a punk like, Republicans wear shoes, who cares people are dieing for my cheap labor shoes or who cares about the Black race issues, or social issues. Kobe is not a punk about speaking his mind like MJ.

  • Ash

    I thought he would get more playing time but like everyone has said he can’t play defensive. If he starts playing better D I’m sure hell get more playing time and his #s will improve. He’s a PF guarding Centers.

  • Lboogie

    KLOVE HAS to understand hes on a team full of hall of famers who have won championships and the fact that he had two good seasons, (one LOCKOUT) doesnt mean he should be getting mad burn. In the end OLYMPICS are NBA players CHARITY as they dont get paid…but they DO get paid in Commercial and international sales from the exposure. Kobe, Lebron, Durant….ISNT IT FUNNY one day Coack K decided to put a ALL NIKE lineup in deron, kobe, lebron, lebron while taking out melo and cp3, both jordan athletes. Its all bout the $$$ why do u think tayshaun and boozer never played. Michael redd michael redd michael redd michael redd….

  • http://www.slamonline.com nbk Troll

    K.Love is a clown. He gets sooo much credit but has not done anything but do good on a bad team. Should not have been a All-Star. HE stepped on a dudes head in game INTENTIONALLY, He complained about his formenr teamates, and now complaines about touches on a squad he has no business on. He gets a pass from the media for one reason. HE IS THE GREAT WHITE HYPE. The NBA would love for him to be the face of the league.(him and jeremy lin) NO TATS, NO BRAIDS!!

  • bike

    If he keeps this type of complaining up, he won’t get a ‘pass’ as some thinks he gets. This kind of bitching will eventually trump any advantage he supposedly has because of his skin color. It’s really stupid considering the caliber of players he is playing with.

  • bike

    If he keeps this type of complaining up, he won’t get a ‘pass’ as some thinks he gets. This kind of bit*hing will eventually trump any advantage he supposedly has because of his skin color. It’s really stupid considering the caliber of players he is playing with.

  • pposse

    hey seed your boy Zeke was speaking his mind too. Yup he was speaking his mind about MJ thruout the 1998 finals when he was the lead broadcaster with Bob Costas..slurpin on MJ..talkin about how he the greatest.

  • pposse

    did klove really say that he is one of the best players in the league? If you are one of the best players in the league, then how come you haven’t made the playoffs yet?

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Seed
    You suck at reading.
    I said Kobe gets a pass because he earned his stripes. More importantly, before Kobe got popped for ra(ping that white chick, he was the most white bread, image conscious media whore in the entire sporting world. He was doing EVERYTHING Jordan did, until he that faithful not in Eagle, Colorado. For you to pretend otherwise shows a serious lack of understanding about the world.
    And exactly what does Kobe stand up for? He’s still signed with Nike. He hasn’t every spoken out on a controversial public issue. Get real.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    is Kevin Love f*cking serious with this? Kevin Love mentioned himself 19 times. NINETEEN TIMES he said “I,” “I’m,” or “me” NINETEEN!!! You play for TEAM USA, not TEAM GET KEVIN LOVE ATTENTION – Every guy on the team feels they are the best player on earth, you aren’t f*cking special Kevin. Uhhh, i would rather here Dwight Howard deny the truth then listen to Kevin Love boast about how he is not getting the opportunity he deserves while playing on the best team on earth. First you talk about how the team you just signed a contract with, and have only been on for 4 whole years isn’t doing enough to win now, and now this? How many ridiculously self centered things do you think you can spew out of your asshole of a mouth in one summer Kevin Love? Not wonder you steal rebounds from your teammates.
    .
    BLAH

  • http://gmail.com z

    allenp’s got a point there, seed. while i do give kobe major props for coming out and saying something to the effect of “if everyone at staples center for our games gave a little bit of their money, we could seriously combat homelessness around LA,” (which is more than $ ever said/did for the poor–there’s really no excuse for how socially irresponsible mj has been throughout his career) kob does get carte blanch to say whatever he wants at this point (i will say that for a couple years after the rape accusation kobe got criticized for dam near EVERYTHING–kinda to be expected when you are accused of rape). and also prior to that rape charge, kobe WAS pretty much doing everything he could to reassure sternbot and the rest of the corporate world that he was the anti-iverson. BOOK IT!!

  • Sérgio

    Completely cosign JTaylor and Allenp. I like Kevin Love, but he’s acting like a freakin b!tch as of lately. 2 good seasons and he thinks he is the level of Kobe or Lebron.

  • http://www.reverbnation.com/tray24 T-Ray

    I’m not one to play the race card but it applies to how certain athletes are able to get a pass when they make certain comments. When you hear analyst or commentators speak about Love there is never a negative comment but rather praise of his skill set and intelligence. When speaking about the white athlete its normally about his whits and his off the court behavior. With the black athletes it’s his pure natural athletic ability. That’s just an example of how as JTaylor said pigmentation plays a role in sports.

  • http://Slamonline.com Jzakoni

    Don’t get me wrong, I love Kevin Loves game, but he talks big talk. When in reality Ricky Rubio had That team running smooth. With Rubio, twolves were a .500 team with an 8 seed in the entire west. When Ricky went out. Twolves went 5-21 shut up Kevin love. He talks a big game

  • pposse

    Heres the deal with white and black ball players. There are very few white american born nba basketball players in the league right now. This is because most white kids growing up in America would get constantly teased, laughed at, embarrassed…all of this just because they stepped on a basketball court with some black guys. In time, the white ball player will give up on his dream and realize that this is a black mans game (at the very top, nba talent wise). Sports writers are well aware of this. This is why Euro’s don’t do so bad in the NBA. The Euro ball player did not grow up getting teased by an athletically superior (black guy) ball player. Instead, they get coached properly and do not get exposed to such dramatic set backs that american white guys are exposed to growing up. Like i said, the sports writers are well aware of this, thats why they let these ‘heroes’ as some would call it keep talking and talking. They do not want to be responsible for in this case, KLove’s mental demise. Its really that simple.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Redd

    So the white man has been oppressed? Lmao get out of here with all that junk.

  • pposse

    on the basketball courts, but not in everyday life! Redd have some white kids from the suburbs go down to the south side of chicago to hoop..i guarantee you that half of those kids that are in the car driving there will NOT want to step out of the car let alone play ball when they see everyone on the courts. These are kids we are talking about, not some 20-25 year olds trying to hoop to get a sweat in. If your going to be in the NBA, most players have been taking basketball very seriously since they are like 12.

  • http://Roosterteeth.com Caboose

    The most overrated player in the NBA. His defense is on par with Steve Nash and his post up game on par with Rashard Lewis. He just happens to play on a team that lets him pad his stats like crazy. If the T’Wolves had….
    Chris Bosh: 27-12-3
    Lamarcus Aldridge: 28-10-2
    Pau Gasol: 25-13-4
    Josh Smith: 21-14-5
    Blake Griffin: 30-15-1
    I know nbk and I had a debate a while back about who was more important to the Wolves success, Adelman, Rubio, or Love. I said Rubio was the majority, with Love only a moderate amount. I stand by that, and this dude’s ARROGANT attitude seals the fact that his locker room presence isn’t good.

  • http://sfkjlf.com Jukai

    Complains about lack of size… benches two of the three tallest players for most of the game.
    Coach K everyone! Coach K!

  • http://sfkjlf.com Jukai

    Oh wow at this fake racial anger… now I remember why I don’t post much on SLAM anymore… carry on, guys!

  • http://www.nba.com VanCityBBall

    Well he better get some minutes when playing Spain… those guys can’t really guard the bigs of Spain (all due respect but still)

  • LA Huey

    Wow. He is right though, this isn’t 2010. This is Team USA’s Varsity squad. Fall in line.

  • http://Slamonline.com Jzakoni

    Ricky Rubio, Ricky Rubio, Ricky Rubio, Ricky helps that team more then Kevin love

  • http://nba.com GP23

    I agree with some of the above.
    Yes, Kevin Love was great last season, he put up good numbers…. but that’s it!
    Hasn’t played in a post-season yet, although to be fair, that isn’t entirely his fault, it’s the rest of the team as well as him.
    Ricky Rubio is more valuable to the T-Wolves than Love is in my opinion.
    Allenp, Kobe STILL is trying to be MJ’s equivalent.
    However, whenever Nash or Love is brought up in an article, race is always mentioned. Look back in the archives for proof. Bizarre.

  • http://www.slamonline.com The riddler

    He is a dump period good but not great like the others in front of him

  • http://www.kb24.com The Seed

    @Z
    Your right alot in your comment, But I have read and seen things where Kobe has talked about other social issues that impact America and the homelessness is something he does nobody talks about trying to do things for people who have less. MJ never did anything but ball and chase women, so he played ball great, but as a person he sucked. MJ is considered by most to be the greatest athlete ever, but never did anything publicly to sway people’s view of him. The media today would kill MJ and this HALO everyone has of him, being great at everying thing from shooting percentage, big game play, defense, team play, ball hogging, teammates hated him, Bulls management despised him, his kids resented him, wife dealt with him for money and now he is running the Bobcats to the ground and him and Barkley messed of Tiger Woods life. LOL

  • http://slamonline.com Datkid

    cosign allenp. bosh’s defense+versatile game(back to the basket, jump shooting, decent at 3′s) and the fact that he put up similar #’s and has had more team success so far always made me think he was slightly better than love. plus Bosh is more athletic

  • JL

    Ricky Rubio with his 35.7% shooting? And that’s with his hot start included. He’s a great passer but he’s gotta find a way to be a threat on his own as well.

Newer Comments →
Advertisement