Post by Athans on Oct 30, 2014 8:50:32 GMT -6
Blog post here
Kevin Love: So Overrated
I am so sick of hearing about how great Kevin Love is. He has got to be one of the most overrated players out there. I live in Minnesota, so I follow the TWolves slightly, but I am a Heat, or more specifically a LeBron and Bosh, fan. I have always been a fan of Love, but the truth is he is a highly overrated baby, and I will prove that by looking at the other former TWolve name Kevin…Garnett. Both are Power Forwards/Centers, big guys that can shoot the ball, and both were rebounding leaders. I will also throw my boy Chris Bosh in the mix because he is the forgotten part in Miami But his game, size, and position is similar to the Kevins.
I am going to compare Bosh’s Toronto years, Garnett’s Minnesota’s years, and Love’s career by using 3 categories: Playoffs, Stats (PPG, RPG, Shooting %), and players around them.
Let’s start with the future HOFer, KG. When KG was with the Wolves, they were the team I followed. He was my favorite player until LeBron came around, and when he was traded and won a title in Boston, I was happy. He did so much for the TWolves and never had a team put around him. I wanted him to leave so he could win a title.
Let’s take a look at KGs career stats…
Career: PPG 18.6, RPG 10.3, FG% .497, 3P% .277, FT% .790
Career Highs: PPG 24.2, RPG 13.9
I would say his averages dipped once he teamed up with Pierce and Allen, and since he has gotten older. Without doing any math, his PPG look to be around 20-21 PPG and 11-12 RPG while with the Wolves. The career highs were both with the Wolves.
Next up, Chris Bosh…
Career: 19.2 PPG, 8.7 RPG, FG% .498, 3P% .310, FT% .800
Career Highs: PPG 24, RPG 10.8
As with Garnett, his numbers dip slightly after joining Wade and LBJ. His numbers roughly look to be 20-21 PPG, 9 RPG while in Toronto. Career Highs were both with Toronto.
Lastly, Kevin Love…
Career: PPG 19.2, RGP 12.2, FG% .451, 3P% .361, FT% .815
Career Highs: PPG 26.1, RPG 15.2
Oddly enough, Love and Bosh have the exact same career PPG average, and all three guys have similar numbers. Here are the leaders in the following categories…
Career PPG: Bosh/Love
Career RPG: Love
Career FG%: Garnett/Bosh (only .001 separates them, a virtual tie)
Career 3P%: Love
Career FT%: Love (all very close in this category also)
Career High PPG: Love
Career High RPG: Love
The conclusion on the stats is that Love is a better rebounder, with Bosh being the worst of the three. Bosh and Garnett are better shooters, but love is slightly better than Bosh, with Garnett being the worst, when it comes to the three point shot. All are pretty even on FT%. Statistically, they are all fairly even players with each being slightly better in one area over another.
How do these players compare when it comes to getting their teams to the playoffs? This one really tells the story. Here are the results of Garnett with the Wolves, Bosh with the Raptors, and Love with the Wolves…
Garnett:
Playoffs: Y/N
95-N
96-N
97-Y
98-Y
99-Y
00-Y
01-Y
02-Y
03-Y
04-Y (Western Conference Finals)
05-N
06-N
In Garnett’s 12 years with the Wolves, they made the playoffs eight of the twelve years. They made the playoffs eight straight years, and all the way to the Conference finals in 2004.
Bosh:
Playoffs: Y/N
03-N
04-N
05-N
06-Y
07-Y
08-N
09-N (Bosh was posting career highs and they were the 5th seed until Bosh was injured for the season, they fell out of contention.)
Bosh lead his team to the playoffs two out of seven years, and probably would have done it another time if not for an injury. Nowhere near the level of Garnett, but he was capable of leading a team through the regular season.
Love:
Playoffs: Y/N
Love
08-N
09-N
10-N
11-N
12-N
13-N
Love has not led his team to the playoffs in any of his six years with the Wolves (I do understand he was injured one of those years.)
The question that remains is about the players around them. Obviously Garnett and Bosh have won titles when they were put with better players, but how do they match up before that point?
Bosh:
I would argue he had the worst team around him. He literally had no one around him his entire time in Toronto. There is literally one name worth mentioning, Jermaine O’Neal, whom he had for a grand total of one year. I have never really heard of any of the rest of their players during that time. Bosh showed that he had the ability to lead a bunch of no-names to the playoffs.
Garnett:
Garnett arguably had the best players around him, but only for a couple of years. He had Stephon Marbury for three seasons, but they made their Conference Finals run when he had Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell, each of which only played there for two seasons. These are the BEST guys Garnett had, and calling them “stars” is pushing it, yet he was able to lead that team to the conference finals. The reality is that for seven straight years, Garnett led a bunch no-names to the playoffs.
Love:
I would argue that Love had the best players around him for more seasons. Most would argue Garnett did, either way, I think it is fairly even. The Wolves certainly had a number of top prospects that turned out to be busts. It was not a lack of trying to add talent to the team. That being said, Love has had Ricky Rubio (two years), Nikola Pekovic (four years), and Al Jefferson and Michael Beasley briefly. The fact of the matter is that Love’s teams were no less talented that Bosh especially, but even Garnett. There is no excuse for not having led the Wolves to the playoffs, at least a single time. ESPECIALLY when looking at this last season. Having Pek and Rubio, and losing a lot of close games, shows that he is not a leader and is certainly not clutch.
I suppose there is still one area I did not address…Defense…
Sure, Love rebounds really well, but has never been known for his defense. Let’s compare defense…
Love:
BPG: .5
SPG: .7
Bosh:
BPG: 1.1
SPG: .8
Garnett:
BPG: 1.5
SPG: 1.3
2008 NBA Defensive Player of the Year
9x NBA All-Defensive First Team
3x NBA All-Defensive Second Team
Clearly Garnett blows both of them out of the water but Bosh is a step up defensively over Love. I am sure this plays a role in their abilities to lead (or not lead) a team to the playoffs.
Is he an elite player? I suppose, but really there is no excuse for never leading a team to the playoffs in a league where more than half of the teams make it. If I had a choice between Bosh or Love TODAY, I would take Bosh without giving it a second thought. Kevin Love is Chris Bosh without the defense and leadership. That being said, Love would be perfect in Cleveland. He does not need to worry about being a leader there, LeBron can handle that, he just needs to be a walking double-double. I know some experts, like Stephen A. Smith, are saying Cleveland (or any other team) is not offering enough for Love. Of course they are. What is the other option? Keep Love? So one more season of not making the playoffs and then get nothing for him? He is going to leave Minnesota because he needs someone to lead a team for him so he will probably go to Cleveland anyways. At least get Wiggins…
Kevin Love: So Overrated
I am so sick of hearing about how great Kevin Love is. He has got to be one of the most overrated players out there. I live in Minnesota, so I follow the TWolves slightly, but I am a Heat, or more specifically a LeBron and Bosh, fan. I have always been a fan of Love, but the truth is he is a highly overrated baby, and I will prove that by looking at the other former TWolve name Kevin…Garnett. Both are Power Forwards/Centers, big guys that can shoot the ball, and both were rebounding leaders. I will also throw my boy Chris Bosh in the mix because he is the forgotten part in Miami But his game, size, and position is similar to the Kevins.
I am going to compare Bosh’s Toronto years, Garnett’s Minnesota’s years, and Love’s career by using 3 categories: Playoffs, Stats (PPG, RPG, Shooting %), and players around them.
Let’s start with the future HOFer, KG. When KG was with the Wolves, they were the team I followed. He was my favorite player until LeBron came around, and when he was traded and won a title in Boston, I was happy. He did so much for the TWolves and never had a team put around him. I wanted him to leave so he could win a title.
Let’s take a look at KGs career stats…
Career: PPG 18.6, RPG 10.3, FG% .497, 3P% .277, FT% .790
Career Highs: PPG 24.2, RPG 13.9
I would say his averages dipped once he teamed up with Pierce and Allen, and since he has gotten older. Without doing any math, his PPG look to be around 20-21 PPG and 11-12 RPG while with the Wolves. The career highs were both with the Wolves.
Next up, Chris Bosh…
Career: 19.2 PPG, 8.7 RPG, FG% .498, 3P% .310, FT% .800
Career Highs: PPG 24, RPG 10.8
As with Garnett, his numbers dip slightly after joining Wade and LBJ. His numbers roughly look to be 20-21 PPG, 9 RPG while in Toronto. Career Highs were both with Toronto.
Lastly, Kevin Love…
Career: PPG 19.2, RGP 12.2, FG% .451, 3P% .361, FT% .815
Career Highs: PPG 26.1, RPG 15.2
Oddly enough, Love and Bosh have the exact same career PPG average, and all three guys have similar numbers. Here are the leaders in the following categories…
Career PPG: Bosh/Love
Career RPG: Love
Career FG%: Garnett/Bosh (only .001 separates them, a virtual tie)
Career 3P%: Love
Career FT%: Love (all very close in this category also)
Career High PPG: Love
Career High RPG: Love
The conclusion on the stats is that Love is a better rebounder, with Bosh being the worst of the three. Bosh and Garnett are better shooters, but love is slightly better than Bosh, with Garnett being the worst, when it comes to the three point shot. All are pretty even on FT%. Statistically, they are all fairly even players with each being slightly better in one area over another.
How do these players compare when it comes to getting their teams to the playoffs? This one really tells the story. Here are the results of Garnett with the Wolves, Bosh with the Raptors, and Love with the Wolves…
Garnett:
Playoffs: Y/N
95-N
96-N
97-Y
98-Y
99-Y
00-Y
01-Y
02-Y
03-Y
04-Y (Western Conference Finals)
05-N
06-N
In Garnett’s 12 years with the Wolves, they made the playoffs eight of the twelve years. They made the playoffs eight straight years, and all the way to the Conference finals in 2004.
Bosh:
Playoffs: Y/N
03-N
04-N
05-N
06-Y
07-Y
08-N
09-N (Bosh was posting career highs and they were the 5th seed until Bosh was injured for the season, they fell out of contention.)
Bosh lead his team to the playoffs two out of seven years, and probably would have done it another time if not for an injury. Nowhere near the level of Garnett, but he was capable of leading a team through the regular season.
Love:
Playoffs: Y/N
Love
08-N
09-N
10-N
11-N
12-N
13-N
Love has not led his team to the playoffs in any of his six years with the Wolves (I do understand he was injured one of those years.)
The question that remains is about the players around them. Obviously Garnett and Bosh have won titles when they were put with better players, but how do they match up before that point?
Bosh:
I would argue he had the worst team around him. He literally had no one around him his entire time in Toronto. There is literally one name worth mentioning, Jermaine O’Neal, whom he had for a grand total of one year. I have never really heard of any of the rest of their players during that time. Bosh showed that he had the ability to lead a bunch of no-names to the playoffs.
Garnett:
Garnett arguably had the best players around him, but only for a couple of years. He had Stephon Marbury for three seasons, but they made their Conference Finals run when he had Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell, each of which only played there for two seasons. These are the BEST guys Garnett had, and calling them “stars” is pushing it, yet he was able to lead that team to the conference finals. The reality is that for seven straight years, Garnett led a bunch no-names to the playoffs.
Love:
I would argue that Love had the best players around him for more seasons. Most would argue Garnett did, either way, I think it is fairly even. The Wolves certainly had a number of top prospects that turned out to be busts. It was not a lack of trying to add talent to the team. That being said, Love has had Ricky Rubio (two years), Nikola Pekovic (four years), and Al Jefferson and Michael Beasley briefly. The fact of the matter is that Love’s teams were no less talented that Bosh especially, but even Garnett. There is no excuse for not having led the Wolves to the playoffs, at least a single time. ESPECIALLY when looking at this last season. Having Pek and Rubio, and losing a lot of close games, shows that he is not a leader and is certainly not clutch.
I suppose there is still one area I did not address…Defense…
Sure, Love rebounds really well, but has never been known for his defense. Let’s compare defense…
Love:
BPG: .5
SPG: .7
Bosh:
BPG: 1.1
SPG: .8
Garnett:
BPG: 1.5
SPG: 1.3
2008 NBA Defensive Player of the Year
9x NBA All-Defensive First Team
3x NBA All-Defensive Second Team
Clearly Garnett blows both of them out of the water but Bosh is a step up defensively over Love. I am sure this plays a role in their abilities to lead (or not lead) a team to the playoffs.
Is he an elite player? I suppose, but really there is no excuse for never leading a team to the playoffs in a league where more than half of the teams make it. If I had a choice between Bosh or Love TODAY, I would take Bosh without giving it a second thought. Kevin Love is Chris Bosh without the defense and leadership. That being said, Love would be perfect in Cleveland. He does not need to worry about being a leader there, LeBron can handle that, he just needs to be a walking double-double. I know some experts, like Stephen A. Smith, are saying Cleveland (or any other team) is not offering enough for Love. Of course they are. What is the other option? Keep Love? So one more season of not making the playoffs and then get nothing for him? He is going to leave Minnesota because he needs someone to lead a team for him so he will probably go to Cleveland anyways. At least get Wiggins…