the most misunderstood thing in basketball by mainstream fans is usage.DRWebs wrote:Granted I'm not a NBA junkie but still hearing a ton about Kevin Love being useless and they're better off without him... Aren't they pretty much putting him in a position to fail by having him just sit in the corner every (or seemingly every) offensive possession?
there is one ball so having 3 ball dominant 'stars' isn't typically the best way to go. there are guys out there who will be best used as a ball dominant player (think super efficient stars), some guys are better as #2 usage guys (think very talented players who are lower efficiency), some guys are better as a 3rd usage (think a guy like Draymond who is well rounded offensively and defensively, can do things without the ball in his hands) 4th usage type guys are typically best when they are elite 1 category guys (think an unreal 3 pt shooter or a great rebounder, a lock down defender, etc) 5th usage and beyond typically are best when they are high energy competent defenders who have a skill that compliments the top 2 usage guys.
this is a simplistic/basic guide, but having 3 guys who are great scorers who use the ball all the time are essentially lowering the value of each of them or of the ones who make the usage sacrifice. a guy like Bosh got the same criticism. but the best use in these situations for a guy like Love and Bosh around a player like Lebron is to create space and pull out a big guy from the paint so he can get to the basket with less interference (spacing is the most important thing coaches needs to figure out ways to create in the NBA which is why stretch 4's are so popular now). putting the ball in Love's hands so he gets his 20&10 essentially means you take it out of Lebron's hands 15-20% of the time. That's not typically the smart play nor would an alpha like Lebron accept that. Cleveland probably gets the same production from a guy like Channing Frye 60% of the time that they'll get from Love. The advantage of having an option like Love however is that if something ever happens to Kyrie or Lebron or they are having a cold game, they can put the ball in his hands more and he gives them a 1/2 usage option. Vast majority of teams don't have that so if they lose a top 2 guy they are completely fucked. However, as we saw in game 3, Cleveland doesn't lose a ton with Love off court.
I'd use Love off the bench if i had the job so he could play less with just 1 of the Kyrie/Lebron duo and allow him to use his best talents more often. playing Kyrie with Love to me is pointless since they both are sub par defenders. The real way Love could be used better is if someone convinced him to just rebound. Sort of like a Tristan role, but like you said, he's being used to draw defenders from the paint so that's hard.
i've been calling for a Love to Boston trade for over a year. his deficiencies defensively would be hidden there more and he could be a 1a offensive threat with Thomas and go back to putting up 20+ and 10 boards.
