Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Can't think of a superstar that fits better than Kevin Love

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #61
    white men can't jump wrote: View Post
    That's a giant "IF". I can't think of something more unlikely (that's remotely within the realm of reality).

    If I had to choose which is more likely between:

    -Within my life we will colonize Mars

    and

    -Carmelo Anthony will buy into team basketball on both ends

    I'd probably have to choose the first....every time. I could be wrong, but that's just how unlikely I see the 2nd option. Probably neither happens...but yeah, still would pick the 1st.
    I agree it's a big IF (hence why I wrote it in caps), but you're exaggerating.

    Melo has bought into team ball before, see the 2009 playoffs. And our team is actually quite similar to that one.

    Comment


    • #62
      Nosike wrote: View Post
      I agree it's a big IF (hence why I wrote it in caps), but you're exaggerating.

      Melo has bought into team ball before, see the 2009 playoffs. And our team is actually quite similar to that one.
      I think it's debatable how much he bought in. More than he ever had/has, yeah, sure, but not as much as he could/should. It was also right after the key 2008 Olympic run, where pretty much everyone on that team came back better from a team-play perspective.

      And there's one key difference between our teams: Chauncey Billups. A veteran Finals MVP who could command his respect. I don't think you'll ever see him respect someone like that again either. He's too far into his career now, and at that point where he should be that leader in terms of presence. We don't have anyone like that. NY has Chandler and Amar'e, and had Kidd last yeah, and at best, Melo occasionally bought in...still rarely on D.

      *And yes I was exaggerating, but I'm also not convinced I'm wrong....and that scares me.

      **I'm extra hard on Melo. He very obviously has elite talent and could easily be arguably the best player of his generation if he was as good a teammate, leader and 2-way player as LeBron from an approach/effort perspective. He maybe would never be the distributor or all-around player James is, but there's no reason he can't be the leader of a perennial contender from a talent perspective...yet he's only been to the conference Finals once.
      Last edited by white men can't jump; Sun Jan 5, 2014, 11:47 PM.

      Comment


      • #63
        white men can't jump wrote: View Post

        **I'm extra hard on Melo. He very obviously has elite talent and could easily be arguably the best player of his generation if he was as good a teammate, leader and 2-way player as LeBron from an approach/effort perspective. He maybe would never be the distributor or all-around player James is, but there's no reason he can't be the leader of a perennial contender from a talent perspective...yet he's only been to the conference Finals once.

        I don't think you're being any more hard on him than anyone who watches the game somewhat closely, I mean his flaws are obvious and he deserves the criticism he receives imo.

        As for Love to the raptors. Dream on. He's had to live in Minnesota for years, I don't think he'd wanna come up to Canada. I think the Palm Tree lined beaches of LA will be his calling.

        Comment


        • #64
          BigCamB wrote: View Post
          I don't think you're being any more hard on him than anyone who watches the game somewhat closely, I mean his flaws are obvious and he deserves the criticism he receives imo.

          As for Love to the raptors. Dream on. He's had to live in Minnesota for years, I don't think he'd wanna come up to Canada. I think the Palm Tree lined beaches of LA will be his calling.
          I meant hard in terms of basically not believing he has it in him at all to change. Like I said in my previous post....bigger chance we colonize Mars in my lifetime than he suddenly becomes a player who "gets it". Or you know, more likely that someone actually genetically engineers a flying pig

          *And I wasn't saying I was the only one who's that hard on him either. But there are always people on the other side saying "but maybe he can change"...I'm just shaking my head....
          Last edited by white men can't jump; Mon Jan 6, 2014, 02:43 AM.

          Comment


          • #65
            Haha I totally agree. Either way, no way the raps go after him

            Comment


            • #66
              K-Love does yoga all offseason. He's going to LA for sure.

              http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-8IPDR4Khc

              Comment


              • #67
                I don't ever like building around a "franchise guy" who only plays at one end of the floor. There's a reason Carmelo doesn't have much postseason success.

                You're entire team objective then becomes compensating for your franchise player's weaknesses, like when Dallas had to anchor their D with Tyson Chandler and Jason Kidd to have a real shot at a championship with Dirk.

                It's hard enough to win championships - if you're trying to do it while compensating for a star player who doesn't play defense but does burn up a huge portion of your cap space, you're giving yourself a big screw job right out of the gate.
                "We're playing in a building." -- Kawhi Leonard

                Comment


                • #68
                  Love to Toronto

                  The only real knock on him is on the defensive end, and I think getting him and losing Amir or moving Amir to the bench would probably hurt us defensively a bit. But if Jonas can mature as an anchor, I don't see it being a huge concern.

                  One cornerstone of the Raptor's success in the last month is their tenacious defense and no one should doubt that Amir anchors that defense - without him, Toronto is just good on D, with him Toronto is great on D.

                  No D = No success in the playoffs. Mr. Love is not welcome if he won't/can't play D. Period.

                  Comment


                  • #69
                    white men can't jump wrote: View Post
                    That's a giant "IF". I can't think of something more unlikely (that's remotely within the realm of reality).

                    If I had to choose which is more likely between:

                    -Within my life we will colonize Mars

                    and

                    -Carmelo Anthony will buy into team basketball on both ends

                    I'd probably have to choose the first....every time. I could be wrong, but that's just how unlikely I see the 2nd option. Probably neither happens...but yeah, still would pick the 1st.
                    He's a great player. He needs some leadership and structure around him, but that's fine. Not everyone is meant to be Larry Bird. Last year's Knicks were one of the best offensive teams in the league, and the '09 Nuggets were the 2nd best team in the league overall, IMO. We've seen good teams around Melo and we've seen Melo play post up/ pnr focused basketball and do it brilliantly, or play solid defense.

                    When the team is dysfunctional, he's not a leader, he's not likely to lead you out of it, but when it's well structured and well coached, with strong veterans around him, it worked more than once.

                    I'd definitely welcome him on this team. However, it seems very unlikely. I can't imagine the Knicks trading him for role players, and especially trading him to Masai Ujiri of all people.

                    I think they are going the Lakers/Dwight route. All in. We resign him or we crash and burn. No one will offer them a legit star for Melo.

                    Also, that lineup that the poster mentioned:
                    Lowry
                    Ross
                    Melo
                    Amir
                    JV
                    I don't love this. Too little space for Melo to operate inside. He's brilliant when the team asks him to post up and get involved in pnr. Also, defensively he's at his best defending 4s and an occasional big wing.
                    So in my view, this team would still be unfinished. They would have a nice big men rotation, but only 2 of them would play together ideally (Melo-JV, Melo-Amir, Amir-JV taking turns). And they would need to find a SF or a SG.
                    But it would definitely be a big step in the right direction.

                    I'm not holding any hope that it could happen, though.

                    Comment


                    • #70
                      white men can't jump wrote: View Post
                      Obviously Love is more productive, but....

                      Amir consistently makes his team better, even though he's really a glue type guy in role.

                      Love consistently hasn't so far, despite putting up absurd numbers in multiple seasons.

                      If we're going to go after a guy who produces at superstar levels, can it be someone who actually pushes the win numbers up?
                      Not to be debbie downer here .. but what evidence shows Amir makes his team better given all the crappy raps teams hes played on. No winning success whatsoever. Im not high on Love at all - think hes totally overrated. But lets be serious, Amir is miles away.

                      Comment


                      • #71
                        mountio wrote: View Post
                        Not to be debbie downer here .. but what evidence shows Amir makes his team better given all the crappy raps teams hes played on. No winning success whatsoever. Im not high on Love at all - think hes totally overrated. But lets be serious, Amir is miles away.
                        Making your team better doesn't always equal wins. He's consistently had advanced stats show that the team is way better with him on the floor, including this year

                        Comment


                        • #72
                          S.R. wrote: View Post
                          I don't ever like building around a "franchise guy" who only plays at one end of the floor. There's a reason Carmelo doesn't have much postseason success.
                          Same. I never understood the league-wide obsession/trend of maxing out gifted but fundamentally flawed players.

                          Comment


                          • #73
                            I really think Love makes a bigger impact on games than Amir.

                            I mean you can call him a stat-padder all you want, but 26-14-4 on nearly 60% TS are numbers that we have not seen from a bigman ever before in NBA history. Even if he's padding his stats... not everyone can just pad an efficient 26ppg while leading the league in rebounding.

                            The Wolves have never been more than a fringe playoff team with Love, yes. But he doesn't have the supporting cast of the other superstars in the West. Look at every other playoff team in the conference. Durant has Westbrook. Duncan has Parker (or maybe the other way around nowadays). Aldridge has Lillard. Curry has Lee, Thompson and Iguodala. CP3 has Griffin. Harden has Dwight. Phoenix I just don't understand how they're so good but... yeah.... Dirk has Monta.

                            All of those players I mentioned are better than everyone on the Wolves minus Love. I really think if you team him with Lowry, DeMar, Valanciunas and others you have a pretty dominant team going forwards in the eastern conference.

                            If he says he wants out of Minnesota next year, is willing to sign an extension with Toronto if traded and Minnesota wants Amir+Prospect+2015 1st+NYK/DEN 2016 1st? I'm pulling the trigger on that.

                            Comment


                            • #74
                              Love is actually underrated on the defensive end btw.

                              Man to man in the low block, he's fine. He's got a very strong lower body and is extremely physical in the post. He's superb on the glass, so his man rarely gets second chance opportunities. What he can't do is protect the rim, and neither can Pekovic. That's a huge problem and iirc they give up the highest FG% in the paint of any team in the league. If Jonas can become that guy (which i think we saw some shades of against Miami, did an EXCELLENT job of stopping some crucial drives from LeBron no less), it's a non issue.

                              People used to say Zach Randolph was horrible defensively before he went to Memphis. The fact is, the guy is strong. He can guard his man well. But he looked bad on defense because he didn't have a rim protector next to him until he teamed up with Gasol.

                              Comment


                              • #75
                                bryan colangelo wrote: View Post
                                Same. I never understood the league-wide obsession/trend of maxing out gifted but fundamentally flawed players.
                                Yes you goddam well did.
                                "Stop eating your sushi."
                                "I do actually have a pair of Uggs."
                                "I've had three cups of green tea tonight. I'm wired. I'm absolutely wired."
                                - Jack Armstrong

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X