Ask and you might receive; demand and you shall. Apparently that’s LeBron James’ line of thinking when it comes to Kevin Love wanting more touches on the block. In wake of the former Minnesota Timberwolves go-to scorer admitting that he’s still “trying to find” himself in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ offense, The King said if Love “demands” the ball then he’ll get it down low.
Via Joe Vardon of Northeast Ohio Media Group:
“It’s the demand,” James said, weighing in on the 6-foot-10 Love’s stated discomfort in the Cavaliers’ offense through 10 games. “Kevin’s a guy, if he wants the ball in the post, he gets it in the post. If he demands it, we’ll give it to him…”
“It’s a feel-out process for all of us,” James said. “It’s a little more challenging for (Love) than it is for me and Kyrie [Irving] because we get to handle the ball a little bit more, and him being a big guy we have to give him the ball when he has his opportunities. He has to make the most out of them.”
LeBron is right that an aggressive, engaged Love will make it easier for he and Irving to find the sharp-shooting, rebound-grabbing big man in the post. Love establishing good position on the block is the first step to getting the ball, too.
But James could also take a more proactive approach here. It shouldn’t take Love “demanding” touches down low for him to receive them. If the surest means for Love getting comfortable and playing to his full capabilities is an extra post-up or two, LeBron should find a way to make that happen – as the Cavs’ emotional leader and his team’s on-court orchestrator.
Might finding Love more touches on the block complicate Cleveland’s growing offensive success as a whole, though? David Blatt says that nothing in his team’s scheme has changed of late that would make Love less of a focal point. His relatively reduced role and ensuing struggles are simply due to the ebb and flow of basketball:
“You know, earlier in the season when he was scoring the ball better, it was the same offense. So I’m not sure that it’s as much related to that as just the game flow and situational things.
Blatt also said “we want to help Kev. He needs to be involved and he needs to involve himself, and it’s our job to help him.”
The Cavaliers are better-off if Love is playing his best, and he believes more post-up chances will help him reach it. Great. Use a couple extra possessions per game to test that theory; Love is a good enough back-to-basket player for those times to still carry solid expected efficiency.
It shouldn’t take a “demand,” but just an acknowledgement by the concerned party. Love made it earlier this week. Let’s see how Blatt, James, and the rest of Cavs respond.
What do you think?
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