thedoper wrote:I don't like Kevin Love....I was happy to see him leave.
That being said. He is still a really good player. The reason Cleveland won was 100% on Lebron making shots and forcing GS's D. On a team where this is happening Love would have only contributed. I think it just goes to show you how effective an offense can be when your primary ball handler is a great passer and can hit shots;) Even though I don't like Love I am a bit tired of him being the fall guy.
Doper, I agree that the media might be a little too obsessed with Kevin Love and too easily paints him as the fall guy (just google "are the cavs better without love" and see how many different articles come up), but I think he's an easy target because he is always surrounded by controversy...most of which he has a hand in creating. This has been a recurring thing with Love going back to high school. Just think about the controversies he has been involved with during his short pro career.
-how did he break his hand?
-his dust-up with JJ Barea
-is he staying or leaving?
-is he really just vacationing in Boston
-referring to the Wolves as "they' rather than "we", while "they" were still paying him millions
-did Olynyk intentionally separate Love's shoulder?
-is Blatt (and now Lue) wasting his enormous talent by misusing him
- does he hang out with his Cavs' teammates, or is he a complete outsider
-can he stay healthy to help his teammates in the playoffs
Most of these overly-covered media stories started with something Kevin either did or said, and the media just ran with it. His immature petulant personality makes for easy copy.
My opinion on whether the Cavs are better off with our without Love? Just compare the Cavs' play in the 7 playoff games they have played against the Warriors the past two postseasons (4-3 Warriors), to the 2 playoff games with him and this year's two regular season games (4-0 Warriors, and not very close games). 11 games isn't the largest sample size in the world, but the results are so dramatic that it's easy for many to conclude that, at least against the Warriors, the Cavs are a much (emphasis on "much") better team with Love on the bench.