Minnesota Sports Forum

sjm34 wrote:

alexftbl8181 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:A lot of interesting discussion here about Love, and I'm not surprised...he's the kind of guy that's always going to generate a lot of disagreement in terms of what he actually contributes to a team.

I guess I have to side with alex and cam's opinion that Love is the second most important player on the Cavs, especially after reading more about Irving's defense. I have watched him play several times, but never really focused on his defensive shortcomings like I have with Love. But the reviews of his defense are terrible...it sounds like he is every bit as bad a defender as Kevin is. Apparently the Cavs were more successful last year when Dellavadova was on the court instead of Irving! I understand bleedspeed's point that the PG is often going to be the most important guy in the team, but Cam's rebuttal is well taken...any team with James makes the PG position much less important. And alex is also right...Love does almost everything better than Irving, although I would argue they are equally ineffective on defense.

Now that I understand a little more about Irving's poor defense, it makes me question the Cavs' championship chances even more. Three of the starting five are considered very bad defenders (unfortunately, the Wolves have the same problem, in fact probably worse), and assuming TT continues to start at C, four of the starting five have never played in the postseason. I'm certain you can't find an example of an NBA team winning a championship with just one of these limiting factors in place, much less both. Take the last time James formed a big 3, for example...Wade and Bosh both had playoff experience and were both considered plus defenders. If the Cavs get a ring this season, I will be prepared to anoint LeBron as easily the greatest player of all time.

Someone mentioned above that Love looked good on defense last night before he got hurt. I don't know, because I didn't see any of the game. But I do know how horrible he looked against Tel Aviv Maccabi and Milwaukee, although at least he showed more effort against Tel Aviv than I have seen in the past. To me, defense is comprised of three factors: physical (size, speed and length), technique and effort. Kevin is severely lacking in speed and length, and the rare occasions where he puts in a great effort on defense, it's easy to see that he doesn't possess a good concept of defensive technique and strategy. He makes up for his deficiencies somewhat by defensive rebounding and taking charges, but even with these skills, Love will always be a substandard defender.

The Cavs are going to be an exciting team to watch offensively this year, best in the league I predict... but defense is what counts in the post-season, and their deficiencies will be on display come playoff time.

In the east, whose the power forward that's really going to give Love fits in a playoff series? Nene? Pau? Bosh? Nobody's close. If he were in the West and had to go through LMA, Griffin, Ibaka, Randolph, Duncan, Dirk then we can worry a bit

Watching the game last night, it looks like Scola has his number. He was pushing him all over the floor last night.

longstrangetrip wrote:A
I guess I have to side with alex and cam's opinion that Love is the second most important player on the Cavs, especially after reading more about Irving's defense. I have watched him play several times, but never really focused on his defensive shortcomings like I have with Love. But the reviews of his defense are terrible...it sounds like he is every bit as bad a defender as Kevin is. Apparently the Cavs were more successful last year when Dellavadova was on the court instead of Irving! I understand bleedspeed's point that the PG is often going to be the most important guy in the team, but Cam's rebuttal is well taken...any team with James makes the PG position much less important. And alex is also right...Love does almost everything better than Irving, although I would argue they are equally ineffective on defense.

bleedspeed177 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:A
I guess I have to side with alex and cam's opinion that Love is the second most important player on the Cavs, especially after reading more about Irving's defense. I have watched him play several times, but never really focused on his defensive shortcomings like I have with Love. But the reviews of his defense are terrible...it sounds like he is every bit as bad a defender as Kevin is. Apparently the Cavs were more successful last year when Dellavadova was on the court instead of Irving! I understand bleedspeed's point that the PG is often going to be the most important guy in the team, but Cam's rebuttal is well taken...any team with James makes the PG position much less important. And alex is also right...Love does almost everything better than Irving, although I would argue they are equally ineffective on defense.

I think Irving grew a ton this offseason being the leader of Team USA, by all accounts he played great defense. I think he will take a big leap this year. I think we will see how Irving will be the second most important player on the Cavs. Just like Wade had been with the Heat.

It will be fun to see how it plays out. I think Irving stock is about to rise. I think Love's stock has already peaked and it about to fall a little.