NBA Rumors: Is Kevin Love Frustrated With His Role?
NBA Rumors: While Kevin Love continues to search for his role with the Cleveland Cavaliers, frustration grows
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There’s a fine line between being frustrated and trying to find yourself shortly after joining a new NBA team, when everything isn’t as fine and dandy as one thought it would be 10 games into a season.
That’s exactly where Kevin Love is at this point in his first season with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
And after the team’s two-point loss to the San Antonio Spurs a couple of nights ago, that became more clear. In that fourth quarter, Love only attempted one shot. He missed.
One shot, for a guy who is coming off a season in which he averaged nearly 20 shots per game, and was practically the first, second and third options late in games (in Minnesota). This season, with the Cavs, he’s the third. At best.
And that showed against the Spurs, one of the NBA’s best.
Love is only averaging 13 shots per game, through 10 games, and is only hitting on 38 percent of those attempts. It’s been a huge drop-off, offensively, for Love. He’s also averaging 10 points less per game than a year ago. But it’s normal.
Perhaps Kevin Love didn’t anticipate this? Or perhaps he was just blind by optimism, or the opportunity to play alongside LeBron James.
Either way, it’s his new NBA reality.
All he has to do is ask Chris Bosh. Or simply look at his stats.
When Bosh joined Dwyane Wade and LeBron in Miami, his shot attempts hovered around 12 and 13 per game in their four-year stint. And that’s going to be the new normal for Love.
That’s just something that he’s going to have to get used to, if this project is going to work.
And early indications are that Love is nearly crossing that line from “trying to make this work” into “yo, I’m flat out frustrated with my role.”
"[via Ohio.com]Kevin Love is trying to stay positive publicly, but his frustration within this system is beginning to show.…“I haven’t said much. I’m just trying to be part of this team as best I can,” Love said.“I’m just trying to find myself in this offense, almost relate it to when you come into the league,” Love said. “Usually guys who dominate the ball so much tend to learn a lot quicker than a guy like myself, a big man. I’m just trying to find different spots in the offense. … I’m not worried about it. I’m not mad and I don’t feel any sort of grudge or anything like that. I just want to help this team. I came here to win and we’re going to figure it out. We’re going to be OK. It’s still early.”"
That seems to be the overwhelming answer amongst peeps around the NBA.
It’s still early, everything is going to be OK.
But, what if it doesn’t? What if the Cavaliers are more like the 2012 Los Angeles Lakers than the LeBron-era Miami Heat?
Next: We play early season contender vs pretender with the top NBA teams
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