Serious question about people's crush on Kevin Love

Means he now has the knees of a 71 year-old instead of just a 70 year-old.

 

Meanwhile, Smith will cost us nothing and has played the majority of every game every season for 8 years.

"Defense: Arguably the best young defender in the NBA. Shows the uncanny ability to translate his athleticism into big plays. Few players show as much dedication running down plays and preventing transition baskets as Smith. Has made a number of highlight reel blocks in his career in which he ran down a ball-handler to send what seemed like an easy layup attempt into the stands. Shows the ability to not only dart into passing lanes for deflections, but also to rotate from the weak-side to block shots in half-court settings. Impressive dedication to rebounding. Shows an acumen for crashing the boards that isn’t common amongst wing players. Doesn’t do the best job boxing out, but compensates with unreal length and jumping ability. Able to recover even when he over pursues his man when closing out due to his huge strides and explosive quickness. Commits quite a few fouls, but it comes as no surprise for a player as aggressive as he is.

From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com#ixzz2HgrWK5oa
http://www.draftexpress.com"

 

Love is one of the worst defenders at his position and actually not a very efficient offensive player. Can definitely stroke the 3 and grab boards. But we already have Asik who is a monster rebounder.
Don't think Love is a good fit for the Rockets. We need a 4 who can finish above the rim(playing off Harden/Lin penetration) and play lock down defense. That isn't Kevin Love.

 

Hie is white.

 

I'd be doing cartwheels if the Rockets signed Josh Smith as a free agent. Turbo trampoline dunks over apartment complexes.

It's almost to the point where we need to be using our psionic powers to wish a poor record and no playoffs on Atlanta to at least take the option of his staying there off the table.

Realtalk: I'd even be excited about a Josh Smith extend-and-trade where Atlanta gets every PF on the roster and two first rounders. The problem? I bet that dude wants a lot more than $13,794,000, which is what his starting salary as a Rocket would be in that scenario...

Smith feels like a 16 mil / year player to me, at the very least. I bet he does to his agent too. No, if he's not flipped naked on no contract, Smith will drop to free agency, and the Rockets are really going to have to up their game if they're going to want to sign him. We're talking two iPads here, people.

 

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Superior post game (Take note of his lethal spin move and hook shot)
-This is just as or more important in a PF than 3 point shooting

Superior defense
-THIS wins you playoff series

Superior ball handling and passing

Superior athleticism & energy
-PERFECT compliment for our run & gun style

Anyone who says Love is obviously more talented needs to think twice. All he does is shoot 3's and rebounds. Smith is a much more complete player.

 

Those highlights bring up something fun: The Rockets could conceivably run a lineup where any player on the floor could grab a rebound and competently lead the break.

J. Smith - Parsons - Delfino - Harden - Lin



If you want to grind your opponents down without much concern for length on defense in the half court, that'd be the way to do it!

 

Speaking of grinds, a post game is absolutely critical for playoff success. You're not going to create open looks with "spacing" due to 3 point shooting (which is what Love brings to the table). Smith's post game will demand a double team. Love camping out in 3 point land won't.

Smith brings to the table everything the Rockets' dont have. Love merely upgrades what we do have.

 

But Kevin Love also has a very good post game, kaitanuva. Over 40% of the shots he took last season were from the post.

Besides Love being a much better shooter when his shooting hand isn't a mangled wad of silly putty, the big difference between Smith and Love is that one is a great defender and so-so rebounder, while the other is a so-so defender and basically a legendary rebounder. Not even just great. Legendary. Like they would name basketballs after Kevin Love's past rebounding games like they do swords in the Hobbit. This 31 rebound game was once used to slay a cave troll.

 

i have been watching smith play for 3 years now, really like the player and completely agree with your assessment. Haven't watched many klove's game so its hard for me to compare the two

 

Josh Smith is a B+/A- in many categories. Kevin Love is an A+ in two categories: rebounding and 3pt shooting, and a B/B-in the others. A single A+ skill is much more valuable than several A- skills. It's like Deron Williams vs. Steve Nash. One is an excellent PG, and the other is a shoe-in for the hall of fame.

 

we already have asik who is a great rebounder. playing love and asik is probably not that efficient from a rebounding perspective

 

The both of them grabbing every rebound in sight is the very definition of efficiency, so I don't think that's what you mean.

I think you mean that an Asik-Love lineup doesn't take advantage of both player's talents as effectively as if one or the other is in the frontcourt by themselves.

And I would agree with that. Which is why Asik would get 25-27 minutes of run and why Love would see a lot of time on the floor when Asik isn't there.

You're also losing sight of the big picture. When you get a player like Kevin Love, you tweak your roster and lineups to accommodate him, not the other way around.

 

yes, i meant an Asik-Love lineup doesn't take advantage of both player's talents effectively. if we want Klove before 2015, we would have to trade for him and i think asik will get traded most likely

this is why i think a josh smith is more interesting - he will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. maybe there is a way for us to get him without losing other core pieces like asik and parsons. smith and asik will play great together

 

Ugh Smith is not a good overal defender. Yes, he blocks shots and can get steals...... but he does not play smart. He has no discipline, he likes to free lance on defense and often times leaves his man wide open. He goes for the block often and then leaves the lane open.

On offense Smith is just bad.

 

Yes. As an unrestricted free agent, the Rockets can acquire Josh Smith without losing any players. They have the cap space to do it this off-season.

The problem is that he will be a very desirable player this off-season because the 2013 free agency market is not very strong.

There's Dwight and Chris Paul, two players who are just going to resign with their own teams anyway, and then third on the list is Josh Smith.

Many teams will go after him. Certainly any team with cap room will give him a look. Wiz, Cavs, Bobcats, Pistons, etc.

The Rockets are in a better position to pursue him than most because they are one of the only teams with the cap space who don't suck. Winning games is understandably important to a lot of players...

 

i think we stand a very good chance as smith will be getting paid AND playing with harden & co. but i think we will have more competition as some teams will be willing to trade for him

 

There's no use in trying to educate that dude, he has his own opinion and that's fine. We will NEVER win a championship with Josh Smith as our 2nd best player. Kevin Love brings you to contender status.

I'm starting to think people keep overlooking Kevin Love's greatness because he's white and plays below the rim.

 

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