I don't think Love is the problem here, maybe the guy isn't a clutch scorer but finding a guy with his skillset is a lot harder than finding "clutch guys". Also Love scores 20+ pts at a reasonable percentage, and he's had 30 and 40 pt games in the past. How is that "not being able to create his own shot"? The mere fact that he can hit 3's at a high rate means he isn't even supposed to be creating his own shot, other dudes are supposed to do it and he's supposed to rebound, pass and provide spacing with the 3. IMHO it's not Love, it's the rest of the team starting with Adelman and ending with Rubio. They just have a horrible team out there. If we could somehow get Love and DH together we'd probably win the next 5 years or something.
I just don't get how you can put up 26 and 13 and be an empty stat stuffer. Its not like he's a black hole on defense either.
Minnesota has two big problems IMO. Poor defense and a lack of a true go to clutch scorer when the other team sells out to stop Kevin Love. A lot of teams go to more 1 on 1 basketball down the stretch and the Pups don't really have anyone to do that. Nikola Pekovic is a terrific offensive player and a really good rebounder but he is seriously laking on defense. The Pups would be a lot better with someone like Asik teamed up with Love in the post. Asik / Love would be significantly better than Pekovic / Love IMO.
The whole point of this thread is, how do they have a "horrible team" if they are outplaying the opponents overall? Again, 1. They are very good on both offense and defense compared to the rest of the league. 2. They have positive point differential way above their records shows. The cause, as has been pointed out, is that they lose a lot of close games. We are discussing why. Simply saying that they have a "horrible team" doesn't really address the question. A lot of posters here jeer at the Wolves and say they suck. But they don't really suck, as those numbers show. The only thing they suck in is winning close games.
I mean, the 1-13 (or whatever it is) record in close games, while likely indicative of roster or schematic flaw, is clearly an unsustainable anomaly. No team with that kind of point differential can be THAT bad in such specific scenarios (the inverse is also true). It's fine to speculate about the reasons, but we really can't make any definitive statements right now.
i remember checking at the 41 game mark and they were already 7 games under their pythagorean win total, which means they've actually leveled out the last 9 games. being on pace to underperform by 14 games is just unheard of (is there a way to search for the highest disparity ever?). and losing coin flip games at a rate of 12 out of 13 is also unbelievable. just with run of the mill bad luck in close games they would be in the playoffs.
They are just unclutch. I remember Kevin Love had a chance to win the game at the free throw line and missed all three free throws. It's unbelievable.
When you are playing 4 on 5 in the clutch, you are going to lose a lot of close games. Rubio shoots worse than Dwight Howard.
Chris Paul was No. 1, at plus-3.48 points. The player with the worst EPVA of those 327 was Ricky Rubio, at minus-3.33. The player with the second-worst EPVA was Kevin Love, at minus-2.38.
I've seen some games of the Wolves and in the endgame, I don't know why Rubio keeps taking shots. They should run their offense to free up Peks or Love. We all know about Kevin's disappearing acts in the 4th.
I am a big fan of Adelman but I just feel he's lost his mojo the last two seasons. The T-Wolves are kind of like the Detroit Lions in that there is a culture of losing there and Adelman just doesn't have the energy anymore to change that. It's kind of a sad way for a great coach to go out and that was one of the things I worried about when he first took the job.
One of the worst teams are protecting the paint. If they somehow flipped Pekovic + more for Larry Sanders it would make a huge difference.
There's no curious case. Love is just a fluffed up above-average borderline star. He's not a game-changer, he can't be your best player to expect a playoff competitive team. He's not someone you say, okay, take over the game. Or okay, your style of play makes the defense CHANGE how they play you. When Love has been at the helm, in the only season really and mostly injury-free, they finished with a bottom record and the #2 pick in the draft following. That's his impact on a team and the game. Harden, with our roster last year, was arguably worse than that Minnesota team.
You are missing the picture if you think he isn't the problem cause he scores 20, 30, 40. He's the problem cause his 20, 30, 40 do not impact or illicit the change of the defense of the other team. Do you know why? Because his offensive game does not make it easier for anyone else. He doesn't change or impact the game. He just gets points and rebounds, at a high clip, don't get me wrong. But it doesn't change the game. Points/rebounds will be generated in any game, it's just how and if it's disrupting your defense and/or getting too many players involved. That's when defenses need to adjust.
