I am not a Love fan. But to be fair, his stats are quite phenomenal. For those who rag on his shooting percentage, you have to account for the fact that he shoots a lot of 3 pointers, whereas the other great PFs did not. To put it into perspective, let's compare his eFG% with Duncan, Malone, and Nowitzki in their respective 4th season: Love: 4th season .502; best season (3rd season) .513 Duncan: 4th season .502; best season (rookie!) .549 Malone: 4th season .521; best season (5th season) .567 Nowitzki: 4th season .532; best season (13th season) .545 Nowitzki, another 3pt shooting big, has by far the best 4th season. Love is comparable to Duncan, but has yet been able to have a season anywhere close to any of these guys' best season.
Love has a low FG% but that's because he shoots a lot of threes. If you look at his TS% (2p+3ps+ft) then its actually quite good. Keep in mind, this is only his own scoring ability. Love's also a great rebounder (good for those 2nd chance attempts) and a great passer, so he contributes to the offense in other ways as well besides scoring. The lack of team success has more to do with KAHNNN's stupid draft picks year after year than Love's own ability IMHO.
And I'm tired of people thinking that superstars don't have the capability of making sorry ass lottery teams into playoff teams quickly. If anything, just about every superstar in NBA history has done this.
On the other hand, winning isn't everything. If it did, Deron Williams is just another crappy point guard. Kobe didn't make the playoffs once (or twice?) either. I would definitely put Kevin Love in the legitimate all star category. I do agree that a playoff run would validate superstar status though.
And I wouldn't say Deron's a superstar either. But I do feel CP3 is a superstar because he could take a bunch of role players into the playoffs consistently. Another note is that big men tend to be able to turn around their teams faster. It's just the nature of big men having more impact on both sides of the court more than wing players. Plop down a young Yao or Dwight Howard or Duncan or KG and you already have a top-10 defense along with all-star offensive production. To me that's worth much more any 30-20 games.
You have a good point about the big men. Funny thing is, as a UCLA alum (hence my bias) - I just never considered Love a "big". He looked pretty damn short in college. But if he plays power forward then you are right - he should be judged as one. Have to admit - I don't catch a lot of Timberwolves games so I can't really judge his "impact" other than the stats. The power forwards you mentioned above can also all guard opposing centers effectively - something I think Love might have trouble doing (again not sure cuz I don't live in Minny or have leauge pass).
