Is Love Really A Bad Defender?

[Demitri98]

I seem to think he's decent if he puts the effort out. IMO his last year in Minny he was unmotivated to play hard because it was all in vain. If he's motivated and knows that playing hard D will really help the team go places, I think he will do it. He has exactly that in Cleveland. I remember in the 2012 Olympics, he played excellent defense on Pau in the gold medal game, especially in the 4th. He had to play C most of the time in that game because Blake and Dwight both dropped out, leaving Chandler, Love and Davis to play C. When they needed to stretch the D, they put Love at C. He's capable, he just needs to put he effort forth. He's too smart of a player to be so dumbfounded in D like it appears.

[Mass Debator]

It's not like he doesn't put effort. He just prioritize rebounds before defense. He'll hardly contest shots because that's a 1 second delay for him to get into rebounding position.

[Smook A.]

He was one of the worst paint defenders last season. Of course he's bad, but like you said if he puts more effort into playing better defense he could be atleast decent.

[Demitri98]

He was one of the worst paint defenders last season. Of course he's bad, but like you said if he puts more effort into it he could be atleast decent.
Which is why I think he'll prove the haters wrong this season in Cleveland. He'll have the motivation of a good team around him, plus Varejao is another great rebounding big, which takes a lot of pressure off Love.

[Dragic4Life]

Time for haters to prop up Lebron's teammates.:rolleyes: :no:

[Myth]

I think this is the season people will really find out. Outside of T-Wolves fans (which is not many), I think most haven't watched more than an average of 5 full games of Love's per season.

[Dragic4Life]

I think this is the season people will really find out. Outside of T-Wolves fans (which is not many), I think most haven't watched more than an average of 5 full games of Love's per season.
I have.

And I SWEAR Love always does 2 things:

1) Intentionally misses his layup to pad offensive boards.

2) Intentionally let his man blow by for a chance of rebounding.

[El Gato Negro]

It's hard for players like love and kyrie to put alot of effort on the defensive end when they have no help on the offensive end. that will obviously change this year.

[Da Hammer]

I have.

And I SWEAR Love always does 2 things:

1) Intentionally misses his layup to pad offensive boards.

2) Intentionally let his man blow by for a chance of rebounding.
Are you going to be bashing Lebron's teammates all season? :coleman:

[deja vu]

He's probably the only great rebounder who's also a poor defender. Great rebounders usually are great defenders.

I don't think he doesn't give a lot of effort on defense, he just doesn't have the physical tools to be a great defender.

[BigTicket]

He's not nearly as bad as people claim.

Ryan Anderson is a bad defender, Love is average.

[Nastradamus]

Bad rim protector,solid overall. Never going to make the all NBA teams, but he's not going to hurt you too badly. His rebounding balances out his rim protection and he's athletic enough to defend pick and rolls and close out stretch 4s. Strong enough not to get pushed around by the Zach Randolph types. He'll play better D in a winning situation more likely too.

[Warfan]

He's not a good shot blocker and doesn't challenge players at the rim often enough. Not a good help defender, and he lacks some athleticism which hurts him defensively. But he is an underrated post defender, and uses his body well to keep guys in front of him.

Maybe now that he's in a better situation he might be more committed to playing defense consistently. But i still think it's best if he was paired with a shot-blocking big who plays good help defense.

[Dragic4Life]

Are you going to be bashing Lebron's teammates all season? :coleman:
Nothing to do with Lebron.

Lebron doesn't change how bad Love and Kyrie are.

[T_L_P]

Nothing to do with Lebron.

Lebron doesn't change how bad Love and Kyrie are.

PER, son

[j3lademaster]

Are you going to be bashing Lebron's teammates all season? :coleman:Love is AT MOST a 16/9 player and Kyrie is pretty much a slightly better Toney Douglas. Watch Lebron single handedly carry these Dleague scrubs to a finals appearance. DUH!

[j3lademaster]

PER, sonPER only matters when arguing Lebron > x legend. When it comes to Love and Kyrie you have to use the eye test. They're Dleaguers masquerading as NBA players at best.

[Dragic4Life]

Bringing up Lebron in every thread.:facepalm

Rent-free.:roll:

[T_L_P]

Bringing up Lebron in every thread.:facepalm

Rent-free.:roll:

Care to address my PER comment, which had nothing to do with LeOwnedByKawhi?

[Dragic4Life]

Care to address my PER comment, which had nothing to do with LeOwnedByKawhi?
Not gonna get into an intelligent discussion with someone who will use such a disrespectful name for Lebron.

[riseagainst]

Not gonna get into an intelligent discussion with someone who will use such a disrespectful name for Lebron.

LeOwnedByKawhi :roll:
LeOwnedByKawhi :roll:
LeOwnedByKawhi :roll:
LeOwnedByKawhi :roll:
LeOwnedByKawhi :roll:
LeOwnedByKawhi :roll:
LeOwnedByKawhi :roll:
LeOwnedByKawhi :roll:
LeOwnedByKawhi :roll:
LeOwnedByKawhi :roll:

[T_L_P]

Not gonna get into an intelligent discussion with someone who will use such a disrespectful name for Lebron.

You haven't posted an intelligent thing your whole life. Stop misleading the posters. :facepalm

[Dragic4Life]

You haven't posted an intelligent thing your whole life. Stop misleading the posters. :facepalm
Your hero is a closet homo.

[Milbuck]

Your hero is a closet homo.
His team still wiped its ass with Lebron's team. A gay 5x NBA champion is still a 5x NBA champion.

[riseagainst]

Your hero is a closet homo.

you are a pathetic human being, if you even qualify as one. You should have been swallowed at birth and Earth would have celebrated its first independence day... from stupidity.

[Da Hammer]

Love is AT MOST a 16/9 player and Kyrie is pretty much a slightly better Toney Douglas. Watch Lebron single handedly carry these Dleague scrubs to a finals appearance. DUH!
:lol Guarantee that when the season starts and both Love/Kyrie are putting up all star numbers that scrubs like Dragic4 will be trying to minimize there impact

[T_L_P]

Your hero is a closet homo.

Name calling, Dragic. Really? I never thought a poster of your magnitude would stoop so low.

I've learnt a lot today. :(

[secund2nun]

Care to address my PER comment, which had nothing to do with LeOwnedByKawhi?

LOL

Lebron easily had the best performance of any player in that series..way better than Kawhi's performance. The Spurs as a team were just way better.

[secund2nun]

Love is overall an average defender...defense is a part of rebounding after all. Just like Bosh's defensive reputation significantly improved after joining Lebron (pre-Lebron Bosh was considered a bad/below average defender) so will Love's...except Love is a much better rebounder and is bigger and less likely to get thrown around by bigger players.

[La Frescobaldi]

Adleman's defensive coaching last year as far as I could tell was all done on the chalkboard with the guys sitting around drinking Gatorade & watching him draw.