First up we have
Kevin Love. He is the consensus #1 overall pick and rightfully so. This kid has a bright future ahead of him. Let's take a look at what
Bowtothebill23 had to say about Kevin earlier this year.
Bowtothebill23 wrote:Kevin Love: PF, 6'10, 260 pounds, 19 years old
Strengths:
-Elite Scoring Ability: A potential inside and 3 pt, B from free throw line. Way too quick for Power Forwards with 52 quickness, plenty of strength and great jumping ability will allow him to draw fouls like crazy.
-Rebounding: A potentials in both. Already an elite defensive rebounder. Strength and jumping just accentuate his rebounding ability. Can grab offensive boards and finish immediately.
-Defense: A potential in Post defense. Already a good defender. Won't give up offensive rebounds. No one will be too athletic or too good for him. Will likely be able to stay out of foul trouble relatively easily.
-Handling/Passing: As a big man, having C potentials in each is incredible. Won't struggle too much with turnovers and won't be a ball stopper.
-NBA Ready- His ratings are so high already that he can come in and immediately be a key contributor.
Weaknesses:
-Perimeter Defense- League is finding more stretch 4's. He won't be awful at defending them, but stretch 4's detract from 2 big strengths, low post defense and rebounding.
-Positional Inflexibility- Likely can only play the 4. While he is probably capable of playing center, you wouldn't want him there for too long. Certainly can't play the 3.
-Blocking: While Love will be a good defender, he can't anchor a defense. He's in no way a shot blocker, and doesn't force turnovers.
Summary: Love will be one of the most dominant offensive players this league has ever seen. He combines original Larry Johnson's inside scoring, rebounding, and athleticism with Dirk Nowitzki's outside shooting and defense. Additionally, his floor is very high since his rebounding and defensive ratings are already very good, same with his athleticism. I see Love as a 27-10-3 guy while shooting over 40% from 3 in his prime while playing very good defense.
Kevin was nice enough to sit down with us earlier in the week and answer a few questions as well!
SLOESPN: How do you feel about the rule requiring players to go to college first? How did you feel going in? How do you feel now coming out?
Kevin Love: I feel like college not only made me a better player, but it made me a better person both on and off the court. I’ve always been put in a leadership role and being a freshman it was a little different in that respect with my other teammates. Having my teammates there supporting me and bringing me in, that really helped me. Also off the court as well; going to school and making honor roll was really good for me. It was big for my parents as well. I think school really has prepared me. At first I didn’t know what I was doing; I was throwing myself into different interviews and different workouts all at the same time, so I really had to manage my schedule, time management was huge for me. So that’s just an example there of how school really helped me.
SLOESPN: Is the transition to the next level going to be harder for a big man than a guard since you don’t really have the ball in your hands?
Kevin Love: I don’t know, it’s tough to say. The guards really dominate on the perimeter, like a guy like Chris Paul, it’s going to be tough to guard someone like him. A player like Derrick Rose will step in and contribute right away. I don’t know if it will necessarily be harder, you see a guy like Kevin Garnett or Tim Duncan in that power forward position, so it is going to be tough. I feel like there will be a high learning curve. I’m ready to learn.
SLOESPN: What have you been doing to prepare for the draft?
Kevin Love: I’ve been at the Home Depot Center working my butt off. I get up at 6:30 and get to the gym by 8. Just seeing the changes to my body, after losing 15 pounds, I feel a lot quicker and a lot more explosive. I feel great. It’s been strenuous, it’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it’s going to be worth it come draft night. I want to come into training camp and next season even better prepared than I am now, I just want to be ready to go.
SLOESPN: What are you eating now that you didn’t before? What did you have to give up?
Kevin Love: I’d say the only thing I had to give up was my chocolate milk fetish. I think everyone has their one thing, and chocolate milk was probably it for me. I’m always drinking water, but other than that, it was never really about what I ate, it was just when I ate it. After a 7:30 game in college, you get back to the hotel around 12 o’clock and you’re eating. Also just getting into the gym and running, working out six hours a day, has really done a lot for me.
SLOESPN: Thanks for taking the time Kevin to speak with us and we wish you the best in the future!
Next up we'll be talking with Russell Westbrook right after this commercial break!
