Kevin Love’s Confidence Questioned By LeBron
Kevin Love was 1 – 7 in the 1st quarter last night for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He took zero shots after that. This wasn’t a case of him not getting chances, being frozen out of the offense or being benched. Instead Love passed up shots which led LeBron James to question Love’s confidence, via ESPN:
"“I think Kev had some shots that he passed up on,” James said. “Maybe he felt that he just wasn’t in a good rhythm, but I know I hit him with a few [potential] shots after the first quarter where he had some good looks when he decided to swing-swing [with a pass], which is OK, it kept the ball moving. So, I think for Kev, I think his confidence maybe shooting the ball is a little down, but for me as a player, I get him good looks. I want him to shoot the ball and he needs to shoot it with confidence.”"
Love disagreed with James’ opinion, instead focusing on the fact that he took shots that came his way. Love’s basketball intelligence is clear as he described the numerous plays where he passed up shots or shots he missed.
Coach David Blatt blamed the Cavs ball movement. That brings up a chicken or egg situation. Is Love not taking shots because the ball isn’t moving or do his teammates stop passing him the ball because he is either missing shots or not taking shots?
One thing is clear about shooting in basketball: Confidence is key. Love hasn’t seemed overly confident in his abilities recently. Some of his issues may be related to his back issues. Love hasn’t ever been the highest level athlete but his jump shot has lacked “jump” for much of the season. He has been more of a set shooter than most but even his little jump seems even shorter.
Back issues, learning how to play with high level talents like LeBron and Kyrie Irving and understanding of his position in a new offense could all cause problems with confidence. Being uncertain, in any area of life, is a huge issue. It can create pessimism in the process.
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Love often seems to be trying to figure out where he belongs on the court, what he should do and when it is him time. When he is in the flow of the offense, with his feet already set and in rhythm his shot looks much better. Often he is catching the ball and adjusting his feet, the ball or looking around. It kills the momentum for him.
Love is the last piece that has to come together for the Cavs. LeBron and Irving have figured things out between them, Timofey Mozgov and J.R. Smith have adjusted well to their role and the team’s depth has been upgraded with the addition of Iman Shumpert as well.
Love has played fine and has been important to the Cavaliers. The idea of him becoming his best, along with the rest of the Cavs success, has to be scary for the rest of the NBA and exciting for Cavs faithful. Love hasn’t been at his best yet this season and the team has been successful. His development, and one more possible trade, will be the story following the All Star break.
Do you think Kevin Love is struggling with his confidence and if so how concerned are you?