@MeachTheMonster @Dayco23
From Cavs The Blog:
Since Jan 15th.
Overall +/-
LeBron's +/- takes a dramatic hit whenever Love is on the bench.
In fact, crazy stat that is going to sabotage my entire piece: Kevin Love has not stepped onto the court during the fourth quarter in 14 of the Cavs last 33 games. Wow. How do I recover from that? Fortunately, a long time ago, humans determined that it’s not sufficient
to tell the truth. You have to tell the “whole truth” and “nothing but the truth” (So help you God!) Why can’t you just tell the “truth?” Turns out the truth, without context, can be more dangerous than a lie.
Of those 14 (of the last 33) games where Kevin Love has been absent during fourth quarters:
-Four were because he wasn’t available for the game at all.
-Eight were because the Cavs were blowing out their opponents by at least 16 points, sometimes 30 or 40 points heading in the fourth quarter. Due, in large part to… Kevin Love!
-One was that incredible game against the Spurs, and much was made during and after the game about Love not getting the call at any time during the fourth quarter, when Kyrie Irving completely took over the game. How many people have pointed out that Love checked in with the Cavs down three in overtime and was plus 7 for the reminder of OT? Interestingly enough, Charles Barkley hated that Love didn’t play in the fourth quarter (when Kyrie’s heroics forced OT), and he hated that Love was put back in in OT (because he would be too tight to contribute). Love’s dime lead to a LeBron 3 that put the Cavs on top for good.
-One was the most recent win against the Bucks. The thing is, Kevin Love almost never starts fourth quarters. Neither does Kyrie Irving. The Cavs whipped the Bucks so thoroughly
during the opening minutes of the fourth quarter with LeBron-JR-Shump-Delly-TT that Blatt just rode the hot hands straight into garbage time. Neither Kyrie nor Love checked back in and it was simply because that’s how David Blatt rolls. We knew this about him going into the season, as our own Robert Attenweiler provided that
scouting report in the summer. For the game, Love was +1.
So here’s a detailed breakdown of Kevin Love and the fourth quarters since Jan. 15th. The right-most column is my subjective take on whether Kevin Love “fit” in this game.
Offensive and Defensive Ratings before January 15th:
Offensive and Defensive ratings after January 15th:
Mozgov's +/- with and without Love
http://www.cavstheblog.com/?p=32218