Rookie forward Kevin Love will assume the role of a Starbucks barista Tuesday morning, serving drinks to customers at the downtown Minneapolis City Center from 9-9:30 before heading off to practice.
Cameras televising the first preseason broadcast in the franchise’s 20-year history captured a priceless moment when Love, in the midst of a 1-for-10 shooting night, came to the bench, buried his head in a towel in utter frustration and looked like he was — against Chicago, in October! — on the verge of an emotional meltdown.
Teammate Rashad McCants, seated next to him, watched Love with a look on his face that said: Dude, lighten up, we play 82 of these in the regular season…
“You know what: That’s what makes him different,” Wolves coach Randy Wittman said of Love. “He does care that much. As long as you don’t bury yourself in it, that’s a good thing. You want guys to care about their performance and the team’s performance.”
A multi-skilled player who is NOT, in the words of former NBA star and current Pacific-10 television analyst Marques Johnson, a “glorified Mark Madsen.” … Perhaps the best outlet passer since Wes Unseld. … Must learn which passes he can and cannot make.”He’s going to throw some passes that are not going to get through at this level,” Kevin McHale said. … Has three-point range and is a relentless offensive rebounder. … Lacks height, but plays big. He measured 6-7 1/2 in his stocking feet at the predraft camp, a little over 6-9 in his shoes.
Marc Stein/ESPN ranks the Wolves at #24 in his preseason power rankings.
The theory, if you subscribe, is that the Wolves have flanked Al Jefferson with multiple quality shooters … and that players named Kevin (Love, in this case) tend to do well in this town. We haven’t subscribed yet.
Matt Stroup/NBCSports.com lists Kevin Love as one of the “less trendy, but intriguing picks” for rookie of the year.
Yes, he was very good in college. Yes, he has NBA three-point range, a tremendous set of all-around basketball skills and can chest-pass a basketball across a medium-sized lake. But Love didn’t show signs of an upcoming breakout this preseason (8.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg) and will likely need time to establish his game.
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