Cleveland Cavaliers head coach David Blatt’s offense is built in such a way that Kevin Love has often found himself drifting out towards the three-point line.
Love — who got what he wanted by being traded to Cleveland, and is now going through the difficult transition — rightfully points out that he’s at his best when near the hoop.
(Somewhere, Chris Bosh is wearing a satisfied smirk.)
Per the Northeast Ohio Media Group:
“My entire life I’ve played the game from inside-out,” Love explained. “So the more touches I can get inside to get myself going, the better. I’m not accustomed to starting out a game shooting a three, so it’s just something that I see.
“I’m 26-years-old and I’ve been playing basketball for quite a long time. Just finding ways to mix it up. If anything, keeping it around the basket a little bit more and the offense will allow me to get offensive rebounds. That will be tough for teams with Andy [Varejao] and myself and Tristan [Thompson] in there.”
“Yeah, the offense is built that way but I just have to make a conscious decision to get myself in there,” Love said. “There are a lot of times where I just find myself fading to the three-point line. For me, it’s a mentality and that’s easy to fix. […] We’ve been putting in stuff like different pin-downs, cut-across and cross-screens to get me open in there. You’ll see a lot more of that during the season. That’s always how I played and I know that coach wants me to play that way, as well.”