[mds0549Participant]

This is starting to shape up like a great match-up for years to come.  Not yet in the 4th quarter yet and Love has 28 and 13 and Griffin has 21 and 10.  They don’t seem to play much defence against each other but I hope to see some of these games making the primetime tv slot so we can sit back and enjoy the show.

[aamir543Participant]

Sorry to go way off topic, but does anybody know is DeMarcus Cousins is hurt, and how bad is it? I’ve heard he went down tonight, heard it’s bad, I hope he’s OK, he was coming along nicely as a dangerous big in the future.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 As I said before the season Kevin Love is the best PF in the league.  Now after destroying Aldridge, and eating up Griffin can we finally agree that Love has "No Rival"  lol I’m just kidding about the no rival part cuz PF’s has a ton of rivalry going right now but Love is the cream of the crop.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Love had the better game tonight, but Griffin outplayed him the game before.

Love impressed me tonight because they actually dumped the ball down into him and he came through in the low post. He’s done this the last two games against very good defenders in Camby/Aldridge and Martin tonight.

IF he can develop a consistent back to the basket game, then there’s no doubt he could develop into the most complete offensive four man in the league. 

[M-DYMESParticipant]

Blake didn’t "outplay" Love the 1st matchup. 

Blake had… 21/10/2

Love had…17/14/3 and lets not forget, the clutch game-winner at the buzzer

Albeit Blake had a more efficient scoring game, he gets that b/c half his points come off dunks and his team doesn’t need him to carry the scoring load. 

With the Clips roster, they should be winning these games.  Love is playing great ball and carrying this Wolves squad.

[llperez]

he didnt say the first matchup, he said last time which blake did outplay him. The first matchup was a toss up.

[M-DYMESParticipant]

"Love had the better game tonight, but Griffin outplayed him the game before."

Idk how ur reading that, but I think that refers to the 1st matchup.  Can u clarify Indiana?

[llperez]

why would it mean the first matchup? Im thinking he meant the last time they played before tonight since that was "the game before"

[HaleParticipant]

 This is the third time they have played. They were pretty even the 1st, Griffin was far better the 2nd and Love was better today. I was there and it was pretty even for awhile, but Love got two great clutch baskets. He impressed me when it mattered.

[BlueLacesParticipant]

Griffin may have been better than Love in the second match up last week, but Love got in foul trouble early and he didn’t need to carry the offense, that was D-Will and B-Easy’s job that night.  Love didn’t even play the final 14 minutes of the game.

[BiggysmallsParticipant]

This is great for the NBA. If the Timberwolves can keep improving and become a consistent good team in the NBA, this will be one of the best individual rivalries in the NBA for the next 10 years.

Love definitly got the better of the matchup tonight. Not only did he score and rebound, but he did it when the team absolutely needed it. Everytime the Clippers would go on a run and take momentum, Love would hit a 3 or get a big rebound. He came up big in the 4th quarter again, showing his improving iso game. He may not be the best player to "run an offense through" for an entire game, but he can certainly get a bucket when you need it.

With that being said, Griffin is a beast. He has a better post up game then I’ve given him credit for, and he is a 15 foot J and a ft shot away from being a top 5 player in the league. He has really good handles for a big man (though sometimes he uses that skill to a detriment) and is stronger then most 4s and more explosive and quicker then 5s.

This was a heck of a game tonight. LA really misses Billups right now and I think someone needs to tell Chris Paul he needs to score more. I know he isnt much of scoring type, but he simply has to if the Clips are going to go anywhere now. They are going to be tough still in the postseason, but I think their lack of shooting will eventually lead to their playoff exit.

[kngojcParticipant]

 The great thing about this match up is that they’re also friends and they want to push each other to continue to get better. I think that’s what makes it exciting for the next 10 years is that they will continue to grow and continue to prove that they dominate the PF position. 

As a Wolves fan, I love this match up because the Wolves definitely have the Clippers number. They have a close match up at every single position and each game is tight. It makes for a very competitive game and I think it would be amazing to see them playing in the playoffs.

[M-DYMESParticipant]

My bad I thought this was the 2nd time they met this season.

[PulseGlazerParticipant]

Love is just better than Blake right now.  I’m not really seeing the arguement otherwise.  Love is better late in games thank to Blake’s worrying free throw issues.  Love has better numbers accross the board. And neither is a great defender individually, but Love has made strides as a team defender.  Why, exactly, is Blake superior?

[orangeshadow83Participant]

^^ Cause Blake jumps over cars

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

The fact that people only think Griffin is better due to his athletic ability is getting old. I think he’s shown that he’s more than just athleticism, though he’s an absolute freak athlete. He can handle, he can pass and he’s developing a back to the basket game (despite being better at facing up right now).

The advantage Love has right now is that he can absolutely shoot the lights out. And now he’s developing a move where he faces you up and jabs you a few times before he pulls up. And because you have to respect his jumper, he then has enough quickness to go past you. I watched him do this to Kenyon Martin a few times. And then Love showed a back down and over the shoulder right hook. I don’t think Love gets enough credit for how strong he is… He’s a BULL who also has a unique understanding of getting in position.

I also think you have to give Adelman credit for what he’s doing with Love. They run some nice sets that get Love free. They put you in position where Love is either going to pop out for three, a guard is going to get a pass cutting to the basket or Love is going to back down a smaller player.

It’ll be interesting to see these two develop. It’s going to be close with each player having strengths the other doesn’t have.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

And as great as Chris Paul is, I think he dominates the ball too much sometimes. He’s averaging like a career low in assists this season.

Of course, he’s great with Griffin/Jordan in the pick and roll, but I think the Clippers could get the ball down into Griffin more often and spread the floor with shooters.

[HadzialijagicParticipant]

 I like Kevin Love a lot we all know he is the best rebounding power foward in the league. I just have trouble putting a PF that shoots 44% at the best. Thats pretty low. He does shoot a lot of 3s maybe too much considering hes only a 35% shooter. But if you discount he still shoots 46% from twos. Kevin Love might still be the best PF in the league but its not by alot at all.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

That’s my knock on Love. He still doesn’t finish really well around the rim and is more of a pick and pop big man right now.

But if he can develop into a player you can throw the ball down into the low post and you can run an offense through him, then I think he’d become the most uniqe and complete offensive four man in the league.

I don’t think he’ll ever be a great defender, but he has to at least learn where to be, etc. Teams can no longer go into Minnesota and sleep walk for three quarters and expect to beat this team.

 

 

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

I still agree with a lot of what IndianaBasketball is saying about him, such as his needing to get better at finishing around the rim and his more than likely never being a great defender. Still, these past two games were ridiculous. Two wins and just fantastic all-around games against two players I hold in very high regard with LaMarcus Aldridge and Blake Griffin.

Kevin has become a match-up nightmare and if you are not going to shut someone down, you had better light them up. He just did that to LA and Blake, which has me impressed. I watched LA tear him apart last year in a couple of home games and while the Blazers team is in disarray, Kevin stepped up to the challenge against him. With Blake last night, there was not a hell of a lot of resistance (or Love guarding him directly), but he made the shots when it mattered the most.

With the Timberwolves winning and Kevin being the definite catalyst, I am starting to think of re-evaluating Kevin’s position amongst PF’s. Truly, this season he has by far the best numbers of all of them and he is not just doing it against patsies. Still would probably be nice for the Timberwolves to have a player to take some of the scoring burden as the season progresses, but Kevin has not seemed to let up. Really happy he is doing well and he is much better than I ever expected him to be, and I did not have low expectations.

[river09Participant]

 I don’t think it’s much of a contest right now. Love is far and away the best Basketball player at PF, a lot of players may be better athletesor prolific shot blockers, but love is just better. He may have defensive limitations (not being an outstanding shot blocker) but the thing that i’ve noticed the most about this wolves team under adelman is the improved team defense. Averaged over 105 points against last year, this year 96. Not one of their players is a lockdown defender but all of them have bought into good rotation and helping each other out. There are very few (if any) uncontested shots… In regards to running an offense through him, the wolves have been doing that all year, it may not be a typical set but dirks over in dallas has been used the same way for years. Love has shown ability to finish in traffic down low it’s just not the forte of his game…

Is he a mvp candidate this year? I’m not saying he should win, but IMO he has to be in the discussion (only kobe has been depended on more this season). Without him the wolves would be no where near as imposing to play.. They eclipsed they’re win totalfrom the season before halfway through the season, and he’s top 5 in scoring and rebounding.

[PulseGlazerParticipant]

Love will never be an iso scorer, but if he averages 25 on pick and pop, does it matter?  We all claim he’s not a number one option, but at what point do numbers put the lie to that?

[Maniac MaciejParticipant]

Aldridge also got the better of Love in the previous two games this season, so I’m not sure we’re ready to crown him the best PF in the game yet. It bothers me that he shoots so many 3’s and he plays mediocre defense, but I’ve got to give the guy some credit for those last 2 games. If he’s not the best PF in the game, he’s 1a, 1b or 1c.

With Dirk, KG and Pau probably on the downside of their careers, we’ve got a pretty good trio of PF to take their place between Love, Aldridge and Griffin…and you can’t ignore Chris Bosh either just because he doesn’t get as many touches behind D-Wade and LeBron.

[Maniac MaciejParticipant]

 "Is he a mvp candidate this year? I’m not saying he should win, but IMO he has to be in the discussion"

Okay, he’s in the discussion….for fourth or fifth place…if LeBron doesn’t win MVP this year, it’s a crime.

[river09Participant]

Love has been an iso scorer all year… Yes he’s very effective in pick and pop situations and creates a lot of space with his defender when he moves without theball; but he gets isolated 1-1 with a defender a lot. Especially in the fourth quarter when the wolves need offense… I dunno how you’re saying "love will never be an iso player", when he is an effective iso scorer and is getting better every game in that respect..

[river09Participant]

 Lebron? What about kobe (He’s my pick right now)?

[Maniac MaciejParticipant]

Kobe’s shooting as poorly as he ever has while passing the ball less than he ever has. Meanwhile, a lot of credit also needs to be given to the development of Andrew Bynum.

Either way, LeBron is having a historic season, and the gap between the two this season is pretty wide on the stats side. (Check the FG and 3P numbers, in particular.)

[HaleParticipant]

I still have Griffin ahead of him. It’s close but if the Clippers didn’t try to trap after every pick he set and just played under it Love doesn’t get 3 wide open 3’s. When Griffin was getting the ball in the post he was dominating whoever was on him. If he could just hit FT’s…and imo you can build around Griffin easier then Love because he plays in the post more, and is really good down there. Either way Love still gets an A+ for yesterdays game and he’s now shown 3 times that I’ve watched he get it done in the clutch.

[NbanflguyParticipant]

"Aldridge also got the better of Love in the previous two games this season, so I’m not sure we’re ready to crown him the best PF in the game yet. It bothers me that he shoots so many 3’s and he plays mediocre defense, but I’ve got to give the guy some credit for those last 2 games. If he’s not the best PF in the game, he’s 1a, 1b or 1c."

Idk if this was just a typo and you meant to say Griffin, but we have only played Portland once this season and Love went for 42 and Aldridge got like 14 and fouled out.

I think Timberwolves-Clippers and Love-Griffin is a rivalry in the making. All 3 games this season have been exciting, chippy, and physical.

 

 

[Maniac MaciejParticipant]

Sorry, I looked at the dates wrong. LaMarcus had the upper hand in 3 of the 4 matchups last year.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

@river09

Not to call you out, but Love is NOT an iso scorer.

IF you watch the T-Wolves sets, they do a lot of pick and roll/pop between Rubio/Ridnour around the top of the key and around the elbows of the three-point line. Love isn’t isolating when he’s shooting those three pointers. He’s getting wide open jumpshots. I’ve been pulling my hair out the last two games due to the fact that neither McMillian or Del-Negro made an adjustment.

Love has impressed me the last two games as a go-to player in the low post down the stretch, but that’s not what he’s been doing all season.

[river09Participant]

 He’s at his best hitting jumpshots I know. but when it gets to the fourth quarter he gets iso’s all the time. I’ve watched nearly all the wolves games start to finish and nearly all possessions toward the end of close games Love gets the ball at about 16-18 ft and they’ll either let him do his thing or if help comes to double right away he dishes to a open teammate…

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