Love In Howland's Rotation

by Nestor on Jul 1, 2007 9:44 AM PDT in Basketball

So Love is coming to town right after 4th of July (on or about 7th). There is already some interesting speculation going on wrt where Love is going to play in Howland's 2007 rotation. Mitch Chortkoff from the Santa Monica Mirror (never heard of this rag) wrote up a little profile on Kevin Love (since KL was born in Santa Monica). He speculates Love being at 4:

When practice begins in October, Love is expected to quickly blend in with the returning players.

At 6-foot-9, 240, he was a dominant center in high school. But since UCLA has Lorenzo Mata returning at center, Love is likely to play power forward.

If that happens, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute would shift to small forward and Josh Shipp to guard, where he would team with Collison and replace Arron Affalo, who left school early to enter the NBA draft.

Not so fast says Dohn. Dohn thinks Love is going to play exclusively at the 5:

Regarding the basketball starting lineup, is it feasible that Love could move to the power forward and Mata remain at center?
I don't think putting Love at the four and Mata at center is what the coaching staff thinks will give UCLA its best lineup. I also don't think Love is coming to UCLA to play power forward, and that is not where he will best be utilized.

Hmmm. I don't think Dohn is right. Here is why:

I think Love might up playing at the 5 during most of time at UCLA. However, early in the season I think Howland is not going to shy away from experimenting with his lineups to see how he can have most talent on the floor at the same time. This means putting Shipp at 2, sliding Luc at 3, inserting Love at 4, and ever improving defensive bruiser Mata at 5. I really think Howland is going to try that combination which will give more room to play around with AA2 and Keefe as the backups. So I think its a little premature to say that Love is going to exclusively play at the 5. And the preseason schedule will (hopefully) allow Howland to do this kind of experimentation so that he can have his his best lineups set for the conference season.

Speaking of Shipp he is coming around per Dohn:

Bruins wing Josh Shipp is recuperating well from his latest hip surgery. In fact, he ran a mile on back-to-back days and reported no soreness in his hip. He is expected to be ready for the start of the season.

We can't wait.

GO BRUINS.

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but then

we definitely cannot forget RW...in terms of getting the most talent on the floor, i still think RW is one of our 5 most talented guys. we also must remember that RW is not necessarily a PG, but more of a 2 than anything. if the KL at 4 and Luc at 3 doesn't work, we can always do this:

PG DC
SG RW
SF JS
PF LRMAM
C KL

talk about offensive talent...

EITHER way, we're in incredible shape. thank God for Ben Howland!

matsumoto class of '05

by matsumoto720 on Jul 1, 2007 10:13 AM PDT reply actions

Ultimately, I think we will end up...

... with a lineup of:

C -- Love
PF -- AA2
SF -- LMRAM
SG -- JS
PG -- DC

Remember, Howland has said in this off-season that:

(1) AA2 will play exclusively at PF,

(2) he wants LMRAM to get more and mroe time at the 3,

(3) JS will likely get most of his PT at SG.

I know I've seen most of these comments in either Dohn articles/ blogs or other post-season debriefs in local media. (Sorry, Nestor -- haven't had time to do my full offseason phD dissertation as I had hoped.)

Still, I'm really big on the idea that having LMRAM and AA2 as our starting bookend forwards gives un unparalleled versatility and quickness on D.

I love LoMa's game, and I certainly do think we'll have a few different starting lineups, regardless of possible injury, in the first 10-15 games.

However, with AA2 having better offensive footwork and shooting from the post, I would nto be surprised at all tos ee him be in the starting lineup next to love, with Mata serving as a hustle/ defensive firefighter (i.e. cool off opposing hot hands) off the bench.

Just imagine: a bench unit of energy and hustle like --

6th man -- Russell
7th -- Mata
8th -- Roll
9th -- Keefe.

WOW.

WHY NOT US? WHY NOT NOW?

by Meriones on Jul 1, 2007 10:24 AM PDT reply actions

Yeap

Both of you make great points. I think either way we are going to some experimentation from Howland before he settles into a regular lineup for conference season. Either way its going to be fun to watch.

by Nestor on Jul 1, 2007 4:05 PM PDT up reply actions

Westbrook

I actually like Westbrook a lot. While Collison may be quicker, I think Westbrook is more athletically gifted and thus would make a better SG. He will most likely be our 6 man and come in when we struggle offensively. I'm still concerned about our outside shooting. Hopefully Roll will improve his outside shot (ala Kapono) and help spread the floor. DC's penetration will create a lot of open jumpers. I think Dragovic will also play an important role this year. Basically, I'm praying our offensive game improves this year with an inside threat (Love).

by ratmboy on Jul 1, 2007 4:44 PM PDT reply actions

I think

Westbrook is going to get a lot of minutes this season. He won't be as turnover prone as he was last season and Howland loves his aggresiveness. He provides a lot of versatility, especially defensively where I think he will take AA's place as our #1 defender. With his length he can bother all point guards and his speed can bother shooting guards. I expect him to get 25-30 minutes this season, with about 10 at the point and the rest at the 2.

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Jul 1, 2007 6:24 PM PDT reply actions

Westbrook

I second the two above posts. Huge Westbrook fan here. I love DC, but how outstanding is it to be able to Russell right behind him?

He is definitely one of the most exciting and explosive players I have seen in a long time in a Bruin uniform (not necessarily a knock on any other players).

by Barnes2JJ on Jul 1, 2007 10:57 PM PDT reply actions