There is no argument from here on the level of improvement Kevin Love has demonstrated over the past three years.
Love's growth merits his flawless status on local sports scene
April 22, 2011 at 4:07AM
My skepticism over the young man started in April 2008, when I was covering the Final Four in San Antonio and watched Love get his behind kicked by Memphis' Joey Dorsey. Love had 12 points and his UCLA team took a 78-63 drubbing.
Six months later, I watched him in an exhibition game at Target Center. He appeared to be out of shape and undersized at power forward. Basically, he looked as if he was waiting for a guy like Dorsey to walk in the arena and give him another beat down.
I wrote a column that ridiculed the trade that sent O.J. Mayo to Memphis, and Love in general -- and why not? These were the Timberwolves. If a guy assumed they had blundered with a personnel decision, the chances were 75 percent or better he was going to be right.
Not this time -- although it did take me quite awhile to get religion on Love.
This was the chronology in the conversion:
2008-09: Love's rebounding knack became obvious early in his rookie season. He also was such a horrendous defender that it wasn't a problem to remain skeptical.
2009-10: He missed the first 18 games of the season because of a broken finger. Once back, his numbers improved in most areas, particularly during the fourth quarters for a team that went 15-67.
2010-11: He became an All-Star. He put together the double-double streak. He was more energetic in his defensive efforts (unless the opponent was Memphis' Zach Randolph).
The only time the old skeptic got worked up over Love was with a couple of his quotes: the one about opponents preferring to knock a ball out of bounds rather than allow him to get a rebound, and the beauty about his almost hoping that the double-double streak would end.
When that comment surfaced, I thought of Morgan Freeman's speech in "The Shawshank Redemption" about the prison escape of Andy Dufresne (the Tim Robbins character).
"He crawled through 500 yards of ... smelling foulness," which is exactly what Love would have done in the last couple of minutes of a lost game for a 10th rebound.
Yet, the All-Star berth was there, the streak was a regular feature on "SportsCenter" for several weeks, and the improved numbers for rebounding, long-distance shooting and free throwing were spectacular -- a stunning rise for the kid that Joey Dorsey almost muscled out of the Alamodome three years ago.
What this hardware does is further elevate Love as the face of a franchise that ... well, a franchise that has struggled with its message to potential customers. For instance:
• "United We Run." Somebody should have told the coach.
• "More Rubio." That would be more than zero, right?
Here is what's odd when you look at the current Twin Cities pro sports scene:
The Wolves have been out of the playoffs for seven years. They are 32-132 over the past two seasons. They are at the lowest point for fan interest ever for the four pro franchises, including the Twins at the start of the '80s, and the North Stars at the end of the '80s.
And yet if you look around, which pro athlete has the best image with the fewest blotches on his résumé? We're talking about performance and reliability.
Joe Mauer has run into considerable cynicism over the last two years with both injuries and lack of power numbers. The fans are only hoping that Justin Morneau is fully healed and will return to his former production.
The highest-profile Viking is Adrian Peterson, and it seems as if the public spends as many Sunday afternoons complaining as it does marveling over his effort. The Wild doesn't have a high-profile player, period.
That leaves Love. In public perception, he is the Twin Cities' star athlete with the least flaws.
One reason is that when a team wins 17 games, any remaining fans are looking for a glimpse of promise, not breaking down his shortcomings.
If Love's around when the Wolves again contend for the playoffs, interested parties will start looking at more than the boxscores. But for now, Love is a Twin Cities poster boy that no fan wants to deface.
Patrick Reusse can be heard noon-4 weekdays on 1500ESPN. preusse@startribune.com
Their 28-point lead got trimmed to two late, but they held on in a Western Conference finals rematch that missed an injured Luka Doncic after halftime.
