It’s Time for Kevin Love to Step Up for Cleveland Cavaliers

By Casey Drottar @cdrottar19 on January 2, 2015

By now, everyone is well-versed in the historic summer the Cleveland Cavaliers had themselves in 2014.

We all remember how a team looking miles away from ever contending suddenly got the top draft pick despite miniscule odds. How the unthinkable took place when LeBron James announced he was leaving the Miami Heat, a team he took to four straight NBA Finals, to come back to Cleveland with the hopes of bringing a title to his hometown. And how the Cavaliers iced the cake by trading for Kevin Love, who was arguably one of the best big men in the league.

A team surrounded by doubt and chaos suddenly became one of the most talked about franchises in sports, and many started picking Cleveland to represent the Eastern Conference in the Finals.

Well, if this is indeed going to happen, and Cleveland is going to be playing for the championship in 2015, they’re going to need to forget everything about the dismal way they ended 2014.

The Cavaliers are on a three-game losing streak, which includes a shellacking by the sad-sack Detroit Pistons and a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in which they only scored seven points in the third quarter. The players’ body language is an atrocity. New coach David Blatt is apparently already on the hot seat. And, of course, there are already rumors about James possibly leaving again, because a Cleveland team is never complete until there are whispers of their best player wanting out.

It’s hard to say anyone predicted this start to the Cavaliers’ season. Many assumed it would take some time for everyone to gel, but nobody thought it would be this ugly. Of all the issues this team is dealing with, one of the more alarming problems is the struggles of Love. Expected to flourish alongside James, the power forward has instead seen a significant decline in numerous offensive stats. A fan base who at one point embraced Love is now taking to Twitter to propose ways to trade him.

Love has hardly been the game-changer everyone hoped for, but he has a chance to fix all of this starting tonight. James, nursing injuries to his knee and back, will be out the next two weeks. The Cavaliers’ schedule during this time features a handful of top-tier Western Conference teams. Love will now have an opportunity to really prove his worth to Cleveland and, in order to do so, he’s going to have to step up and make some wholesale changes to his game.

In terms of his offense, it’s tough to say a decline in Love’s PPG is terribly surprising. Consider the fact that, while he was with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Love was the man the team relied on at all times. The reason he was putting up monster numbers was because the offense ran through him, as his supporting cast often left a lot to be desired. Pairing him up with James and Kyrie Irving and expecting him to average 26 PPG for the second year in a row was always going to be a lofty goal.

At the same time, this season Love has often looked nothing like the player he was in Minnesota. He’s had multiple nights where he just can’t seem to find the basket, which often results in him moping, either on the court or the bench.

The frustration towards the coaching staff not quite figuring out how to utilize Love yet is understandable, sure. However, Love needs to cut the pouting routine out of his persona. This Cavaliers team is already fragile as it is, and having one of their best players sulk because things aren’t going his way isn’t helping in the least. If Love wants to start making more of an impact for his team, his body language and attitude both need to be fixed.

On top of this, it goes without saying Love also needs to desperately change things for the better on the other side of the court as well.

Now, defense has always been a weakness in Love’s game. I hardly expect him to become an elite rim-protector overnight. At the same time, the internet Vines of Love getting blown away in the post area multiply by the game. Playing even subpar defense requires some sort of effort, yet you often see Love just watching players go around him with little to no resistance at all.

This has to change, and fast. Again, I’m not saying Love has to suddenly become the NBA’s top lockdown defender. But, my goodness, he could at least try and pretend he knows how to defend. While Love’s best contribution would be increased offense, he needs to devote a lot of focus on not being a complete defensive liability, too.

Unfortunately, Love not only needs to improve multiple aspects of his game, he’s also doing so under much scrutiny. Cleveland didn’t just sign Love as a free agent, they gave away their top pick, Andrew Wiggins, in order to acquire him. While still a little raw, Wiggins is showing potential in Minnesota, and combined with Love’s struggles, many in Cleveland are already expressing buyer’s remorse.

Love can change all of this, though, and it starts tonight against the Charlotte Hornets. He should expect to be the focal point of the Cavaliers’ offense with James on the mend, and with the team facing a slew of tough opponents in the coming weeks, he has to take advantage like there’s no tomorrow. Cleveland will be leaning on him in attempts to get out of this current funk, but if he continues to mope while also playing his famous matador defense, the team as a whole is only going to face more adversity.

When the Cavs acquired Love, the deal reportedly came with a handshake agreement he would re-sign with the team when his contract expired after this season. Right now, some wonder if Cleveland should even bother keeping Love at all. However, he can erase all the negativity by making improvements across the board.

If Love wanted a shot to show he can still be an elite player with the Cavaliers, he’ll get none better than these next two weeks. Whether or not he can actually take advantage of it is entirely up to him.

Casey Drottar is a Featured Columnist for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter or “Like” him on Facebook