Kevin Love will be greeted with boos when he and his Cavs teammates play the Timberwolves on Saturday at Target Center. The former NBA All-Star power forward will likely be heckled by some fans, while others will applaud his return to the arena where he played six seasons for the Wolves.
Love’s departure via trade last summer is a major setback for the Wolves who have the worst record in the NBA, 7-37. The team has played most of the season without four starters from last year including Love and injured regulars Kevin Martin, Nikola Pekovic and Ricky Rubio.
Glen Taylor said Love, a key contributor on the 2012 US Olympic team, forced a trade because he wanted to play for a winning team and the Wolves haven’t made the playoffs since 2004. But the Wolves owner holds no grudges against the 26-year-old Love, a rare NBA player who has career averages in double figures for scoring and rebounding.
Taylor told Sports Headliners earlier this month he plans to see Love on Saturday. “I am going to treat him like a friend,” Taylor said. “I have no ill will against Kevin at all.”
In January of 2012 the Wolves had an opportunity to give Love a maximum five-year contract but chose instead to negotiate a four-year deal that gave him an early opt out. If the longer agreement had been made Love likely would still be on the roster and perhaps could have been persuaded to eventually finish his career in Minneapolis.
The Wolves would have enhanced their relationship with Love by offering him a longer contract and more money. He proved on the court he was deserving of the max contract, finishing the 2011-2012 season with a then career high average of 26 points per game.
“Knowing what we know today and all that stuff, it was probably a mistake (the contract),” Taylor said. “It doesn’t bother me to say that was a mistake. It’s a decision that was made at that time and it turned out to be that Kevin really played well after that. I respect him and admire him for his work ethic and all the things that he has done. We’d have been better off having the longer term contract. …”
David Kahn was the franchise’s lead basketball decision maker when the Love four-year deal was negotiated and finalized. Kahn’s years with the Wolves have been much scrutinized and criticized beyond the Love saga. First round draft decisions that included passing on guard Steph Curry in 2009 and center DeMarcus Cousins in 2010 are among the most discussed. Curry, drafted by the Warriors, is fifth in the NBA in assists and 10th in scoring, while Cousins, playing for the Kings, is fourth in scoring and second in rebounding.
Curry was mentioned to Taylor, and he was asked if hiring Kahn, who had never led an NBA basketball department prior to his opportunity with the Wolves, was a mistake. “I don’t want to say that,” Taylor answered. “No matter who you hire they have to make some guesses. They’re going to be right some of the time and they’re going to be wrong some of the time.
“For me to say or anybody knew that Curry was going to be that good, I just think they didn’t know that. It turned out that we made mistakes, that’s for sure.”
Worth Noting
The Cavs, led by forward LeBron James, guard Kyrie Irving and Love, are in their first season together and learning to play as a unit. Among the NBA title favorites, the Cavs have struggled overall as shown by their 26-20 record but have won seven consecutive games.
Love, who is averaging 17.3 points and 10.3 rebounds with the Cavs, might be the best outlet passer in the NBA. Just ask former Timberwolves forward Corey Brewer who had a career high 48.1 field goal percentage last season, with many of his baskets coming on layups after catching long passes from Love.
The Gophers basketball team, 2-6 in the Big Ten and 13-8 overall, might have its best opportunity this season to earn a road win tonight at Penn State, 1-6 and 13-7. State College is historically one of the easiest places for Big Ten teams to win and since 2000 Minnesota is 8-4 at Penn State. The Gophers’ two conference wins were at home against Rutgers and Illinois.
Ross Travis, the former Chaska High School player, leads Penn State in rebounds per game at 6.9. The 6-7 senior forward has started 19 of 20 games and averages 4.8 points per game.
Condolences to the family and friends of Lu Vorpahl who died earlier this month at age 103. Lu was probably the oldest former Gophers football player prior to his death. The Minneapolis native was born June 30, 1911 and played football for the Gophers in the early 1930s. (See Sports Headliners’ June 30, 2014 feature about his remarkable life.)
The St. Thomas men’s basketball team plays Gustavus at home tonight. The Tommies’ only loss of the season was to the Gusties in St. Peter, 68-65 on December 3. UST, 15-1 overall and 10-1 in the MIAC, is ranked No. 2 in the country by D3hoops.com.
Vikings general manager Rick Spielman will be the guest speaker at the May 14 CORES luncheon. Bob Gustafson, from Grandma’s Marathon, will speak at the March 12 program. CORES luncheon programs are at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington, 1114 American Blvd. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans. Information about both programs is available by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net.
The state of Minnesota has 203 Division I men’s hockey players, according to information provided by College Hockey, Inc. Michigan has 151 followed by Massachusetts, 112; New York, 81; and New Jersey and Pennsylvania with 52 each.
Minnesotans are 12.7% of all Division I men’s hockey players and 18.7% of the Americans playing. Conferences with the most Minnesota natives are the NCHC with 57, Big Ten 39, and WCHA, 34.
Former Gophers tennis coach David Geatz had his 58th birthday last Friday. Geatz, now head men’s coach at Pennsylvania, coached the Minnesota men’s team for 18 years and won five Big Ten titles.