Wolves Unfiltered: Kevin Love
By Stephen Litel
March 4th, 2009
For the most part, I’ve made a conscious effort to leave Kevin Love alone throughout his rookie year. Although we’ve exchanged pleasantries and I’ve asked a question or two of him for an article at times, I felt it would be best for me to be one less person in his face as he adjusts to his new life. After all, he’s only 20-years old--only a year removed from high school--and we can sometimes easily forget that fact.
Yet, I felt the time was right to have briefly chat with the Minnesota rookie on his first year in the league, as he has gone through quite a lot. Prior to their game against Houston this past Sunday, I spent time with Love in Minnesota’s locker room.
As your rookie season winds down, what was the easiest adjustment for you to the NBA?
“The easiest adjustment? That’s a good question. Off the court, I’d have to say just fitting in with my teammates. Growing up, I was pretty easy to get along with and no matter what the personality of the other guy was, I was always able to get along with the person and be a good teammate.”
“On the court? That’s a tough one and I might have to come back to it. That’s tough.”
So, of course, flip it now. What was the most difficult adjustment to the NBA?
“Definitely defense. That was probably the most difficult thing. Just learning the different calls, different motions on defense and just learning how we’re going to set up as well.”
Overall, what’s the most important lesson you’ve learned moving forward in your career?
“Just to let bad games go and the grass is always greener on the other side. In the NBA, there’s always a game the next day or the next night. That’s probably the thing that’s stuck with me the most.”
Whether before or after the coaching change, is there one lesson or trick you’ve learned from Kevin McHale that really sticks out?
“There’s so many things, but just how to score the ball in the post and get different shots up. That’s something we’re going to continue to work on as long as I’m here and as long as he’s here. I’d probably say when he became the coach, obviously he was a lot more hands on. He’s at practice every day. When he was whatever he was--GM or Director of Player Personnel--he was down there every once in a while and got to work with me. He’s there every day now and that makes it a lot easier.”
Do you believe in the “rookie wall?”
“Oh yeah. Definitely. I think I hit mine earlier. I had a couple not so good games in a row and was wondering if it was ever going to get better. I kind of hit a wall. Since then, since mid-December, I’ve bounced back and really put together a good two and a half months.”
How would you gauge your conditioning now with Al Jefferson out and your increased playing time because of that?
“It’s definitely better. I know we only have, like, 24 games left, but hopefully next season I’ll be playing even more minutes then this. I’m going to have to just keep getting better with conditioning and my body is still maturing at 20-years old, so we’ll have to just go from there. I’ll have to focus on my body and get myself right this summer.”
So, conditioning and working on your body are your number one priorities over the summer, heading into your second season?
“Number one priority. Absolutely. Definitely the body and I want to get a number of jumpshots up. I can’t put a number on it, but in a day I want to get a ton up because I’m going to be able to shoot from that three-point line next year and I want to be a knockdown shooter. As far as everything else goes, my body is the number one priority.”
