Throughout his tenure with the Cleveland Cavaliers, it has been a constant challenge for All-Star big man Kevin Love to find a consistent role and level of comfort on the floor.
The 29-year-old is now dealing with another curveball as he’s adjusting to playing full time at center for the first time since his rookie campaign. With that in mind, Love has revealed that he’s still working his way through the position change on both ends of the floor, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
“It’s been a little bit of a change for me,” Love admitted. “I still find myself spacing a little bit wanting to roll a little bit more and on the defensive end just playing the primary big on their team the whole time on the defensive end. It’s been a little bit different figuring things out on that end, but it comes with the growth I’m talking about. We need to do that and hopefully be a machine when things start clicking.”
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Love showed much comfort offensively in the season-opener as he was able to chip in 15 points on 4-of-9 shooting, which saw him get to the free-throw line where he knocked down six of his seven attempts through the contest.
He also remained a huge factor on the glass hauling in 11 rebounds, which was second-highest in the game behind LeBron James’ 16 rebounds.
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However, there are still some necessary adjustments for Love to make moving forward, as he pointed out the defensive end of the floor presents the most challenges.
This position change now puts him more often than not as the undersized big man in the matchup, which will require more attention to detail on his behalf to become more effective in that aspect of the game.
It’s something that will likely remain a work in progress as the regular season rolls along and he garners more valuable experience at the position.