Olympics 2012: Why Kevin Love Is Team USA's X-Factor

Despite the superstars on Team USA's roster, Kevin Love will be the key for the team in their quest for Olympic gold.

After their exhibition against Brazil earlier this week, it is more apparent than ever the team needs Love to make an impact. The Americans looked shaky during the first quarter against Brazil, and they could have used more from Love.

While he was on the bench, the team was physically dominated and struggled to get into a flow. Although he probably will not move into the starting lineup, he needs to see an increase in minutes.

Love is an underrated big man and will be asked to play physically on a team that lacks size.

Kevin Durant is the best bench player on the team, but Love is right behind him. 

Team USA can get by some teams without great play out of Love, but they will need him to have a big games against their tougher competition.

*Stats courtesy of ESPN.com*

Length

As the Americans found out, length will be important if they hope to defeat teams like Brazil and Spain.

At 6'10", Kevin Love is the second-tallest player on the roster. 

While Tyson Chandler is the starting center, the team needs someone else to help him down low. Chandler, who checks in at 7'1", is a great defensive presence.

Newly added Anthony Davis is also 6'10", but he does not have any experience in international play. He will be a good addition on defense, and he can help the team when they go to their bench. However, Davis may not see a ton of action in close games because of his youth.

Brazil has three key players listed at 6'11", so Team USA will need to give Love more playing time if they meet again in London. 

Spain has both Gasol brothers, and they are both over 7'. Serge Ibaka comes off their bench at 6'10", so they clearly have more length than the Americans.

Love may not be as tall as some of these players, but he is one of the best players in the world for a reason. He can help Chandler keep people out of the lane.

Even though LeBron James is able to play power forward, the team needs a true power forward against the tougher teams.

The length of Team USA has been scrutinized lately, so it will be crucial for Love to play well in the Olympics.

Rebounding

As the best rebounder in the tournament, Kevin Love will be expected to continue to crash the boards in London.

Since entering the NBA, he has been a double-double machine. 

In every season since his first year in the league, he has averaged at least 11 rebounds per game. In this past season, he averaged 13 rebounds per game. 

He has averaged over four offensive rebounds per game the past two seasons, so he allows his teammates to get extra shots.

Tyson Chandler is a great defender, but Love is a better rebounder. When he is in the game, it limits the other team to one shot instead of giving them second chances.

In college, Anthony Davis put up good rebounding numbers. However, he will need to adjust against bigger players at the next level.

Team USA is stacked with extremely athletic players who are capable of pulling down triple-doubles, but they will need to rely on Love for consistency on the boards.

Ability to Score

Most big men are have trouble scoring outside of the paint. Kevin Love is not one of those people.

Not only can he dominate on the boards, but he can score in just about every way imaginable.

Love has shot 45 percent from the field for most of his career, but he tends to take shots away from the basket. During the Olympics, he will probably take more shots closer to the hoop because of his supporting cast.

In Minnesota, he is the best player on the floor and can take any shot he wants. On a team with some of the best players ever, Love will not take as many shots.

While his inside game speaks for itself, his outside game makes him even more dangerous.

A 37 percent three-point shooter for his career, he began to expand his play.

If it were not for the lockout, he probably would have set a career high in three-point shots attempted for a season. Instead, he averaged just over five attempts per game beyond the arch when he had never averaged more than three per game.

He is also capable of going off during a game. He has a career high off 51 points in a game, which demonstrates he has the ability to take over a game.

By the way, he also defeated Kevin Durant in the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout in February (per NBA.com's Shaun Powell).

Free Throws

During his one season at UCLA, Kevin Love was a mediocre free-throw shooter. After four seasons in the league, he has turned into pretty good at the line.

Because he is always around the basket, he has started to force his to the line.

Like three-point attempts, Love would have set a career high in free throw attempts if it had been a normal season.

According to ESPN.com, he ranked only second to Dwight Howard in number of free throws attempted per game.

Not only does Love get to the line, but he has started to convert with more frequency. After improving every season for the first three season of his career, he dropped down to 82 percent at the line in 2011-2012.

He is in the middle of the pack on this team when it comes to shooting free throws, but he shoots well for a big man.

In comparison, Tyson Chandler shot only 69 percent from the line this past season. In college, Anthony Davis shot 71 percent. 

If a game goes down to the wire, Love could find himself replacing Chandler to knock down key free throws.

Will to Win

When Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports wrote an article featuring Kevin Love, it made headlines everywhere.

Love made it clear he wants to be a part of a winning team, so Team USA should be thrilled. Finally in a position to win something in his career, he should be motivated to give it his all.

After a promising start to the season, the Minnesota Timberwolves stumbled in the second half after Ricky Rubio went down with an injury.

Not counting Anthony Davis (who led his team to an NCAA title earlier this year), Love is the only player on the roster who has not played in the playoffs. In fact, only Love and Deron Williams did not play in the postseason this year.

The desire to win will get Love to play at an even higher level. With Team USA as the overwhelming favorites to take home gold in London, he finally has a chance to win something.

Love gives it his all for a team that has struggled in recent years, and he now has a chance to grab people's attention.

Often overlooked while playing in Minnesota, Love now has a chance to show the world just how good he is.

Seeing his teammates succeed with their NBA teams will make Love work that much harder.