Rebirth of the Beast: Kevin Love Establishes Himself As NBA's Top Rebounder
The latest NBA season has begun, and a number of big men have already proven to be elite rebounders, with 14 players averaging double digit rebounds per game in the early portion of the season. Although the league has many fantastic rebounders, one in particular has put himself above all others—Minnesota Timberwolves power forward Kevin Love.
In the first nine games of his third NBA season, Kevin Love has averaged 12.8 rebounds in just 28.3 minutes per game. Love leads all NBA starters in rebounds per 48 minutes with 21.6, and is second in rebounds per game behind only Joakim Noah, who is averaging one more rebound in over 10 more minutes per game. Meanwhile, Dwight Howard, the NBA's leading rebounder for the past two seasons, isn't even in the top five.
Coming out of college, Love was known primarily for his post scoring, outlet passes and rebounding ability. In the NBA he has continued to do more of the same while adding other areas to the game, like his ever improving three-point shot.
Love is a tough, versatile player at the power forward spot, and has finally started to receive the near starters minutes he deserves in his third season, largely due to the departure of Al Jefferson and the acknowledgement by the Timberwolves organization that Love will be the franchise player from here on out.
In his 10th game of the 2010-2011 NBA season, Kevin Love proved without a doubt that he is the NBA's best rebounder. Love scored 31 points, dished five assists and pulled down 31 rebounds in 40 minutes while leading the Timberwolves to their third win of the season against the New York Knicks.
20-20 games are an impressive and rare feat in the NBA, but a 30-30 game? That is absolutely unreal. In fact, Love's 30-30 game was the first since 1982.
Love absolutely dominated the New York Knicks inside players, pulling in virtually every rebound he set his eyes on him. His unmatched hustle and willingness to go after the ball got his ball club multiple extra possessions during the game, as he pulled in 12 offensive rebounds (the entire Knicks squad got only 11 offensive boards) along with 19 boards on the defensive side. Love had just 12 fewer total rebounds than New York, and had over three times as many boards than any other player in the game.
To put is simply, he was absolutely unstoppable.
Kurt Rambis is probably wondering why he hasn't been playing Love close to 40 minutes per game on a regular basis. It sure seems to be a recipe for success. Unless Anthony Tolliver can deliver a 40-40 game, chances are the NBA's top rebounder will get the opportunity to be a star and lead his team out of mediocrity.
