The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Resting Love means winning not a priority
“Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.”
History gives the late Vince Lombardi, coach of the great Green Bay Packers teams of the 1960s, credit for that famous motivational quote.
History has it wrong. It was actually uttered by former UCLA football coach Henry Russell “Red” Sanders in 1950.
Who said exactly what exactly when isn’t important here. What matters is winning at this point of this lost season definitely is not everything to the Cavaliers.
Coach Larry Drew decided not to play Kevin Love against the Brooklyn Nets on Feb. 13 at Quicken Loans Arena. “Rest” was the explanation on the game notes distributed in the media room 2 ½ hours before tipoff.
Rest? Sure, Love is still working his way into playing shape. But the Cavaliers are off the next eight days.
Love played the first four games of the season, missed the next 50 recovering a foot injury, played six minutes against the Wizards in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 8 in his first game back and was rested (understandably) the next night when the Cavaliers played the Pacers in Indianapolis.
Love played nearly 16 minutes against the New York Knicks on Feb. 11. He scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a game the Cavaliers won, 107-104.
The Cavaliers were off on Feb. 12. Even if he isn’t 100 percent, Love should have played at least some minutes against the Nets. It isn’t like he’d be taking playing time from an All-Star. We know that’s a fact because the Cavaliers have no representation in the All-Star game Feb. 17 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.
“First of all, (Love) is in a really great place right now, physically and mentally,” Drew said before the game. “Why push it? He has eight days where he can continue working out. His wind is not there. That’s the thing I see missing more than anything.
“Right now, our focus is the second half of the season after the All-Star break, and The Nets’ D’Angelo Russell drives to the basket against Jordan Clarkson on Feb. 13 at Quicken Loans Arena.
he’s a huge part of that. He’s feeling good. We’ll finish this out and come back the second half, have everybody and take it from there.”
Not playing Love with so much down time ahead isn’t fair to the fans who showed up at The Q. It isn’t even fair to the people who coughed up $6 a ticket on Stubhub, not to mention those that paid face-value for their tickets. Injuries are part of the game and fans understand that, but when there are
no back-to-back games to deal with, the stars should play if healthy — especially in this type situation.
“(Love) is on board,” Drew said. “It’s something we discussed. It just makes sense.”
Just as a team trying for a playoff spot can’t get losses back, a team with the chance of getting the first pick in the draft can’t give victories back. The Cavaliers, Knicks, Bulls and Suns are competing to finish with one of the
three worst records in the league to have the best chance of getting the first pick in the draft.
Of course, the Cavaliers will never say they are trying not to win, but not playing Love in a game like the one against the Nets is a way to increase the chances of adding a game to the loss column.
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