The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Power of Love doesn’t get enough credit
In this week’s Cleveland Beat, Jeff Schudel argues Kevin Love doesn’t get enough credit amid the Cavaliers’ success. Also, Jabrill Peppers is getting mixed messages from Browns coaches.
Kevin Love should feel like the guy who is often nominated for Best Supporting Actor but never wins the Oscar. Love has played almost as big a part in the Cavaliers’ 10game winning streak as LeBron James, but outside the Cavs’ organization, he rarely gets the credit he deserves for the contributions he makes. That goes back to 2016 when the Cavs won their only NBA championship.
When the Cavaliers lost to Golden State in the 2017 Finals, the rumor mill quickly started churning out the notion of trading Love to the Knicks for Carmelo Anthony. He was also linked to a trade to the Pacers for Paul George.
Neither happened, of course. Instead the Cavaliers traded Kyrie Irving to the Celtics and began the season with Love at center and Tristan Thompson coming off the bench. That plan failed, so Coach Tyronn Lue moved Thompson back to the starting lineup and switched Love to forward.
Thompson has been out about a month with a calf injury and Love is back at center. On top of that, the Cavs are winning with three of their top guards out with injuries — Isaiah Thomas (hip), Derrick Rose (ankle) and now Iman Shumpert (knee).
Love has been rock solid through it all.
“We’re very locked in on what we want to get done,” Love told reporters Nov. 30 in Atlanta after scoring 25 points and grabbing 16 rebounds to help beat the Hawks, 121-114. “We felt early on in the season that might not have been the case, but I think on both sides of the ball, we’ve been pretty good.”
The Cavaliers were 5-7 before starting the 10game winning streak that had them perched in second place in the NBA East heading into their game Dec. 2 against Memphis at Quicken Loans Arena.
“He’s been playing well,” Lue said after the Atlanta game. “He’s had some tough matchups the last six games and he’s been great.
“Now he’s shooting the ball better. I think he’s taken a liking to (center) because he knows he’s going to get open shots. If teams put smaller guys on him, he knows he’s going to be able to post them. He’s been great.”
Love leads the Cavaliers averaging 10.3 rebounds a game. He is averaging 19 points a game.
Injury update
Shumpert is expected to miss two months after undergoing surgery on his left knee on Dec. 1 to repair a small meniscus tear.
The injuries to Shumpert and Rose have forced Lue to play Jose Calderon more than was originally planned, but Calderon has answered the call. After not playing in nine of the Cavaliers’ first 15 games, Calderon played in seven straight and started the last six. He played a minimum of 16 minutes in each of his starts.
The Peppers pickle
The Browns have a problem. Well, obviously at 0-11 they have many problems, but specifically there is a problem with the way the coaches view “an outstanding play” and the way officials view the same play as a penalty.
Browns safety Jabrill Peppers was flagged for unnecessary roughness in the fourth quarter in Cincinnati last week in a critical juncture of the game when officials ruled his helmet made contact with the face mask of Bengals rookie receiver Josh Malone.
Had Pepper’s thirddown hit on Malone not been flagged, the Bengals would have punted from the Browns 40, leading 2316, with 3:51 to play. Instead, the Bengals had a fresh set of downs at the Browns 25 and three plays later took a 30-16 lead on an 11-yard run by Joe Mixon.
“I thought it was a rare play and I thought it was an outstanding play,” said Browns defensive coordinator Gregg Williams on Dec. 1. “Never, ever do we want it to hurt our team and put them in field position the way they did, but now when that happens again, we have to get off the field and force them into a third down. We can’t be worried or can’t be thinking about that play too long and let it affect the next play. It affected the next play or two. That is what I really don’t like either.”
The league reviewed the play and fined Peppers $24,000, contending he used his helmet to make first contact with Malone. Peppers is appealing the fine.
“When you break the film down and you take it in slow motion, I’m very proud of Jabrill paying attention to what we coach on strike zone,” Williams said. “He’s doing everything he can, just like Major League Baseball, to make sure it’s from the tip of the shoulders to the top of the knees.
“He’s actually ducking down to make sure he’s underneath the shoulder/ collarbone to make sure that when he hits him if the (receiver’s) head comes down, the head will come down and that will strike maybe a part of his body, but he’s leading with his shoulder; he’s not even leading with his helmet.”
Coach Hue Jackson was the first to back up Peppers in his news conference one day after losing to the Bengals.
“I stand on what I said yesterday,” Jackson said after watching the play on tape. “I think it was a good play by our player.”
So what does Peppers or any player on the Browns do the next time that situation arises? Peppers doesn’t want to cost his team 15 yards and he doesn’t want to get fined again. This is where Williams and the defensive coaches have to reprogram players without making them timid.
“We’re looking now, OK, just move your strike zone lower, Jabrill,” Williams said. “Also, the bam-bam, the instant reaction that has to be made during that kind of a play, don’t worry about if you end up being wrong, but you need to worry about not going ahead and doing what’s right. Just lower your strike zone, and he gets that. He’s a very instinctive player.”
Peppers ranks sixth on the team with 39 tackles. He missed the games against the Titans and Vikings with a toe injury.
I didn’t know that
…Until I read by Snapple bottle cap.
The first gold rush in the United States was in North Carolina in 1799. … The horizontal line between two numbers in a fraction is called a vinculum. … Venus is the only planet in the solar system where the sun rises in the west. … The word “checkmate” comes from the Persian phrase meaning “The King is dead.” … More than 1 million Earths would fit inside the sun . ... In New Zealand, parents have to get approval for baby names from the government.