Flip: Love doesn't have a right to be frustrated

[indeedproceed]

The thing I dislike about what you're saying is that you're neglecting to acknowledge all the guys who did the exact same thing that Love is doing now, and found grace through management's moves.

Paul Pierce was ready to ask out in 2007.

Kobe Bryant was all but traded to the Bulls after requesting to be moved.

Tim Duncan all but left the Spurs after his rookie contract, but the spurs made it right.

The difference in all these stories is competent management. What Kevin Love is doing right now is no different than what Kobe did, no different than what Pierce was about to do, no different than what Tim Duncan almost did. The difference is that in those cases, they had probable basketball HOFers as executives at the helm, guys who placated their stars.

Kevin Love has Flip 'I rent, not buy, when I get a new job' Saunders. If Flip Saunders wants to blame someone, he should look in the mirror or drunk dial David Kahn.

[Tr1boy]

The thing I dislike about what you're saying is that you're neglecting to acknowledge all the guys who did the exact same thing that Love is doing now, and found grace through management's moves.

Paul Pierce was ready to ask out in 2007.

Kobe Bryant was all but traded to the Bulls after requesting to be moved.

Tim Duncan all but left the Spurs after his rookie contract, but the spurs made it right.

The difference in all these stories is competent management. What Kevin Love is doing right now is no different than what Kobe did, no different than what Pierce was about to do, no different than what Tim Duncan almost did. The difference is that in those cases, they had probable basketball HOFers as executives at the helm, guys who placated their stars.

Kevin Love has Flip 'I rent, not buy, when I get a new job' Saunders. If Flip Saunders wants to blame someone, he should look in the mirror or drunk dial David Kahn.

just bc those guys made the "threat" and things ended up working it, it doesn't make it that its the right thing to do nor something any player in Love's situation should do.

Pierce has the same nasty agent Love has. So i'm not surprised.  Pierce also didn't ask to be traded or the end. He wanted help and changes to be made if not..  There is a difference

I don't have a comment about Kobe/Duncan situation bc i don't remember your examples. But i can see it happening as Kobe thinks he is entitled to everything  and Duncan knew he was a starter in the NBA but he had David Robinson in front of him.

[fitzhickey]

The thing I dislike about what you're saying is that you're neglecting to acknowledge all the guys who did the exact same thing that Love is doing now, and found grace through management's moves.

Paul Pierce was ready to ask out in 2007.

Kobe Bryant was all but traded to the Bulls after requesting to be moved.

Tim Duncan all but left the Spurs after his rookie contract, but the spurs made it right.

The difference in all these stories is competent management. What Kevin Love is doing right now is no different than what Kobe did, no different than what Pierce was about to do, no different than what Tim Duncan almost did. The difference is that in those cases, they had probable basketball HOFers as executives at the helm, guys who placated their stars.

Kevin Love has Flip 'I rent, not buy, when I get a new job' Saunders. If Flip Saunders wants to blame someone, he should look in the mirror or drunk dial David Kahn.

You can blame Doc Rivers for that 

[BballTim]

The thing I dislike about what you're saying is that you're neglecting to acknowledge all the guys who did the exact same thing that Love is doing now, and found grace through management's moves.

Paul Pierce was ready to ask out in 2007.

Kobe Bryant was all but traded to the Bulls after requesting to be moved.

Tim Duncan all but left the Spurs after his rookie contract, but the spurs made it right.

The difference in all these stories is competent management. What Kevin Love is doing right now is no different than what Kobe did, no different than what Pierce was about to do, no different than what Tim Duncan almost did. The difference is that in those cases, they had probable basketball HOFers as executives at the helm, guys who placated their stars.

Kevin Love has Flip 'I rent, not buy, when I get a new job' Saunders. If Flip Saunders wants to blame someone, he should look in the mirror or drunk dial David Kahn.

just bc those guys made the "threat" and things ended up working it, it doesn't make it that its the right thing to do nor something any player in Love's situation should do.

Pierce has the same nasty agent Love has. So i'm not surprised.  Pierce also didn't ask to be traded or the end. He wanted help and changes to be made if not..  There is a difference

I don't have a comment about Kobe/Duncan situation bc i don't remember your examples. But i can see it happening as Kobe thinks he is entitled to everything  and Duncan knew he was a starter in the NBA but he had David Robinson in front of him.

  So you think TD was leaving SA because he couldn't get into the starting lineup? Hilarious.

[moiso]

KG started going, "Hey, you've got to start doing more." And he's talking to some of the bench guys. "You've got to start doing more." And Sam said, "Hey, hold it, hold it. Let me tell you something. You're making all the money. Hey, it's your responsibility. You make the money, you've got to live up to that." So, that was the mentality, and from that time, KG never ever from that point, he always took responsibility.

... Which is why that poor sonofa**** took responsibility and suffered through 12 seasons of garbage teammates in Minny and the very first time he was surrounded with competent help, he won a championship.

Pretty much true but there were two years or so that things could have been different.  The Sprewell/Cassell years didn't pan out either.

[SHAQATTACK]

Think the wolves suck with Love,  ha ha .....wait till he is gone.   Rubio will be exposed and traded.

Any chance TWolves had to make the playoffs leave with Love.

They will replace the Bucks as the worst team.

[GreenWarrior]

The thing I dislike about what you're saying is that you're neglecting to acknowledge all the guys who did the exact same thing that Love is doing now, and found grace through management's moves.

Paul Pierce was ready to ask out in 2007.

Kobe Bryant was all but traded to the Bulls after requesting to be moved.

Tim Duncan all but left the Spurs after his rookie contract, but the spurs made it right.

The difference in all these stories is competent management. What Kevin Love is doing right now is no different than what Kobe did, no different than what Pierce was about to do, no different than what Tim Duncan almost did. The difference is that in those cases, they had probable basketball HOFers as executives at the helm, guys who placated their stars.

Kevin Love has Flip 'I rent, not buy, when I get a new job' Saunders. If Flip Saunders wants to blame someone, he should look in the mirror or drunk dial David Kahn.

it's amazing to me that guys like this get labeled as bad seeds....because they want to win.

[Sketch5]

The thing I dislike about what you're saying is that you're neglecting to acknowledge all the guys who did the exact same thing that Love is doing now, and found grace through management's moves.

Paul Pierce was ready to ask out in 2007.

Kobe Bryant was all but traded to the Bulls after requesting to be moved.

Tim Duncan all but left the Spurs after his rookie contract, but the spurs made it right.

The difference in all these stories is competent management. What Kevin Love is doing right now is no different than what Kobe did, no different than what Pierce was about to do, no different than what Tim Duncan almost did. The difference is that in those cases, they had probable basketball HOFers as executives at the helm, guys who placated their stars.

Kevin Love has Flip 'I rent, not buy, when I get a new job' Saunders. If Flip Saunders wants to blame someone, he should look in the mirror or drunk dial David Kahn.

just bc those guys made the "threat" and things ended up working it, it doesn't make it that its the right thing to do nor something any player in Love's situation should do.

Pierce has the same nasty agent Love has. So i'm not surprised.  Pierce also didn't ask to be traded or the end. He wanted help and changes to be made if not..  There is a difference

I don't have a comment about Kobe/Duncan situation bc i don't remember your examples. But i can see it happening as Kobe thinks he is entitled to everything  and Duncan knew he was a starter in the NBA but he had David Robinson in front of him.

I don't get your obsession with people "honoring" the contracts. I do freelance artwork. And I've opted out of contracts, and I know many other people that have, because my client has either not held up to there end of the bargain, or changed what they wanted to do half way threw that wouldn't be beneficial  to me. I'm not going to work that never see's the light of day, or gets dragged out longer than the expected date while other projects that have more potential pass me by because the client isn't being professional.

What Love is doing is pretty common, and he's not out of line. The TWolves have been horrible at drafting, and getting the right players in. Pekovic is a Love clone and doesn't complement him at all. Then need a defensive athletic center to help Love. Martin is the same, very offensive, but can't play D. I'm not sure about Rubio's D, but from seeing him in the games against the C's, not great. So you surround love with clones, and bad D guys. Of course you're not going to win.

I remember that when Love signed the extension that the Wolves said they would get talent around him to win. That was part of the agreement. If he wasn't loyal, he'd probably would have left right after his rookie contract. But he stayed. But management have made some horrid moves.

We also don't know what he has been said behind closed doors, maybe some one said something to Love that doesn't sit right. Should a person have to sit threw an other year, and be unhappy because a piece of paper says he has to?

[nickagneta]

The thing I dislike about what you're saying is that you're neglecting to acknowledge all the guys who did the exact same thing that Love is doing now, and found grace through management's moves.

Paul Pierce was ready to ask out in 2007.

Kobe Bryant was all but traded to the Bulls after requesting to be moved.

Tim Duncan all but left the Spurs after his rookie contract, but the spurs made it right.

The difference in all these stories is competent management. What Kevin Love is doing right now is no different than what Kobe did, no different than what Pierce was about to do, no different than what Tim Duncan almost did. The difference is that in those cases, they had probable basketball HOFers as executives at the helm, guys who placated their stars.

Kevin Love has Flip 'I rent, not buy, when I get a new job' Saunders. If Flip Saunders wants to blame someone, he should look in the mirror or drunk dial David Kahn.

TP...Great post


Sometimes you have to judge the person based on more than just the desire to leave a team. The players you mentioned, as well as Love, have all been hard working dedicated individuals with a strong desire to win. They just wanted management to adjust to assist them in their desire to win or they wanted out to seek that elsewhere.

Howard and Carmelo, on the other hand, just wanted out because of personal reasons. Melo wanted to play in NY. Howard wanted to play with certain friends and then made a spectacle out of himself in trying to get traded where his friends were. Lebron wanted to play with his friends. They all had winning organizations they were playing for, they just put their personal issues above the team.

And with Lebron and Bosh, that was okay. They fulfilled their contracts. They had every right to move on. And so will Love once he fulfills his contract. He is just alerting the team he will not be back. What they do with that knowledge is up to them.

[hpantazo]

The thing I dislike about what you're saying is that you're neglecting to acknowledge all the guys who did the exact same thing that Love is doing now, and found grace through management's moves.

Paul Pierce was ready to ask out in 2007.

Kobe Bryant was all but traded to the Bulls after requesting to be moved.

Tim Duncan all but left the Spurs after his rookie contract, but the spurs made it right.

The difference in all these stories is competent management. What Kevin Love is doing right now is no different than what Kobe did, no different than what Pierce was about to do, no different than what Tim Duncan almost did. The difference is that in those cases, they had probable basketball HOFers as executives at the helm, guys who placated their stars.

Kevin Love has Flip 'I rent, not buy, when I get a new job' Saunders. If Flip Saunders wants to blame someone, he should look in the mirror or drunk dial David Kahn.

TP...Great post


Sometimes you have to judge the person based on more than just the desire to leave a team. The players you mentioned, as well as Love, have all been hard working dedicated individuals with a strong desire to win. They just wanted management to adjust to assist them in their desire to win or they wanted out to seek that elsewhere.

Howard and Carmelo, on the other hand, just wanted out because of personal reasons. Melo wanted to play in NY. Howard wanted to play with certain friends and then made a spectacle out of himself in trying to get traded where his friends were. Lebron wanted to play with his friends. They all had winning organizations they were playing for, they just put their personal issues above the team.

And with Lebron and Bosh, that was okay. They fulfilled their contracts. They had every right to move on. And so will Love once he fulfills his contract. He is just alerting the team he will not be back. What they do with that knowledge is up to them.

Dwight Howard and Lebron are two interesting examples. Both of those guys were in winning organizations, as you said. Lebron was in his hometown, and had gotten to the finals a few times. At least he made a decision based on winning though. Howard was on a good team in a beautiful climate, but had no clue what he wanted, he just wanted to leave. He flip-flopped more than Romney on leaving Orlando, and was never clear where he wanted to go or why. His immature mentality clashed with Kobe and the big market spotlight of LA, and now he's tucked away leading a perennial 1st-2nd round exit team in Houston. Back then I wanted Howard on the celtics, but now I'm glad Ainge never even really tried to pursue him.

If Triboy wants a true example of a weak-minded, overpaid star, it's Howard, not Love.

[Snakehead]

Saunders: I tell a story. I tell a story about - we were in the locker room when KG was in like his third year in the league, and Sam Mitchell was sitting in the locker room. KG was in there, and we had lost a couple games, and we were all sitting there talking. KG started going, "Hey, you've got to start doing more." And he's talking to some of the bench guys. "You've got to start doing more." And Sam said, "Hey, hold it, hold it. Let me tell you something. You're making all the money. Hey, it's your responsibility. You make the money, you've got to live up to that." So, that was the mentality, and from that time, KG never ever from that point, he always took responsibility.

[/quote]

Wow this is hilarious to me.

First off, using any sort of KG example or story for this, when clearly you failed KG with your decision making and never gave him the help he needed.

But oh, he's making all the money.  It's like Saunders is saying "hey, we didn't make a mistake paying you, so pick up all our slack!".  And really, that's exactly what's going on.

Now with Love, it's even worse.  At least KG had Marbury and Spreewell, both good and promising players for a time.  Even still, the amount of production KG alone was giving for his team compared to his teammates was unbelievable.  Love has had Rubio (very overrated to me, does nothing but pass well) and?  That's basically it.  I like Pek but he's not much.

This reads like a very inept GM who doesn't understand the struggle for the players.  They want to win.  Why shouldn't they?  Just because you pay them and they're good they should shut up? 

Honor your contract and all that, but this just reads like the culture of a losing organization.  Which I suppose makes a lot of sense.

[nacceltic]

Flip is ridiculous here...

Kevin Love has been a professional every step of the way, as his team continues to be run like crap...Let's think about how many times Love this past season was asked about his contract status, etc...Do you remember any, "Love Wants Out" articles during the season? I don't...That means the guy was handling those questions every night with the utmost class.  Besides all of that, Love played his tail off practically every night last season (77 games), putting up ridiculous numbers (26 & 12.5). 

Reading Flip's comments it certainly seems he's grown agitated by this whole experience.  Let's remember, this is Saunders' first voyage as a decision maker in the NBA. He's not used to the back-and-forth mind games of the trade/FA game...Not only that, but his first big move of consequence involves the organization's best player since KG. 

[hpantazo]

Saunders: I tell a story. I tell a story about - we were in the locker room when KG was in like his third year in the league, and Sam Mitchell was sitting in the locker room. KG was in there, and we had lost a couple games, and we were all sitting there talking. KG started going, "Hey, you've got to start doing more." And he's talking to some of the bench guys. "You've got to start doing more." And Sam said, "Hey, hold it, hold it. Let me tell you something. You're making all the money. Hey, it's your responsibility. You make the money, you've got to live up to that." So, that was the mentality, and from that time, KG never ever from that point, he always took responsibility.

Wow this is hilarious to me.

First off, using any sort of KG example or story for this, when clearly you failed KG with your decision making and never gave him the help he needed.

But oh, he's making all the money.  It's like Saunders is saying "hey, we didn't make a mistake paying you, so pick up all our slack!".  And really, that's exactly what's going on.

Now with Love, it's even worse.  At least KG had Marbury and Spreewell, both good and promising players for a time.  Even still, the amount of production KG alone was giving for his team compared to his teammates was unbelievable.  Love has had Rubio (very overrated to me, does nothing but pass well) and?  That's basically it.  I like Pek but he's not much.

This reads like a very inept GM who doesn't understand the struggle for the players.  They want to win.  Why shouldn't they?  Just because you pay them and they're good they should shut up? 

Honor your contract and all that, but this just reads like the culture of a losing organization.  Which I suppose makes a lot of sense.

It also reads like a very inept GM who doesn't understand the power that agents have in this league, and he will learn the hard way.