How much better is Love than Ryan Anderson?

[celticsclay]

Love really does not seem like he can create his own shot as well as he used to anymore. Even last night in a game where the big men defenders were Varejo and Speights, the Cavs didn't even try to post him up at all. I get that Lebron and Irving were shooting very well and hot, but you would have thought that if had confidence in that matchup they could have at least given Lebron or Irving a little rest (even if it meant standing on the court). Watching this along with his pouting and continued injuries, I wonder how much better he really is than a player like Ryan Anderson?

Anderson averaged 17 and 6 in 30 minutes per game. He also was not the focal point of an offense that included Holiday and Davis taking a lot of shots. His shooting percentages were pretty identical to Love's even though he was not getting as open looks as Love.

He is a worse outlet passer, but probably a better defender. Is Love really that much better than Anderson?

[MBunge]

The Minnesota version of Love, where he was the main guy, was a lot better than Ryan Anderson.  The Cleveland version is kind of a wash.  You can make a good argument that just giving up cap space to sign Anderson would be better than sacrificing cap space, players and probably a first for Love.

Mike

[Ilikesports17]

Anderson almost averaged 8 rebounds a game one time, he is a career 5.6 rpg player. Love has never averaged less than 9 rebounds per game. their shooting is similar, Love is a far superior passer. Neither plays good defense from what I can tell.

[PhoSita]

Depends on how you use him.

[saltlover]

Love is better than Ryan Anderson overall.  However, Ryan Anderson is (probably) better at being Ryan Anderson than Kevin Love is.   And that's what the Cavs seem to want out of Love.  Every possession that I saw in the second half last night, Love came down the court on the right side, crossed in front of the hoop without any expectation of receiving a pass, and then parked in the left corner.  When the shot went up, Love came in from said corner to rebound, but generally had a poor chance of recovering said rebound given that he was 20 feet from the hoop when the shot went up.  It was just a waste of ability.

Love is great at finding cutters from the high post, but he doesn't get the ball there.  He can P&R, but with Tristan Thompson already on the court, the Cavs don't want Love bringing an extra defender into the paint to defend against James and Irving drives.  Same is true with his more traditional post offense.  He can shoot open 3's decently enough, but JR Smith is better at that, and so naturally gets such opportunities.

I'm not saying the Cavs aren't correct to employ this strategy.  But if the Cavs want a tall guy to stand in the corner and hit 3s, they just need to get Ryan Anderson and set Kevin Love free.

[Eddie20]

Love is a better defender because he actually defends the post a lot better. Both are brutal defending in space. Anderson has a pretty horrible shot selection and isn't the most willing passer. Love is the better post player offensively, better passer, and just has more to his game overall, including drawing fouls. Anderson's FG and 3pt % is also surprisingly lower than you would think for a player as heralded as he is at shooting.

[celticsclay]

Love is a better defender because he actually defends the post a lot better. Both are brutal defending in space. Anderson has a pretty horrible shot selection and isn't the most willing passer. Love is the better post player offensively, better passer, and just has more to his game overall, including drawing fouls. Anderson's FG and 3pt % is also surprisingly lower than you would think for a player as heralded as he is at shooting.

I would like some advanced statistics that suggest Love is really a better defender than Anderson.
I would agree Love is a better post player offensively, but it is really really troubling how reluctant he is to use that part of this game. He literally had Varejo, Speights, Mcadoo and other flotsam guarding him in the post last night. He didn't even look for his shot in those matchups, and no offense was run through him. I know he is capable of more than that, but how much more? Sometimes players get away from using their post-up game so much they are no longer good at doing it ever. Look at Antoine Walker? Once he became used to being such a 3 point shooter, he both tried less and became less effective at scoring inside. I am not saying Love is that extreme, but magically assuming this is all fit in Cleveland and there isn't fair either. There is at least a significant chance all the injuries he has suffered in his career so far have robbed him of some of the athleticism that made him more effective in certain areas of the game (rebounding, scoring in the post).

[TheSundanceKid]

Far superior rebounder. Better shooter. Better defender (not saying much). Has a post game. I can't really think of an area that Anderson is better in

[RedClaw33]

Love is significantly better player.  In that past Love has been more consistent as a scorer and rebounder. 

[dreamgreen]

He's a lot better than Anderson. Anderson dreams of being a 20/10 guy, Love is one. Love is getting killed lately and it's not his fault. He is a horrible fit on that ball hog team and Bosh himself has said it's hard to play PF with the Queen.

[colincb]

http://bkref.com/tiny/XevTc
http://bkref.com/tiny/lCzGK

According to BBReference.com Love is clearly superior, including defense, for career and past year.

[celticsclay]

http://bkref.com/tiny/XevTc
http://bkref.com/tiny/lCzGK

According to BBReference.com Love is clearly superior, including defense, for career and past year.

How different would numbers look if Anderson was shooting wide open threes off of kicks from Lebron than he does on an injury riddled team with patchwork rotations of Tony Douglas and Tim Frazier running the point? Something to not dismiss so easily.

[colincb]

http://bkref.com/tiny/XevTc
http://bkref.com/tiny/lCzGK

According to BBReference.com Love is clearly superior, including defense, for career and past year.

How different would numbers look if Anderson was shooting wide open threes off of kicks from Lebron than he does on an injury riddled team with patchwork rotations of Tony Douglas and Tim Frazier running the point? Something to not dismiss so easily.

OTOH, Love's been playing the last two years in a bad fit and RA's putting numbers up on a very bad team.

[celticsclay]

http://bkref.com/tiny/XevTc
http://bkref.com/tiny/lCzGK

According to BBReference.com Love is clearly superior, including defense, for career and past year.

How different would numbers look if Anderson was shooting wide open threes off of kicks from Lebron than he does on an injury riddled team with patchwork rotations of Tony Douglas and Tim Frazier running the point? Something to not dismiss so easily.

OTOH, Love's been playing the last two years in a bad fit and RA's putting numbers up on a very bad team.

If you think your shooting numbers don't look better playing significant minutes with Lebron James than it does playing with Frazier, Douglas and Norris Cole (and a gimpy holiday at times) I don't really know what to tell you.....