Caleb Love

[CatInFL]

I told my pops i finally came up with my nickname for Caleb: Lottery Ticket

Maybe we don't need that miracle shot if Love was benched for his poor shooting.  That we will never know.

But what I do know is we have seen Caleb at his best.  His NC tournament run, spattering of games at U Of A where he fills it up, and of course that miracle heave.

But that's exactly it, when you have Caleb you have a lottery ticket.  And he may shoot you out of a win like he almost did against Iowa State and the Clemson game and you don't win the lottery, but he can also shoot you all the way to the Final Four like he did at NC.

So yes, as its looking more and more like we will be in the tournament, we gotta live with the bad because you can't win the lottery unless you have a ticket.  and just like the Iowa state game, Lloyd could have pulled him, but in doing so you are ripping up your lottery ticket before the drawing.  And look what happened, we hit the lottery.

I am going to live with the bad and hold my lottery ticket hopefully through March/April. 

If you plan your success around a lottery ticket, you are planning to fail.  Again, Caleb does many/most things great.  He does not shoot 3 pointers well enough to be a high volume shooter. If we rely on that "lottery ticket" any success will be a result of good luck, much like the result of Mondays game.

[arxpert]

I've certainly been critical of Caleb, but the idea of him being the worst player in college basketball is laughable.  In fact, I think he does most things extremely well. He should abdolutely not, however, be a high volume 3 point shooter. Three to five a game MIGHT be ok, but I still think it's too many.  He may be the most over rated shooter in college basketball, or I might go for least valuable starter or most damaging player.  If he'd stop shooting 3's he'd be incredibly valuable.  Yes, I agree that the hero moment took him from the reason we lost to the reason we won, but if he hadn't taken (and missed) all those 3's we'd have possibly (likely?)  been well ahead and it would not have been necessary.

It can be analyzed. Out of all Power "4" programs or even the top 68 teams in the nation.... or lets call it the top 100 teams or across all of college... where is Caleb Love in Value of Replacement? Now we need to be reasonable. There are outliers galore. Tommy is playing Love so many minutes that his value over replacement is forced to be higher than many players, but this is an instance of numbers not telling the truth.

The player efficiency can't even be accurately measured since we are not getting 33 minutes a game of every player to truly analyze it.

The best we can do is look at Per40 and even that is skewed since all the roles, types of shots, defensive play and anything else you can think of is different player to player. Schemes are different coach to coach.

I am not above showing some work.

https://theanalyst.com/2024-25-college-basketball-wins-above-replacement#:~:text=Basically%2C%20it%20tells%20us%20about,throw%20rate%2C%20steals%20and%20more.

People can play with this tool and decide for themselves who is actually "valuable" and who is artificially pumped in this "market" setting.

Could it be different if a player is injured, out for season, and someone else steps in that their values will be higher?

Sometimes people need to use the "eye test" and just know that Love is a player who should be spotting up waiting for a perfect dish for a catch and shoot or he needs to try the ole "Rip Hamilton/JET approach" of running around screens continuously until he gets just enough space for a mid range shot.

Love can be celebrated when at his best. The few times that is, but if we are looking at the impact of "Cooper Flagg", then measuring it to Caleb Love on that tool, then you can see the numbers aren't that far apart, but you know that it truly is a lie and just because Love is "our guy", doesn't mean that someone else on the roster can't step in and achieve even a much better Value over Replacement.

[KansasCityCats]

Flagg and Love have similar numbers because they're similar players, with different size.

The only major outlier is that espn is constantly talking about Dook.

Flagg will be in the NBA next year because he's an inefficient volume shooter with good size. Caleb is unfortunately short for the league, which wouldn't be an issue if he were a pass-first guard.

[|ᴘ|ʀ|ʏ|ᴍ|ᴇ|]

RELAX

GET ON THE LOVE TRAIN

I SAVED YOU ALL A SEAT

[arxpert]

Flagg and Love have similar numbers because they're similar players, with different size.

The only major outlier is that espn is constantly talking about Dook.

Flagg will be in the NBA next year because he's an inefficient volume shooter with good size. Caleb is unfortunately short for the league, which wouldn't be an issue if he were a pass-first guard.

Flagg and Love are not at all similar other than if you want to coin the term ball hog for both.

[arxpert]

RELAX

GET ON THE LOVE TRAIN

I SAVED YOU ALL A SEAT

Can it be in the front row so I don't have to be subjected to everyone's vomit like a rollercoaster when he sends everyone's stomach's sour with his crazy way of playing

[CatInFL]

He shot it well from 3 today, which scares me for the next 3-4 games.

[KansasCityCats]

I know Love has played through rough times this season but today felt amazing to know that we took Caleb over Sanon.

The defense, ball handling and intensity were obvious flaws of Sanon, who can go pro after a nice NIT run this season. Nice choice, kid; way to create a legacy...

[arxpert]

I know Love has played through rough times this season but today felt amazing to know that we took Caleb over Sanon.

The defense, ball handling and intensity were obvious flaws of Sanon, who can go pro after a nice NIT run this season. Nice choice, kid; way to create a legacy...

Seems to me that all of that is what 5 years of College Basketball will get you. The differences you noticed in Love and Sanon that is. However, it cannot be ignored just how good Sanon actually is right now at his age and level. He's no world beater and his measurables are not going to make him a Top 5 pick or anything, but the ability he shows is pretty darn good at this stage of his career. I wonder what Sanon's next move will be overall. If he doesn't attempt to go pro, I am thinking Nate Oats may make a call. Maybe Calipari? Certainly Tommy wouldn't rebuild that bridge? Would he?

[KansasCityCats]

Anybody would gladly take/pay him but based on his instinct to find desperation playing time during the recruiting process, I assume that he's a lock for the NBA draft.