Timberwolves' Love has head start in learning the NBA game

Kevin Love's impressive skill level for a big man prompted the Timberwolves to acquire him on draft night. AP Steve Aschburner's Mailbag Submit a comment or question for Steve. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

MINNEAPOLIS -- You will see a TV commercial in the coming weeks in which Kevin Love, Timberwolves rookie, goes all thespian with some established NBA stars. Something to do with Love's trying to walk onto the big dogs' bus, as if he's already earned the right. A stern Mark Jackson, former elite point guard turned network analyst, gives him the whoa-whoa-whoa, takes away Love's Slurpee and banishes the newbie to a tiny luggage compartment outside, down by the tires.

And there you have it, a snapshot of Love's budding basketball career: recognizable enough to be included, yet still an unknown at this level. Famous already -- his image will grace the cover of EA Sports' NCAA Basketball 09 video game -- but a nobody in terms of his pro résumé. A huge piece of the Timberwolves' future and, at the same time, the guy who repeatedly got pushed to the back of the line Tuesday when "six or seven vets'' showed up at the doctor's office the same time as he did for their physicals.

"I tried to step in the door,'' Love said, "and they said, 'Hold up, rook ...' ''

The new guy just turned 20, which makes him eight months older than another Kevin who arrived in the Twin Cities to great fanfare and huge questions. That player spun his wheels for a spell before gaining traction. And Kevin Garnett was a Hall of Famer in the making. So anyone expecting an overnight success might want to flip a few pages forward on their calendars. Or a few calendars forward.

"Kevin has a good feel for the game, but he's got a lot of adjustments,'' said Kevin McHale, a Hall of Fame forward and the Wolves' vice president of basketball operations. "He'll have good games, bad games, learn a lot and, a year from today, he'll be way, way better than he is today.''

McHale fell in love with Love sometime last spring, then maneuvered on draft night to land the UCLA freshman -- along with proven NBA sharpshooter Mike Miller -- from Memphis for O.J. Mayo's rights. There never was any doubt in McHale's mind which rookie he preferred, while never forgetting that they're rookies.

"[Love's] skill level for a big guy -- rebounding, passing, shooting -- is very impressive,'' McHale said. "But inside that, the creases you throw balls through -- he's got great vision, but he tries throwing some of those passes he threw in college, those aren't going to get through. There's no substitute for experience.''

There are, however, occasional head starts on experience, and Love has benefited from several. He already knows what Wolves coach Randy Wittman calls "the things you can't teach,'' which makes you wonder how anyone ever manages to learn them. In Love's case, it's simple: He was born into and raised on the sport.

His father, Stan, was the ninth pick in the 1971 NBA draft and played four seasons for Baltimore and the Lakers. Love got his middle name "Wesley'' from his dad's admiration for teammate Wes Unseld and his jersey No. 42 from another legend, Connie Hawkins, to whom Stan introduced him. He said he grew up watching the Celtics, the Showtime Lakers, Pete Maravich -- all on video, obviously, since he was born in 1988.

"So I'm a very old-school guy,'' Love said.

There's a difference between watching Maravich and growing up like Marinovich. Love said his father never pushed quite that hard, trying to mold an NBA player the way Marv Marinovich famously tried (and ultimately failed) to make a robo-quarterback out of son Todd.

"My parents just raised me and wanted me to be successful at whatever I could," he said. "I don't think it had to be basketball. I love football but I also love baseball. I think my dad is very happy that I did end up being a basketball player, and he did push me to be one, too, once he saw that I was going to have the size and be blessed with all that I have.''

Now the Wolves have that on their side, while trying realistically to boost 10-12 victories beyond last season's 22. Veteran big man Mark Madsen got his introduction to Love on the court in a recent workout; when he tried to block Love's dunk attempt, he wound up with a 12-stitch cut on his chin and a pending root canal (it's all chronicled on Madsen's Web site). The rest of the Minnesota players are meeting the rookie's game this week at camp in Mankato, Minn.

Their expectations are more reasonable than the fans' -- teammates don't look for him to rebound like Rodman, pass like Walton or shoot like Bird -- and they understand that any high/low chemistry Love develops on the floor with Al Jefferson will be slowed by the sprained knee that will limit the roster's best player in October. But the new guy's ability to draw big defenders outside, away from the nonstop double- and triple-teams Jefferson saw last season, will be appreciated. Defensively, well, they and the coaches will have to figure that out, since neither Big Al nor Love is all that big or committed on that end.

McHale's assessment of Love's defense: "Smart, knows how to move, rotate his feet, defensive-rebounds very well, puts his body on people, not afraid to take charges. Quick small-area player. He'll have to guard bigger than him, guard smaller than him. The good news in our league is that most of the guys bigger than him are terrible, so you don't really have to worry about it.''

Love, for his part, has been in town for weeks, scrimmaging regularly while setting up his new place, getting a home theater installed and interviewing chefs. His goal for training camp is modest -- "Not throw up in a garbage can from running all those lines'' -- but he didn't get to this point by being all that modest.

"The first time I met Kevin,'' Jefferson told me, "the first thing he said was, 'You're going to love playing with me.' One more thing he said was, 'We're going to have to share some rebounds.' ''

Your first thought: Hold up, rook. Your second: A guy's got to start sometime, might as well be now.

Steve Aschburner covered the Minnesota Timberwolves and the NBA for 13 seasons for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He has served as president or vice president of the Professional Basketball Writers Association since 2005.