Kevin Love Grabs Nine Rebounds In Team USA Win Over Spain

Team USA is ready to ride into London as the gold medal favorites for the Olympic games after rolling past Spain in the team's final exhibition game, 100-78.

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love provided a little dirty work off the bench for the USA team with two points and nine rebounds, while pitching into help against the big Spanish front line led by Pau Gasol. Love was part of a strong team effort that should quiet any doubters of the U.S. squad. Love played a total of 13 minutes off the bench, making 1 of 3 shots.

After falling behind by nine points in the first quarter, the U.S. team rallied to take a 48-40 lead to the break and then turned it on in the second half to wear out the Spanish team. Carmelo Anthony led the U.S. with 27 points while LeBron James added 25 points and eight assists.

The two teams now head to the Olympics where they will be on opposite sides of the draw. At least for now, Love has bragging rights over injured teammate Ricky Rubio who tweeted a little friendly banter before the game.

@kevinlove are u ready to lose against Spain tonight?

— Ricky Rubio (@rickyrubio9) July 24, 2012

For more on Love and his quest for a gold medal, check out Canis Hoopus and SB Nation's Olympics hub.

Kevin Love Scores 6 Points In Team USA Exhibition Win Over Great Britain

Timberwolves forward Kevin Love scored six points in 15 minutes as Team USA cruised to a 118-78 win over Great Britain on Thursday in Manchester, England in an Olympic tuneup.

Love shot 3-for-4 from the field with three rebounds, one assists, one steal and one block.

Team USA was led by Deron Williams and Carmelo Anthony, who each scored 19 points. The team shot 60 percent from the field. The British were led by 18 points from Bulls forward Luol Deng. The Americans led 33-20 after the first quarter and didn't face any trouble.

Britain isn't exactly a basketball hotbed, but the English will be seeing plenty of it for the Olympics. The crowd in Manchester enjoyed the show, along with some help. From the AP (via ESPN.com):

In an unusual pregame scene, the crowd didn't seem interested in the home team's strange set of pregame warm-up exercises, choosing instead to watch the Americans' practice dunks, oohing and aahing along the way.

The rules of the game were then shown on the overhead video scoreboard and explained by the public address announcer before play began.

Kevin Love Wants Minnesota Timberwolves To Upgrade Roster

Since being named as a member of the United States men's basketball team, Minnesota Timberwolves superstar Kevin Love has had the opportunity to play with a roster full of the greatest players in the world.

However, with that opportunity has come discontent as Love realizes that the group playing around him in Minnesota is no where near the caliber of the teammates the rest of his Team USA counterparts has playing around them. Not to mention that Love is the only member of the team who has yet to play in a playoff game.

It has him urging the Timberwolves front office that some changes need to be made or else there may be consequences.

Via Yahoo!:

"My patience is not high," Love said. "Would yours be, especially when I'm a big proponent of greatness surrounding itself with greatness? All these [Team USA] guys seem to have great players around them.

"It's tough seeing all these guys that are young and older who have all played in the playoffs. When they start talking about that, I have nothing to talk about. If I don't make the playoffs next year I don't know what will happen."

Love made it clear that he is happy in Minnesota and merely wants to win.

"I would say it's coming down to it for sure [next season]. It's no secret I was willing to commit to Minnesota for five years. I'm very happy with my contract. I'd love to be in Minnesota. But like anybody else, I want to win."

"If we don't make the playoffs, I don't know it's going to be me or something, but our management needs to step up and make some moves," Love said.

Love will begin a four-year, $62 million contract extension in 2012-13. There is a clause in the contract that will allow him to opt-out after the third year.

For more on Love and his quest for a gold medal, check out Canis Hoopus.

Blake Griffin, James Harden And Andre Iguodala Named To U.S. Olympic Team, According To Report

Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves learned on Saturday that he'll be joining the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team, and he's excited for the opportunity. He's going to be paired with guys like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Tyson Chandler and Deron Williams. There's other players, too, but the other spots are not official after injuries took out at least four players who would have been on the team.

According to the Associated Press, three more players have been added to the roster in Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers, Andre Igoudala of the Philadelphia 76ers, and James Harden of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Blake Griffin, Andre Iguodala and James Harden have been chosen for the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team, a person with knowledge of the decisions told The Associated Press on Saturday.

They earned the final three spots that opened after a rash of injuries knocked out at least four players who would have been on the team. They beat out Eric Gordon, Rudy Gay and No. 1 draft pick Anthony Davis of New Orleans, who couldn't scrimmage this week because of a sprained ankle.

Those are certainly some strong names. Griffin was injured near the end of the season, but after an impressive performance in practice, was named ot the team. Harden should provide plenty of scoring power while Iguodala is great on defense. That being said, they're replacing some very big names.

Dwight Howard, Derrick Rose, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade all had to be taken off of the roster due to injuries over the last few months. Davis was also an intriguing possibility, as one of the biggest consensus No. 1 draft picks in NBA history, but the ankle injury kept him out of practice and so he wasn't able to show his stuff.

2012 London Olympics: Kevin Love Will Be On Team USA In London

Kevin Love will learn if he made the USA men's basketball team on Saturday when the final 12 players are announced.