Despite playing sparingly -- and not all that well -- in pre-Olympic tune-ups, Kevin Love appears to be heading in the right direction for Team USA, according to an article fro, ESPN.com.
The article, by ESPN's Marc Stein, said that Love's production in the final exhibition against Spain, and then in the first Olympic game against France, is a sign that he is becoming a bigger part of the team. That's good news for the height-starved Team USA, which lost Dwight Howard and Blake Griffin to injuries, but also for Love, who was having a hard time sniffing the court earlier this summer.
As a sign of Love's metamorphosis, Stein points to a rather commonplace layup Love had against Spain:
That didn't stop Krzyzewski from leaping off the hardwood and vigorously swinging his right fist as if the two points had just clinched a championship for Duke.
"I didn't see it with my own eyes, but I heard about it," Love said. "He told me about it, actually. We were on the free throw line [at a recent] practice, and he asked me if I saw him."
The fact that Krzyzewski was so eager to discuss the scene with Love should tell you that the coach clearly doesn't see it as an overreaction. As he explains it now, heading into Tuesday's Group A game against overmatched Tunisia, Coach K got caught up in the moment and lost track of how little was actually at stake at that juncture because he'd been wanting so badly to see something happen on the floor -- anything -- to get a struggling Love going.
That appears to have happened. Love played 14 minutes against France and scored 14 points.
Team USA plays Tunisia on Tuesday at 10:15 p.m. London time, or 4:15 p.m. Central. A complete Team USA schedule can be found here.
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