There wasn’t any real game-time action to breakdown due to All-Star weekend, so I thought it would be fun to look at a couple different things, and dedicate one post per day of the weekend.  Today we are going to look at the Rookie-Sophomore game, and tomorrow we are going to be looking at All-Star Saturday night and the actual game itself.

Kevin Love has been known as a good outlet passer for a while now, and I guess this reputation started when in college:

The shots are incredible yes, but what these show is the wrist action that it takes to throw great outlet passes.  Now, the Timberwolves aren’t a good team at all right now, so you don’t see them on TV too much.  That means unless you are a Timberwolves fan, you don’t really see Kevin Love on a nightly basis.  I gotta tell you, I was amazed by these passes:

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Now there are guys in the NBA who have trouble throwing passes to guys at halfcourt, and Kevin Love is hitting teammates on the run the full length of the court.  This last one might be the most impressive one out of them all though:

This is off of a deadball situation, and when the ball goes through, Love quickly gets the ball and throws it long to former teammate Russell Westbrook.  Now it might look like Love just grabs the ball and heaves it down the court, but there is some form and strategy involved.  Check this picture out:

Now it looks like what Love is doing is just your run of the mill exhibition rule breaking (In fact, even the announcers calling the game mention it), but take a closer look.  He has his one foot out of bounds, and he ends up releasing the ball before the second foot lands inbounds.  What’s so important about this?  Instead of wasting time getting both feet out of bounds, Love saves about a second doing this, and that is what lets him hit open guys downcourt.

This kind of stuff doesn’t work more than once every couple of games, but to be able to steal a bucket here and there is important for a Timberwolves team that struggles to score.  Plus, it is real fun to watch Love dropping full court dimes like this.