Love embodies what basketball sorely misses

PHOENIX -- He doesn't project as a dominant NBA player. Some might even label his chances of making a major impact as average.

He doesn't run all that well and doesn't make you forget Michael Jordan when he elevates. Doesn't make you forget Michael Jackson, for that matter.

His knees and back are already a bit creaky at age 19. He more lumbers than sprints up and down a court.

But put Kevin Love among other college basketball players, and you have supremacy in a most imposing and unforgettable manner. He is what the game misses, what it once routinely offered, what got lost along the way among all those posed dunks and no-look passes to the third row of seats.

His should be a permanent throwback jersey.

Western Kentucky knows today how Love on film translates to reality, and the Hilltoppers are a beaten and bruised bunch for it. Love is a major reason UCLA sits one win from its third straight Final Four, this after a tougher-than-it-should-have-been 88-78 West Regional semifinal victory Thursday night at US Airways Center.

The Bruins on Saturday play Xavier in an Elite Eight game, which means the Musketeers have fewer than 48 hours to devise a strategy for limiting Love around the basket and on the boards and from throwing outlet passes that post players at this level last made 30 or so years ago.

Their chances are slim.

If others step forward to aid Love as they did Thursday, those chances are none.

James Keefe is when it becomes unfair, when opposing coaches should throw up their arms and surrender. He is when all-night strategy sessions prove more hopeless than the current housing market and when dreams of a historic upset turn to nightmares.

UCLA is a monster to defeat when Love controls a game inside as he did here, but you have no chance when a player like the sophomore Keefe (who was supposed to redshirt this season because of shoulder surgery and didn't play until January) produces his first career double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds.

There are parts of UCLA difficult to enjoy, those times like the second half when shots became quick and turnovers mounted and a spirited but inferior team rallied from down 21 at halftime to down four with under six minutes remaining.

UCLA defended well enough the first half that it could have led by 30 and played dumb enough for stretches after intermission to give Western Kentucky a semblance hope.

The difference: The Bruins have Kevin Love.

"He really is a special player," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "It's like he's a seasoned veteran instead of a kid going through his first year of college."

He finished with 29 points, 14 rebounds four blocks and four assists, numbers that might surprise you if it wasn't the freshman's 22nd double-double of the season.

But to watch him live, to see how incredibly quick he outlets the ball either off a miss or a make, to see his positioning and effort is remarkable. Wes Unseld passed like this, and Love's middle name (Wesley) honors the former great. Bill Walton passed like this. The list isn't very long.

"Love is obviously terrific," Western Kentucky coach Darrin Horn said. "I think some of the stuff he got was too easy. We played much better post defense all year long against good teams. They were just throwing it inside way too much."

You can talk ball pressure outside against UCLA all you want. Many tried and failed this season to limit Love's touches and impact. Truth is, the Bruins for whatever reason often went away from him more offensively than any opponent successfully stopped him.

They can win a game like this even when point guard Darren Collison is limited to four points and 28 minutes before fouling out with his team clinging to a 63-59 lead. They can win because Love will block a shot and hit a streaking teammate for a breakaway basket and grab offensive rebounds, get fouled and make his free throws.

He might be 6 feet 9 inches in shoes, but his listed weight of 270 pounds seems close to valid. He is a likely NBA lottery pick if he departs school after this season, and yet you won't find many general managers salivating over his pro potential.

He just doesn't project as dominant, but more an effective player who (health willing) could have a very nice career and make a lot of money.

But put him around other college players, and time suddenly slips back to another era. Imposing. Unforgettable. What the game misses.

Ed Graney can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com