Kevin Love is making up for lost time.

I know Love was in my previous entry headline, but I can’t help it. He’s absolutely dominating, and freeing up Al Jefferson to be more far more effective than before. Since Love returned to the lineup, he’s scored 15 points, pulled down 12.73 rebounds, dished 2.73 assists and swiped a steal per game. And after burying just two 3-pointers in 81 games last season, he’s knocked down 12 this season. He’s pulling a Joe Mauer here, folks. Bursting on to the scene and ripping stuff up… it’s like he turned into Troy Murphy + David Lee in the offseason. Good God.

I was at the Utah Jazz game last night, and not only did Love drill two CLUTCH three-pointers in the valiant comeback attempt, he also found open teammates all night long – something Big Al seems to have little tolerance for. Love totaled nine assists last night… NINE!!! That was more than Jonny Flynn and Ramon Sessions combined (8), and tied the highest individual single-game assist total on the team this year (Flynn). And Flynn has only done it one time!

I think it’s time we put to rest this notion that Kevin Love is any worse than O.J. Mayo. I’m grateful for Love’s contributions so far this year… it’s clear his performance is no fluke. He’s always been a good rebounder, but I just didn’t expect him to dominate so thoroughly so quickly. And the effect he’s had on Jefferson’s numbers can’t be overlooked. A much larger sample size reveals that Big Al has been a completely revitalized player with a rebound hog alongside him. Since December 4, Love’s return date, Jefferson has 19.1 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game (15 games). This, compared to a 15.6-point, 7.7-rebound average line to start the year. Jefferson is still not shooting enough free throws, but that will come with time.

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Maybe you don’t care at all, but I’m excited about the Timberwolves’ acquisition of third-year shooting guard/small forward Alando Tucker. All of the accolades have been hashed over, including his scoring binge in the D-League in 2007-08 (27.7 points per game) and a Big Ten Player of the Year award in his final season at Wisconsin (2007). As a humongous Wisconsin Badger fan, I can tell you Tucker is extremely athletic, a talented finisher around the rim, and generally able to get a shot off from the 12-15-foot range. Where he struggled in college was with long-range shooting, and as a guard in the NBA, that doesn’t work especially well.

Currently, the Wolves deploy Corey Brewer and Wayne Ellington at shooting guard on a nightly basis, frequently tossing out Sasha Pavlovic for the scrap minutes. Tucker will fight for playing time, and probably earn a small role once he learns the offense. One thing I’ve heard is that his outside shot has improved considerably since college, and I’m hoping he can fill a Rodney Carney-type role in his time in Minnesota. He’s not the shooting guard we’ve been pining for, but he’s a decent player with more natural scoring ability than Corey Brewer. Should be fun to watch the competition for minutes play out.

That’s all for now, but I’ll be coming back sometime tomorrow evening with a new edition of FiveSenses. I’m really looking forward to seeing Dwight Howard in person on New Year’s Day. It’s been a brutal stretch over here at TwolvesBall, but I’m ready for some more regular posting. My apologies. Laterz.