Love’s arrival could fill missing piece

drawn comparisons to Bill Walton and Wes Unseld, though his coach thinks those are unfair to him.

The big center is known as much for the feather-touch on his passes as his scoring on the lower block ““ though he is more than adept at both.

And he is, it bears repeating, the biggest recruit of the Ben Howland era in Westwood.

Freshman phenom Kevin Love is no savior for the UCLA basketball program. The program is not in need of saving. Arron Afflalo, Howland and an assorted supporting cast have taken care of that, taking the Bruins to two straight Final Fours and the near-pinnacle of college basketball.

But he might be the final thread needed for banner No. 12.

Love is the inside scoring presence the Bruins have lacked. Lorenzo Mata-Real, Alfred Aboya and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute all have their merits on the defensive and rebounding ends, but none of them are true go-to scorers on the inside. Love fills that role and allows the Bruins to go inside-out for their scoring rather than sticking with the almost strictly perimeter scoring of the last two Final Four teams.

“We’re going to get more post feeds, that’s for sure,” Howland said. “That’s going to create a good possibility for our perimeter players, to have the balance between outside and inside. Kevin is a very, very good inside player, and when he does draw double-teams he’s outstanding at kicking it back out and quickly finding the open man. He’s also a great offensive rebounder.”

In short, instead of contested 3-pointers, the Bruins are going to get open shots due to teams double- or even triple-teaming Love in the low post. And then, even if they miss the open 3-pointers, they have a good chance of getting the ball back thanks to Love’s good rebounding sense.

It is something the Bruins simply have not had under Howland ““ a true, offense-oriented big man.

That, of course, comes with its drawbacks.

Though Love is highly advanced as an offensive player, he may be a liability on defense as he adjusts to Howland’s aggressive scheme, which includes doubling the post down low and coming out to the top of the key on high screens. He will be a downgrade from Mata-Real and Aboya as a defensive player at the center position ““ at least at the beginning of the year ““ but his teammates say he will not affect what they do defensively.

“(He won’t affect us) at all (defensively),” guard/forward Josh Shipp said. “We have our defensive principles, and we’re going to stick to them. We’ll still do a lot of … double-teaming in the post.”

In the last exhibition game against Chico State, Love was unable to fully show off his offensive range as the Chico State players were playing what Love called “hack-a-Shaq.”

Instead, he threw the ball up every time he got it down low and then calmly went to the line and sank 9 of 12 free throws.

According to the big man himself, he’s used to that kind of play. Even in practice prior to the season, Love sustained multiple minor injuries to his legs, but he shrugged them off. Then, in the Chico State game, he spent a solid amount of time falling to the floor thanks to the pounding he was taking from the Chico State players.

“I could have a tissue fall on me and I get an MRI,” Love said. “It’s just the physicality of college ball. I’m a big guy, so I’m going to get banged up. I just have to keep building up that scar tissue and I’ll be all right.”

The 6-foot-10-inch, 260-pound center certainly has the bulk to take ““ and deliver ““ a beating. Howland’s teams at both Pittsburgh and UCLA have built a reputation for bruising players, and Love certainly fits that mold.

But it isn’t Love’s bulk that sets him apart from this competition. It’s his finesse.

He can shoot the ball out to the 3-point line. He’s an above-average free-throw shooter. He is an excellent interior passer and has very soft hands ““ something that is seemingly unusual for Bruin big men of late.

Considering the way UCLA has run through the Pac-10 the last two years to the tune of two straight conference titles with an almost strictly guard-oriented team, it certainly doesn’t bode well for the rest of the conference that Love has come to Westwood.

“Having a big man that can do things like that makes him very special,” said O.J. Mayo, Love’s soon-to-be rival freshman at USC. “(Darren) Collison and Shipp and the guards are going to have a great time playing with him.”

UCLA is simply hoping that great time will include another banner in the rafters of Pauley Pavilion.

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