Caleb Love has great answer about dealing with shooting slump
Caleb Love gets a lot of heat for his shooting woes.
Arizona's fifth-year senior guard has been a punching bag for college basketball fans over the past four seasons, specifically for his streaky shooting from the 3-point line during the NCAA tournament.
After shooting 5-of-24 from the field vs. Kansas in the 2022 NCAA National Championship game — including 1-of-8 from downtown — Love has been a lightning rod for criticism. He struggled mightily the following season — his final season at North Carolina — dropping to a 29.9% 3-point shooter as a junior.
In his first season at Arizona, Love increased his scoring output to 18.0 points per game and his 3-point shooting to 33.2%. He was named the 2023-24 Pac-12 Player of the Year after leading the Wildcats to the Pac-12 championship.
But Love struggled in the NCAA tournament once again, shooting 34% from the field and 20.7% from the 3-point line in three games. In Arizona's 77-72 loss to Clemson in the Sweet 16, Love was 5-of-18 from the field and 0-of-9 from the 3-point line.
Love Breaks Out Of Shooting Slump
After a remarkable 33-point performance on Dec. 30 in Arizona's Big 12 opener, Love went into another shooting funk.
Over his next five games, Love averaged 10.8 points and shot 8-of-31 from downtown (25.8%). He also had more turnovers (13) than assists (12). It led Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd to say Love needed "to play better."
And Love responded.
In Arizona's 92-78 win over Oklahoma State on Tuesday, Love exploded for 27 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals while shooting 10-of-17 from the field and 4-of-9 from downtown.
After the game, Love was asked about he dealt with his recent shooting woes. His answer was a window into the mindset of a veteran who has been through the fire.
"I wanted to come out here and play as best as I could on both ends of the floor. Obviously I haven't been holding up on my end on the offensive end, but at the end of the day I know that my teammates and my coaches are rocking with me whether I play good or bad, and that's all that really matters to me," Love said.
"I've got to adjust on the fly, knowing that I'm probably going to get the best defender on the other other team guarding me. I've got to adjust to that and I've got to be there for my teammates in as many ways as possible. One thing I could control is my effort and my energy. Giving energy to my teammates as well as supporting them. ... One thing that coach has been on me about is smiling. And I probably had like 30 smiles today, so that was something that I was proud of."
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-029877d49238355bd3388a94f90e3c72.jpg "Ben Sherman")
Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his 27-year journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. A basketball junkie, March Madness is his favorite time of the year.