After yet another tough loss, this time to Gerald Green (above) and the Phoenix Suns, Love said two teammates on the bench need to be huddled around the team during timeouts, according to fellow media members. (Tight newspaper deadlines precluded me from being in the locker room.)
The players in question were identified by the media as J.J. Barea and Dante Cunningham.
“We can’t have two guys sitting at the end of the bench that play good minutes just sitting there and not getting up during timeouts,” the Associated Press’ John Krawczynski quoted Love as saying.
Love continued.
“That kind of pisses me off. We’re supposed to be a team. … We expect more from them and I think they expect more from themselves. … I’m not trying to single anybody out, and I’m not trying to make it bigger than it is. That was a team we needed to beat tonight,” quoted Nate Sandell of ESPN 1500.
It was the second time in less than two weeks that Love has called for more from the bench.