1-for-12, plus-minus of -20! Could the Blazers undrafted performance be any more outrageous?

In the previous NBA regular season, the Chicago Bulls defeated the Portland Trail Blazers at home 122-121 with Nikola Vucevic's buzzer-beater. After this game, the Bulls, who had won two consecutive victories, improved their record to 8 wins and 6 losses, and their ranking rose to 6th in the Eastern Conference; while the Trail Blazers, who had suffered 4 consecutive losses, saw their record drop to 6 wins and 9 losses, continuing to rank 9th in the Western Conference.

In this game, the performance of the Blazers' substitute backcourt rookie Caleb Love was absolutely disaster-level. Love played for 18 minutes and 20 seconds, shooting 1 of 12 from the field, 0 of 7 from beyond the three-point line, and 3 of 4 free throws. He scored 5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal. He also had 1 foul. His plus-minus value was as low as -20, the lowest in the game. Love got a lot of playing time and shot opportunities on the offensive end, but his offensive efficiency was a mess, and his shot selection was extremely poor. He kept trying to take shots even though his hand was not good, which seemed quite inexplicable. Love also did not have a very good effect in passing and organization. His performance on the defensive end was also a mess, and the team's situation was even worse when he was on the court. It is no exaggeration to say that if it were not for Love, the Trail Blazers might have won the game early. His poor performance directly led to the team's defeat.

Love was born in September 2001. He is 24 years old, 193cm tall and 93kg in weight. He is the undrafted pick in this year's NBA draft. In the NCAA last season, Love played a total of 37 games on behalf of the University of Arizona, averaging 34.1 minutes per game, 17.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.3 blocks per game, 1.9 turnovers and 1.2 fouls. He shot 39.8% from the field, 34% from the three-point range, and 88.9% from the free throw line. Since the start of this season, Love has played a total of 7 times in the first 15 games, averaging 13.6 minutes per game, averaging 5.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.4 steals, 0.6 turnovers and 0.6 fouls. He shot 29.4% from the field, 20% from the three-point range, and 75% from the free throw line.

Love is just an undrafted player. He is not a very efficient offensive player in the NCAA. He also often appears in top situations. Moreover, he is not a reliable scorer and is more like a second-position player with limited size. As a result, the Blazers regarded him as a savior, not only giving him a chance to enter the rotation, but even arranged for him to become the core figure of the second team, dominating the ball in various ways on the court. If you randomly find someone from the NBA Development League to play as a backup point guard, the effect on the court cannot be worse than Love. As a result, Love was still able to get a lot of playing time and performance opportunities, which is really incredible. If the Blazers want to mess up, they have a hundred ways to mess up, and there's no need to do it by letting Love play blindly. If the Trail Blazers want to achieve a good record, they should find a more normal backup point guard if Scoot Henderson cannot return in a short time.