NEW ORLEANS – When things are going well on the basketball court for Caleb Love, he is also probably yelling some, gesturing some, and even flexing some.
Love can’t really help it. This is who he is, and it’s what happens when his game percolates; it just comes out. And in some respects, the two accompany each other like peas and carrots. One really doesn’t exist without the other, especially over the last couple of months.
A series of driving layups, three-pointers, no-look dishes to teammates for baskets, or drawing a physical foul, Love usually howls into the air, at opponents, and in testy road games he occasionally targets opposing belligerent student bodies. Kids at Louisville, Clemson, and Virginia Tech know this all too well.
“That's not just for show,” Love said, with the Tar Heels preparing to face Duke in the Final Four on Saturday night at the Superdome. “It's my competitive nature coming out. I'm not doing that going at anybody, but that's me just competing.”
Love’s body language has been a discussion point for North Carolina fans since the sophomore first laced it up for the Tar Heels 16 months ago. He was young last season and battled the obstacles of the COVID year, but also running the show for demanding Hall of Famer Roy Williams was an enormous challenge.
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There were times when Love’s struggles weren’t obvious just in witnessing his performance, but how he carried himself transitioning to the other end of the court or on dead balls. He was young, and it showed.
But as his sophomore year has gained tread, Love’s more refined game has taken shape. He is second on the team averaging 15.7 points, plus the Tar Heels are 14-0 when the 6-foot-4 bouncy ballplayer hands out five or more assists in a game, and they are 12-0 when he scores 20 or more points in a contest. He has done both in the same game five times.
Love has also made it known on the court when he is on. No disrespect intended, it’s just Caleb Love being Caleb Love on the hardwood.
“I feel like me being from St. Louis, I carry that with me everywhere I go,” he said. “It doesn't matter who it is that's what I am going to do. I feel like I always had it, I just gotta have it all the time. Then me getting my emotions involved and the competitive nature I have it just always comes out."
As proof, Love isn’t playing for cameras or to insert emotional daggers into opponents and/or their fans, this is simply who he is when he steps onto the court. Any court at any time of year.
"I've seen this before, because we are both competitors. I’ve seen this in open run,” sophomore guard RJ Davis said, noting the spring workouts. “Nothing surprises me. I know he is in that mode when he starts flexing running back down the court from making a three."
What might be most telling about Love’s on-court emotion is how it also correlates with some teammates’ exuberance also coming out.
Brady Manek’s screams have become one of his many growing trademarks. Armando Bacot’s nose-to-the-sky yells, and even the lower-key RJ Davis’ fist-pump and once-or-twice shriek. Carolina (28-9) is playing with increasing emotion, and it simply means they are playing well.
It began with Love, has spread onto his mates, and their coach is just fine with it.
“I love emotions, and that's one of the things that, I felt like was missing at the beginning of the year,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “There was no emotion. And I've said that emotions not only are good, they're necessary because emotions are good and necessary, that means you care.
“That's something, not just in Caleb, but I didn't see at the beginning of the year. I'm seeing that now. I'm seeing that in Caleb. I'm seeing that in Brady. I'm seeing that in Armando. I'm seeing that in R.J. I'm seeing that with the guys coming off the bench. I'm seeing that in practice. I'm seeing that in shootarounds. I'm seeing that back at the hotel.”
Love, however, does it more, channels it more, and gains fuel from it more than his mates. Theirs might be a tad more reactionary, his is literally a part of his game.
"Yeah, I definitely know,” RJ Davis said, agreeing with the premise. “Especially when he gets one to go in, it's like the basket gets bigger for him.”
