Kyrie Irving

[Flight479]

This plus a thousand.



I think LB has already begun to understand that. He's allowed Kyrie the most freedom playing with him, opposed to others.

LB's scoring rate is going to have to come down, regardless, and he knows it.

I predict Kyrie becomes the leading scorer of the team next year.

With Kyrie's injury history he doesn't need to be the leading scorer. I honestly believe it will be LeBron, then Kevin and finally Kyrie. Love will probably be more implemented offensively.
Also while LeBron is unselfish no way do I see him scoring under 25 for the next 2-3 years. He is currently at 4th scoring avg all time and has the chance at having the most points all time. Because of that I don't see Kyrie avg more.

 

[godfather]

With Kyrie's injury history he doesn't need to be the leading scorer. I honestly believe it will be LeBron, then Kevin and finally Kyrie. Love will probably be more implemented offensively.
Also while LeBron is unselfish no way do I see him scoring under 25 for the next 2-3 years. He is currently at 4th scoring avg all time and has the chance at having the most points all time. Because of that I don't see Kyrie avg more.

Kyrie is never going to be the third option, not happening. He has the ball in his hands more than Love, he creates more opportunities.

I don't really understand what you're really trying to say. Kyrie shouldn't be more involved offensively, because he's injury prone? So, he should play more decoy. Makes no sense.

And LeBron's usage offensively, has taken a steady decline already. He's at the point in his career, where running the offense, scoring a lot of points, and asking to be the anchor defensively, takes so much out of him.

Did you not see that in the finals? He could have done that 5 years ago in his sleep, and be fine, but it takes so much out of him, because he's not the same guy.

And do you seriously think LeBron is saying to himself, "I'm fourth all time in points averaged" I must keep that mark?

LeBron has said himself, time and time again, he views efficiency a lot more, than points scored. He hated having to score 35 some points a game in the finals like he had to, it's not his style. He's not one of these scorers that will throw up a high volume of shots, just to score. He did it, because that was our way of winning, but not what he prefers to do.

I wouldn't be surprised if LB still ends up the leading scorer again. I was making a bold prediction that Kyrie will be the guy, but LB's days of averaging 27 a game is over with.

 

[godfather]

I'd prefer LeBron to average about 22-23 points a game next season.

Of course LeBron can still lead the team in scoring if he wanted.

He can still average 26-27 a game. Being able to do it, and it being a good thing are two separate things here.

At this point in his career, that's a bad thing if LB is averaging that many points a game. It takes a lot more out of him, and we want LeBron to be at his overall best, not just scoring a lot of points and then having other parts of his game suffer a bit.

He's an overall great player, scoring isn't the only thing LB does very well.

This is why we want Kyrie to take that next step, be even more evolved offensively, because it's going to help LeBron out more.

 

[Flight479]

I'd prefer LeBron to average about 22-23 points a game next season.

Of course LeBron can still lead the team in scoring if he wanted.

He can still average 26-27 a game. Being able to do it, and it being a good thing are two separate things here.

At this point in his career, that's a bad thing if LB is averaging that many points a game. It takes a lot more out of him, and we want LeBron to be at his overall best, not just scoring a lot of points and then having other parts of his game suffer a bit.

He's an overall great player, scoring isn't the only thing LB does very well.

This is why we want Kyrie to take that next step, be even more evolved offensively, because it's going to help LeBron out more.

Wanting Kyrie more involved offensively is different than saying leading scorer. Just as much as that role takes a toll on LeBron that would take an even greater toll on Kyrie over 82 games. I'd prefer Love to pace us at 25-26 a game but realistically that might not happen. Still I'll be shocked to see LeBron avg 22-23 points a game for an entire season. I don't see Kyrie avg more than 21 on this team.

 

[chrisrich91]

Kyrie is never going to be the third option, not happening. He has the ball in his hands more than Love, he creates more opportunities.

I don't really understand what you're really trying to say. Kyrie shouldn't be more involved offensively, because he's injury prone? So, he should play more decoy. Makes no sense.

And LeBron's usage offensively, has taken a steady decline already. He's at the point in his career, where running the offense, scoring a lot of points, and asking to be the anchor defensively, takes so much out of him.

Did you not see that in the finals? He could have done that 5 years ago in his sleep, and be fine, but it takes so much out of him, because he's not the same guy.

And do you seriously think LeBron is saying to himself, "I'm fourth all time in points averaged" I must keep that mark?

LeBron has said himself, time and time again, he views efficiency a lot more, than points scored. He hated having to score 35 some points a game in the finals like he had to, it's not his style. He's not one of these scorers that will throw up a high volume of shots, just to score. He did it, because that was our way of winning, but not what he prefers to do.

I wouldn't be surprised if LB still ends up the leading scorer again. I was making a bold prediction that Kyrie will be the guy, but LB's days of averaging 27 a game is over with.

Sorry. Couldn't help it.

 

[godfather]

Wanting Kyrie more involved offensively is different than saying leading scorer. Just as much as that role takes a toll on LeBron that would take an even greater toll on Kyrie over 82 games. I'd prefer Love to pace us at 25-26 a game but realistically that might not happen. Still I'll be shocked to see LeBron avg 22-23 points a game for an entire season. I don't see Kyrie avg more than 21 on this team.

I don't understand why you're acting like Kyrie is 32 with bad knees. He does get hurt a lot, I get that. Kyrie is 22 and has no long-term lingering health issues.

Kevin and LeBron can't say the same.

Kevin Love's shoulder isn't the only issue here. It's well noted he was dealing with lingering back spasms last year, and this could be something that lingers throughout his career. And there were rumored knee issues. We already know LeBron deals with back spasms as well.

Kevin Love averaging 25-26 a game? Ha. Never. This is a perimeter driven orientated offense, where LeBron and Kyrie orchestrate the plays 100 percent of the time for themselves and others.

For Kevin Love to average that many points, we'd have to completely do a 180 on how we run our offense and that's not going to happen. LeBron and Kyrie would become more stagnant, and that would not be good. You got to have guys that break down the defense off the dribble like them, to work away from that would be crazy. This is the NBA, dribble penetration wins.

This isn't Minnesota, where he's playing with nothing but trash, and that was the only way to run the ball strictly through Kevin.

I do agree Kevin should and likely will have a more expanded role this year (I hope), but he's always going to be the third banana. That's just how it is.


I don't know if I necessarily want Kyrie to lead the team in scoring. But I do want him to shift more off the offensive scoring load away from LeBron. I was just making a prediction that he will lead the team in scoring.

It's not something I'd take to the bank it will happen. But I do think LeBron's scoring will come down more this season. It has to.

 

[shoes22]

Also, the majority of Kyrie’s injuries have been with bones, not muscles or other tissues. Bone injuries tend to heal even stronger than before.

 

[Kypus]

I don't understand why you're acting like Kyrie is 32 with bad knees.

Because now he is until proven otherwise. (no 32)

 

[KI4MVP]

Wanting Kyrie more involved offensively is different than saying leading scorer. Just as much as that role takes a toll on LeBron that would take an even greater toll on Kyrie over 82 games. I'd prefer Love to pace us at 25-26 a game but realistically that might not happen. Still I'll be shocked to see LeBron avg 22-23 points a game for an entire season. I don't see Kyrie avg more than 21 on this team.

From Jan 15th through the end of the season (i.e. after the trades and LeBron's return) he averaged 22.6 ppg. I see Kyrie as a player on the verge of having a real breakout as a superstar. The time it takes to recover from the broken knee cap could delay that a bit, though, since he can't really work out this offseason.

 

[Simon]

 

[Ohio]

This is why you give him the ball at the end of the game in almost any & every situation.

Unfortunately, that hasn't happened and surely will continue to not happen.

 

[Cavatt]

This is why you give him the ball at the end of the game in almost any & every situation.

Unfortunately, that hasn't happened and surely will continue to not happen.

So many people disagree with this. I totally have more confidence in Kyrie being able to create something from nothing.

 

[rome8180]

The Cavs should totally make Love the #2 scoring option instead of the guy who is the most efficient iso scorer in the league.

 

[Ohio]

So many people disagree with this. I totally have more confidence in Kyrie being able to create something from nothing.

It's not even a slight to LeBron, who is obviously pretty good himself in that situation. Kyrie is just a superior shooter and brings more to the table in the given situation due to his quickness, handles, ability to create space and most importantly his ability to score from anywhere. This makes Kyrie's attack unpredictable and thus makes him more dangerous.

Not that LeBron can't score from anywhere, but he just can't shoot like Kyrie.

LeBron's isolation jumpshots are usually pretty cringeworthy. If he attacked the basket more in those situations, it would be much better for both himself and the team. Or, if he just let Kyrie do it, like we're saying.

 

[Kbiz]

This is why you give him the ball at the end of the game in almost any & every situation.

Unfortunately, that hasn't happened and surely will continue to not happen.

Agreed.....he's been right up there among the best in 4th quarter scoring for awhile. Some people seem to forget that. Took a slight dip last year but was still in the top ten.

Irving lives for those moments. There is a reason he scored the most in a game this season. He's an efficient scorer, especially during money time. He just needs to stay healthy.