Kyrie Irving

[MRMsix6]

For what it's worth I thought Kyrie played one of his best defensive games tonight.

 

[Futuredome]

Yeah, I think he took the Lawson beatdown personally. Came out with defensive intensity all game whether he was hot or cold at the moment on offense.

 

[Rich]

I think he's playing a more complete game lately. Hopefully this continues.

 

[tristan+kyrie=$]

Kyrie played one of his better games of his career tonight...defended at a high level and distributed well and made some big shots as well

 

[Simmy]

Kyrie played one of his better games of his career tonight...defended at a high level and distributed well and made some big shots as well

Turns out David Blatt would agree with you. After the game he called it the best defensive game he's ever seen Kyrie play. Just need to hope he continues to contribute this level of effort to the defensive part of his game.

On a side note, I hate the cliche basketball interview phrase of "I just made a conscious effort to..." - Kyrie uses it at least 4-5 times a post-game interview.

 

[RedBlackAttack]

Kyrie played one of his better games of his career tonight...defended at a high level and distributed well and made some big shots as well

Yes, he wasn't just adequate defensively tonight. He was solid in his man-to-man defense, precise with his rotations and disruptive on switches/in the passing lane. One play in particular stood out... He got caught on a switch on Diaw, I believe, who had been killing us all night. The Spurs rightly went right at him, but just as the entry pass was being delivered, Kyrie hopped in front of Diaw and tipped away the ball for a steal/fastbreak on the other end. It was probably the best defensive play I've ever seen him make.

Impressive stuff from Kyrie tonight.

 

[Just Checkin]

but just as the entry pass was being delivered, Kyrie hopped in front of Diaw and tipped away the ball for a steal/fastbreak on the other end. It was probably the best defensive play I've ever seen him make.

Kyrie's been doing that pretty often recently. Probably the 3rd game in a row where we've seen a play like that now.

 

[RedBlackAttack]

Kyrie's been doing that pretty often recently. Probably the 3rd game in a row where we've seen a play like that now.

I've seen him make similar moves before, but not at such a critical moment against a team like the Spurs and against a bigman who had been destroying us. Diaw was the Spurs' best player tonight.

 

[Just Checkin]

Honestly it seems like whoever Love has to guard is the other team's best player tonight outside of Lawson.

 

[All4One1ForAll]

Man Kyrie is ridiculously talented. Those off balance threes he made tonight were insane. Once he puts it all together, watch out. If I could pick any pg to be on my team for the future, I pick Kyrie only after Russ and Curry.

 

[kookoo]

Man Kyrie is ridiculously talented. Those off balance threes he made tonight were insane. Once he puts it all together, watch out. If I could pick any pg to be on my team for the future, I pick Kyrie only after Russ and Curry.

He has hands down the best handles in the NBA. Handles of Jamal Crawford, finishing ability of Tony Parker and the 3 point shooting of Jason Terry. All it takes is our guys making shots and he'll be considered one of the best point guards in the league.

 

[Rich]

Honestly it seems like whoever Love has to guard is the other team's best player tonight outside of Lawson.

I dunno, Gordon Hayward had his way with LeBron earlier.

 

[tristan+kyrie=$]

To be fair since someone was touching on Diaw having a big night....he was hitting some tough awkward shots....but back to Kyrie...his ceiling of a player increases immensely if he is defending at a consistent, high level....creating turnovers on the defensive end can lead to extra points that could be the difference in a grind it out playoff game. Also, no offense to Lebron who is awesome but I really feel confident with the ball in Kyries hand at the end of games and I feel its due to Kyrie being very protective with the ball and having very few turnovers on the season. Lebron can still move without the ball and try and get a favorable matchup near the basket though. Some some thoughts I had this morning

 

[godfather]

I'm not going to lie, I know LeBron is clearly the better player. But at the end of game, I feel more comfortable with Kyrie taking over.

 

[CosmoKramer]

I dunno, Gordon Hayward had his way with LeBron earlier.

... not a good example. Derrick Favors destroyed Love that game, he finished with a 21-10 on 13 shots while holding Love to 2-10 shooting. If Favors wasn't the best player on the court for the Jazz he was close.