Kyrie Irving

[King of Swords]

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.

I don't disagree at all. Kyrie has always looked comfortable with the ball in the clutch.

 

[Cavatt]

At this point, Kyrie is also more capable of getting to the cup quite honestly. Who has the better jumpshot off the dribble? Kyrie wins there too.

 

[shoes22]

I get more and more impressed with Kyrie every game. Up until now I've thought Kyrie was mostly too one-dimensional to be an MVP caliber player...but if he plays defense every game like he did Wednesday against the Spurs, he'll be in the conversation.

 

[Cavatt]

That means there is no excuse anymore either. He can't coact on D and let guys go right by him. He has the requisite lateral quickness.

 

[godfather]

Cavatt,

That means there is no excuse anymore either. He can't coact on D and let guys go right by him. He has the requisite lateral quickness.

I think sometimes expectations for Kyrie are too much. At least defensively. Right now, he's playing really good basketball. Defensively, he's clearly better and trying more.

He just doesn't have the lateral quickness to guard some of the faster and more explosive point guards. You can't fault a guy for what he doesn't have.

That shouldn't be a point of emphasis that should be used to bash him. He has weaknesses, he can't help that.

I don't know how that's an excuse, when he simply doesn't have something he's capable of doing. Which is lateral quickness to guard some of these guys.

I was surprised and impressed with how well he guarded Tony Parker though.

Right now, there's not much bad anyone can really say about Kyrie. He's playing really good basketball, and he's giving maximum effort on both sides of the ball.

He's definitely looking more like the franchise player we all thought he was. He's definitely the second best player on the team, with all due respect to Kevin Love.

 

[Omar The Horse]

Holy Shit

The past five games Kyrie's shooting percentages are 51/59/90.

6 to 1 assist ratio.

 

[DatDudeZ3]

I was honestly hoping for Kyrie to get the ball in crunch time in the Spurs game, LeBron looked off and Kyrie had it rolling and I feel Kyrie is the most creative player with the ball on our team and can do anything with the ball and can get anywhere on the court he wants... He can also get a shot off whenever he wants. I hope Kyrie starts getting the ball more often than LeBron in crunch time, honestly. Kyrie doesn't always have to shoot it but Kyrie gives us so many options... Have him drive and create, drive and get a shot around the rim or create his own jump shot with his ball handling.

 

[Simon]

I think we saw defensive improvement with Kyrie vs. Tony Parker on Wednesday.

I hope we see some of that from him more often.

 

[All4One1ForAll]

Kyrie has been our most consistent player on both ends so far. Really impressed me to see him get in a low defensive stance and stick to Wall with like a minute left even though we were down by like 10, whereas everyone else had given up.

 

[roozy]

Only one playing with heart right now.

 

[The Process God]

I was about to say that Kyrie defended with heart even if the stats don't show it. Help defense didn't do much to help his cause. He has been arguably even more stable than LeBron these past several games. John Wall was forced into some contested jump shots because of Irving's defense. I always believed he could defend if he wanted to. It's not like he's athletically challenged. He's no Rose, Westbrook, or Wall in terms of athleticism, but he's still above average athleticism for a PG.

 

[shoes22]

Only one playing with heart right now.

It should be noted how much of a change this is from last year. Remember how often we would see Kyrie pout and sulk on the court? Not seeing that this year, even when we're down big. He still needs to work on improving his tunnel vision, but there's no doubt he's been playing hard the entire time he's out there this year.

 

[Simmy]

Loved Kyrie's comments after the game tonight:

"We gotta figure things out and we will. It's gonna start with me, it's gonna start with Bron it's gonna start with everybody in this locker room from the first person to the fifteenth person. We're gonna figure things out and I'm confident that we're going to get this thing rolling again."

Another great quote:

"I'm confident in these guys, I trust these guys, and I'm ride or dying with every single one of these guys in this locker room no matter what happens."

That's the attitude I would want to hear after a game like that.

However, meanwhile, in LeBron's locker room, we're hearing blunt, one-word answers about how it's going to be a challenge and how he needs to be patient and not so frustrated.

I understand that frustration comes with losing, but the ability to channel that frustration and turn it into something positive starts with your attitude and response to said frustration.

 

[shoes22]

Loved Kyrie's comments after the game tonight:

"We gotta figure things out and we will. It's gonna start with me, it's gonna start with Bron it's gonna start with everybody in this locker room from the first person to the fifteenth person. We're gonna figure things out and I'm confident that we're going to get this thing rolling again."

That's the attitude I would want to hear after a game like that.

However, meanwhile, in LeBron's locker room, we're hearing blunt, one-word answers about how it's going to be a challenge and how he needs to be patient and not so frustrated.

I understand that frustration comes with losing, but the ability to channel that frustration and turn it into something positive starts with your attitude and response to said frustration.

Yup. And you didn't even include the best part of Kyrie's quote:

“Every team is going to bring their best game to us,” Kyrie Irving said. “We have three of the best players in the league, including a great bench. We are the marked team. … I’m confident in these guys and I still trust these guys. I’m ride or die with every single one of them in this locker room.”

It's a marked contrast to the less supportive nature of LeBron's comments.

 

[Ohio]

It is unbelievable that Kyrie is the only one playing hard every night, given what he displayed last year.

Good for him.