2017-2018 Boston Celtics: No Irving! No Hayward! No Brooklyn Pick!

[Ohio]

There was definitely some good and some bad from Kyrie last night, but it was nice to see him get it together in the 4th Quarter when it mattered most.

That corner three he hit that went in and out and in again was huge.

 

[Tyrone Slothrop]

He's supposed to keep shooting... That's the point. You miss some you make some, but if you miss and stop you can't make the next shot; and Cavs need him to shoot the ball (obviously).

Anyway, what you're really looking for is the variance in his FG% over some set of games (like the LeBron era) to test for "streakiness." My first order approximation is that you'd find Irving is a lot less streaky than most NBA guards.

Nonetheless, great job by the kid bringing it home last night. Will be interesting to see him play on a back to back tonight.

Oh I was just speaking extemporaneously and/or dumb fan in the heat of the moment. Of course I want him to keep shooting. He's a shooter, he needs to.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Kyrie can get you into deficits and may not hold onto leads but he sure can get you back into the game and win it for you in a hurry.

 

[godfather]

He shoots himself out of slumps way more often than not.

If he's been cold, he will get hot.

You never tell a scorer to try not to score.

 

[godfather]

Kyrie can get you into deficits and may not hold onto leads but he sure can get you back into the game and win it for you in a hurry.

I don't think we win the game without him either. That's why I don't get why Lue didn't bring him back in the Hornets game. Sure, we won that game, but if we lost it would have made him look silly.

Kyrie didn't have the best of game up to that point, comes in and goes 4-4, hits the critical three that pretty much decided the game.

You don't keep a guy like him on the bench when the game is close. I hope Lue never makes that decision again.

 

[dark2332]

You don't keep a guy like him on the bench when the game is close. I hope Lue never makes that decision again.

...unless he's trying to make a point for him to start playing better defense.

 

[David.]

You never tell a scorer to try not to score.

Except Jr if he misses his first four

 

[Ohio]

I don't think we win the game without him either. That's why I don't get why Lue didn't bring him back in the Hornets game. Sure, we won that game, but if we lost it would have made him look silly.

Kyrie didn't have the best of game up to that point, comes in and goes 4-4, hits the critical three that pretty much decided the game.

You don't keep a guy like him on the bench when the game is close. I hope Lue never makes that decision again.

I was happy Lue did what he did in that game. That lineup took, extended, and held a lead and won the game. They deserved to stay on the floor. Rewarding them was the right thing to do and little things like that (trusting 4 bench players like that) can go a long way. Now would that happen in the playoffs? Probably not. But it's the regular season. The "risk" is worth it.

 

[godfather]

...unless he's trying to make a point for him to start playing better defense.

It would been a bad point to make given he was playing exceptional defense against the Hornets.

And no, he benched Love too, who was fantastic, and the best player on the floor.

He decided to ride the "hot hand" and a call out of Mike Brown's playbook. And look, I like Lue, but keeping Jefferson and McRae in over Kyrie and Love was laughable.

 

[David.]

...unless he's trying to make a point for him to start playing better defense.

I'm not sure it was a point of effort, he was trying, but I don't know if they were all communicating or had scouted Charlotte properly, they were guessing wrong and it was a problem

 

[gourimoko]

Kyrie can get you into deficits and may not hold onto leads but

Defensively he's one out of 5 (10) players on the floor; he alone can't "get you into deficits." If this were true, it'd be true of the entire game; and obviously it's not. As far as holding onto leads, Irving's scoring when James is off is exceptional, 1.19 PPP, 59% TS%, 53% eFG. In that time he's scored 87 points on 68 attempts; that's good for a 120 ORtg.

p.s.
The offense for the bench is actually great! Love, Shump, Smith, Tristan, all perform very well offensively even with James off the floor. Offense is really just not the problem. It's team-wide defense. And as I demonstrated up-thread, there is almost no correlation whatsoever between Irving and Team DRTG.

 

[David.]

We gotta tie Frye and kyrie together by the by the legs and make them live life with each other for like a week..

If they can figure it out, that team is fucking devastating

 

[godfather]

We gotta tie Frye and kyrie together by the by the legs and make them live life with each other for like a week..

If they can figure it out, that team is fucking devastating

I'd like to see Love playing with him too. Shit, have 5 guys that can spread the floor.

And by the way, I take back all the nasty things I said about Shump. I said he was hot garbage and they should think about giving him away. Boy, he looks like an entirely new ball player.

He's been fantastic. Couldn't be happier with what he's providing us. Now the idea of trading him, frankly, would be pretty dumb. The guy is doing what we want. Not being a liability on offense, actually looking good on that end.

 

[Cassity14]

The Shump hate became silly last year. When the Cavs first traded for him, he was playing like this. Not quite shooting at this clip, but he was a defensive force who impacted the game.

I remember him playing a truly playoffs until he was forced to play through multiple injuries.

I'm still so happy that the Cavs have him.

 

[David.]

I'd like to see Love playing with him too. Shit, have 5 guys that can spread the floor.

And by the way, I take back all the nasty things I said about Shump. I said he was hot garbage and they should think about giving him away. Boy, he looks like an entirely new ball player.

He's been fantastic. Couldn't be happier with what he's providing us. Now the idea of trading him, frankly, would be pretty dumb. The guy is doing what we want. Not being a liability on offense, actually looking good on that end.

Shump deserved his criticism..

Kyrie, shump (especially as ball handling improves) LeBron, Kevin and Frye would be fun.