Kyrie Irving

[BimboColesHair]

Let's not be so selective with our facts on the Lillard-Irving shooting comparison. I'm not a great stats man, but I note that Lillard's AFG last year was 51% compared to Irving's 48%. I also note that Lillard had more assists per game and a better assist/turnover ratio. My sense, switching over to the defensive end, is that Lillard is a better defender, though still not very good. Maybe some of our statistical mavens can shed some light on their comparative defensive (dis)abilities.

As for defense between Lillard and Kyrie, better how? Only thing Lillard is better at is giving up less points on the perimeter and allowing fewer assists than Kyrie. Kyrie turns his opponent over more, holds his opponent to less ppg, doesn't allow his opponent to score inside as easily as Lillard, doesn't allow his opponent to get to the line as much as Lillard.

Lillard is riding that Harrison Barnes high with fans that we saw last off season. Showed well in the playoffs, is now becoming very overrated.

 

[shoes22]

Yeah, Kyrie's only playing okay. Pretty decent stat line, but he was more passive than the other games and his defense was not good today. I don't know why Coach K still had him playing out there in the 4Q when we're up by 50.

 

[CavsHomer]

Cavshomer how's kyrie looking now my friend?

He had a good finish.
9 points (57% field goal), 4 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals in 20 minutes.

 

[CavsHomer]

Yeah, Kyrie's only playing okay. Pretty decent stat line, but he was more passive than the other games and his defense was not good today. I don't know why Coach K still had him playing out there in the 4Q when we're up by 50.

Then who should we play? Team USA doesn't have players you can bring on the floor in garbage time.

 

[Cashius X]

Then who should we play? Team USA doesn't have players you can bring on the floor in garbage time.

We do. We just don't have any garbage time players that play point. Of the PGs, Kyrie is the most durable which is saying something

Makes sense why he's still out there playing even when the game is long decided.

 

[CavsHomer]

We do. We just don't have any garbage time players that play point. Of the PGs, Kyrie is the most durable which is saying something

Makes sense why he's still out there playing even when the game is long decided.

True.
Maybe the "all garbage" line up for team USA would be:
DeRozan
Gay
Faried
Plumlee
Drummond

Wait... this line up doesn't even make sense (even in garbage time)

 

[aaronr]

sl

You're really using adjusted FG% to see who the better jump shooter is? I literally posted their %'s from last year on jump shots, which are very easy to find. The bolded part, I'm not sure what stats you are looking at. With better talent around him, Lillard averaged 5.6 assists per game last year. Kyrie averaged 6.1. 6.1 > 5.6 if my math teachers didn't fail me.

Maybe one of us is dyslexic but I think if you go to ESPN's stats you'll see that Lillard averaged 6.5 assists rather than 5.6. And you seem fixated on who the best "jump" shooter is. I maintained that Lillard was a better shooter, which is demonstrated by the 51%-48% differential in AFG%. But Scholar makes a very good point above, which is that Lillard was playing on a much better team. Hopefully, a year from now we'll be in agreement that Irving is better than Lillard.

 

[TopGun]

sl

Maybe one of us is dyslexic but I think if you go to ESPN's stats you'll see that Lillard averaged 6.5 assists rather than 5.6. And you seem fixated on who the best "jump" shooter is. I maintained that Lillard was a better shooter, which is demonstrated by the 51%-48% differential in AFG%. But Scholar makes a very good point above, which is that Lillard was playing on a much better team. Hopefully, a year from now we'll be in agreement that Irving is better than Lillard.

6.5 assists was 2 years ago. Last year was 5.6.

 

[CavsHomer]

6.5 assists was 2 years ago. Last year was 5.6.

This.
Plus Damian averaged 6.5 assists in his rookie season where he played 38.5(!) minutes a game.
Kyrie never played this many minutes in his 3 seasons in the NBA. Last season, he averaged a career high 35.2 minutes a game and still dished out over 6 assists.
So that argument doesn't work really.

 

[aaronr]

6.5 assists was 2 years ago. Last year was 5.6.

I don't think so.
http://espn.go.com/nba/team/stats/_/name/por/portland-trail-blazers

 

[CavsHomer]

I don't think so.
http://espn.go.com/nba/team/stats/_/name/por/portland-trail-blazers

Still wrong.

http://stats.nba.com/playerStats.html?PlayerID=203081

 

[BimboColesHair]

I don't think so.
http://espn.go.com/nba/team/stats/_/name/por/portland-trail-blazers

You're looking at post season stats, not regular season stats.

 

[BimboColesHair]

sl

Maybe one of us is dyslexic but I think if you go to ESPN's stats you'll see that Lillard averaged 6.5 assists rather than 5.6. And you seem fixated on who the best "jump" shooter is. I maintained that Lillard was a better shooter, which is demonstrated by the 51%-48% differential in AFG%. But Scholar makes a very good point above, which is that Lillard was playing on a much better team. Hopefully, a year from now we'll be in agreement that Irving is better than Lillard.

Because you said this in a post

I agree that Lillard is a sieve on defense, like Irving, but he's a better shooter

Adjusted FG% benefits people who take a lot of 3s. Last year Lillard took 200 more 3s than Kyrie, not exactly fair to compare the 2 on that stat. So I looked at %s on not just 3 pointers, but all jumpers. Kyrie is the better shooter and has a better track record as a shooter as well. You keep using last season as an end all be all comparison for their shooting without looking at Kyrie's 1st 2 years, which were the best 2 shooting years either player has had.

 

[aaronr]

You're looking at post season stats, not regular season stats.

Your right. My apologies. I told you I wasn't a stat man. Turns out I can't read either.

 

[priceFTW]

KI can get to the rim at will using his strength, incredible handle, ambidextrous finishing ability, and sneaky athleticism. If he wanted and if it were called upon, I can see him gettig 12-14 FTs in these international games.

As for defense, he started out well picking up his man 30 feet from the basket, but got lost easily after gettig picked, lost his man twice while ball watching, and closed poorly twice, something he did all the time last year. Still a lot of work to do for KI.

Rose turned to over quite a bit but played well defensively.