Kyrie Irving

[All4One1ForAll]

The most obvious thing that those numbers show is how difficult it is to quantify good defense, because he is noticeably better and more consistent this year than at any other point in his career. The jump he has made on that end has been pretty remarkable, whether the stats show it or not.

I think the main thing hindering his numbers are how bad the Cavs were at protecting the rim prior to the Mozgov trade. As a team, they ranked at or near the bottom in most team defensive statistics. That isn't going to do much for your individual numbers.

But, I'm guessing since Jan. 15, his defensive statistics look completely different. They actually have somewhere to funnel the ball now without it turning into a virtual layup line.

Correct. After January 15, Kyrie is holding opposing point guards to a 38.9% FG percentage, which is 5.0% LOWER than their season FG percentage.

Before January 15, opposing point guards were shooting 48% from the field against him, which is 3.9% HIGHER than their average FG percentage on the season!

 

[BimboColesHair]

The most obvious thing that those numbers show is how difficult it is to quantify good defense, because he is noticeably better and more consistent this year than at any other point in his career. The jump he has made on that end has been pretty remarkable, whether the stats show it or not.

I think the main thing hindering his numbers are how bad the Cavs were at protecting the rim prior to the Mozgov trade. As a team, they ranked at or near the bottom in most team defensive statistics. That isn't going to do much for your individual numbers.

But, I'm guessing since Jan. 15, his defensive statistics look completely different. They actually have somewhere to funnel the ball now without it turning into a virtual layup line.

Here's 82games and his year by year counterpart production per-48

Rookie year:

2nd year:

3rd year:

This year through 2/18:

Year-to-year improvement on the opposing players PER, albeit a slightly flawed stat, is good to see. Dropping his oppositions eFG% 70+ points from his rookie year to the last 2 years is huge. As is forcing turnovers and fouls at a higher rate. They seem to think he is league average individually on defense this year, which I think we can all agree on just by watching games this year.

 

[Chris]

Here's 82games and his year by year counterpart production per-48

Rookie year:

2nd year:

3rd year:

This year through 2/18:

Year-to-year improvement on the opposing players PER, albeit a slightly flawed stat, is good to see. Dropping his oppositions eFG% 70+ points from his rookie year to the last 2 years is huge. As is forcing turnovers and fouls at a higher rate. They seem to think he is league average individually on defense this year, which I think we can all agree on just by watching games this year.

Jesus. I look at charts, calculations and numbers all day and then I come on here and see this. Fuck.

 

[David.]

anyone hae a clip of that ridicuoous layup through traffic last night?

 

[Ohio]

anyone hae a clip of that ridicuoous layup through traffic last night?

The and-1 or the should have been and-1?

 

[David.]

should have been.. earlier in the game

 

[Ohio]

should have been.. earlier in the game

This, perhaps?

View: https://twitter.com/Cleveland_Fanz/status/573295375680860160

 

[World B ThAreee]

= MOZGOV (1st game, January 9)

Kyrie doesn't have to worry about the drive as much these days.

Correct. After January 15, Kyrie is holding opposing point guards to a 38.9% FG percentage, which is 5.0% LOWER than their season FG percentage.

Before January 15, opposing point guards were shooting 48% from the field against him, which is 3.9% HIGHER than their average FG percentage on the season!

 

[BimboColesHair]

Did it for K Love and Tristan...now its Kyrie's turn.

vs current playoff teams over .500 (27 games):

22 ppg, 5.8 apg, 3 rpg, 44.9% from the floor, 37.5% from 3, 86.1% from the line in 37.3 minutes per game.

vs every other team (31 games):

21.3 ppg, 4.7 apg, 3.3 rpg, 48.2% from the floor, 42.6% from 3, 86.3% from the line in 37 minutes per game.

Scores slightly more and gets 1 more assist in the same amount of time, but is less efficient. I'd still take his stat line vs good teams all day long for an entire season.

 

[All4One1ForAll]

This guy needs to get his 3pt shot back. He's shooting 20% from the field in his last 5 games (5 for 25) and 34.9% his last 15 (29/83).

 

[The Oi]

I've never seen anyone use spin on layups in traffic like Kyrie does. There's no stat to track this, so can anyone think of a player they've watched that has done this?

 

[Tornicade]

this guy calls it the 360 kyrie spin

You can find guys who spin in the paint . and guys who crossover in the paint but what might be a chris paul highlight is a staple for Irving.

the way he mixes the hardaway crossover with strickland low touch layup on a regular basis is just unmatched by anyone.

 

[GwenJen]

Although LeBron admittedly played a poor game last night, Kyrie wasn't fantastic in his own right. He was beaten baseline by Teague on numerous occasions, and fell asleep on Korver for two big threes to start the Hawks run in the 4th. That along with the shot still not falling, and the frustrating turnovers led to a tough road loss. When your two best players don't play their best ball in a tough road game, you tend to lose..

 

[Rip The Jacker]

It's refreshing to find a community that understands and appreciates how good Kyrie is. I have him ranked 4th best PG behind CP3, Curry, and Westbrook. I'm not really an advanced stats guy, so I won't really dig deep into numbers. You have to keep up with him and actually watch Cavs game to really understand how good this guy is. You often find PG's who excel in certain categories, but it's extremely rare to find someone who excels at as many things as Kyrie does. I don't think I've ever seen his combination of ball handling, sharp shooting, penetrating, and finishing. One of the most skilled all-around PG's I've ever seen play.

 

[kookoo]

What's up with Kyrie's jumper?