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Kyrie Irving

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The interesting thing about watching the game - same way with the Portland game - it never felt like Kyrie was ball-hogging... he was just so efficient and good. It's hard to give that impression when you take 32 shots. Astounding.

Now, as for the Cavs, I'm sure they came out of this (as they should) proud of sticking to it and coming back from a 6 point deficit with 33 seconds left in SA. Kyrie and TT have shown they can play in the big moments w/Lebron (I wish they had AV because he can too). However, a lot of things had to go right for the Cavs to win this... missed FTs, Kyrie being out of this world, shooting over 50% from 3... the Cavs have to get better to win a title. The ball has to move more, the involvement of Love, the mysterious disappareance of Mozgov in the 4th, etc. I was so encouraged seeing seeing Lebron off the ball and getting really easy shots (dunks) with ball movement, but that basically dried up after the 1st quarter. These guys are so good that they can score anyway but they need to make the game easier on themselves.
 
Is Kyrie the only teammate of LeBron's to go for 50 plus points? I don't think Wade nor Bosh went for 50 plus in the tenure together and here Kyrie is doing it twice in one season. Pretty amazing that he somehow topped that 55 point game with this 57 point game.
 
amil99 said:
The only thing impressive about Westbrook is his athleticism and rebounding. Anyone elite can put up better scoring numbers given WBs volume of shots and im most certainly sure getting double digit assist is fairly easy when you are sporting the 2nd highest usage of ALL TIME. Again Westbrook right now is better than Kyrie given that he is 26 in his prime but basketball talent wise only thing he has over KI is athleticism. Like someone said Kyrie is basically a 6'3 Tmac esque scorer with elite efficiency and anyone who has seen Tmac from 2000-2004 knows how great a compliment that is
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I have to agree here. I was stunned when going through WB's statistics at his usage rate. It is higher than Wilt's usage in 1961 when he averaged over 50 points a game. It's higher (by a longshot) than any LeBron season in his career. Only two of Jordan's years early on when he was quite literally a one-man band compare. Kobe Bryant had one season with a higher usage -- when he averaged 35/5/5 in 2006... and WB is gaining on him fast.

I'm not saying WB isn't a great talent. He obviously is. But, all those assists and inefficient points start to look a little less spectacular when you realize how many possessions he is using to accumulate them. Since Durant went down, his usage is up over 40% a night, which is historically high.

Also, WB often falls apart in the clutch. When the game really slows down and that berserker mode starts to look more sloppy than hexing, his game can look extremely ugly.


The exact opposite is true with Kyrie. As the game slows down, he seems to become more effective. Watching him last night against that particular team was spellbinding. He even had Kawhi Leonard spinning in his shoes a couple times. Now that he has the two highest point totals of the season, I think it's fair to say he's the most explosive scorer in the NBA. To be that guy at 22 in this league with so much talent on the perimeter is incredible.

Congrats to KI.

shoes22 said:
This is the kind of Simmons I like. At least he's willing to eat crow when he's wrong, and he is still a very good writer.
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Funny thing is I still think he has Kyrie too low. He's freaking 22 years old. At least he touches on that toward the end of the piece.
 
Taiter said:
The interesting thing about watching the game - same way with the Portland game - it never felt like Kyrie was ball-hogging... he was just so efficient and good. It's hard to give that impression when you take 32 shots. Astounding.
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I felt like this too. I notice when LeBron gets into "Okay, I'm going to take over the game now" mode, it feels like he freezes everyone else out and the rest of the guys become statues. Kyrie iso'd and took several contested, difficult shots last night, but it all felt more natural because the other guys weren't just standing around doing nothing.
 
TyGuy said:
Is Kyrie the only teammate of LeBron's to go for 50 plus points? I don't think Wade nor Bosh went for 50 plus in the tenure together and here Kyrie is doing it twice in one season. Pretty amazing that he somehow topped that 55 point game with this 57 point game.
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Wade has only scored fifty points twice. Both times it was fifty exactly. Both were in 2009. One was a triple OT game.

Bosh has never scored fifty.

So...yes.
 
Crosby_Cavs said:
I know it's Simmons, but this is well written.

View: https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/576446032847904768
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My favourite tidbit was this

"When Jalen Rose and I taped The Grantland Basketball Hour with Kobe last month, we were killing time during one of the commercial breaks and I asked Kobe if he had any “new” favorite players. You know how great chefs always identify the other up-and-coming great chefs? Kobe fancies himself as that guy for the NBA alpha dog/badass/overcompetitive mf’er corner. Knows it when he sees it. Even brags about being able to see it. He sniffed it out early with Westbrook (his favorite current star) in 2012 and — to my surprise — he’s sniffing it with Kyrie now and said as much. He loves Kyrie. So that was a game changer for me. When Chef Kobe blessed Chef Kyrie, I knew it was time to wipe my Kyrie Opinion Hard Drive and start over."
 
No secret Kyrie looks up to Kobe Bryant so much more than anyone else in this league. He practically was gushing over him when they went to LA.

Kyrie also pointed out yesterday, that he's taken Kobe's advice, in just always keeping your elbow pointed to the rim when shooting.

I honestly think if you gave Kyrie a truth serum, he'd tell you Kobe's probably the player he looks up to the most in the NBA.

Now, now, I'm not trying to start another Kobe vs LeBron war, or inferring Kyrie doesn't think a lot of LeBron.

Kobe and Kyrie are cut out from the same cloth. I think Kyrie can empathize a lot more with someone like Kobe. So I have no problem, whatsoever, if he truly feels that way. It makes sense actually.

LeBron has obviously been the better player throughout their careers. But Kyrie has more similar qualities as a player to Kobe than he does LeBron.
 
shoes22 said:
I felt like this too. I notice when LeBron gets into "Okay, I'm going to take over the game now" mode, it feels like he freezes everyone else out and the rest of the guys become statues. Kyrie iso'd and took several contested, difficult shots last night, but it all felt more natural because the other guys weren't just standing around doing nothing.
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That is because Lebron milks all 24 seconds off the shot clock, whereas Kyrie shoots it with time left, usually because he can get past his guy at will
 
I'd trade Rich Man's Boobie Gibson for Anthony Davis, and that's about it right now off the top of my head.
 
Chris said:
I'd trade Rich Man's Boobie Gibson for Anthony Davis, and that's about it right now off the top of my head.
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But if you asked a Warriors, Thunder, or Rockets fan if they'd trade their best player for Kyrie right now most of them would probably say no.
 
TopGun said:
But if you asked a Warriors, Thunder, or Rockets fan if they'd trade their best player for Kyrie right now most of them would probably say no.
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True. People are homers. Yes, even Cavs fans.

But the thing is, you'd have to factor in youth. Kyrie is what, 23 this month? I guess I kind of forgot about Durant. :chuckle: Obviously Durant is still young and is a better player. but seriously, the point is, the list is short. Very short. Curry is still pretty young and is basically Kyrie 2.0 in a lot of ways, so I'd take him I guess.
 
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