Kyrie Irving

[gourimoko]

Who is the Team USA coach?

Anyways, this will be fun to revisit in 3 years. Somebody make a note.

 

[Willard513]

I'm guessing you're not aware of clutch statistics, or..?



Yes, in FIBA play, and I wasn't the only one either.



I dunno how you've been paying attention to either player if you think this.

Honestly, the two guys' career paths have been very similar.



You're right, people on this board love to flip-flop.. I've been telling guys for 4 years, Irving is a superstar in the making.

It's honestly striking how similar their career paths are, if it keeps up, imagine having a Steph curry level producer with old man Lebron James and Kevin Love to play next to him? Holy crap batman, that's a squad.

 

[godfather]

I don't care what Steph did or didn't do before, Kyrie Irving might be setting his own path to being one of the most unique and innovative players we've yet to see in this league. I think that's what a lot of people are missing here. He's different, what he has to offer is different. Whether Kyrie puts it all together to get where I believe he can go, well, is entirely up to Kyrie. But I truly believe 10 years from now we're not going to compare whether he's meshes up to Steph, we're going to ask ourselves who could be the next Kyrie?

Comparing him to past, or present, does nothing.

I've never in my lifetime (which isn't the longest ever granted) have seen a guy of his size, have his unique skills that can do what he's capable of doing.

How far he goes I can't really say, but he's a very unique and special talent.

 

[#1 in the world]

This post was downvoted (Old) by @#1 in the world ....

Punkass Heat fans...

I hate everything about the Miami Heat. Didn't even realize I rated your post. Please take that horrible insult back. I'm 100% Cavs fan.

 

[gourimoko]

I hate everything about the Miami Heat. Didn't even realize I rated your post. Please take that horrible insult back. I'm 100% Cavs fan.

Lol.. done.

 

[Chris]

FIBA MVP...not being facetious, but I feel like this is the kind of accomplishment that would be downplayed in this debate if it applied to a non-Cav.

 

[Jon]

Derrick Rose, lol.

Also, I don't see Wall on that list, which is what you quoted was referring to.

Just seemed a major hole in the discussion to not realize that the GMs do throw their 2cents in ... for whatever they're worth ...

 

[Jon]

Lol... when he hands Cleveland a championship, you'll still be carrying this torch huh?

Huh?!? Don't be blinded by criticism I've leveled at Irving's lack of skills as a PG. In his role as our defacto SG he has contributed greatly to our success this season, and if we are going to go anywhere in the playoffs - he'll need to do the same in the post-season.

Now if James gets hurt and Irving leads us to a championship, I'll gladly revist everything I've said about his ability to run the team.

 

[Jon]

FIBA MVP...not being facetious, but I feel like this is the kind of accomplishment that would be downplayed in this debate if it applied to a non-Cav.

No doubt, but I think it's relevant. I just don't know why anyone would take it out of context. Given the lack of preparation and experience playing together, FIBA ball is closer to a pick-up game than an NBA game. This is why Team USA has always gravitated to LeBron running the team even when they've had Paul, Kidd, and Billups on the roster.

When there isn't time to put in an offense and to learn where everybody is on the floor, the next best thing is to have someone who can dominate his matchup 1v1, suck in the D, and find the open man.

 

[Chris]

Its relevant. I'm simply pointing out that people like to think they're 100% unbiased. ..but history shows were not. Defending Waiters and Bennett picks, sticking up for Lebron then hating him then loving him again.

It's in our nature as fans. If it was Rose or someone else winning a FIBA mvp I doubt itd be trumpeted as such an amazing feat on here.

 

[Jon]

This poll was before the 2013-14 season

The same folks who left Kyrie's name completely off the 2014-2015 survey?

 

[gourimoko]

Huh?!? Don't be blinded by criticism I've leveled at Irving's lack of skills as a PG. In his role as our defacto SG he has contributed greatly to our success this season, and if we are going to go anywhere in the playoffs - he'll need to do the same in the post-season.

Now if James gets hurt and Irving leads us to a championship, I'll gladly revist everything I've said about his ability to run the team.

Jon, everything in this post makes no sense, and you calling Irving a "defacto SG" for his "lack of skills as a PG" is false. It seems like a passive aggressive slight against Irving to maintain your position rather than yielding to the fairly obvious conclusion that Irving is far better than you thought he was.

Everyone can be wrong every now and then. I'm definitely not always right; and again, I'm not one of the guys harping on your comments from years ago. But this continued course of thought, that Irving is somehow incapable as a point guard, is a joke.

The only reason he plays off the ball is because LeBron James is the better player and better facilitator and prefers the ball in his hands. That is to say, LeBron James is the best basketball player on Earth, and seemingly contrary to coach Blatt's judgement, decided to take over point duties.

This is likely because LeBron has never played without the ball in his hands, even in Miami he preferred to run the point. Chalmers, Wade, Cole all deferred point duties to James. This was mentioned by several dozen commentators when James paired up with Irving.

Many suggested LeBron would need to completely reinvent his game because he had never played with such a point guard. Instead, James just asked Irving to share the point with him, and, he eventually acquiesced.

But I don't think anyone would say that Mario Chalmers or Mo Williams weren't point guards, yet Irving is a superior point guard in all respects to these players (at least, at a similar point in their careers with LeBron), so this continuous claim that Irving is playing SG with everything else in consideration simply makes no sense.

To that end, it calls into question what roster you're looking at because JR Smith and Iman Shumpert are clearly playing the traditional shooting guard role; not Irving.

Irving does not defend opposing shooting guards 90% of the time. So, if your position is defined by the position you guard, then he's not playing SG in our lineups.

You can't argue we're not getting scoring from our off-guard's because JR Smith has had one of his best statistical seasons in years, and Iman Shumpert is clearly coming into his own.

I'm just trying to understand your logic, and maybe I'm missing something, but, it seems like you're not really willing to accept the reality of the situation.

 

[Ohio]

Its relevant. I'm simply pointing out that people like to think they're 100% unbiased. ..but history shows were not. Defending Waiters and Bennett picks, sticking up for Lebron then hating him then loving him again.

It's in our nature as fans. If it was Rose or someone else winning a FIBA mvp I doubt itd be trumpeted as such an amazing feat on here.

At least it would show he's capable of sustaining success for more than a week.

 

[Chris]

At least it would show he's capable of sustaining success for more than a week.

Just using him as an example. Insert whatever other star PG you want.

 

[gourimoko]

Its relevant. I'm simply pointing out that people like to think they're 100% unbiased. ..but history shows were not. Defending Waiters and Bennett picks, sticking up for Lebron then hating him then loving him again.

It's in our nature as fans. If it was Rose or someone else winning a FIBA mvp I doubt itd be trumpeted as such an amazing feat on here.

Attempting to portray an argument as biased by default rather than making an argument of your own is fallacious.