Kyrie Irving

[Jon]

The brilliant handle and the finishing at the rim are things we've come to expect, but he's gotten so much better moving off the ball and using screens this year. Just a huge leap.

The first highlight of him floating around the baseline and getting that layup at the rim reminded me of Wade. I wonder who might have taught him that?

 

[jlegg21]

The first highlight of him floating around the baseline and getting that layup at the rim reminded me of Wade. I wonder who might have taught him that?

So silky... and ever since the Cavs drafted Irving I always wondered what it would be like to watch him play with LBJ, on the break and in the halfcourt. The longer they play together, the more lethal it's going to be. That playoff game yesterday was good for my Cavalier soul.

It's good to have our @Jon back for this ride. I know you and I had a few run-ins way back when (I have the PM warnings to prove it), and I know you'll take this the way it's intended.... quit derailing this thread and enjoy the ride. It could be the one we've been waiting for all these years.

 

[Jon]

Jon is suffering a little bit from Bill Simmons syndrome, too preoccupied that Kyrie doesn't play like a "traditional point guard", like that somehow brings him down a few pegs.

It's a syndrome to judge a PG on his leadership skills, playmaking, and his ability to make the guys around him better?

If teams don't get this from somewhere, they're going to lose a ton of games.

 

[mds]

This thread makes me miss my time at CavFanatics.

 

[Jon]

It's good to have our @Jon back for this ride. I know you and I had a few run-ins way back when (I have the PM warnings to prove it), and I know you'll take this the way it's intended.... quit derailing this thread and enjoy the ride. It could be the one we've been waiting for all these years.

How about if I meet you half way?

If anyone wants to discuss Boobie Gibson further, they can PM me, I won't reply any more in the thread .... but this thread is definitely the place to discuss both Kyrie's strengths, weaknesses, successes, and failures ... just like the player threads for anybody else.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

if teams don't get this from somewhere, they're going to lose a ton of games.

LBJ is the primary playmaker on this team, just like MJ and Pippen were on theirs. That does not leave room for a PG playing the traditional role of dominant distributor.

 

[shoes22]

It's a syndrome to judge a PG on his leadership skills, playmaking, and his ability to make the guys around him better?

If teams don't get this from somewhere, they're going to lose a ton of games.

I just think you have a very old-school, traditional mindset when it comes to basketball. We are in an NBA era now where the PG is usually one of the team's top three most talented scorers, and the role has evolved to reflect that. In today's NBA there isn't just one initiator running the show, that responsibility is usually shared among multiple players.

It would be one thing if the issues you're criticizing Kyrie with were actually affecting the team's current performance..but it's not. On a team with LeBron James on it, "leadership and playmaking" from the other positions become less important than other skills.

 

[TitleTown]

Sounds like a compliment, lol, but I guess I have a higher opinion of RealGM than you do.

They have a Wall, Lillard, and Irving thread going on in their player comparison forum with plenty of good points coming from all sides with far less vitriol and trolling then seen in this thread.

Jon derails the thread, and then insults the board at the same time.

Classic.

 

[jlegg21]

How about if I meet you half way?

If anyone wants to discuss Boobie Gibson further, they can PM me, I won't reply any more in the thread .... but this thread is definitely the place to discuss both Kyrie's strengths, weaknesses, successes, and failures ... just like the player threads for anybody else.

If you so choose, I was mostly kidding with "derailing" anyway. It is the Kyrie Irving thread after all.

Irving is so damn good and his game is so unique no one can even find a category for him. I can think of worse problems. God help the rest of these playoff teams if this is his debut.

 

[gourimoko]

Wow, what a disconnect.

Of course I'm not asking you to accept my opinions, I'm asking you not to try to tell me what I meant.

I'm not telling you what you meant, I'm telling you what I observe and what I think based on those observations.

I've already said, numerous times, I don't care what your intent was as it's not relevant. But that your rationale makes no sense.

 

[Jon]

LBJ is the primary playmaker on this team, just like MJ and Pippen were on theirs. That does not leave room for a PG playing the traditional role of dominant distributor.

This has nothing to do with traditional roles. It has to do with skills, and Kyrie lacks the skills to run a team. James has his flaws as a playmaker as well, we've all complained about LeISO over the years, but in his case it was never an issue of whether we could win games playing LeISO ... it was could we win a championship.

 

[gourimoko]

This has nothing to do with traditional roles. It has to do with skills, and Kyrie lacks the skills to run a team.

Based on what?

 

[K1rieIrving>AllOtherPG's]

Kyrie > Curry
Kyrie > CP3
Kyrie > Westbrick
Kyrie > John wall

best handles in the NBA.
unstoppable one on one no matter who is guarding him.
can hit a shot from any where on the floor efficiently.
ice in his veins.

 

[Jordan]

Well, some people have been saying for years that Isaih Thomas was every bit as good as Kyrie. So, doesn't that argument work to Thomas's benefit as well?

hahahaha, what?!?!? Isaiah Thomas = Kyrie Irving. This is how I know we are not being serious right now.

Kyrie has improved this season - he is learning, but after 4 years in the league, I have more of a show-me attitude towards Kyrie and less of wait-back-and-watch attitude when it comes to his playmaking skills. As a scorer? The sky is still the limit for him, and I suppose that will make him a superstar to many ... but personally I've always had a very high standard for the term - and even becoming the best scorer in the league won't get my nod.

My term for superstar is top-3 player in the NBA. I don't think that's an unfair standard. Kyrie right now is a top 5 PG in the NBA and probably top-15 overall. I think by the end of the playoffs you can make an argument for top-3 PG, top-4 at worse, and top 12 overall. He is only 23. Maybe he wont ever become a superstar. Considering the log-jam between positions 4-12 I am not sure he is that far off. Let me put it like this, if every player in the NBA playoffs was going to get redrafted tomorrow, Kyrie is going in the lottery, probably top-10.

 

[Jordan]

Guys, this team is simple.

Kyrie = rich man's boobie
JR = Delonte
Old Lebron = older young Lebron
Kevin Love = Rich man's Donyell Marshal
Moz = Z with no range

Is it really that hard to see how much worse this team is than the Cavs of years past?!? I've got a lot of sources. They are on TV all the time. And you can't have the names because the fact that you don't know them means you have no clue what you are talking about.