Kyrie Irving

[Zeus69]

Of the 15 posts in this thread so far today, I'd rank yours as my 4th favorite.

Sweet, RCF flush

 

[Lee]

Country?

Fairly certain Brits throw Molotov cocktails at each other while cheering their teams toward higher rankings and Germans were so infatuated with rankings that they agreed to murder several million people to climb up a few rungs.

You are right that soccer focused countries don't care about whether they win the World Cup or keep track of their highest paid players and national league standings and top scorers.

To be fair, soccer fans riot while watching games, not debate over ranking players.

 

[ticon12389]

Jason Lloyd ‏@JasonLloydABJ 6m6 minutes ago
Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert both on court at end of #Cavs practice. Don't know yet how much they did

Jason Lloyd ‏@JasonLloydABJ 1m1 minute ago
David Blatt says both Shumpert and Irving had some contact in practice. Says Shumpert ahead of schedule

 

[kidduck]

Kyrie Irving, Iman Shumpert make their practice debuts for Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland Cavaliers guards Iman Shumpert and Kyrie Irving could soon be joining their teammates on the court for games as they practiced for the first time on Monday. (Joshua Gunter)
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By Chris Haynes, Cleveland.com

on November 30, 2015 at 3:21 PM, updated November 30, 2015 at 6:28 PM

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio – The returns of Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert are drawing nearer for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Both guards made their practice debuts Monday, but only played in portions of the session, according to head coach David Blatt. He said the coaching staff was "able to gauge them in moderated fashion."

"We had a moderated practice that we were able to get them to take part in a good piece of it," Blatt said. "Day-to-day, making a little bit more progress."

Shumpert is now shooting with his right hand without restriction. He had surgery on his right wrist in September.

Irving has ramped up his activities over the last two weeks as he's recovering from surgery on the fractured left kneecap he suffered in June. He has been seen getting shots up at The Q before games.

The three-time All-Star is expected to speak with members of the media on Wednesday.

Neither player has been cleared for full basketball activities. The two joined in some contact drills, but Blatt wouldn't reveal the extent of their involvement.

Will they be available by the time the Cavaliers face the Golden State Warriors on Dec. 25 in an NBA Finals rematch?

"I really can't say," Blatt said. "Every day I'm watching them and they're making progress. We're being very conscious and conscientious about keeping them within their limits and not rushing them back. But they are both working hard and well and they are making progress. Exactly when they're going to return, I just can't say because I don't know. Not yet."

Cleveland owns a record of 13-4, best in the Eastern Conference. The organization has nothing but time on its side.

 

[Frank Reynolds]

Anybody who thinks Wilt is in the running for greatest player of all time is looking mostly at his numbers and forgetting some of the context. He played in a time that the pace of play was so fast that his numbers are ridiculously inflated due to the extra possessions. Many of those points came from things like offensove goaltending (tho to be fair they were made illegal because of Wilt's dominance). But more importantly we are talking about a guy that only cared about the stats. For instance Wilt had an obsession with never fouling out of a game. So whenever he would pick up his fourth foul he would literally stop playing defense even in playoff games. Incredibly I believe he ended his career without fouling out of a game. One season Wilt was determined to lead the league in assists and he did, yet that whole season he passed up easy layups to try to pad his stats. True he won two championships but one of them was at the tail end of his career when he was no longer the best player on the team. For a man who could score 100 points in a game, that is pretty underwhelming. It's telling that at the time he played, Bill Russell was considered the better player by both peers and by the league itself (who officially gave Russell that honor). Wilt is an icon and perhaps the most dominant player of any era, but not the greatest unless stats are the only consideration.

I thought this thread was about Kyrie?

Nah man, we've moved onto Wilt Chamberlain.

Chamberlain is to basketball what Ruth is to baseball. Just so fucking dominant, so fucking iconic. They were already immortalized while they were alive. Because they were so otherworldly dominant, they've passed the state immortality and moved into the realm of myth, or fable. Supposedly Wilt was literally one of the strongest, most athletic people in the history of mankind. Wilt would have manhandled Shaquille O'Neal if they could have played straight up.

Kyrie Irving though, might be one of the only players capable of scoring on Chamberlain with that ridiculous left-hand, and finishes off the glass with more english than Minnesota Fats.

 

[Flight479]

If they don't get game time in before the Warriors game we should bring them in after. Could mess up chemistry, especially if we happen to be on a run. I'm hoping they can play a few games before Christmas.

 

[shoes22]

Ugh. It’s really starting to concern me that both the fans and media are putting so much emphasis on that Christmas Day Golden State game, like winning that game is the be all and end all, like that’s our championship. I was guilty of it myself, but going overboard and making team decisions entirely around and based on that game just seems silly to me. It’s just one out of 82 regular season games. They’re all worth the same.

Just trust the process.

 

[Kovah]

Ugh. It’s really starting to concern me that both the fans and media are putting so much emphasis on that Christmas Day Golden State game, like winning that game is the be all and end all, like that’s our championship. I was guilty of it myself, but going overboard and making team decisions entirely around and based on that game just seems silly to me. It’s just one out of 82 regular season games. They’re all worth the same.

Just trust the process.

Is it okay that I wish that Curry severely sprains his ankle in that game? Or Draymond tears his ACL and THEN we face them in the championship?

I trust that process.

 

[bryankdavis]

Is it okay that I wish that Curry severely sprains his ankle in that game? Or Draymond tears his ACL and THEN we face them in the championship?

I trust that process.

How about we win without asterisks (on both sides)? Then GS can't say #$@% about how they were better than us last year.

 

[gourimoko]

How about we win without asterisks (on both sides)? Then GS can't say #$@% about how they were better than us last year.

I'd honestly rather Curry was out. Irving and love were both out. That's only fair.

Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

 

[The Wizard of Moz]

Ugh. It’s really starting to concern me that both the fans and media are putting so much emphasis on that Christmas Day Golden State game, like winning that game is the be all and end all, like that’s our championship. I was guilty of it myself, but going overboard and making team decisions entirely around and based on that game just seems silly to me. It’s just one out of 82 regular season games. They’re all worth the same.

Just trust the process.

I'm sure I'm one of the only people with this opinion, but I hope Blatt just trolls the Warriors like Popovich used to do with the Heat. Everyone would say OMG this game is the biggest game in the history of any sport and then Pop would bench everyone and take the loss (and the fine).

Pop is the best coach in the NBA. There are a lot of reasons for that, but my favorite one is how he understands that it is a marathon and not a sprint. And he (like LeBron) understands that the regular season means next to nothing when you are a championship contendor.

Beating Golden State twice in the regular season would mean nothing if we lost to them in the finals again. It is just 1/82 games, and we play another one of those 82 games the next day against Portland. It can get frustrating as fans, but I honestly wish we would start resting guys on back to backs. LeBron said it best last year when he said he doesn't care if we are the 8th seed just get us to the playoffs healthy and it is a different ball game. Golden State beat us twice in the Q in the finals and we beat them once in the Oracle. Home court doesn't mean nearly as much as health and peaking at the right time.

I wouldn't rush Kyrie back for GS, and I wouldn't care at all if we just trolled them by benching everyone. I guarantee that would get in their heads and under their skin.

 

[Kizzle]

I'm sure I'm one of the only people with this opinion, but I hope Blatt just trolls the Warriors like Popovich used to do with the Heat. Everyone would say OMG this game is the biggest game in the history of any sport and then Pop would bench everyone and take the loss (and the fine).

Pop is the best coach in the NBA. There are a lot of reasons for that, but my favorite one is how he understands that it is a marathon and not a sprint. And he (like LeBron) understands that the regular season means next to nothing when you are a championship contendor.

Beating Golden State twice in the regular season would mean nothing if we lost to them in the finals again. It is just 1/82 games, and we play another one of those 82 games the next day against Portland. It can get frustrating as fans, but I honestly wish we would start resting guys on back to backs. LeBron said it best last year when he said he doesn't care if we are the 8th seed just get us to the playoffs healthy and it is a different ball game. Golden State beat us twice in the Q in the finals and we beat them once in the Oracle. Home court doesn't mean nearly as much as health and peaking at the right time.

I wouldn't rush Kyrie back for GS, and I wouldn't care at all if we just trolled them by benching everyone. I guarantee that would get in their heads and under their skin.

And why would they be frustrated?

Because deep down in their conscience they don't think they would have beat us if we had Love and Kyrie

 

[Jig18]

I'm sure I'm one of the only people with this opinion, but I hope Blatt just trolls the Warriors like Popovich used to do with the Heat. Everyone would say OMG this game is the biggest game in the history of any sport and then Pop would bench everyone and take the loss (and the fine).

Pop is the best coach in the NBA. There are a lot of reasons for that, but my favorite one is how he understands that it is a marathon and not a sprint. And he (like LeBron) understands that the regular season means next to nothing when you are a championship contendor.

Beating Golden State twice in the regular season would mean nothing if we lost to them in the finals again. It is just 1/82 games, and we play another one of those 82 games the next day against Portland. It can get frustrating as fans, but I honestly wish we would start resting guys on back to backs. LeBron said it best last year when he said he doesn't care if we are the 8th seed just get us to the playoffs healthy and it is a different ball game. Golden State beat us twice in the Q in the finals and we beat them once in the Oracle. Home court doesn't mean nearly as much as health and peaking at the right time.

I wouldn't rush Kyrie back for GS, and I wouldn't care at all if we just trolled them by benching everyone. I guarantee that would get in their heads and under their skin.

I like this thinking with the troll job BUT what if the Warriors are still undefeated? Wouldn't it feel pretty good/great/awesome to knock off that stupid streak? Does that get into their heads? Walking in there and beating the streak on Christmas day? The Christmas game is the first of a back to back. Rest em the 2nd game. I know that the regular season means nothing but is it important to have goals or "little victories" throughout the season to build team chemistry/morale/etc? Just thinking out loud.

 

[The Wizard of Moz]

And why would they be frustrated?

Because deep down in their conscience they don't think they would have beat us if we had Love and Kyrie

Make no mistake. They have this game circled just as much as we do. They want to prove the narrative wrong that they got lucky we were injured. Plus those nerds love the regular season.

I like this thinking with the troll job BUT what if the Warriors are still undefeated? Wouldn't it feel pretty good/great/awesome to knock off that stupid streak? Does that get into their heads? Walking in there and beating the streak on Christmas day? The Christmas game is the first of a back to back. Rest em the 2nd game. I know that the regular season means nothing but is it important to have goals or "little victories" throughout the season to build team chemistry/morale/etc? Just thinking out loud.

I personally don't think they will still be undefeated by then, but it is definitely possible. Don't get me wrong, as a fan it would be pretty sweet. But I would rather end their little title streak at 1 than their win streak. I know they are mutually exclusive, but I guess I am just thinking ahead.

As for resting them the second game I would have no problem with that. I personally just don't plan on taking anything positive or negative from this Warriors game.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

How about we win without asterisks (on both sides)? Then GS can't say #$@% about how they were better than us last year.

There are no asterisks. Look up the list of NBA champions at NBA.com if you don't believe me.

Injuries have always been a key part of the NBA, and after a bit, nobody cares or remembers. If we'd won it all last year, would our title have been tainted because Atlanta and Chicago weren't healthy?

You can always make excuses about why the other team won, but in the end, the only thing that matters is who walks away with the trophy.

So yeah, I'm hoping for sprained ankles, bum knees, back spasms, and non-fatal motorcycle accidents.

Winning the title is the only thing that matters.