Kyrie Irving

[metalman213]

Kyrie seems to live for those moments. He almost rope-a-dopes for three quarters. Look at Sunday night’s game. His jumper was off. He looked lethargic. But once that fourth quarter rolled around, his jumper starts falling, he gets to the basket and the line, he hits the open man. And the whole team starts to feel it. Their energy level goes way up.

completely agree, rest of article: http://www.cavfanatic.com/blogs/from...e_q/_back-hunt

[Off-Season God]

Kyrie has just been amazing this year. He's improved practically around the board even from the beginning of the season. His defense looks lightyears better than it did at the beginning of the season. Here's one encouraging stat that I figured:

Steals per game for first 20 games: .75
Steals per game for last 15 games: 1.2

And he is much better at keep up on his man and affecting shots than he was at the beginning of the season as well. Overall these past 15 games, Kyrie's been averaging 18.7ppg/6.1apg/4rpg/1.2spg/.5bpg. There was also a span of free throws where Kyrie went 47-49. By the end of next season, Kyrie could be a legit 25/8/5/1.5/.7 guy who shoots 52/43/92. He's going to improve over the offseason. His skills and everything will be better, and so will his team mate's so he can get more assists, better spacing for driving, etc. He will also be in much better physical shape. I expect Kyrie to look like a different player by the start of next season. He looks out of shape right now even from his college days. He just doesn't have the tone he used to have (not that he was super toned to begin with). I expect him to be in even better shape by next season than he was in college. He will be bigger, stronger, faster, and have much better endurance. This may be where we see his effort on the court pick up for all four quarters especially on defense. Kyrie seems to slowly pace himself for 3 1/2 quarters and give it his all at the end. Maybe he does this because he doesn't have the stamina to do it the whole game? I'm sure Scott will be ready to play Kyrie big, big minutes (36-40 mpg) next season, so his endurance will have to be top notch. Not to mention that the extra 5-10 minutes in play time will definitely increase his stats as well. Wuck, I'm excited!

He could be in top 10 MVP talks as early as next season. Here' to Irving being the Kobe Bryant of point guards!

Btw, where can I buy a real Irving jersey? What's the best kind of jersey to get? The same ones that the players wear or swingmen? Do they wear swingmen jerseys? What's the difference? Sorry to get off-topic, but I'm ready to buy an Irving jersey now.

[CzBoobie]

By the end of next season, Kyrie could be a legit 25/8/5/1.5/.7 guy who shoots 52/43/92.

This nonsense again? Do you really not realize that these numbers are pretty much the best numbers a PG ever had?

[KI4MVP]

This nonsense again? Do you really not realize that these numbers are pretty much the best numbers a PG ever had?

he will be pretty close to those numbers. You do realize he's having one of the best rookie seasons ever by a PG.

22/8/5 on 50/40/90 shooting is certainly reasonable for him next year - he should come pretty close to those numbers these next 27 games.

[CzBoobie]

he will be pretty close to those numbers. You do realize he's having one of the best rookie seasons ever by a PG.

22/8/5 on 50/40/90 shooting is certainly reasonable for him next year - he should come pretty close to those numbers these next 27 games.

He is shooting 43.5% in his last 15 games, 50% is way far from where he is now with 47.5% that includes a month with extremely hot shooting where he also played the least minutes. 90% free throws are also extremely rare. 40% on threes is certainly reasonable. 52/43/92 is just a wet dream though.

[ArchieBunker7]

Interested to see how KI fares against his kryptonite tonight, Calderon.

I thought Calderon was out?

[KI4MVP]

I believe Calderon is out

[Kyrie_K2]

I thought Calderon was out?

He is

[CavsinFL]

I thought Calderon was out?

My bad, I am not sure but you might be right. I just saw Toronto on the schedule.

Oh well, that's what I get for not following Toronto basketball... phhttt

[MoneyMP3]

Kyrie Irving is pretty good at basketball. You guys agree?

[Randolphkeys]

This is NOT EAYOR. If you attack other posters personally, there are consequences. Keep the topic on basketball.

[CavsinFL]

All I have to say is I am so happy that Harrison Barnes stayed in school another year, because it really seemed like the rumors going around (and yes maybe it was all smokescreen) was that Barnes is who the Cavs wanted, and would've seriously considered him with the 1st pick if he wasn't already their favorite. So glad things turned out how they did, and that we didn't blow the pick on D Will either

[Off-Season God]

He is shooting 43.5% in his last 15 games, 50% is way far from where he is now with 47.5% that includes a month with extremely hot shooting where he also played the least minutes. 90% free throws are also extremely rare. 40% on threes is certainly reasonable. 52/43/92 is just a wet dream though.

25/8/5/1.5/.7 is certainly not unreasonable for Kyrie. Here are his per 36 minutes numbers this season. Also, for the first half of the season, Kyrie's FG% and 3P%

Season Age Tm Lg G GS MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
2011-12 19 CLE NBA 35 35 1084 8.0 16.8 .475 1.4 3.5 .406 4.0 4.6 .864 1.1 3.1 4.2 6.3 1.1 0.5 3.4 2.7 21.4
Career NBA 35 35 1084 8.0 16.8 .475 1.4 3.5 .406 4.0 4.6 .864 1.1 3.1 4.2 6.3 1.1 0.5 3.4 2.7 21.4

Kyrie will be playing close to 36 minutes per game next season if not more. Not only that, but his numbers will likely be higher than these per 36 numbers. He's going to improve a lot over the off-season because of his lack of conditioning and an NBA-ready body. His skills will improve immensely as well. From these per 36 numbers, Kyrie would only have to get 3.6 more points, 1.7 more assists, .8 more rebounds, .4 more steals, and .2 more blocks per game to reach the 25/8/5/1.5/.7 I think he can do next season. LeBron was able to improve all of his numbers the season after his rookie season by amounts far greater than I just listed in all statistics except blocks. Kyrie's per 36 scoring is 21.4 compared to LeBron's 19.1 from his rookie season. Kyrie's efficiency is also off the wall comared to James' rookie season numbers. You have too little faith in Kyrie if you don't think that Kyrie can't improve to the numbers I listed especially with the evidence showing that he can do it.

Also, through the first 20 games of the season, here are Kyrie's shooting efficiency numbers:

.511 .411 .821

Other than ft%, his fg% and 3p% are telling of how he could do 52/43 next season no problem. Also, these last 15 games, here's his ft%: .92. He's a rookie, and he's only going to get better. We've already seen him in long streaks of what he can do. Right there's your 52/43/92.

[JSS2306]

It's no coincidence that Kyrie and Ricky Rubio both slumped around the same time. Ricky of course is injured now but Kyrie is missing shots and lay ups that were gimme's before.

I feel like Kyrie is deferring a lot during the first 3 quarters to conserve for the fourth. A sure sign he knows he's tired. I wouldn't mind seeing Kyrie come off the bench for a few games with even more limited minutes than Byron is giving him so he can come out stronger than before.

This schedule is harsh and pretty much unprecedented so it's no shocker.

[SanduskyCav]

It's no coincidence that Kyrie and Ricky Rubio both slumped around the same time. Ricky of course is injured now but Kyrie is missing shots and lay ups that were gimme's before.

I feel like Kyrie is deferring a lot during the first 3 quarters to conserve for the fourth. A sure sign he knows he's tired. I wouldn't mind seeing Kyrie come off the bench for a few games with even more limited minutes than Byron is giving him so he can come out stronger than before.

This schedule is harsh and pretty much unprecedented so it's no shocker.

He's averaging 17pts 7ast 5rebs over his last five games...Yes he had two poor shooting nights but I wouldn't call it a slump.