A Closer Look at Kyrie Irving

[Green Lantern]

I'm not about to try to compare Irving to any of the PG's in the league right now.Let the guy make his own mark and his game do whats needed for the team.

 

[ACDC_Rocks024]

Just curious...what happened with the whole Ms. Hawaii scandal?

 

[Hydroponic3385]

Moving onto Markieff? :chuckles:

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[DraftPick]

Kyrie is back on Twitter! @Ky1Irving I feel like once Boobie is gone he will change his number back to 1.

 

[fly88]

Kyrie is back on Twitter! @Ky1Irving I feel like once Boobie is gone he will change his number back to 1.

Ya, well Gibson should be gone before the season starts (whenever that is) because I think it's not allowed to change numbers during the season.

 

[Jon]

Perhaps Wall would have been taken before Irving, but it would have been based on speed/hops/reach, not talent or NCAA performance.

Personally, I don't want the next Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose, or John Wall as our PG ... it would be LeISO all over again, but just shifted to a different position on the court. It's telling that Dx nails Wall's upside as Westbrook, and Irving's as Deron. I'd prefer the later. Deron wouldn't struggle to share the ball with Kevin Durant.

The fact Kyrie chose Duke just means he's smart AND skilled. How many of those Dukie busts were top players in the nation coming out of HS? They sure didn't wreck Grant Hill, and if his season at Duke helped Kyrie avoid becoming a me-me player - all the better.

 

[mcfly]

To add to your statement, I think Irving will likely age better than Rose, Westbrook, and Wall. I see Irving as the PG version of Joe Johnson.

 

[CzBoobie]

Perhaps Wall would have been taken before Irving, but it would have been based on speed/hops/reach, not talent or NCAA performance.

Personally, I don't want the next Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose, or John Wall as our PG ... it would be LeISO all over again, but just shifted to a different position on the court. It's telling that Dx nails Wall's upside as Westbrook, and Irving's as Deron. I'd prefer the later. Deron wouldn't struggle to share the ball with Kevin Durant.

The fact Kyrie chose Duke just means he's smart AND skilled. How many of those Dukie busts were top players in the nation coming out of HS? They sure didn't wreck Grant Hill, and if his season at Duke helped Kyrie avoid becoming a me-me player - all the better.

Westbrook WITH BETTER COURT VISION. Wall is a pure point guard, rather than SG turned PG like Westbrook, he just has his athletic ability, if not even better.

 

[Lee]

Perhaps Wall would have been taken before Irving, but it would have been based on speed/hops/reach, not talent or NCAA performance.

Personally, I don't want the next Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose, or John Wall as our PG ... it would be LeISO all over again, but just shifted to a different position on the court. It's telling that Dx nails Wall's upside as Westbrook, and Irving's as Deron. I'd prefer the later. Deron wouldn't struggle to share the ball with Kevin Durant.

The fact Kyrie chose Duke just means he's smart AND skilled. How many of those Dukie busts were top players in the nation coming out of HS? They sure didn't wreck Grant Hill, and if his season at Duke helped Kyrie avoid becoming a me-me player - all the better.

Jason Williams comes to mind, but he didnt develop because of a car crash. But battier turned into a very solid pro, and Brand was good until a knee, and we hate Boozer, but he is a heck of a basketball player and Maggette has had a good career. So basically as long as you dont draft a white Duke player you are ok (all though dunleavy has had a decent career, and Laetner was ok)

As for rather having Deron Williams than a Westbrook? I agree 100%. That is they type of pg we need.

 

[Alec]

Perhaps Wall would have been taken before Irving, but it would have been based on speed/hops/reach, not talent or NCAA performance.

So physical attributes aren't part of the "talent" equation?

Ok then.

 

[chrisrich91]

So physical attributes aren't part of the "talent" equation?

Ok then.

Not necessarily. Just ask Gerald Green.

 

[Jon]

So physical attributes aren't part of the "talent" equation?

Ok then.

Did you just draw an illogical conclusion and pat yourself on the back for it?

 

[Pioneer10]

Kyrie's shooting is what separates him from other draft prospects. Everyone talks about Fredette and his shooting but Irving's shooting numbers in terms of Points per possession are even better then Fredette's.

He shoots equally well off both the pull up and his feet set which is unusual for a young player. This indicates he will do fine in the NBA where a wing player has to be able shoot off the dribble to make the pick and roll work

Basically I see a kid who has Mark Price type of shooting ability but who is also a significantly better athlete which allows him to be a better finisher then defender. Even though he was the consensus #1, I almost feels he's become underrated because he isn't as explosive as Derrick Rose or Westbrook. While not at the level, IMO he has above NBA average athleticism for the position as his athleticism compares favorably to guys like Deron Williams, Terry, prime Kidd, prime Billups, Paul, etc.

 

[Prime 1978]

In comarison to the 2010 draft, call me crazy but I would've drafted Irving over Wall. Besides the shooting advantage, the thing I like that Kyrie has over Wall is playing with a controlled pace. Kyrie from what I saw always has another gear to go to. Wall seems to play too fast sometimes which causes a lot of turnovers. Even a guy like Ramon Sessions often plays too fast and it causes trouble. I just remember watching Sessions and Wall on quite a few possessions dribble really fast to the basket, have nothing and jump in the air looking for someone to pass to. I only have limited opps of seeing Kyrie but I never saw him do that. In terms of driving the ball to the hoop there's no replacement for pure speed and athleticsm..i get that. However change of pace is just as effective in terms of getting to the hoop and Kyrie even at a young age has a good grasp of this...well so it seems.

Add to that a refined mid range jumper and you get a 19 yr old rookie with a skill set that is usually reserved for veterans adapting to playing once their athleticsm has started to leave them.

 

[Phills14]

In comarison to the 2010 draft, call me crazy but I would've drafted Irving over Wall. Besides the shooting advantage, the thing I like that Kyrie has over Wall is playing with a controlled pace. Kyrie from what I saw always has another gear to go to. Wall seems to play too fast sometimes which causes a lot of turnovers. Even a guy like Ramon Sessions often plays too fast and it causes trouble. I just remember watching Sessions and Wall on quite a few possessions dribble really fast to the basket, have nothing and jump in the air looking for someone to pass to. I only have limited opps of seeing Kyrie but I never saw him do that. In terms of driving the ball to the hoop there's no replacement for pure speed and athleticsm..i get that. However change of pace is just as effective in terms of getting to the hoop and Kyrie even at a young age has a good grasp of this...well so it seems.

Add to that a refined mid range jumper and you get a 19 yr old rookie with a skill set that is usually reserved for veterans adapting to playing once their athleticsm has started to leave them.

I'm with you. I'm not a fan of John Wall. He's incredibly fast, probably the fastest guy in the league but that can get him in trouble sometimes. He to me seems to be a volume scorer. A bigger and less talented version of Allen Iverson. That's not a knock at all but Iverson, for as good as he was, was not a PG nor did he win a lot of games. His team made it to the finals once but other than that, no Iverson team was a deep playoff contender.