Kyrie Irving

[mds]

Sheesh, guys. Before we talk about breaking this team up, know that we have the talent to beat Golden State. All we need do is 1) have guys play to their full potential; 2) play as a team; and 3) stay healthy.

We have seen all three at times, and sometimes together. We know (or should know), that when this team is firing on all cylinders, they can beat anyone. We saw this same team minus some parts sweep the east last year despite not getting home court. This team is deeper and is now coached by someone who won rings--and played with Kobe and Jordan--and coached with a head coach who won a ring. He knows something.

Heck, the world champion Denver Broncos played to a tie with the Browns this past year after four quarters, so lapses happen. Just don't panic when things go a bit awry during a long season.

Monday's game was terrible; we've seen others like it. But we've seen other games that show greatness.

Let's see what happens in the playoffs, for which this team is built. I can't stress this enough. This team is not overly concerned with killing themselves when they are bored, have lots of away games and back to backs just to get one extra playoff game when they could once again sweep the east. Maybe they won't, but I don't see any team but one who could beat us 4 times our of 7 when we have LeBron.

If they fall in the playoffs, trades will be considered--but only for other all stars in their prime locked up for years--not role players. Kevin and Kyrie are all star talent locked up for years. They are quite valuable. Teams just don't trade these kinds of players, so, trading just to trade makes no sense, especially make such suggestions before the playoffs even occur.

Entirely too upbeat and optimistic!!!

I keep thinking about our amazing regular season where we won 66 games and everyone said we were going all the way...

 

[jon connor]

I don't really see any reason to be optimistic. Theres nothing that leads me to believe we'd have a chance against the Warriors even fully healthy. As crazy as it might sound I think we had a better chance last year with Love and Kyrie hurt because the Warriors had the jitters for the first half of the series and playing with shump/Delly/Tristan type players seems to bring the best out of LeBron. Now, the Warriors might be the best team of all time and we cant even get our big 3 to play decent together. Cant really say I feel good about this year

 

[Flight479]

I'd take Lillard over Kyrie in a heartbeat. He's not as offensively potent but close enough, a more willing passer, seems to be a better leader, more of a winner mentality, far less injury prone. Portland says no though.

 

[Flight479]

I agree Love is the one that has to go...if only because Kyrie is younger...Some team may still feel Love us a superstar and we just couldn't use him correctly...I think Live is just a slightly above average player...I would love Bradley on this team

That's a shame because I like Love's unselfishness more than Kyrie's play but Love just is far too underwhelming and inconsistent.

 

[Photon]

Watch him go to a team with good perimeter defense and be the Love of old. And our new role players falter under playoff pressure...

 

[Thelorn]

The best part of this thread is the list of excuses you guys make for this lazy selfish kid, then throw super model Love under the bus for everything he does.

 

[roozy]

The best part of this thread is the list of excuses you guys make for this lazy selfish kid, then throw super model Love under the bus for everything he does.

Wait a minute, am I in the right thread? Kyrie's thread is always bumping after a loss and usually its very blunt with what is being said. Love has had excuses for himself since he got here for him not doing well, hes been terrible for damn near two and a half months and already people are questioning if his "Back" is ok. Kyrie is the go to excuse for Love being shit currently and people have even blamed Lebron for his issues. People wanna blame Kyrie, Love, Lebron or role players individually for losses when I feel that the whole team was shit and it shouldn't just be one guy getting the brunt of it. The Memphis game was a microcosm of the bullshit going on with this team and it took a team effort to produce that putrid performance.

 

[Jon]

I'd take Lillard over Kyrie in a heartbeat. He's not as offensively potent but close enough, a more willing passer, seems to be a better leader, more of a winner mentality, far less injury prone. Portland says no though.

Lillard is also 2 years older than Irving, which is why we still have to talk about whether Kyrie is on track to getting where we want him to be.

 

[HurricaneKid]

My enjoyment of the team has dropped significantly since Kyrie's return. At some point there just isn't any upside there despite a guy's youth. And when you are the same player you were 4 yrs ago it's hard to imagine getting significantly better. I mean what does he do better now? I really thought he had turned the corner last year. I guess not.

 

[Jon]

My enjoyment of the team has dropped significantly since Kyrie's return. At some point there just isn't any upside there despite a guy's youth. And when you are the same player you were 4 yrs ago it's hard to imagine getting significantly better. I mean what does he do better now? I really thought he had turned the corner last year. I guess not.

He's making it hard, but he's also recovering from a severe injury that has set back the progress he had been making melding his game with the team.

The ball movement from everyone on the team had been improving recently (until the Memphis game) ... they just have to want to do it, and let it grow. It shouldn't be so hard, and they should be further down the road then they are, but there are signs.

 

[Visitor]

The only signs i see from Kyrie are him forcing passes that dont make any sense. Watching him feed lebron or run the PNR with him is sad. He gives lebron the ball just for the sake of giving him the ball. Delly gets lebron the ball in position to score or at least facilitate another pass.

Kyries issues are all between his ears.

 

[Photon]

I'm wondering if there is a player that can use KI and LeBron of ball and be great enough to get them actually of the ball... Because LeBron will have to move down low and KI is not the type to ever learn how to use that, or worse LeBron stays on the perimeter because there is no one to get him the ball in the post.
What type of player actually can use LeBron and KI of ball, Draymond Green? Because we are in danger to bring someone else in and make him KLove with the same team problems. 15 and 10 is a really great day for a role player..
Oth I am sure KI could be much better than K, but when and how?

 

[Tyrone Slothrop]

My enjoyment of the team has dropped significantly since Kyrie's return. At some point there just isn't any upside there despite a guy's youth. And when you are the same player you were 4 yrs ago it's hard to imagine getting significantly better. I mean what does he do better now? I really thought he had turned the corner last year. I guess not.

Honestly, if he wasn't on the Cavs, I wouldn't like him at all. And when I say, "him", I mean his game. He'd be great on the And-1 tour, though. I'm being a bit facetious, but his bad defense is becoming an albatross for this team.

 

[Rich]

Honestly, if he wasn't on the Cavs, I wouldn't like him at all. And when I say, "him", I mean his game. He'd be great on the And-1 tour, though. I'm being a bit facetious, but his bad defense is becoming an albatross for this team.

This is how I feel right now. If he weren't here, I'd just mock him as being another no defense chucker. Then again that wouldn't be fair, because he does have the talent to be more than that. And he is still very young. But I certainly wouldn't be calling him on the best PGs in the league if he weren't on this team.

Btw, anyone remember the start of the year when people were absolutely stunned that some could rank Damian Lillard ahead of Irving (including ESPN rank)? Well, I don't know if anyone has noticed, but, ugh, Damian Lillard has been better than Kyrie Irving this year.

 

[ACisKING]

This is how I feel right now. If he weren't here, I'd just mock him as being another no defense chucker. Then again that wouldn't be fair, because he does have the talent to be more than that. And he is still very young. But I certainly wouldn't be calling him on the best PGs in the league if he weren't on this team.

Btw, anyone remember the start of the year when people were absolutely stunned that some could rank Damian Lillard ahead of Irving (including ESPN rank)? Well, I don't know if anyone has noticed, but, ugh, Damian Lillard has been better than Kyrie Irving this year.

Yea Lillard has definitely been the better player this year. He's carrying a team that has no business being over .500 on paper to the Western Conference playoffs. That is arguably a greater achievement than anything Kyrie has ever accomplished in the NBA.

To be fair though to those who were surprised that Kyrie could be ranked behind Lillard at the beginning of the year, Kyrie was coming off of an All NBA 3rd Team season last year, which meant the voters considered Kyrie one of the six best guards in the NBA. And his underwhelming season so far can at least partly be attributed to Kyrie coming off a major surgery. But regardless, it's hard to argue that Lillard has been the better player this year.