Kyrie Irving

[Layne Staley]

I don't want to turn this into a Fred bash but him and Austin need to be told to stop it with the puns, cheesy nicknames and lame jokes. It takes away from the intensity of the game.

With the free preview of league pass I've been able to sample other teams announcers, and there's no doubt about it Fred and Austin are some of the worst in the league. Other announcers might be bigger homers then Fred and Austin, but that's fine they are paid to be a little biased towards their teams. The problem is, like you said, their jokes and puns are just awful. It's getting really hard to listen to.

[JSS2306]

I don't want to turn this into a Fred bash but him and Austin need to be told to stop it with the puns, cheesy nicknames and lame inside jokes and focus on calling the game. It takes away from the intensity of the game and makes us look bad when other fans watch our broadcast.

Dude we have some of the best announcers in the league. They are personable and likeable. We could do so much worse.

[PosterTime]

I love Fred and AC. I don't have FSO yet at school so I've been watching illegal streams. Other teams announcers are so brutally boring, plain, and emotionless. Do they get cheesy at times? Yes, but they bring life to the game instead of sounding like other announcers who seem like they're announcing a Female High School JV basketball preseason games.







Oh yeah, since this is the Kyrie thread, I have a massive man crush on Kyrie.

[GQinCtown]

I also don't think we've seen the level of passing of which Kyrie is capable yet.

That's the best part. We haven't seen the level of capability that he has in any facet of his game yet. He's 20 years old.

[Keith]

When we become a contender one thing that I believe will help this team is our attitude. You see a lot of up and coming teams struggle once they get into the playoffs (Atlanta, Denver, etc). With Kyrie and Dion we have two playmakers who can attack the basket and get to the free throw line, they shoot a solid percentage too. This can help in a comeback win or in holding off a team from making a comeback. We also have guys won't shrink from the moment, they want the pressure on them, which is a good thing.

On a side note: Fred and AC are a truly horrendous announcing team as far as objectivity and professionalism are concerned. But every game they root for the wine and gold, and at least bring something different to the table. It's a probably a 70/30 split as far as entertainment and the actual game of basketball being discussed, but i've heard worse. I just can't wait until A.C. knocks Fred out with one of his patented elbows to the face, or whatever the hell they do behind the broadcast table.

[mAo_mAo]

I love our announcers. Especially AC. That dude cracks me up every time. You just never know what phrase will just come out.

I love Super K, BTW.

[CardiacCavs]

So, at what point in time are we able to give this guy the longest extension possible?

[Jack Brickman]

I don't find Fred and AC to be any worse than most of the other announce teams in the league, and they are better than at least a couple. Milwaukee takes the award for worst announce team in the league. Not only are they giant homers, but they're also stupid. They don't know their facts at all.
And I'm someone who has League Pass and doesn't live in Ohio, so I have to suffer through the home announce team every game, which can get really painful at times.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by the Clippers announce team the other night. They were pretty objective and fairly knowledgeable.

As far as Fred and AC go, at least they tend to know quite a bit about the other team, and they do criticize the Cavs when they are playing poorly or the other team is playing really well. They point out what the team is doing wrong and how the other team is beating them. Their little in-jokes are lame and they go way overboard with their puns, but they do seem to know plenty about basketball.

[EdgarJones]

AC is just always going to do his 'thing'. It doesn't bother me and I really do like hearing "get that weak stuff outta here".

More importantly, back to Kyrie. He plays with the confidence of a 10 year vet. Point-guard wise, is there anything he
doesn't do well ? We're really lucky to have such a great player so soon after LBJ. It won't be long until he's the best point
guard in the league. Getting better players around him will just make him more valuable to this team.

[The Human Q-Tip]

Well, no. You just obviously share his more liberal definition of the term. That's fine.

Personally, I think the term should be more strict. There's no "right" answer to this question.

I think the issue was that you rather dogmatically came out and said "people need to stop using the word 'contend'", because it only applies if a team has a "VERY STRONG" chance of winning a championship. Now, you're saying there is "no right answer" to that question, which I think is a bit more correct.

Semantics aside, I think the point may have been that this team may very soon have the talent to contend, even if the talent hasn't yet matured enough to to be one of the favorites for the title. I personally think we need a major frontcourt player for that to happen, and then the chips have to keep falling right with Irving and Waiters. But I could see such a team getting hot and knocking off a league power in the playoffs as soon as next year. Again, if the chips fall right.

And I think the key to us making an early run and possibly stunning some team next year is Andy. Whatever our backcourt produces, and regardless of whether we managed to add a stud frontcourt guy, Andy is going to have to provide the veteran leadership by example and hustle that let's a talented but inexperienced team rise above themselves for a series.

[Jon]

I like listening to the other team's announcers because I'm always looking for a different perspective on what I'm seeing/thinking; but I can understand those who prefer to just have Fred & Austin because otherwise it's kind of like hanging out in enemy territory.

[AuxiliaryPie]

Inspired by previous posters:


i give you: Gladiator Kyrie

[sam_slam911]

Even scarier when you actually check the dates and realize Kyrie doesn't turn 21 till the end of this season, not next month like the article says.

[Nathan S]

Just goes through the motions and puts up 28, 7, and 6. Granted he was less than useless on defense (is he even trying? I don't even see him go into a normal crouching defensive posture?), but those are big time numbers on what felt like an off night. It's only a matter of time before he goes off for 40+.

[Jon]

Kyrie is +13 over all in +/- so far this season - which is 4th on the team and 4th among starters. He should be much higher, but he still coasts on offense for stretches, and I don't think they've invented the pick he can't get stuck on defensively.

Still he's averaging 19.6 attempts per game in just 34.2 minutes, so he's getting his shots up and 5.6 free throw attempts per game is pretty high as well.