In Praise of Kyrie Irving

[Fierce1]

This thing about with or without Kyrie is getting silly.

Let's just wait for the playoffs.

All this will be resolved once we see Kyrie in action, without Lebron, in this year's playoffs.

[ozgod]

Out of laziness - the Celtics are 10-2 when Kyrie doesn't play. Curious, anyone know who those teams were / strength of schedule in that sample?

Here you go. I pulled the data from basketball-reference.com

Code: [Select]

Game # Opponent Record at time Win % H/A Tm Opp W L

12 Utah Jazz 6-6 0.500 AWAY 115 123 1
26 New Orleans Pelicans 14-15 0.483 HOME 113 100 1
37 Minnesota Timberwolves 17-21 0.447 HOME 115 102 1
38 Dallas Mavericks 18-20 0.474 HOME 114 93 1
43 Brooklyn Nets 22-23 0.489 AWAY 102 109 1
48 Cleveland Cavaliers 9-40 0.184 HOME 123 103 1
50 Brooklyn Nets 27-24 0.529 HOME 112 104 1
51 Charlotte Hornets 24-26 0.480 HOME 126 94 1
54 Cleveland Cavaliers 11-43 0.204 AWAY 103 96 1
57 Philadelphia 76ers 36-21 0.632 AWAY 112 109 1
58 Detroit Pistons 26-30 0.464 HOME 118 110 1
66 Sacramento Kings 32-32 0.500 AWAY 111 109 1


A great reminder of why Irving is sitting out these games, and why the Celtics have a good record without him.

Not to take anything away from their achievements but it does put our 10-2 record without Kyrie into some perspective.

[Roy H.]

This is a great video.

https://twitter.com/NBAKicks/status/1104608975499100160

[Donoghus]

This is a great video.

https://twitter.com/NBAKicks/status/1104608975499100160

If you're a kid, I can't imagine there is a much better feeling in the world.

[seancally]

Out of laziness - the Celtics are 10-2 when Kyrie doesn't play. Curious, anyone know who those teams were / strength of schedule in that sample?

Here you go. I pulled the data from basketball-reference.com

Code: [Select]

Game # Opponent Record at time Win % H/A Tm Opp W L

12 Utah Jazz 6-6 0.500 AWAY 115 123 1
26 New Orleans Pelicans 14-15 0.483 HOME 113 100 1
37 Minnesota Timberwolves 17-21 0.447 HOME 115 102 1
38 Dallas Mavericks 18-20 0.474 HOME 114 93 1
43 Brooklyn Nets 22-23 0.489 AWAY 102 109 1
48 Cleveland Cavaliers 9-40 0.184 HOME 123 103 1
50 Brooklyn Nets 27-24 0.529 HOME 112 104 1
51 Charlotte Hornets 24-26 0.480 HOME 126 94 1
54 Cleveland Cavaliers 11-43 0.204 AWAY 103 96 1
57 Philadelphia 76ers 36-21 0.632 AWAY 112 109 1
58 Detroit Pistons 26-30 0.464 HOME 118 110 1
66 Sacramento Kings 32-32 0.500 AWAY 111 109 1


A great reminder of why Irving is sitting out these games, and why the Celtics have a good record without him.

Not to take anything away from their achievements but it does put our 10-2 record without Kyrie into some perspective.

TP ozgod... about what I expected.

[smokeablount]

Kyrie is currently 20th in usage rate (for reference, Doncic is 16th), which is low for a top 8-10 offensive player.

But he's 9th in assist rate, right ahead of Kyle Lowry and Ben Simmons, who are 2nd and 4th in the NBA in assists. 

You can make a very strong argument that Kyrie's passing is literally more elite than his scoring this year.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Kyrie is currently 20th in usage rate (for reference, Doncic is 16th), which is low for a top 8-10 offensive player.

But he's 9th in assist rate, right ahead of Kyle Lowry and Ben Simmons, who are 2nd and 4th in the NBA in assists. 

You can make a very strong argument that Kyrie's passing is literally more elite than his scoring this year.

I agree with this. The offense has certainly gone through growing pains, but Kyrie's playmaking moving forward will be huge.

He is also very high in free throw assists and potential assists, the second of which indicates he is getting a lot of good opportunities for his teammates, but they aren't connecting.

[LarBrd33]

This is a great video.

https://twitter.com/NBAKicks/status/1104608975499100160

He gives out his shoes after ever game.

Here's video of him after the Clippers loss waiting to encourage every single one of his teammates... and then give his shoes away:  https://twitter.com/VickenMat/status/1105336079920488448

[yaya]

With Kyrie on the team and the rest of the bench like Jaylen and Gordon they have enough depth

https://sportsblender.net/news/kyrie-irving-and-the-celtics-look-for-season-sweep-over-the-hawks?pid=39216

[Big333223]

This is a great video.

https://twitter.com/NBAKicks/status/1104608975499100160

He gives out his shoes after ever game.

Here's video of him after the Clippers loss waiting to encourage every single one of his teammates... and then give his shoes away:  https://twitter.com/VickenMat/status/1105336079920488448

Saw this video on twitter. This is the type of quiet, good stuff Kyrie does that gets overshadowed by the loud, stupid things he says.