The Case For Chicago The Point, Mythbusters edition: Kyrie Irving is an ideal second fiddle to LeBron James against the BullsI think that Kyrie Irving is the best prospect aside from Anthony Davis in the NBA. He's already a hell of a player.
But sometimes a very good player meets up with their kryptonite, and I believe that's what happened here.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=holidjr01&p2=irvinky01Against Jrue Holiday, for those too lazy to click on the link, here is what happened twice last season:
Holiday: 54.5% shooting, 78% from 3, 21.5 pts, 5.5 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers
Irving: 34.5% shooting, 40% from 3, 5.5 assists, 3 turnovers, 1 stealNow Roy will say Irving will get better, he'll say those numbers are a small sample size. Let me address both.
1) Kyrie Irving will get better. He's 20 years old, just scratching his surface. But, Jrue Holiday will also get better. He's 22 years old, and also just scratching his surface. They'll both get better, but today, Jrue HolidY is an elite defensive PG, while Irving is just an elite offensive scorer Holiday has seemed to figure out.
2) it is a small sample size, but you know what else is a small sample size? KYRIE IRVING'S WHOLE CAREER. The dude has only played in 51 total NBA games, while holiday has been the starting pg in 2 seasons and 2 post seasons. If you're going to take Kyrie Irving on faith, Holiday not only demands the same consideration, he deserves more.
And the way Holiday killed Irving shouldn't be a huge surprise.
http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2012/01/kyrie_irvings_defense_a_growin.html?mobRedir=false"Sometimes I hesitate, but a lot of times I'm looking at how he's playing on the defensive end," Byron Scott said. "C.J. Watson to me almost looked like Rose the way he was going by him. "If you can't get stops it doesn't matter what you are doing offensively because sooner or later you're going to cool down."
Of the 99 players to defend at least 75 single-covered isolation plays last season, Kyrie allowed the third-most points per play. Only Steve Blake and Dorell Wright were worse.
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7854279/ricky-rubio-kyrie-irving-final-nba-rookie-rankings-2012-season His problem is that he commits fouls on 15.6 percent of the isolation plays he defends, and this gives up free points.
Why does Irving foul so much? He's often in bad position. When his man drives, Irving ends up on his hip and reaches for the ball. For someone so quick on offense, it's strange to see Irving move so slowly and get beat on defense. When Irving crouches into a defensive stance, he struggles to get out of it quickly and stay in front of his man.
Holiday has Irvings number folks, and without the scoring, there really isn't much to be done for Dallas regarding Kyrie.
Two Guard: Dwyane Wade is awesome, or how two quarters dont always make fiddy centsThabo sefelsosha is a very good defender. Dwyane Wade won't average 50% shooting against him. But, career wise, Thabo has t averaged more than 25 mpg against Wade, and wade still out scores him by more than 10 pts. Ben Gordon is a good microwave scorer, but when was the last time he really gave wade a run in a series? I'll save you the trouble; 2006. And what's Wade done since 2006? Not much, won a championship, established himself as the best 2 guard in the game, managed to adapt his game to play next to whoever is on his team. What's Ben Gordon done? Managed to languish on the DETROIT PISTONS BENCH and reallly just regressed as a player. If Roy is allowed to pretend like its 2006 for some of his players, so should I. I got some awesome stats for Wade and Pierce, ifyourwondering.
Together, Thabo and Gordon make a good tandem, but either you're getting low defense and scoring (Gordy), or low offense and defense (Thabo). Either situation i welcome.
The forwards: LeBron James is awesome, but who cares?So I assume we all know LeBron James is awesome. He is. He's awesome.
But if I trot out Young/Pierce who does Lebron take? Pierce, right? So that makes Jeff 'No Heart' Green a 4 against Young. We all know how that goes; Jeff Green is a crappy 4.
What if I trot out Pierce/Bosh at the forwards? Who does LeBron take? Cuz the other guy is going to eat Jeff Green alive.
What about if I go small and trot out Wade/Pierce at the forwards? Sorry Jeff Green, ya just got roasted.
Jeff Green is a good backup 3, but he has no place here as a starter, not in this series.
So let's say the Mavs go big with Varejao at the 4, or Brand (doesn't matter). Guess what? Thad young can score on either guy. They're like, the reason he has a job. Lebron, still guarding Pierce.
The center position: Chris Bosh, Elton Brand, Varejao, and the blind taste test, and other notesPlayer A at Center:
19.7 PER at center
19.6 PER by opposing centers
Player B:
17.7 PER as center
15.4 PER by opposing centers
Player C:
18.4 PER as a center
12.4 PER by opposing centers
Which one is Chris Bosh, which one is Elton Brand, and which one is Anderson Varejao?
A is Andy. B is Elton Brand. C is Chris Bosh
Both Elton Brand and Andy have gotten reps as high level defenders, and I'm not contesting that. Elton Brand in particular really showed something last year.
But nobody thinks Chris Bosh can defend a paper bag.
The reason is two-fold. 1) people (me included) love to hate on Chris Bosh. 2) Chris Bosh played on terrible defensive teams for a lot of his career, and when he got to Miami, he had elite defenders Lebron James and Dwyane Wade overshadowing him. But here is the reality (apologies to WalkerWaggle):
Chris Bosh is a very capable defensive center especially when you surround him with elite defenders. Kind of like Elton Brand. Elton Brand had a great defensive year, but he also had (for my money) the best defensive wing in the league in Igouadala and a top 3 defensive PG in Jrue Holiday to help out. Without those guys, nobody is talking about Elton Brand's reinvention as a defensive stalwart, because he's not Dwight Howard or Kevin Garnett. Without elite perimeter defense, his own solid defense looks ordinary.
Without Elite defenders, Bosh would be ordinary. But he has elite defenders. He's got an elite defensive PG in Holiday, he's got an elite defensive SG in Wade, and he's got an elite defensive SF in Pierce. Don't believe me? Check this out:
http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=22335th best defensive Pg, 4th best defensive SG, 4th best defensive SF, and even the 5th best defensive center on the bench (Brendan Haywood).
As long as Bosh isnt guarding Howard or Bynum, he's not a defensive loss, he's a defensive plus, and a significant one. He does this by outscoring his opposition by nearly 9 points per 48 minutes on average, and playing very good help defense.
Against both Brand and Varejao Bosh has played pretty well historically. He shoots at his average last season, or better, and out scores either defender handily.
When Bosh is out or playing PF, Splitter or Haywood will take the reins. Haywood's defense against Brand and as a anchor should be more than adaquate, while Splitter in particular has had great success in the limited time he's faced Brand, scoring 15 points in 17 minutes the last time the two met.
Conclusion: BULLS WIN!!You either buy it or you don't. Personally, I think the Mavs are outclassed here. LeBron needed Wade and Bosh to win, and his cast of able if limited role players, a cast which possess an absolute ton of uncertainty (injuries, unfulfilled potential, both in Jeff Green's case) just aren't going to cut it against the Bulls. If Jrue Holiday can manage to not only shut down Kyrie Irving, AND score on the young buck, I don't think Dallas can recover from that. Chicago has too many weapons, too many options.
Also, when in doubt, I HAVE HOME COURT!!
Topic: CB Draft Finals: (1) Mavericks vs. (1) Bulls (Read 56671 times)