So I guess it’s just coincidence he had his 4 worst shooting games of his career in a row on the final 4 games? Dude was checked out there is no question he quit. Plus the comment after the game of him looking forward to watching Toronto and Milwaukee play? I don’t understand the Kyrie apologists.
of course it isn't a coincidence it is called a great defensive team focusing on one player in a series when no one else was shooting way so they could really key on Kyrie. Tatum shot 36.4% for the series. Did he give up? Rozier was 28.6%, did he give up? Smart shot a team low 9.1%, did he give up? Morris shot very well, Horford and Brown were pretty solid, but everyone else was hot garbage. That sometimes happens when you play the best team in the conference.
And here's the thing, Irving has always been prone to terrible shooting nights. He has had plenty of games where he has been awful and followed them up with awful games. He has had strings of 3 in 4 or 4 in 5 where he shot worse than the Bucks series. His inconsistency shooting shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone. That is who he has always been.
I disagree. I judge his performance and body language and they both sucked. He looked like he was already looking forward and certainly judging by his character with all these stories coming out it just backs it up even more. He didn’t want to play for the Celtics, his teammates or Brad Stevens.
Irving's body language always sucks. Whether is playing well or playing poorly. He carries himself the same way. He is a bad leader, always has been, but you guys are reading far too much into a series when the better team won. Boston wasn't that good last year. I said it all year long. Boston was a team with flaws and they started with its best player, but he was far from the only flaw on that roster last year. That team lacked top end talent, had significantly personality issues, and was poorly constructed to begin with. They quite simply got manhandled by a better team.
Sorry, but this is ridiculous.
They didn't seem to lack top-end talent nor did they seem "poorly constructed" when they won 55 games (without Hayward) and made it all the way to Game 7 of the ECF (without Hayward AND Kyrie) in 2018. Let's also not forget that those 2018 Celtics beat the Bucks (who were understandably not as good that year but still largely had the same roster) in the playoffs that season.
The Celtics had more individual talent than the Bucks last year and it was not even remotely close. They were probably the second-most talented team in the NBA.
Talent was not the issue. Neither was roster construction.
The problem was egos up and down the roster (not just Kyrie) that prevented the Celtics from achieving what they should have. If Kyrie weren't injured at the end of 2018 (not even Hayward; JUST Kyrie), that team goes to the finals, and I am 95 percent positive they go to the finals again last year (and probably win with all of Golden State's issues).
What happened last season was that Tatum, Brown and Rozier were feeling themselves after the ECF and run weren't that willing to lose shots (and playing time) to Irving and Hayward. Irving then compounded the problem by being a horrendous leader and disconnecting himself from his teammates.
A disastrous injury to Hayward and Kyrie having to get knee surgery at the end of 2018 is what ruined what should have been a long run of success. It wasn't a "lack of top-end talent," nor was it "poor roster construction."
I personally have zero ill will toward Irving. I don't particularly care about him. But it's pretty out there to deny that he mentally checked out in the Bucks series. I'm not saying he outright quit, but it was blatantly obvious that his focus was not there after Game 2.
Topic: I dislike Kyrie(merged threads) (Read 60644 times)