Ainge: "Kyrie has to improve defensively, he's an better passer than known for"

[CelticsElite]

https://mobile.twitter.com/celtics/status/905146301897089024

"he's a better passer [than he's known for]
Defensively he has to improve and I think be will under CBS system"

[SHAQATTACK]

playing out from under the " Bron " system or " ME" basketball should be an experience .

[Dino Pitino]

Watch, they're gonna get him to play average defense. And he's gonna average more assists, like, 8 or 9 versus 6.

[CelticsElite]

playing out from under the " Bron " system or " ME" basketball should be an experience .

agree

[Dannys Chipotle Guy]

I feel pretty optimistic about the passing.

He played primarily as a scorer, almost a 2 guard really, and has played his career on a carousel of Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline.ty coaches.

Give him the keys to a Brad Stevens offense and its entirely possible that he appears a much better passer.

I am more concerned about his defense. He has looked passable at times, but the effort level there is low; Isaiah is better in that regard.

Is that something that a little coaching and culture can fix? I dont know. I really dont. I will say, I feel less helpless asking Irving to D up Derozan or Wall or Lowry or Beal than I did IT. Not sure why that is.

[pearljammer10]

28, 8, and 4 for Kyrie this season.

[timpiker]

I'm not worried at all about Kyrie Irving

[mctyson]

Watch, they're gonna get him to play average defense. And he's gonna average more assists, like, 8 or 9 versus 6.

I think they will get him to at least be a non-negative on defense.

[Phantom255x]

28, 8, and 4 for Kyrie this season.

Better hope he plays better defense, otherwise people will bash him like they did Isaiah when he averaged 29/6/3 and played no defense. 

[crimson_stallion]

I'm going to predict that his numbers will fall somewhere in the 28/7/4 range. 

Defensively I do think he will improve -  he'll probably still be a below average defender, but not to nearly the extent that he has been in Cleveland.  That team just seemed to have no interest in D at all. 

Danny Ainge has flagged defence from day one as an area Kyrie needs to improve at - I don't recall any staff member or coach in Cleveland ever raising Kyrie's defence as a concern. I don't think they really cared, as long as he was getting buckets.   It's a different mentality in Boston - defensive improvement will be expected of him, and (based on things he's said so far) I think he genuinely wants to put in the effort to make that improvement.

I think the biggest reason he left Cleveland is he wants to prove that he is more then just a great sidekick - I think he wants to prove tot he world (and to himself) that he can be a franchise cornerstone and an MVP calibre player in his own right, much like like Harden did when he stepped out from behind the KD's / RW's shadow. I think he's wise enough right now to understand that defensive improvement is going to be an absolute key to making that leap.

[GreenWarrior]

IT was a bad defender because it was like he wasn't there. Kyrie will be better because opponents won't be able to just shoot over him.

[Roy H.]

One of the areas Kyrie needs to improve is passing while driving to the hoop. For a guy who penetrates as well as Kyrie does, both his FT rate and his assists off of kick outs are pretty low.

[crimson_stallion]

IT was a bad defender because it was like he wasn't there. Kyrie will be better because opponents won't be able to just shoot over him.

This - and if Cleveland can't bring in another star using that Brooklyn pick, they are going to find out very quickly how much of an effort it is when you are stuck playing 4-on-5 on defence. 

And while Thomas is out and Rose is starting in his place, they are going to need to find a way to deal with the total lack of court spacing - since a 5-man lineup that features Derrick Rose, Lebron James and Tristan Thompson would have to rate among the worst outside shooting lineups in the entire NBA, and opposing defences will be able to freely pick and choose who they want to sag off in order to clog up driving and passing lanes.  Given how much both Lebron and Rose depend on penetration for their offense, that could be interesting...

Having Crowder (and his ~40% 3PT shooting) out there is going to be absolutely crucial for Clevleand now that Kyrie is gone.   

[GratefulCs]

One of the areas Kyrie needs to improve is passing while driving to the hoop. For a guy who penetrates as well as Kyrie does, both his FT rate and his assists off of kick outs are pretty low.

i could be wrong, but it seems like his FT rate is low because he avoids contact on the way to the basket

whereas IT would draw the contact and put the shot up

definitely right about the kick outs

sometimes gets that "scorer's tunnel vision"