AVERY BRADLEY was the one who sparked our winning streak

[vinnie]

Kyrie Irving made Avery look like a scrub on both ends of the floor tonight.  Other than a near-steal early on (that was foiled when Bradley stepped out of bounds), Avery was a non-factor, and Kyrie had his way, getting into the paint anytime he wanted.

This is 100 percent correct. Irving destroyed Bradley tonight. And, despite his six points, he is so bad on offense it is painful. You think they don't guard Rondo. There isn't a guy in the same county as Bradley when the C's are on offense. And, you can see that the other guys try not to pass him the ball.

[Eja117]

Irving was Avery's personal nightmare. He's going to be a lot of guy's nightmares

[vinnie]

Irving was Avery's personal nightmare. He's going to be a lot of guy's nightmares

I think within three years, Kyrie will be a top 3 point guard. Impressive to say the least, and doing it on a bad team.

[Celtics4ever]

Irving did eat him up but you'd expect a number one pick to do that.   But the kid got hurt tonight meaning Bradley.

I still don't care for his one dimensional game of defense.  He did hit a shot tonight from range.   I am still not confident in his decision making and think our guys avoid him when passing a lot.   I still think he has trouble with the pick and roll and saw that happen a few times tonight again.

I for one will be glad to have Rondo back.   But this experience should only help us down the road.

[PosImpos]

Irving was Avery's personal nightmare. He's going to be a lot of guy's nightmares

I think within three years, Kyrie will be a top 3 point guard. Impressive to say the least, and doing it on a bad team.

Better than Rose, Westbrook, Williams, or Paul within 3 years?  I'm skeptical.  I wouldn't count out John Wall yet, either.  Top 5, though -- probably.  Rubio will threaten, too.  Jennings has been looking really good also.

The NBA is stacked with talented young point guards right now.  Even a really good point guard -- a franchise player -- might not be top 3 at that position within a few years.

[chambers]

Irving was Avery's personal nightmare. He's going to be a lot of guy's nightmares

I think within three years, Kyrie will be a top 3 point guard. Impressive to say the least, and doing it on a bad team.

Better than Rose, Westbrook, Williams, or Paul within 3 years?  I'm skeptical.  I wouldn't count out John Wall yet, either.  Top 5, though -- probably.  Rubio will threaten, too.  Jennings has been looking really good also.

The NBA is stacked with talented young point guards right now.  Even a really good point guard -- a franchise player -- might not be top 3 at that position within a few years.

I would agree that at age 19, it's very easy to envision Irving as a better player than everyone you've mentioned on that list other than Rose. He could even be as good or better than Rose.
Their rookie stats are very similar (Irving more points, Rose more assists). The Cavs really do suck though.
He definitely looks like he'll be better than most of the above because of his jumpshot- it's better than Roses and Westbrooks.
He can finish in transition like Rondo, he can get to the hole like Rose, but he can shoot like Deron Williams.
He really is a triple threat. His on ball defense is excellent because of his quick feet too, really keeps his man in front.

Season is only 30% in, and he's carrying the load on a terrible team, like most number one picks, but I would agree he'll be a top three PG, if not the best PG in the league within 3-4 years.
He reminds me of a point guard version of Dwayne Wade and is he only 19! That's the amazing part about it. 10 more years in the league and he'll be 29..wow.

[BballTim]

Irving was Avery's personal nightmare. He's going to be a lot of guy's nightmares

I think within three years, Kyrie will be a top 3 point guard. Impressive to say the least, and doing it on a bad team.

Better than Rose, Westbrook, Williams, or Paul within 3 years?  I'm skeptical.  I wouldn't count out John Wall yet, either.  Top 5, though -- probably.  Rubio will threaten, too.  Jennings has been looking really good also.

The NBA is stacked with talented young point guards right now.  Even a really good point guard -- a franchise player -- might not be top 3 at that position within a few years.

  Yes, from what I read here, there's going to be 8-10 top 3 point guards in a few years, with every decent young(ish) point guard except for Rondo a lock to make the list.

[Eja117]

Irving was Avery's personal nightmare. He's going to be a lot of guy's nightmares

I think within three years, Kyrie will be a top 3 point guard. Impressive to say the least, and doing it on a bad team.

Better than Rose, Westbrook, Williams, or Paul within 3 years?  I'm skeptical.  I wouldn't count out John Wall yet, either.  Top 5, though -- probably.  Rubio will threaten, too.  Jennings has been looking really good also.

The NBA is stacked with talented young point guards right now.  Even a really good point guard -- a franchise player -- might not be top 3 at that position within a few years.

  Yes, from what I read here, there's going to be 8-10 top 3 point guards in a few years, with every decent young(ish) point guard except for Rondo a lock to make the list.

kinda tough to project a guy as top 3 when he's not top 3 now and he doesn't seem to care about improving.

[BballTim]

Irving was Avery's personal nightmare. He's going to be a lot of guy's nightmares

I think within three years, Kyrie will be a top 3 point guard. Impressive to say the least, and doing it on a bad team.

Better than Rose, Westbrook, Williams, or Paul within 3 years?  I'm skeptical.  I wouldn't count out John Wall yet, either.  Top 5, though -- probably.  Rubio will threaten, too.  Jennings has been looking really good also.

The NBA is stacked with talented young point guards right now.  Even a really good point guard -- a franchise player -- might not be top 3 at that position within a few years.

  Yes, from what I read here, there's going to be 8-10 top 3 point guards in a few years, with every decent young(ish) point guard except for Rondo a lock to make the list.

kinda tough to project a guy as top 3 when he's not top 3 now and he doesn't seem to care about improving.

  Haha.

[ScoobyDoo]

Bradley has all kinds of holes in his game right now, this is obvious.

I'm not too interested in how badly Irving abused him last night though. We've all gotten schooled many times before.

I am, however, "very" interested to see what kind of defensive effort, focus and tenacity Bradley gets after Irving with tomorrow night. This will tell us a lot more about who Avery Bradley is as a player. This is far more important than the fact that, last night, he got schooled by a very good young player.   

In fact, I'm also interested to see how badly, in general, we whack Cleveland as a whole.

If we come with no effort in Cleveland, I'd say the team has a "heart and pride" issue. If we come angry, interested in a "basketball" brawl and looking to blow them out by 20+, it'll mean we're in good shape mentally.

The Celtics should have a fair amount of collective frustration / anger with the way last night's game ended. I expect them to show it tomorrow night - if not, we're in for a long season.   


 

[PosImpos]

Irving was Avery's personal nightmare. He's going to be a lot of guy's nightmares

I think within three years, Kyrie will be a top 3 point guard. Impressive to say the least, and doing it on a bad team.

Better than Rose, Westbrook, Williams, or Paul within 3 years?  I'm skeptical.  I wouldn't count out John Wall yet, either.  Top 5, though -- probably.  Rubio will threaten, too.  Jennings has been looking really good also.

The NBA is stacked with talented young point guards right now.  Even a really good point guard -- a franchise player -- might not be top 3 at that position within a few years.

I would agree that at age 19, it's very easy to envision Irving as a better player than everyone you've mentioned on that list other than Rose. He could even be as good or better than Rose.
Their rookie stats are very similar (Irving more points, Rose more assists). The Cavs really do suck though.
He definitely looks like he'll be better than most of the above because of his jumpshot- it's better than Roses and Westbrooks.
He can finish in transition like Rondo, he can get to the hole like Rose, but he can shoot like Deron Williams.
He really is a triple threat. His on ball defense is excellent because of his quick feet too, really keeps his man in front.

Season is only 30% in, and he's carrying the load on a terrible team, like most number one picks, but I would agree he'll be a top three PG, if not the best PG in the league within 3-4 years.
He reminds me of a point guard version of Dwayne Wade and is he only 19! That's the amazing part about it. 10 more years in the league and he'll be 29..wow.

I can see where you're coming from on this, and I agree that Kyrie has been very impressive so far.  I guess I just don't see the kind of explosive athleticism and incredible physical tools in Kyrie that I see in players like Rose and Westbrook, or even in Chris Paul (pre-injury).  You've got to keep in mind that most of the players I mentioned are all probably going to get better, too, with the exception of D-Will and CP3.

I think Kyrie has a chance to be as good as D-Will has been at his best.  I'm not sure how much of a ceiling he has beyond that, though.

In any case, even if Kyrie is every bit as talented as you say, part of my point is that the crop of young PGs in the league right now is so stacked that it could be very difficult in a few years time to differentiate between the top 5-7.

[Eja117]

I think it's undeniable this extra pt has been very good for Avery and Moore, to the point it wouldn't bother me lots if Rondo were traded now. Avery is 20 and actually looks like a real live nba player lots of times now, which is so much more than I ever thought he'd be

[celtics2]

So why are we 4-1 without Rondo??

[LarBrd33]

a soft schedule sparked our win streak.

[Celtics4ever]

The Captain is back in form too.  That is a huge help.