Kyrie’s monthly splits

[Roy H.]

I noted these splits in another thread:

Oddly, both Kyrie's passing and defense have gotten worse as the season has progressed, while his scoring and efficiency have improved.

Oct:  21.7 points, 5.7 assists, 3.7 rebounds, .543 TS%, 29.1 USG, 97 DRtg

Nov:  24.1 points, 4.9 assists, 3.1 rebounds, .612 TS%, 32.2 USG, 104 DRtg

Dec:  26.9 points, 4.2 assists, 2.0 rebounds, .641 TS%, 33.7 USG, 115 DRtg

What, if anything, is the narrative here? 

[Phantom255x]

Honestly, I feel like with how bad the bench has played this past month, it's forcing Kyrie to become more of a scorer, and so obviously his passing and defense took a hit.

The thing is, during the 16-game W streak, almost everything was going right for the C's, including their bench, which wasn't perfect, but was actually doing pretty well even on the offensive end.

But since the final few games of that W streak to now, the bench scoring has been putrid and also, with Marcus Morris still missing games, Kyrie is being forced to play hero a lot more now.

And while I love Tatum, I want to see him more involved in the offense, and see more plays called for him, which frankly doesn't seem to be the case the past few games..

[moiso]

Looks like he's slowly turning into pre Boston Kyrie.  High scoring, poor everything else.

[Big333223]

What, if anything, is the narrative here?

I think he had an idea of what his role was going to be on this team after training camp and preseason and the Hayward injury threw everything sideways. I don't think he wanted to come to Boston and be the chucker some thought he was but without Hayward, he was suddenly far and away the best scorer on the team.

I think this season has been a process of him getting comfortable with being this aggressive of a scorer not because it's something he's inherently uncomfortable with but because he thought he was going to come here and change his game but circumstances have intervened.

[smokeablount]

Honestly, I feel like with how bad the bench has played this past month, it's forcing Kyrie to become more of a scorer, and so obviously his passing and defense took a hit.

This is the simple narrative, but what's pretty crazy is the jump in the TS% from an already very high 61% to an astounding 64% on 33% usage.  Him looking to score with the ball in his hands more and being decisive about it, has seemingly led to him getting in a groove and hitting shots more efficiently once he knocks a few down. 

This supports my argument from the offseason, that the shots Kyrie can consistently make are shots that the opposing defense simply isn't able to take away.  He can make shots off the backboard at any angle and distance, and he can get wherever he wants with the dribble and has range out past the 3 point line on pull-ups. 

Let's just hope he can ratchet up the defense on a game by game basis when it's needed.

[PhoSita]

I noted these splits in another thread:

Oddly, both Kyrie's passing and defense have gotten worse as the season has progressed, while his scoring and efficiency have improved.

Oct:  21.7 points, 5.7 assists, 3.7 rebounds, .543 TS%, 29.1 USG, 97 DRtg

Nov:  24.1 points, 4.9 assists, 3.1 rebounds, .612 TS%, 32.2 USG, 104 DRtg

Dec:  26.9 points, 4.2 assists, 2.0 rebounds, .641 TS%, 33.7 USG, 115 DRtg

What, if anything, is the narrative here?

Start a new season with a new team and a new coach, with a fresh bit of adversity out the gate, and it's easy to commit to new, better habits.

Over the course of a regular season, it's really easy to fall back into old habits that feel more natural.

[Androslav]

I noted these splits in another thread:

Oddly, both Kyrie's passing and defense have gotten worse as the season has progressed, while his scoring and efficiency have improved.

Oct:  21.7 points, 5.7 assists, 3.7 rebounds, .543 TS%, 29.1 USG, 97 DRtg

Nov:  24.1 points, 4.9 assists, 3.1 rebounds, .612 TS%, 32.2 USG, 104 DRtg

Dec:  26.9 points, 4.2 assists, 2.0 rebounds, .641 TS%, 33.7 USG, 115 DRtg

What, if anything, is the narrative here?

He definitely started to hit more shots, however he has slipped defensively.

These are all stats for players classified as point guards, per definition:
"A point is someone who primarily plays point guard."
Per "Cleaning the glass" he is at dangerous 89th pct on above the break 3s accuracy and 67th pct on atb volume 3s. To me that would probably be the most valuable shooting field in the game for any perimeter player. He stands at 84th pct on total 3s.
He is also efficient at the rim, 116/172, 84th pct.
His asisst % dropped to 57th pct, but considering his fabulous usage (91st pct) and turnover percentage (93rd pct) he is making good decisions with the ball.
Overall Id say he is pretty well used in the offense, our worse end at the moment. We have many creators (AL, Smart and KI) then true scorers like him.

Defensively I'd like to see some more numbers on lineups, since the whole team kind of veined at that end lately, (even though we still top the league at 102.7 def rating) and it was expected, since we lost depth due to unfortunate GH and MM injuries. Individually, he is still above average for his position at 70th pct on blocks and 63rd pct in steals. Effort wise he doesn't look like he is not engaged to me to say he reverted to Cleveland Kyrie as 115 def rating may suggest.

Since he is our main man, we should keep an eye on his monthly work.

[Vermont Green]

it looks like 2.5 pretty good months to me (Oct was only 6 or 7 games).

The Celtics as a team and Kyrie as an individual, are regressing to the mean some but at this point, I still consider the team as overachieving largely due to Kyrie.  If you look at our roster without Hayward and Morris, how good do you think we should be?  In my mind, certainly not better than GSW, CLE, and HOU, and maybe not better than SAS (with Leonard) and TOR.

I would be curious to see the same stat analysis for Horford.  The one thing I did check is 3Pt% (he started really hot in that regard):

Oct=40.9%
Nov=45.7%
Dec=36.8%

Horford is regressing some as well but also having a surprisingly good year overall.  I expect Brown and Tatum to regress too as very young players (to some degree they already have) but I love what they have done so far.  We just can't expect all these players to keep it up.  Kyrie is going to need to do more as the season goes on.

[jambr380]

What, if anything, is the narrative here?

I think he had an idea of what his role was going to be on this team after training camp and preseason and the Hayward injury threw everything sideways. I don't think he wanted to come to Boston and be the chucker some thought he was but without Hayward, he was suddenly far and away the best scorer on the team.

I think this season has been a process of him getting comfortable with being this aggressive of a scorer not because it's something he's inherently uncomfortable with but because he thought he was going to come here and change his game but circumstances have intervened.

I agree with this.

It's a bummer to see Kyrie's defense slip a bit, but IMO he has proven he can be a good-very good defender when needed (playoffs). He is also now proving that he is as dynamic a scorer as there is in the league and his scoring ability will be incredibly important in the playoffs when difficult shots are much more the norm.

[tarheelsxxiii]

In a recent thread, I stated that some of Kyrie's points seem empty -- specifically, I noticed more one-on-one while others were standing around looking less engaged.  These stats seem to support just that.

What, if anything, is the narrative here?

I think he had an idea of what his role was going to be on this team after training camp and preseason and the Hayward injury threw everything sideways. I don't think he wanted to come to Boston and be the chucker some thought he was but without Hayward, he was suddenly far and away the best scorer on the team.

I think this season has been a process of him getting comfortable with being this aggressive of a scorer not because it's something he's inherently uncomfortable with but because he thought he was going to come here and change his game but circumstances have intervened.

I agree with this.

It's a bummer to see Kyrie's defense slip a bit, but IMO he has proven he can be a good-very good defender when needed (playoffs). He is also now proving that he is as dynamic a scorer as there is in the league and his scoring ability will be incredibly important in the playoffs when difficult shots are much more the norm.

Wow.  That's great news re: defense -- when did that happen?

The most dynamic scorers are capable of 40 or 50 point games at any time.  Kyrie has to expend a lot more energy to get his points than bigger, more athletic scorers.

[hwangjini_1]

wrong thread.
 

[wayupnorth]

In a recent thread, I stated that some of Kyrie's points seem empty -- specifically, I noticed more one-on-one while others were standing around looking less engaged.  These stats seem to support just that.

What, if anything, is the narrative here?

I think he had an idea of what his role was going to be on this team after training camp and preseason and the Hayward injury threw everything sideways. I don't think he wanted to come to Boston and be the chucker some thought he was but without Hayward, he was suddenly far and away the best scorer on the team.

I think this season has been a process of him getting comfortable with being this aggressive of a scorer not because it's something he's inherently uncomfortable with but because he thought he was going to come here and change his game but circumstances have intervened.

I agree with this.

It's a bummer to see Kyrie's defense slip a bit, but IMO he has proven he can be a good-very good defender when needed (playoffs). He is also now proving that he is as dynamic a scorer as there is in the league and his scoring ability will be incredibly important in the playoffs when difficult shots are much more the norm.

Wow.  That's great news re: defense -- when did that happen?

The most dynamic scorers are capable of 40 or 50 point games at any time.  Kyrie has to expend a lot more energy to get his points than bigger, more athletic scorers.

I don't recall you having that criticism against IT.

I bring that up, because the same was true for Isaiah (he had to spend more energy than guys like Blake, LeBron, Durant, etc, who are simply bigger), and he still brought us pretty far.

Kyrie has to work less hard than IT did to get his points, so I don't agree at all with the point you are trying to make.

This to say, as guys have been hitting the mid season wall a little harder than others, Kyrie is picking up that slack, and doing it at a very efficient rate.

I belive this wouldn't be any issue at all if Gordon were healthy.

[Bobshot]

The data suggest Irving is increasingly trying to do it all by himself. He's had a spate of 30 pt games lately in which he is dominating the scoring. All the while games have been lost and those won by close margins. The same pattern tonite so far against the Knicks.

That's not the Celtics way. Ball distribution results in 5-6 guys in double figures when they are winning.

Part of the problem is players are missing an awful lot of games lately for a variety of reasons. Perhaps Irving has felt he had to shoulder the burden more. I don't know. But they seem to be out of sync.

Another persistent problem they have is the lack of a 7 footer to defend other 7 footers. Baynes clearly doesn't have the length to do it. Ridiculous to have a guy like Olynyk torch them at home for 32 pts. He's not a dominating big by any stretch.

There are warning signs here that Stevens and Ainge should address.

[Boris Badenov]

In a recent thread, I stated that some of Kyrie's points seem empty -- specifically, I noticed more one-on-one while others were standing around looking less engaged.  These stats seem to support just that.

Why would you equate one-on-one with "empty"?

I think the more natural definition of "empty" is "scored when the outcome of the game isn't in question." Like, garbage time, or lots of first quarter scoring and then disappearing in the 4th.

And as we all know, neither of those things describe Irving's scoring.

[CelticsJG]

In a recent thread, I stated that some of Kyrie's points seem empty -- specifically, I noticed more one-on-one while others were standing around looking less engaged.  These stats seem to support just that.

Why would you equate one-on-one with "empty"?

I think the more natural definition of "empty" is "scored when the outcome of the game isn't in question." Like, garbage time, or lots of first quarter scoring and then disappearing in the 4th.

And as we all know, neither of those things describe Irving's scoring.

Lots of first quarter scoring and then disappearing. Sound like Jaylen to me