Kyrie without LeBron in the Playoffs

[JonFromVA]

Before LeBron returned, it seemed like Kyrie had plateaued. Harsh thing to say about a 21 yr old PG, but he was supposed to keep getting better and better and if anything his stats declined as his injuries started to pile up and he started avoiding contact. I noticed that when opponents got tired of Kyrie destroying them and wanted to win the game, they'd send more help - and Kyrie would attack anyway, and start throwing up prayers.

Supporters said Kyrie just had to play with better players.

So, the Cavs tried to bring in better players: we signed and rehabbed Bynum (Irving couldn't figure out how to make an entry pass), we brought in Jarett Jack to help with playmaking, we traded for Spencer Hawes, Luol Deng, even had a pretty good shooter in CJ Miles; but none of it worked.

Fans said Kyrie just had to play with better players.

So, LeBron came back and we traded for Kevin Love, and Kyrie experienced a whole lot more success as the 2nd option with LeBron controlling both ends of the floor when we needed to close out an opponent. However, when LeBron couldn't play or was off-the floor getting a rest the team struggled with Kyrie running things.

Fans said the team was built for LeBron, not for Kyrie. He needed to play with better players who fit him.

So, Irving demanded a trade and went to the Celtics. Perhaps the most ideal situation one could imagine for him with teammates who could create, help protect him on defense, spread the floor, with Brad Steven's offense that creates easy scoring plays off of constant action. Statistically, Kyrie had a fabulous year while the Celtics under-performed, suffered chemistry issues, and Irving blamed his teammate's lack of experience even though they'd taken the Cavs to 7 in the ECF without him the previous season.

And here we've come full circle. As the pressure rises against a top defensive team, Kyrie keeps doing what he knows. He attacks, Milwaukee collapses and suddenly those miracle shots from the guy who everyone says saves his best moments for the playoffs are turning to bricks, he's traveling, throwing the ball in to the seats, etc.

He could still get hot. He could learn to adapt to the defense being thrown at him. But I'm not counting on it, at least not for 3 games in a row. I don't think anyone will be surprised at this point when Kyrie leaves as a free-agent this Summer.

What a waste of talent.

I hope our new head coach is able to teach and motivate young prima-donna's how to play the game the right way, or else maybe we take a page from Pops' book and target players "who've gotten over themselves".

[Stillwater]

This is why they say you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink

[jbk1234]

Kyrie misses a guy like TT who the Celtics really don't have on their roster. Those two were an underrated pairing. TT's PNR defense was pretty invaluable since Kyrie's was so atrocious. He also sets healthy screens offensively and was good at cleaning up the glass while Kyrie commanded so much attention.

Obviously, Kyrie also misses LBJ. He was the exact, almost precise, type of player Kyrie needed to play alongside of on many, many levels. The Bucks are doing a great job of keeping Kyrie out of rhythm and the Celtics offense is centered around ball movement versus having two, or three, focal points that that opposing defenses have to pay attention to.

Kyrie was going to have to fundamentally change his game to be successful in the post season in that type of setting. Kyrie has never been a get everyone else going PG. He has to eat to be a positive on the floor and he has to be alongside another great player so that you can't just lock in on him.

[JonFromVA]

You'd think Kyrie would be able to make something work with Horford, but he's always seen big men as obstacles he can use to snake defenders and get to the rim.

It's pretty fundamental that if the defense is sending help to clog up the paint, that you want to take advantage of the guys they aren't covering until they cut it out.