Is This the Best Kyrie Irving Season Yet?

Pelly24 · Post #1 » by **Pelly24** » Tue Feb 23, 2021 7:04 pm

It's something I've wondered. Through the first 10 or so games he was legitimately playing great defense with elite offense, but only the offense has remained and his defense has been bad, though it's probably made worse by team wide struggles outside of him.

He's averaging 28/5/5.7 on 52/40/90 splits and 63 TS% with about a 30% usage rate and BK is surging and I think his net rating is at a career high. BK could very well finish at the top of the East. Is this his best season to date? Or is it a Cleveland year? Or is it any of his two years in Boston?

therealbig3 · Post #2 » by **therealbig3** » Tue Feb 23, 2021 8:23 pm

I think it's his best season. He's been awesome.

I think he's being super overlooked too. He's been better than Beal or Trae, but they've been getting all the talk and hype, while Kyrie keeps getting called selfish or a head case, but he's having a monster season.

clyde21 · Post #3 » by **clyde21** » Tue Feb 23, 2021 8:26 pm

yea, this is likely peak or close to peak Kyrie we're seeing right now, he's been incredible. and if he brings this Kyrie into the POs I think it's pretty much over for the rest of the league.

BenoUdrihFTL · Post #4 » by **BenoUdrihFTL** » Tue Feb 23, 2021 8:33 pm

Well he's missed 31% of his team's games, but I guess by Kyrie standards that might be pretty good

BoatsNZones · Post #5 » by **BoatsNZones** » Tue Feb 23, 2021 8:34 pm

therealbig3 wrote:I think it's his best season. He's been awesome.

I think he's being super overlooked too. He's been better than Beal or Trae, but they've been getting all the talk and hype, while Kyrie keeps getting called selfish or a head case, but he's having a monster season.

Might have to do with the couple weeks of "me-time" he took off without anyone's knowledge mid-season. But yes, he's been great in the ~60% or so games he's managed to make it to work.

Johnny Tomala · Post #6 » by **Johnny Tomala** » Thu Feb 25, 2021 5:40 pm

He was this good for Celtics in 2018-19 in regular season and he was also awesome for the Nets in injury plagued 2019-20 season. The only thing different is he is not injured now.

BallinBug · Post #7 » by **BallinBug** » Thu Feb 25, 2021 5:45 pm

Lol better then Beal? Kyries been good but Beal has been better. Significantly better.

therealbig3 wrote:I think it's his best season. He's been awesome.

I think he's being super overlooked too. He's been better than Beal or Trae, but they've been getting all the talk and hype, while Kyrie keeps getting called selfish or a head case, but he's having a monster season.

Sent from my SM-G950W using RealGM mobile app

Sign5 · Post #8 » by **Sign5** » Thu Feb 25, 2021 5:49 pm

Just the beauty of playing with 2 other superstars. All 3 are having career or near career highs in 3pt shooting/efficiency.

Karate Diop · Post #9 » by **Karate Diop** » Thu Feb 25, 2021 5:50 pm

BallinBug wrote:Lol better then Beal? Kyries been good but Beal has been better. Significantly better.
therealbig3 wrote:I think it's his best season. He's been awesome.

I think he's being super overlooked too. He's been better than Beal or Trae, but they've been getting all the talk and hype, while Kyrie keeps getting called selfish or a head case, but he's having a monster season.

Sent from my SM-G950W using RealGM mobile app

Beal has been significantly better? Based on what? :lol:

Impuniti · Post #10 » by **Impuniti** » Thu Feb 25, 2021 5:51 pm

Sign5 wrote:Just the beauty of playing with 2 other superstars. All 3 are having career or near career highs in 3pt shooting/efficiency.

Pringles' system is also drug-enhancer for perimeter players.

dlts20 · Post #11 » by **dlts20** » Thu Feb 25, 2021 5:53 pm

Kyrie at PG is the most overrated player in the league. C level impact at best. Kyrie accepting being a SG makes him an A level player

Post #12 » by **Duke4life831** » Thu Feb 25, 2021 5:55 pm

Yup, the dude is 28. 28-31ish is a pretty common age for players reaching their peak. Its usually that mix of still being peak athletically, while mixing in 7-10 years of training and experience. If he stays healthy, he should be at this level for a few years.

The crazy thing about Kyrie is, his TS% would probably be around top 10 in the league if he hunted fouls, instead of always contorting his body to avoid contact to try and get the finish. The dude is currently at 51/40/90 while averaging 27ppg. And he has a FTr of just .203. Just think if he had a FTr in the high .300s or low .400s. His TS% would probably be hovering around 64-65%, instead of 62%.But I will say as a fan, I do love watching him contort his body and try and get the finish instead of clearly hunting fouls.

therealbig3 · Post #13 » by **therealbig3** » Thu Feb 25, 2021 5:59 pm

BallinBug wrote:Lol better then Beal? Kyries been good but Beal has been better. Significantly better.
therealbig3 wrote:I think it's his best season. He's been awesome.

I think he's being super overlooked too. He's been better than Beal or Trae, but they've been getting all the talk and hype, while Kyrie keeps getting called selfish or a head case, but he's having a monster season.

Sent from my SM-G950W using RealGM mobile app

Based on what?

Because he scores more points?

BallinBug · Post #14 » by **BallinBug** » Thu Feb 25, 2021 7:45 pm

Karate Diop wrote:
BallinBug wrote:Lol better then Beal? Kyries been good but Beal has been better. Significantly better.
therealbig3 wrote:I think it's his best season. He's been awesome.

I think he's being super overlooked too. He's been better than Beal or Trae, but they've been getting all the talk and hype, while Kyrie keeps getting called selfish or a head case, but he's having a monster season.

Sent from my SM-G950W using RealGM mobile app

Beal has been significantly better? Based on what?

Both of these players are paid to score, that's all they're good for. Look at their PPG. No comparison.

BallinBug · Post #15 » by **BallinBug** » Thu Feb 25, 2021 7:45 pm

therealbig3 wrote:
BallinBug wrote:Lol better then Beal? Kyries been good but Beal has been better. Significantly better.
therealbig3 wrote:I think it's his best season. He's been awesome.

I think he's being super overlooked too. He's been better than Beal or Trae, but they've been getting all the talk and hype, while Kyrie keeps getting called selfish or a head case, but he's having a monster season.

Sent from my SM-G950W using RealGM mobile app

Based on what?

Because he scores more points?

Yes, which is the only thing these two guys are good at.

Pelly24 · Post #16 » by **Pelly24** » Thu Feb 25, 2021 8:03 pm

dlts20 wrote:Kyrie at PG is the most overrated player in the league. C level impact at best. Kyrie accepting being a SG makes him an A level player

I always thought this was untrue. In Boston he was excellent playing point guard, but for some reason everyone acts like he just ISO'd to death and never passed the ball. He played on and off ball there, made intelligent passes, got people involved and even played defense while taking over too many fourth quarters to count in both years. He was top 7 in RPM that year and top 10-15 in most advanced metrics. He had a lot of impact when he played point guard. People also make too much of the position titles. Kyrie has been playing more or less the role he's playing now all season. When Dinwiddie was there, he played off ball, Dinwiddie got injured and Kyrie sat out like a two weeks after that, he came back and he's played off ball ever since. He's still passed the ball very well since Harden's been here. The other day, against the clippers, he shot horribly in the fourth quarter, but he really kinda put the game out of reach with just his playmaking, including two absolute dimes to DeAndre Jordan and Joe Harris. Kyrie is playing shooting guard now, but the idea that he's incapable of playing PG and making good reads, sharing the ball, passing, etc. has always been wildly overblown and I think more based on stereotypes. He had a higher offensive BPM and ORPM when he was playing PG, too (though those stats are depressed a bit naturally because how much better can you make an offense with KD and Harden and shooting?).

To others in the thread:
As for the Bradley Beal stuff, he's playing great, but I disagree with him easily or decisively being better than Kyrie this year. He's playing in a very fast paced offense where he takes as many shots as he wants and I'm not sure how much teams actually try to stop him, just considering that they don't have to to generally easily beat the Wizards. As far as what Kyrie does better, it sounds funny, but he's actually just a much more cerebral player. He makes smart passes Beal never could, defensive plays on and off ball that Beal never has and as far as being a spacer, he's a far more consistent shooter. These qualities I think make him a more portable player and I think his best game and best series of games are more multi-dimensional and more dominant than Beal's.

Not sure 27/5/6 on 63 TS% (bad defense) isn't worse than 32/5/4 on 59 TS% (worst defense in the league)

Overall though I think this season ranks second or third for me. His second year in Boston I think was his best overall. If Kyrie continues re-engaging in defense and goes on another hot streak (I think he's actually due for one now) and continues passing well, it will be his new peak IMO.

Pelly24 · Post #17 » by **Pelly24** » Thu Feb 25, 2021 8:06 pm

Duke4life831 wrote:Yup, the dude is 28. 28-31ish is a pretty common age for players reaching their peak. Its usually that mix of still being peak athletically, while mixing in 7-10 years of training and experience. If he stays healthy, he should be at this level for a few years.

The crazy thing about Kyrie is, his TS% would probably be around top 10 in the league if he hunted fouls, instead of always contorting his body to avoid contact to try and get the finish. The dude is currently at 51/40/90 while averaging 27ppg. And he has a FTr of just .203. Just think if he had a FTr in the high .300s or low .400s. His TS% would probably be hovering around 64-65%, instead of 62%.But I will say as a fan, I do love watching him contort his body and try and get the finish instead of clearly hunting fouls.

Yeah I think he can mitigate the fairly low free throw rate by hunting for fouls on like two shots per game and then shooting 9 threes a game instead of like 7. He's a good enough shooter to do so.

I do think his game is as sharp as ever though. He looks as quick and explosive as ever, is sharp with his movements and he just seems so crafty and smart it's great.

MrBigShot · Post #18 » by **MrBigShot** » Thu Feb 25, 2021 8:11 pm

Duke4life831 wrote:Yup, the dude is 28. 28-31ish is a pretty common age for players reaching their peak. Its usually that mix of still being peak athletically, while mixing in 7-10 years of training and experience. If he stays healthy, he should be at this level for a few years.

The crazy thing about Kyrie is, his TS% would probably be around top 10 in the league if he hunted fouls, instead of always contorting his body to avoid contact to try and get the finish. The dude is currently at 51/40/90 while averaging 27ppg. And he has a FTr of just .203. Just think if he had a FTr in the high .300s or low .400s. His TS% would probably be hovering around 64-65%, instead of 62%.But I will say as a fan, I do love watching him contort his body and try and get the finish instead of clearly hunting fouls.

Same here, his acrobatic finishing/maneuvering below the rim makes him so fun to watch. DRose used to do the same thing pre-injury and it made for some amazing highlights.

scrabbarista · Post #19 » by **scrabbarista** » Thu Feb 25, 2021 8:13 pm

I'm not going to a deep dive right now, but just a reminder that this is "the best season yet" for about half of the league. Not saying he's not having his best season, just saying that numbers this season are out of control.

Heard on Windhorst today that something like eight of the top twelve offensive seasons of all time (for teams) are this year, including all of the top three, which are beating the old record, last year's Mavs.

Winsome Gerbil · Post #20 » by **Winsome Gerbil** » Thu Feb 25, 2021 8:27 pm

If you mean is he finally in the role his talent has always dictated as a miniature 3rd option SG with no responsibilites to anybody on his team but himself? Sure.

Kyrie's problems, aside from mental, are that he no interest i actually being a PG or floor general. Free him up to just dribble and try to score whenever he feels like it, its always going to be more comfortable. It's like having an elite WR try to play QB. If Kyrie only has to worry about Kyrie...that comes natural.