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The Lone Granger
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I've been hearing a lot about Irving over the last few weeks, especially from my basketball friends, and there is such a mixed review on this kid. Some think he's going to take Cleveland by storm and be a star in his rookie season. Some think he'll be a bust, but yet others think he'll appear to be a bust through the first few seasons and then will take Cleveland by storm in his third or fourth year. I'm not so sure that any of those answers are correct.
My take on Irving is that the kid has the world in front of him. Similar to Chris Paul in both game and looks, he seems to have a great basketball mind, and a great head for the game. It all starts in the head for a rookie point guard especially, and this kid definitely has a good one on his shoulders. I'm going to do my best to break Irving down in this article, both on offense and defense, and then give my decision on how good, or how much of a bust this guy will be.
Offensively
We're going to start on the offensive side of the ball. After playing in just 11 NCAA basketball games before making the jump to the NBA, it's safe to say his game is raw. In those eleven games however, Irving put up 17.5 points per game to go along with 4.3 assists per contest as well. Seriously, the kid is absolutely scorching when he gets a hot streak. He should 46.2% from behind the arc, and also chipped in 3.4 rebounds per contest to go along with that.
There's nothing in college that I've liked as much as Irving's ability to create his own shot. He has quite a few different go-to moves that he has for isolation plays, such as the crossover step-back, the post up and up and under move, and much, much more. If he continues to improve those different skills and moves, then I see no reason why he couldn't become a legitimate scoring option in the NBA.
His passing is a little bit weak for a star NBA point guard, but Irving has made it clear he's not done working on his game. If he wants to become that Chris Paul type of players, passing is the #1 thing he needs to work on. When he does decide to become a pass-first guard, he can throw some beautiful dimes, but it seems that he gets a bit caught up in putting points up himself, that he forgets to get his teammates involved at times, and that's not a good quality to have in an NBA point guard.
Overall, Irving's offensive game shows a lot of talent. If the passing improves, and he keeps working on the things that he did throughout his college career to score, then I think he'll have a very solid offensive rookie campaign.
Defensively
The one stat I'll bring to your attention from last season in college is that he did average 1.5 steals per game. Granted, that's in college and playing against competition that just isn't quite as good as the NBA, but Irving has quick hands, quick feet, and knows how to use them.
Not only is he great at applying on-ball pressure, but my favorite part of his game is his ability to get in the passing lanes. Normally he won't end up getting the steal every time, but he seems to get a lot of deflections on passes every night. Basically what he's best at on defense is disrupting the other teams offense with any chance he gets. Whether that be by applying the pressure and forcing the ball out of the opposing point guards hands, or jumping in between the ball and its intended target, the kid just doesn't give up.
Rebounding is something that he does bring to the table as a point guard, and that's something that every team likes to see. Paul does quite a bit of rebounding from the point guard spot in New Orleans as well, and that's similar to the numbers I see Irving putting up on the boards.
Decision on Irving's Future
So we've broken down the majority of Irving's game, so it's time to hear what I think this kid is going to be able to do in his NBA career. He won't have the kind of impact in Cleveland that LeBron James did in his first few seasons, and he'll be a late bloomer. Irving is going to have a couple years to watch the game, and playing behind Baron Davis this season makes a lot of sense if they decide to do that, which they've said they will.
One other factor that will play big in Irving's favor is the coach he's playing for. Byron Scott is a great coach, and a great point guard mentor. Remember all the times that I've compared Chris Paul and Kyrie Irving in this article? Well, here we go again. Just look at what Scott did in Paul's career, giving him confidence and teaching him new things about running a team. Irving has that except same mentorship coming in his first few seasons especially, and I look for those two to have just as close a relationship as Scott ever did with Chris Paul.
So now, I think that Irving will have a solid first couple of seasons, but nothing too special. In about his third or fourth season though, he'll explode onto the scene and become a top-10 NBA point guard. His potential is endless, he just has to take control and make that potential become a reality.
Hope you all enjoyed this article, and I'd love to get some response to it! Do you agree with me? Do you think Irving will be a bust? Let's hear your opinions. Let me know what you thought of the overall article as well. Thanks guys!
My take on Irving is that the kid has the world in front of him. Similar to Chris Paul in both game and looks, he seems to have a great basketball mind, and a great head for the game. It all starts in the head for a rookie point guard especially, and this kid definitely has a good one on his shoulders. I'm going to do my best to break Irving down in this article, both on offense and defense, and then give my decision on how good, or how much of a bust this guy will be.
Offensively
We're going to start on the offensive side of the ball. After playing in just 11 NCAA basketball games before making the jump to the NBA, it's safe to say his game is raw. In those eleven games however, Irving put up 17.5 points per game to go along with 4.3 assists per contest as well. Seriously, the kid is absolutely scorching when he gets a hot streak. He should 46.2% from behind the arc, and also chipped in 3.4 rebounds per contest to go along with that.
There's nothing in college that I've liked as much as Irving's ability to create his own shot. He has quite a few different go-to moves that he has for isolation plays, such as the crossover step-back, the post up and up and under move, and much, much more. If he continues to improve those different skills and moves, then I see no reason why he couldn't become a legitimate scoring option in the NBA.
His passing is a little bit weak for a star NBA point guard, but Irving has made it clear he's not done working on his game. If he wants to become that Chris Paul type of players, passing is the #1 thing he needs to work on. When he does decide to become a pass-first guard, he can throw some beautiful dimes, but it seems that he gets a bit caught up in putting points up himself, that he forgets to get his teammates involved at times, and that's not a good quality to have in an NBA point guard.
Overall, Irving's offensive game shows a lot of talent. If the passing improves, and he keeps working on the things that he did throughout his college career to score, then I think he'll have a very solid offensive rookie campaign.
Defensively
The one stat I'll bring to your attention from last season in college is that he did average 1.5 steals per game. Granted, that's in college and playing against competition that just isn't quite as good as the NBA, but Irving has quick hands, quick feet, and knows how to use them.
Not only is he great at applying on-ball pressure, but my favorite part of his game is his ability to get in the passing lanes. Normally he won't end up getting the steal every time, but he seems to get a lot of deflections on passes every night. Basically what he's best at on defense is disrupting the other teams offense with any chance he gets. Whether that be by applying the pressure and forcing the ball out of the opposing point guards hands, or jumping in between the ball and its intended target, the kid just doesn't give up.
Rebounding is something that he does bring to the table as a point guard, and that's something that every team likes to see. Paul does quite a bit of rebounding from the point guard spot in New Orleans as well, and that's similar to the numbers I see Irving putting up on the boards.
Decision on Irving's Future
So we've broken down the majority of Irving's game, so it's time to hear what I think this kid is going to be able to do in his NBA career. He won't have the kind of impact in Cleveland that LeBron James did in his first few seasons, and he'll be a late bloomer. Irving is going to have a couple years to watch the game, and playing behind Baron Davis this season makes a lot of sense if they decide to do that, which they've said they will.
One other factor that will play big in Irving's favor is the coach he's playing for. Byron Scott is a great coach, and a great point guard mentor. Remember all the times that I've compared Chris Paul and Kyrie Irving in this article? Well, here we go again. Just look at what Scott did in Paul's career, giving him confidence and teaching him new things about running a team. Irving has that except same mentorship coming in his first few seasons especially, and I look for those two to have just as close a relationship as Scott ever did with Chris Paul.
So now, I think that Irving will have a solid first couple of seasons, but nothing too special. In about his third or fourth season though, he'll explode onto the scene and become a top-10 NBA point guard. His potential is endless, he just has to take control and make that potential become a reality.
Hope you all enjoyed this article, and I'd love to get some response to it! Do you agree with me? Do you think Irving will be a bust? Let's hear your opinions. Let me know what you thought of the overall article as well. Thanks guys!
