Scout compares Irving to Marbury

[Pugz]

An unnamed Western Conference scout offered Kyrie Irving as a player he has deemed to be overrated by the NBA community.

"I think Kyrie is overrated because he's the anointed one; he was the first pick in the draft, and his team doesn't win," said the scout.

"I think Kyrie is Stephon Marbury. Marbury was a great talent, too, but he never won. Steph was a pain in the butt, and Kyrie's not like that. He's not malicious. He's smart, he's more polished than Marbury. He's got the commercials and he's an engaging personality, but engaging only takes you so far. I really think he's just a scorer, and that's what Steph was. Kyrie can do whatever he wants to. He's got the ball on a string, he can get in the lane whenever he wants, but so far, he's chosen just to be a scorer rather than getting other guys involved. Guys say he doesn't trust his teammates, but you're talking about Luol Deng and Tristan Thompson. Those are good players. I'm just not buying into Kyrie."

Marbury was one of the best point guards in the NBA before his career dropped off under Larry Brown with the New York Knicks.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

Agreed, decent comparison.

 

[elcheato]

It's actually a really lazy comparison.
 
"Steph was a pain in the butt, and Kyrie's not like that." Ending your own comparison before you started explaining. 
 
Also hilarious to label a player as not a winner in the 3rd year of his career, when he's on a franchise that people like to also mock for being unstable and being in constant turmoil. If the Pelicans are in the lotto again next year, is Anthony Davis not a winner?
 
I'm going to go out on a limb and say he'd trust his teammates more if he was playing with Kevin Garnett instead of Tristan Thompson like Steph got to for 3 years.

 

[Mexi]

I agree with scout
Hes overrated

 

[youngguru]

Kyrie doesn't eat vasoline. He'll be fine

 

[dez]

Why the hate for my man Steph though?

 

[elcheato]

I agree with scout
Hes overrated

meanwhile, you and your entire fan base are practically guaranteeing he's a Laker, and begging essentially

 

[jayvello]

could somewhat agree, would like to see him out of cleveland first

 

[Mexi]

meanwhile, you and your entire fan base are practically guaranteeing he's a Laker, and begging essentially

he not a laker

I was just posting an interesting tidbit from a dad of one of kyries nba friends

 

[Mexi]

Laker fans are still delusional

Max kellerman is one smart guy, but man he is craaaazy this season on radio

 

[Pugz]

mainly posted this to read dans thoughts.

i get it, youre sticking up for your star, but come on.

hes getting used to be the guy and scoring and not looking for those passes, its going to become he game.

ive also said that now, in this game, 22/6 is not bad at all, if you have decent %s.

this is a alright comparison though.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

It's actually a really lazy comparison.
 
"Steph was a pain in the butt, and Kyrie's not like that." Ending your own comparison before you started explaining. 
 
Also hilarious to label a player as not a winner in the 3rd year of his career, when he's on a franchise that people like to also mock for being unstable and being in constant turmoil. If the Pelicans are in the lotto again next year, is Anthony Davis not a winner?
 
I'm going to go out on a limb and say he'd trust his teammates more if he was playing with Kevin Garnett instead of Tristan Thompson like Steph got to for 3 years.

I don't think this scout was ever saying that Kyrie Irving the person is comparable to Stephon Marbury the person, but the players? Yes, it's a solid comparison. I wouldn't even say Kyrie has amassed some of Marbury's best seasons. Is 21 year old Irving even better than 21 year old Marbury? Again, very debatable. I'd lean towards Marbury.

And the winner thing is just a matter of opinion, I've said a number of times I don't think Kyrie is the sort of PG you can contend with, and I've been saying that since his rookie season. Maybe you or someone feels differently, because it's an opinion.

 

[elcheato]

Marbury doesn't come close to Kyrie as a shooter, that's where the comparison comes to a halting screech.
 
Kyrie's PER this year is 2 points higher than Marbury's career best. Not an end all be all stat or proof of anything, just some perspective.
 
If you want to look at past champions, the Celtics are the only team in recent memory who has won with a "traditional" point guard. You pretty much have to go all the way back to Isiah Thomas.

 

[Mexi]

Marbury took deeper 3s so hes better imo

 

[jonathanlambert33]

Marbury doesn't come close to Kyrie as a shooter, that's where the comparison comes to a halting screech.
 
Kyrie's PER this year is 2 points higher than Marbury's career best. Not an end all be all stat or proof of anything, just some perspective.
 
If you want to look at past champions, the Celtics are the only team in recent memory who has won with a "traditional" point guard.

Stephon Marbury exceeded Kyrie's PER this year (20.3) five times in his career. And even then, Kyrie's PER should be higher than it is, mainly because of his usage rate, which has perhaps one of the biggest impacts on PER then any other stat (which is why PER shouldn't be taken that seriously, it goes up with more shots you take). You look at guys around Kyrie's usage rate, and they are consistently 1-3 percentage points higher than Kyrie.

 

[elcheato]

I guess I read wrong on the Marbury PER thing. Regardless, Kyrie's shooting will separate him from Marbury, and as I've stated, calling him not a winner when he's 21 is still hilarious and ridiculous. You're right, the scout was never comparing Kyrie to Marbury the person, and even said Kyrie is smart. So I'm going to trust that this uber talented, smart 21 year old isn't a finished product, and will improve on weaknesses. I know it's an old argument that everyone uses to defend Kyrie's lack of distributing so far in his career, but the team around him has never truly fit around him. Two guys who clog the paint start at C & PF, and little to no shooters on the team. It's hard to really do much with that kind of set up. I'm interested in seeing how he finishes out the year with Hawes at center (obviously he's just an average player, but he does fit what the Cavs needed), being how he's just about the only center who fits well with Tristan Thompson. He's opening up the floor. If David Griffin stays on as GM, you're going to see the Cavs move more into an uptempo system, which should bring out the best in Kyrie.
 
It took Stephen Curry until his 5th year (this year) to make the jump into being a "true" PG, however you want to define that.

 

[bosoxlover12]

Tony Parker is a true PG.

 

[elcheato]