Horford was -23 and -36 so maybe he was the problemHe was also -19 and -30 in the Wizards first two wins of the series. Maybe a little hyperbole but the point is valid.
I meant he was nearly unplayable on the defensive side. The prior poster was talking about defense and defensive weak links.Nearly unplayable, yet he played 37 minutes a game against the Wizards.
Made all the more delicious by his wanna-be spiritual/intellectual guru proclamations and all-seeing eye blather. And his inability to reflect inward is why he checks out when the going gets tough, and why he’s doomed to repeat the same mistakes.It’s written like every five posts but the lack of self awareness is astonishing
If Harris, DJ and the rest of Nets keep this up Kyrie is going to be forced to call LeBron
FWIW, The Athletic article is pretty pro-Kyrie.There's a new interview by Joe Vardon in the Athletic. I don't have a subscription, but here's one summary:
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/nets/ny-kyrie-irving-kenny-atkinson-spencer-dinwiddie-20191102-t3kmsbimpjdq3mm4czxwvkz7sq-story.html
If there is one thing that’s changed about Irving since he signed a four-year, $136.5 million deal with the Brooklyn Nets in July, it’s how Irving is managing his responsibility.
Just go play. And he’s never played like this before, as in, so well, to start a season.
“That’s the biggest thing. It’s just not trying to overemphasize what leadership means all the time and overexplain it, in terms of, ‘This is me as a leader.’ Because truth be told, there is not just one leader in the locker room.
Sources close to Irving expressed frustration with the report, especially since he is trying to not make the focus this season about what he says and does when he isn’t on the court.
In the meantime, Irving no longer feels he has to assert himself as Brooklyn’s “leader” the way he did in Boston because the responsibility to lead is already there given who he is.
Yes, it feels like it was basically dictated by Kyrie to the author...FWIW, The Athletic article is pretty pro-Kyrie.
https://theathletic.com/1344777/2019/11/02/the-way-your-actions-speak-kyrie-irving-is-doing-it-better-for-the-nets-than-he-ever-did-in-boston/
I thought that article was total B.S.Yes, it feels like it was basically dictated by Kyrie to the author...
...with all the hilarity that entails.
But I had no idea [Kemba Walker] was such a willing and feisty defender – he’s been taking charges like he’s in a high-stakes competition with Marcus Smart – rather than someone you have to hide on defense like Isaiah Thomas or a disengaged Kyrie Irving.
But make no mistake, as a whole, this is a much better passing team than it was a season ago. Part of it because players know that they’re going to get it back if their open, which wasn’t always the case last year.
https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-celtics/2019/11/04/kemba-walker-defense-celtics-thoughtsThe fundamental problem with the Celtics last year was that their best player was a selectively engaged teammate who made everyone else miserable, then quit before the season’s final buzzer. Red Auerbach in his heyday couldn’t make that work. In poor, doomed Brooklyn, Kenny Atkinson is finding out early – Kyrie Irving is uncoachable. If anything, it’s a tribute to Stevens that the Irving years actually were pretty fun for a while. He’s a wonderful individual player, and absolute poison to camaraderie.
Maybe this was as much of a joke as everyone thought...Forget the games. Imagine flying all over the country, on airplanes, on the bus, at the hotel, at practice constantly stuck listening to it.
Well, here's a NYP article that lauds KI's leadership (that was written before the Suns blowout): https://nypost.com/2019/11/09/kyrie-irvings-leadership-is-causing-everything-but-problems/.I'm probably just jilted, but it's pretty striking, when you read articles about the Nets or go on fan message boards of theirs, how everything written about them could have been about the Celtics last year. Just text-replace "Nets" with "Celtics" and it's the same stuff.
I mean that both positively and negatively: last year's Celtics did win 49 games after all. I think the Nets will get better, and I think they'll make the playoffs.
Kyrie is a weird player though: it's not at all fair to say that he's an empty stats guy. He contributes to winning quite heavily in terms of his own play. But Boston last year and the Nets this year (so far) lacked a certain kind of resilience. When things aren't going right for Kyrie, the wheels seem to come off for everyone else.
It's early though. I won't give my jilt-boner permission to fully bloom for another month or two.
Thanks--this is what I what I was trying to get at by talking about the Nets this year. Leadership is like good officiating: if you're talking about it a lot, it's probably because it's lacking.For me it’s more basic — he shows up and suddenly your entire organization is having discussions about leadership and what it takes to win. He makes it all harder than it needs to be. They’re going through the same experience and making all the same excuses we were.
I had this exact same thought last night when I saw the Nets were getting blown out by the Suns. Between the quotes from Kyrie and Atkinson and how the season has started for the Nets it's like watching last year on fast forward a bit. Seeing the look on Atkinson's face some nights has given me a better appreciation for how Stevens managed whatever was going on with the team last year.I'm probably just jilted, but it's pretty striking, when you read articles about the Nets or go on fan message boards of theirs, how everything written about them could have been about the Celtics last year. Just text-replace "Nets" with "Celtics" and it's the same stuff.
That’s a bullshit question they asked Kyrie though.Maybe this was as much of a joke as everyone thought...
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj2nqUBTPc8
Good thread and there are a lot of good posts about Mr. 85%. Think about when he full mails it in. I figure he’s already looking past this season and looking forward to KD’s return. He’s gonna gut this one out for his $40 mil. Here’s hoping he does a flat earth lecture soon.Speaking to PRG's post above, I'd say he has zero capability to lead. He can be the most talented player on your team, but he's simply not a leader. Exactly the guy you don't want to find yourself having to share a foxhole. He might be, say, an ultra-talented sniper, but he's bailing when there's an assault.
Na, he'll be fine. He has a great track record of patiently dealing with teammates coming back from devastating injuries, on teams with high expectations.So Kyrie will get a honeymoon season in Brooklyn, with a top 5 player ready to join him next year. It's going to be fun seeing him not defer to KD.
The guy you’re replaced by has to be worse than you for it to apply.I'm a little surprised that Simmons hasn't yet renamed the Ewing Theory.
Na, he'll be fine. He has a great track record of patiently dealing with teammates coming back from devastating injuries, on teams with high expectations.
These are great. The hate in this thread could power a midsize city.The 6th man on this team is the hatred of Kyrie. It’s driving them.
This thread is extremely cathartic.These are great. The hate in this thread could power a midsize city.
He gave up a career high 60 to Lillard the other night, on just 33 shots. Lillard is awesome, but not sure you can mail it in much more than that (MC had 33 on 27 shots, somehow the Nets won).Think about when he fully mails it in.
He won the USPS’s coveted Postmaster of the Week award for the performance.He gave up a career high 60 to Lillard the other night, on just 33 shots. Lillard is awesome, but not sure you can mail it in much more than that (MC had 33 on 27 shots, somehow the Nets won).
Boston is a big little cityThese are great. The hate in this thread could power a midsize city.
Boston is a city with an overdeveloped revenge instinct. It's not just being jilted. Hell, Johnny Damon was one of the original 25 and probably pays for his own drinks here more often than not.Boston is a big little city
Wait till they have a better record on his maintenance days.The guy you’re replaced by has to be worse than you for it to apply.
“They came out really attacking our defense and our switching, moved out to a 10-1 lead and never looked back,” Irving said. “Ricky started getting downhill, and they just really started picking apart our defense. It starts at the outset, especially with me setting the tone.Mr. Chemistry with a tidy -31 in Phoenix in a 26 point blowout loss where his team gave up 30+ points in every quarter Ricky Rubio with a +37.
“They played [well], execution down the stretch, made some hustle plays off my misses down the stretch, a few turnovers,” said Irving, who saw the Jazz run different defenders at him all night to wear him out. In the end, it worked.Kyrie: 10 for 30 last nite in a road loss to the Jazz.
He really is such a wannabe LeBron.Post quotes of Kyrie give me all the catharsis I need:
“They came out really attacking our defense and our switching, moved out to a 10-1 lead and never looked back,” Irving said. “Ricky started getting downhill, and they just really started picking apart our defense. It starts at the outset, especially with me setting the tone.
“I don’t think I shot one free throw, and that just tells you it’s a sign of how aggressive I am not in the game, getting downhill and really just setting the precedent and slowing the game down and getting to my spots. A lot of the accountability falls on me and just the game plan of guarding Ricky and not being in the right spots.”
“They played [well], execution down the stretch, made some hustle plays off my misses down the stretch, a few turnovers,” said Irving, who saw the Jazz run different defenders at him all night to wear him out. In the end, it worked.
“I could’ve done a better job of calling different plays down the stretch other than me and [DeAndre Jordan] in the middle of the floor, especially when it got inside three minutes.”
What was it he said after bricklaying during the playoffs last year? “If anything, I should be shooting more.”. Something like that?Kyrie: 10 for 30 last nite in a road loss to the Jazz.
Every single thing is about I or me.. there’s no we unless it’s negative. He thinks being accountable is always talking about himself, his shots, his spots, his focus, his leadership..etc. The team chemistry for both teams from last year is night and day.Post quotes of Kyrie give me all the catharsis I need:
“They came out really attacking our defense and our switching, moved out to a 10-1 lead and never looked back,” Irving said. “Ricky started getting downhill, and they just really started picking apart our defense. It starts at the outset, especially with me setting the tone.
“I don’t think I shot one free throw, and that just tells you it’s a sign of how aggressive I am not in the game, getting downhill and really just setting the precedent and slowing the game down and getting to my spots. A lot of the accountability falls on me and just the game plan of guarding Ricky and not being in the right spots.”
“They played [well], execution down the stretch, made some hustle plays off my misses down the stretch, a few turnovers,” said Irving, who saw the Jazz run different defenders at him all night to wear him out. In the end, it worked.
“I could’ve done a better job of calling different plays down the stretch other than me and [DeAndre Jordan] in the middle of the floor, especially when it got inside three minutes.”
It’s actually possible. EC looks to be 6 deep this year. 2 playoff spots available for crap teams. Only question is can the Celtics hold off one of Milwaukee or Philly for a top 2 seed.This thread is a joy.
Is everything building to a 2v7 playoff series where Kemba drops 50 in game one on the way to a sweep?
I guess it's doubtful the Nets get there...
I’m not sure that a B/B+ version of Durant plus Kyrie gets you ahead of Philly, MIL, and Boston.We're all the protagonist in our own heroic epic, in our own minds. Kobe selfish'd his way to 2 titles sans Shaq.
I hope everyone gets their fill of schadenfreude this season, because when Durant is back in action, even a B/B+ version of Durant is going to mean we have far fewer opportunities to dance on Kobe's grave.
I'd go for sweeping them in four blowouts without Kemba scoring a single point, while Kyrie hits for about 60 ppg in a losing cause.This thread is a joy.
Is everything building to a 2v7 playoff series where Kemba drops 50 in game one on the way to a sweep?
I guess it's doubtful the Nets get there...
I'll be perfectly happy with a hobbled Durant playing at 70% and cashing giant checks for the next few years.I don't care about a Celtics/Kyrie playoff battle. I just want Brooklyn's season to end in such an epic shitshow that Durant demands a trade this summer.