Mr. Chemistry

Imbricus

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Mr. Chemistry, wasting no time endearing himself to his new teammates:
Following the Brooklyn Nets’ 134-133 overtime loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday, Irving said something that should sound awfully familiar to Celtics fans.

“Later on in the season, as we continue to progress, it’ll become more cerebral out there on the floor,” Irving said, via the YES Network. “In the NBA, it’s hard to manage a game when you’re trading baskets. Like, it’s one of the most difficult things to do in the game, when you go up by five, then you give up a three, a two, fouls, slowing the game down. We still have a lot of experience to garner with each other.

"… Welcome to the big stage. It’s gonna be like that sometimes. You’re gonna have guys kinda play outside their comfort zones when they’re playing against certain players. And I’m used to it, I’ve had game-winners shot on me down the stretch so many times.”
 

The Social Chair

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Jackie Mac with the Nets profile today.

THE NETS WERE
delighted when their new power trio organized summer workouts for the team at a Los Angeles middle school in July and August. The aim was to develop chemistry and learn each other's tendencies on the court. It was going swimmingly until Brooklyn dispatched its performance team to Santa Monica for an annual two-day minicamp with the players, which involved, among other things, gathering biometric data through wearables. Irving, who has spent the past nine years working with his own performance specialist, Robin Pound, balked.

When the Nets gently urged him to participate, he didn't mince words: "I'm not doing it." It created an awkward moment, team sources say, for incumbent players who had benefited from the performance staff and ingrained that input into their routine.
Yet Irving's infamous mood swings, confirmed by his ex-teammates, which followed him from Cleveland to Boston to Brooklyn, are the unspoken concern that makes Nets officials queasy. When Irving lapses into these funks, he often shuts down, unwilling to communicate with the coaching staff, front office and sometimes, even his teammates. Nets team sources say one such episode occurred during Brooklyn's trip to China, leaving everyone scratching their heads as to what precipitated it.

The Nets are willing to look past moments like the photo shoot at the Pearl TV Tower in China, when Irving refused to remove his hat and instructed them to photoshop it out. They will focus more on the bigger issue of sharing the ball and maintaining good team chemistry.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27947336/for-culture-kd-kyrie-comes-next-nets
 

HomeRunBaker

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It was going swimmingly until Brooklyn dispatched its performance team to Santa Monica for an annual two-day minicamp with the players, which involved, among other things, gathering biometric data through wearables. Irving, who has spent the past nine years working with his own performance specialist, Robin Pound, balked.

When the Nets gently urged him to participate, he didn't mince words: "I'm not doing it." It created an awkward moment, team sources say, for incumbent players who had benefited from the performance staff and ingrained that input into their routine.
Imagine the uproar if Tom Brady refused to work with Patriots trainers and staff because he believed in and was committed to his own personal trainer? Imagine if he even recruited other teammates to shun the Pats employees to work with his own guy? OMG, what a cancer he would be! ;)
 

DJnVa

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One of those is the GOAT the other is Kyrie.

And the 2 "issues" are not remotely similar.
 

Sprowl

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Split off from the October game thread, because Kyrie needs his very own Schadenthreade.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Jackie Mac with the Nets profile today.
Seems to me the biggest issue is summed up in this paragraph: "Irving put on an electric show, pouring in 50 points on 34 shots, but the Nets lost. Last season D'Angelo Russell, Irving's predecessor in Brooklyn, averaged 18.7 shots a game, while Dinwiddie (12.2), LeVert (12.1) and Harris (9.8) divvied up the rest. Such high-volume offense for one player will be an adjustment."

It will be interesting to see how Atkinson's system deals with such a ball dominant guard and how the other players react.
 

PedroKsBambino

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Imagine the uproar if Tom Brady refused to work with Patriots trainers and staff because he believed in and was committed to his own personal trainer? Imagine if he even recruited other teammates to shun the Pats employees to work with his own guy? OMG, what a cancer he would be! ;)
Guys with the resume of Tom Brady or Lebron James get to play by different rules than Kyrie Irving. Red Auerbach treated Bill Russell differently. This is just how it works.

The problem is when guys like Kyrie and "Veteran All Star" Antoine think they are at that level too. They aren't.
 

Red Averages

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#1 - very glad to not have to put up with this nonsense this year.
#2 - I cannot think of anything dumber than comparing Tom Brady to Kyrie Irving as a teammate.
 

lovegtm

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Kyrie is passing the "if everyone you meet is an asshole, maybe it's you" test pretty hard at this point.
 

Reverend

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Mr. Chemistry, wasting no time endearing himself to his new teammates:
"… Welcome to the big stage. It’s gonna be like that sometimes. You’re gonna have guys kinda play outside their comfort zones when they’re playing against certain players. And I’m used to it, I’ve had game-winners shot on me down the stretch so many times.”
Not that he’s not talented, but how long does he get to keep trading on the fact that he used to play with LeBron?
 

lovegtm

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Not that he’s not talented, but how long does he get to keep trading on the fact that he used to play with LeBron?
Yeah, he lost the right to any big-game-performer talk when he laid 4 straight eggs against MIL while simultaneously blatantly quitting in terms of defensive execution (not effort). That was one of the worst series by a star I've ever seen.

On the plus side, I'm sure that his constant nagging and subtweeting won't rub anyone in Brooklyn the wrong way as the year goes on!
 

Red Averages

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HRB literally brought up Tom Brady and compared the situations. You said it was ridiculous, which it was. HRB then followed by hilariously saying he did NOT bring up Tom Brady and compare him to Kyrie.
Ok, thank you. I wasn't sure if I somehow read his post wrong.

Either way, I think we can all agree losing Kyrie will make the season far more enjoyable! Wonder if the Nets would undue the max contract if they could go back in time.... On the other hand they sold the team for $2.35bn soooo maybe not.
 

Smokey Joe

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HRB literally brought up Tom Brady and compared the situations. You said it was ridiculous, which it was. HRB then followed by hilariously saying he did NOT bring up Tom Brady and compare him to Kyrie.
It’s kinda like watching a White House press briefing.
 

lovegtm

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Ok, thank you. I wasn't sure if I somehow read his post wrong.

Either way, I think we can all agree losing Kyrie will make the season far more enjoyable! Wonder if the Nets would undue the max contract if they could go back in time.... On the other hand they sold the team for $2.35bn soooo maybe not.
Every team in the league would take a chance on Kyrie if that was what it took to get KD (assuming health). And I say this as someone who is very firmly in the "Kyrie = cancer" camp.
 

joe dokes

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Yet Irving's infamous mood swings, confirmed by his ex-teammates, which followed him from Cleveland to Boston to Brooklyn, are the unspoken concern that makes Nets officials queasy. When Irving lapses into these funks, he often shuts down, unwilling to communicate with the coaching staff, front office and sometimes, even his teammates. Nets team sources say one such episode occurred during Brooklyn's trip to China, leaving everyone scratching their heads as to what precipitated it.
That sounds as much like illness as it does attitude.
 

HomeRunBaker

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HRB literally brought up Tom Brady and compared the situations. You said it was ridiculous, which it was. HRB then followed by hilariously saying he did NOT bring up Tom Brady and compare him to Kyrie.
I brought up a nearly identical Brady situation. That isn't comparing the two players as a whole only one ironic situation of double standard.
 

RetractableRoof

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I brought up a nearly identical Brady situation. That isn't comparing the two players as a whole only one ironic situation of double standard.
But isn't it disingenuous to isolate one example in the body of work of a 20 year career of professional work where one has taken less money, constantly praised teammates, and been held up as the consummate teammate, and been a consistent on field contributor and difference maker in mulitple championship seasons.

I mean in the best light Kyrie has been a contributer on one championship season where he might generously be considered a 1A star to Lebron's North star - and has failed spectacularly at other times when he tried to be the alpha. There are many examples of his being less than ideal teammate, employee, and subordinate to his coaching staff.

It's almost like if one came into a thread and were trolling, and then denied it... Imagine how upset other posters would get... Lol :D
 

Jimbodandy

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I brought up a nearly identical Brady situation. That isn't comparing the two players as a whole only one ironic situation of double standard.
Asking Kyrie to wear a couple of sensors and run through a few workouts with his teammates isn't the same situation. Brady has to do the same fitness tests as his teammates, last I heard.

Nobody tells an NBA player that they can't work with Drew Hanlen or whomever.

It's really not the same situation. If the Nets performance team asked Kyrie to max squat, then it would be the same.
 

djbayko

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The Kyrie thread will continue it's job from the end of last season as being one of my favorite hate-reads on this site. But this time, I'll get to enjoy it since he's not on my team.
 

lovegtm

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The Kyrie thread will continue it's job from the end of last season as being one of my favorite hate-reads on this site. But this time, I'll get to enjoy it since he's not on my team.
Also the title is awesome. I don’t think I can ever un-see “Mr. Chemistry”.
 

Reverend

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This.

I'm wondering if he's bipolar given the wild, and seemingly unprovoked, mood swings.
Some of these accounts are basically descriptions of bipolar, yeah. Sucks—messes with the shadenfreud.

I really want to know what his reasoning on the hat was. Like, a lot.
 

tims4wins

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Preach on, Mr. Chemistry

''Basketball has a way of being sequentially sound or it can be sequentially off completely,'' Irving said. ''Be able to weather the storm out there. Some possessions are not going to be perfect. We want to limit the mistakes out there where you have opportunities to attack the basket, shoot threes and get everyone confident. Wins and losses come and go. It just gives us a chance to dive into practice and really take it day by day. The details are really what separates the good and the bad teams in the league.''
 

lovegtm

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Preach on, Mr. Chemistry

''Basketball has a way of being sequentially sound or it can be sequentially off completely,'' Irving said. ''Be able to weather the storm out there. Some possessions are not going to be perfect. We want to limit the mistakes out there where you have opportunities to attack the basket, shoot threes and get everyone confident. Wins and losses come and go. It just gives us a chance to dive into practice and really take it day by day. The details are really what separates the good and the bad teams in the league.''
Good thing he's there to tell his younger teammates every day about what it takes to win in this league.

It's hilarious how little self-awareness he has.
 

Red Averages

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This thread, and last night's game, made me go out and buy tickets for the November 27th game vs Kyrie. Going to be electric.
 

joe dokes

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Preach on, Mr. Chemistry

''Basketball has a way of being sequentially sound or it can be sequentially off completely,'' Irving said. ''Be able to weather the storm out there. Some possessions are not going to be perfect. We want to limit the mistakes out there where you have opportunities to attack the basket, shoot threes and get everyone confident. Wins and losses come and go. It just gives us a chance to dive into practice and really take it day by day. The details are really what separates the good and the bad teams in the league.''
That reads like a brief written by a legal textbook salesman rather than a lawyer.

But I really came to praise this:
Wouldn't shock me to learn that Kyrie was never vaccinated.