Cleveland Cavaliers: Kyrie Irving’s erratic play is hurting the Cavs
By Erez Maman
Through two games in the 2017 NBA Finals, Kyrie Irving’s erratic play has been detrimental to the Cleveland Cavaliers
We all know Kyrie Irving is one of the most talented basketball players on the planet. He is arguably the best dribbler in the NBA, and has a knack for making seemingly impossible shots.
But his Game 2 performance was downright terrible. Really. Some young stars shy away from the bright lights. They’re hesitant to shoot in big games. Kyrie, on the other hand, is very confident. TOO confident.
If the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to have any chance at winning in Game 3, Kyrie is going to need to change his basketball IQ fast.
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The main problem with Kyrie, is when he decides he’s shooting, there’s no going back. When he see’s the green light, he puts the pedal to the medal and there’s no time to hit the brakes.
He’s very reminiscent of a young Russell Westbrook. Kyrie needs to make plays for his teammates or the cavs are going to get swept. He doesn’t need to average 10 assists a game. He simply needs to pass out of double teams and make better decisions.
Irving was only 8-23 from the field in Game 2, and tried to play 1-on-1 too much. Okay not 1-on-1, more like 1-on-3. Thats not going to work against such a great defensive team. Kyrie can’t force his shot. If anything he should pass it to LeBron and yell at LeBron to go 1-on-3.
And while his poor offensive performance was obvious, his defense was even worse. I get when players like Jimmer Fredette are bad defenders. He’s too slow, he’s a bad athlete. But is Kyrie that bad of an athlete? No. Kyrie looks too quick for everyone on the offensive end, but where’s the effort on defense?
The bottom line is this Warriors team is simply too good. It’s not just about Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. The Warriors movement, and team basketball is on another level. If the Cleveland Cavaliers want to win, Irving needs to need to find the open man and hopefully the role players will hit their open looks.
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The Cavs will need Kyle Korver, Channing Frye, J.R. miss/ J.R. Swish to step up, Kyrie to settle down, and LeBron to take over. If the Cavs can do that, they have a chance to beat the Warriors tonight then lose the series in five games. Sorry guys, but this series is over.