Links to the Present: February 3, 2012
2012-02-03
Here are a couple of previews for tonight’s game against the Magic from Conrad Kaczmarek over at FTS, and Bob Finnan of the News-Herald.
“We’re getting into what we call late-clock situations way too often. Our pace of play has to be faster. The way we want to play and the way we want to get the ball moving from side to side and then look to attack means you have to get the ball up the court a lot faster.” [Byron Scott via Jason Lloyd]
“New players are exciting, whether for one team or the league as a whole, and it’s in the NBA’s best interest to promote those guys whenever possible. Irving deserves to get in on the merits, too, with 18.1 ppg and 4.9 apg in only 28.8 minutes as the Cavs battle for a playoff spot. He’s only going to get better and play more, and the league should take advantage of his budding stardom as soon as possible. Hype only seems stupid when a player’s success peters out — Irving’s not going to get to the point for some time.” [Eric Freeman on why Kyrie Irving deserves to make the All-Star team]
“Cavs rookie guard and leading scorer Kyrie Irving said having the imposing Howard clogging the middle won’t keep him from playing his normal game. ‘I will be throwing that ball almost as high as the shot clock, I’ll tell you that,’ Irving said, laughing. But he actually does have a plan of attack beyond that. ‘Playing against great shot-blockers, you just have to catch them off guard sometimes,” Irving said. “You know, stop-and-pop. I love going in (the paint), but once you see Dwight Howard, sometimes you stop-and-pop, sometimes you make the easy pass to your teammate and let him make the play.'” [Sam Amico]
Mallory – they can’t change the national TV schedule now, and I suspect the media as a whole is wary of writing much about teams that the vast majority of their readers can’t actually watch. I actually don’t think he is being undersold – it usually takes 1 good year on a team that wins more often than it loses to draw the kind of national attention that drives all-star campaigns, etc. As a devout consumer of basketball writing I don’t think Rubio has got significantly more coverage than Irving. Quick test – google news results in the past month… Read more »
Is it just me or has anyone else noticed how little attention the general media seems to give Irving? I feel like no one ever talks about him as a great player, and he’s regularly overlooked for Rubio.
I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why the NBA hasn’t capitalized on Irving more. I know this was supposed to be a “down” draft class, which is why the NBA didn’t put too much stock into Irving, but enough is enough. Lets call him a budding star and showcase him a LITTLE.
It would be a travesty for any other PG to get the nod over Kyrie here…He’s arguably the best rookie guard since MJ thusfar, although CP3 was very comparable, and is by far the best scoring point guard in the east behind Rose. He is the *only* point guard in the east shooting over 50% from the field. Irving, CP3, and Steve Nash are the only players in the game shooting 50% from the field, 40% from 3, and 80% from the line, and scoring at least 15ppg. Kyrie is 7th in the league in points scored per minute, and… Read more »
I Like Kyrie but to say he should be an all star is dumb. Derrick Rose, Rondo, and maybe the apathetic Deron Williams all deserve the nod before Kyrie. Not to mention Brandon Jennings who is superior in nearly every statistical category.