Kyrie Irving: A Star in the making

Kyrie Irving #2 of the Cleveland Cavaliers drives to the basket against Derek Fisher #2 of the Los Angeles Lakers

Kyrie Irving is the next great point guard. That, isn’t an opinion. It’s a fact.

After 11 games at Duke, Irving decided he was good enough for the NBA and signed up for the 2011 draft. He was picked by the Cleveland Cavaliers as the first draft pick. He has played just two seasons in the NBA and has racked up the stats and awards alike.

Irving made it to the All-Star team last season at the age of 20 and he is the seventh player in NBA History to make it to the All-Star team before being old enough to drink. The previous six were Magic Johnson, Isaiah Thomas, Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. All six are either Hall of Famers or are sure shot future ones.

All the above mentioned points beg the question: How on earth did a guy, who played just 11 games at college, become SO good?

Although, he was the No. 1 draft pick, people wondered whether he would be able to make the transition from college to NBA and how long it would take for him to get acclimatised. They found out soon enough.

Irving won the Eastern Conference Rookie of the month award in December. And then again in January, February and March. He missed out on April because he spent most of the month with a sprained right shoulder. If that hadn’t happened, Irving would have won all the Eastern Conference Rookie of the month awards for the entire season, a feat that hasn’t been replicated since LeBron James.

Cavaliers head coach Byron Scott on Kyrie Irving:

“He has surpassed our expectations and probably everybody in the basketball world’s expectations. Kyrie is one of those rare guys who comes in this league and takes it by storm.”

Stats: 20.6 PPG, 5.7 APG, 3.7 RPG, 1.3 SPG playing 32 minutes a game.

Irving showed a marked improvement from his rookie to the sophomore year in terms of numbers.

Rookie year: 18.5 PPG, 5.4 APG, 3.7 RPG, 1.1 SPG, 17.7 Efficiency

Sophomore year: 22.5 PPG, 5.9 APG, 3.7 RPG and 1.5 SPG, 20.0 Efficiency

Irving is a deft passer. He has an incredible court vision and he is a ridiculously good ball handler. There are few players in the league who are better than Irving at triple-threat and isolation sets. In his rookie season, Irving won a bunch of accolades. He was the NBA Rookie of the Year, earning 117/120 votes and was the only unanimous selection to the NBA All-Rookie first team. He was also the NBA Rising stars MVP.

A few qualities of Irving which stands out:

Leadership:

Ever since LeBron James left, the Cavaliers had little reason to celebrate. Their win-loss stats were some of the worst the NBA had ever seen. Then, in 2011, their luck changed. They won the lottery and by extension, the right to sign Kyrie Irving.

Irving is a natural leader. Although he was just 19, he was the best player on the team and took all the buzzer beaters. He was the one who called the shots on the court and he led the team in scoring and in usage percentage. Irving also rallied the team in the locker room before high pressure games. That’s a lot of responsibility for a teenager. The next season, Irving evolved and developed both as a player and a leader. He also made it to the All-Star team.

Scoring Ability:

Kyrie Irving #2 of the Cleveland Cavaliers dribbles against Manu Ginobili #20 of the San Antonio Spurs

This is not to be misunderstood as shooting ability. Irving is a good shooter but he is a better scorer. For example, if in his prime Michael Jordon was told to take a contested 3-pointer with a top-notch defender up his face, the odds were, he would miss the shot. However, if you had told Jordon that he had to score against the very same defender, Jordon would have gotten himself open with ease and knocked down an easier shot.

Irving’s case is similar. He can shoot well, but he can score better.

He can lay it up, shoot from all ranges, post up and dunk. Now, when I say “dunk”, don’t imagine ferocious throw downs like those of Derrick Rose or Russell Westbrook. Irving’s dunk aren’t top notch and he needs to work on those. When compared to the other point guards, Irving scores at a higher rate per 36 minutes than any other point guard.

Although he is a point guard, due to poor teammates, Irving has to take the larger share of shots making him the go-to guy in offense.

Here’s a clip of Kyrie Irving’s ability:

Ball Handling:

Irving’s ball handling ability is brilliant. He can pretty much pull off every possible move a Star Point Guard should be able to. His slight frame and quickness also complements his skills. He is also able to shoot of the dribble and pass accurately as well. Most of his assists come after he dribbles past a defender from an isolation set. His abilities resemble that of a younger Chris Paul. Take a look:

Defense:

This attribute of his stands out because the wrong reason. It’s the only link in the chain that prevents Irving from being called a complete Point Guard as opposed to the Offensive point guard he is right now. In a league where point guards are no more the passers but are evolving as both scorers and passers, Irving really needs to up the ante when it comes to defense.

He’s playing against guards like Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Monta Ellis and Steve Curry- all of whom can score at will. More than scoring at will, they can score via different shots. All are more than adept at post moves and this is one aspect of defense which Irving needs to develop rapidly if he wants to be considered as a force to be reckoned with not only on offense but on defense as well.

Many basketball pundits feel that Irving is modelling his game after Chris Paul, arguably the best NBA point guard in the league right now. They’re similar in many ways. Everything which Paul can do, Irving can too, albeit at a lower level.

Can Kyrie blossom and develop into the next Chris Paul? All the evidence at hand, points to YES.