Kyrie Irving delivers interesting comments on how he handles 4th-quarter rest time with Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2017/12/kyrie_irving_delivers_interest.html




Kyrie Irving delivers interesting comments on how he handles 4th-quarter rest time with Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers




Updated 12:34 AM;
Posted 3:00 AM



By Jay Kingmjking@masslive.com




Boston Celtics star Kyrie Irving delivered some interesting comments Wednesday night when asked about his mentality toward sitting out the beginning of fourth quarters, revealing that he handles the situation differently than he used to with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

With the Celtics, Irving normally rests during the opening minutes of fourth quarters before reentering to serve as the team's closer. He did so again Wednesday, facilitating plenty of late offense as Boston held off the Charlotte Hornets, 102-91. But Irving also sat out the first seven minutes of the fourth, prompting one of the reporters to wonder how the star approaches his time on the bench.


"Just patient, man, it's the best way to be," Irving told reporters. "It's definitely a learning experience for me because that's a time where I was afforded when I was in Cleveland to be able to kind of tell (Tyronn) Lue and tell the other coaches, 'I'm ready to go in.' And that was kind of on my end.

"And coming into the environment I'm in with (Celtics head coach) Brad (Stevens), and understanding his intellect of the game, and being able to trust what we have going on, and what's going on throughout the game -- not that I didn't trust what was going on before, but for me it's just been where I have to be patient, and my impact on the game is felt a little bit different. So there are some times where I want to push the pedal to the metal and go back out there and just -- but whatever's needed, I'm willing to do for the team. And I know Brad will echo the same thing, so I trust what he's got going on."


Interestingly, Irving's fourth-quarter minutes have barely changed: 7.1 per game this season compared to 7.2 per game last season with Cleveland. But it's notable that he feels like things are different in Boston, just like it's notable that he has repeatedly praised Stevens' coaching. That's not a huge surprise. Everybody raves about Stevens' basketball brain. But Irving requested a trade from the Cavaliers this summer and later cited a desire to expand his game. It's at least worth highlighting that he's impressed by Stevens' "intellect of the game" and excited about the trust he has in Boston's coaching staff.

Irving's role has shifted in some ways, as everyone knew it would when he was dealt from the Cavaliers to the Celtics. The point guard's minutes qualify as another change. Though his fourth-quarter playing time has barely rippled, Irving's overall minutes have decreased from 35.1 per game (14th in the NBA, according to Basketball-Reference.com) to 32.2 per game (50th). Where the Cavaliers coaches take annual heat over refusing to limit LeBron James' remarkable workload, the Celtics coaches take great care to make sure their top players spend enough time on the bench.

Irving didn't have a huge scoring game against the Hornets, but still finished with 21 points and eight assists. The attention he drew freed teammate Al Horford to hit three early 3-pointers and a late backbreaker when Charlotte still held (admittedly slim) comeback hopes.

"I just think that we took advantage of them not switching a lot of those pick-and-rolls, those high pick-and-rolls, with Kyrie and I," Horford told reporters. "And early I was able to slip out and get some good looks."



bob
MY NOTE:  This is the difference between having a coach and an ass-kisser.  Irving played 31 minutes last night.  If Tyronn Lue was the coach he would have allowed Irving to go back in sooner and he'd be completely useless tonight.


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And, not get the credit for anything. LeBron runs that ship, that is why they keep Lue. Will be interesting to see what happens in the summer this coming year. I know everyone says he will end up in LA, but there is a lot who are saying he might end up with the Rockets. One ball, how would that work.