OK, thirty games into his first season in Boston, how come Kyrie Irving can now play defense?

Irving was supposedly the worst defensive player in the league (maybe even the entire world?) when the Cs were thinking about trading
for him last summer.  He is not a "lock down" defender, but he does certainly play above average defense in every game that I have seen him
play this season.  He is especially pretty good at deflecting and stealing opponents passes while rebounding above average for a point guard.

I am not a big numbers or video researchers like so many others on our forum, but in watching some (well, a little bit) of his Cleveland defense,
this guy is a fully "changed" defender in a Cs jersey this year.  He does not quite have the same scoring average as Thomas did last year before he
got hurt, but Irving may be the biggest difference to our improved defense this season as he is way better (in every way) on defense than Thomas
was at the point guard position.

Was he just passing time on defense last season in Cleveland, or is the Boston coaching staff working some kind of miracles?

Wideclyde,
I'm of the same opinion: KI's playing much better defense than he has been credited for based on his performance in Cleveland. I don't know what happened to KI. But answering your last sentence: Stevens is a miracle comparative to Lue (c/o Lebron), IMHO.

AK

Could it be that rooting loyalties could have an effect on perception ? - just wondering!!!!

swish

swish wrote:Could it be that rooting loyalties could have an effect on perception ? - just wondering!!!!

 swish  

Swish,
I don't think so. I root, almost always, against Lebron. At the same time I consider him one of the best defenders in the league in the last 10-12 years.

AK

Swish, I agree with sinus. It was extensively reported in the media that Kyrie wasn't a good defender. It's being reported now that his D is much better. Not every aspect of player perceived improvement is due to coaching miracles. Sometimes its about the player improving on his own, and in situations like this, improving the mental aspect as well. Kyrie didn't like the way he had to play in Cleveland. With his talent level, I'm thinking this is the way he wanted to play all along and his play is very different from his time in the Land. IMO he gets most of the praise for the difference. One thing that is Celtic in his improvement is having a coach who trust him to make the right plays that go to his strength. Wherever the credit should go, I'm just happy he is in Green!

sinus - mulcogiseng

Perhaps you guys have got it right - just wondering.

swish

I don't think he's changed at all from last season. He just seems to fit in with the defensive scheme and personnel better in Boston than Cleveland.

When you are surrounded by solid defenders (Al, Jaylen and Smart for example) and when defensive schemes are team oriented it can uplift a player.

Mostly it may be that Irving wants to be a more complete player.  He wants the responsibility associated with leadership and expending energy on defense is part of that.

As many times that I have seen Irving play I never thought that he cared about defending. But since he put on the Celtics uniform he has bought into everything that helps this team win a lot of games.

Danny's decisiveness in seeing an opportunity to bring superstar talent to this team and making it happen without gutting the team should make him GM of the year.

Dboss

And pretty soon we will find out if the other half of the trade (Thomas) will have the same up lifting effect on the Cavs.

swish

Once our pups grown into big dogs the impact of The Cavs will not be able to outlast the Celtics.  A healthy Thomas gives the Cavs another weapon on offense but his defense is simply not going to make them a better team.  

Dboss

dboss wrote:Once our pups grown into big dogs the impact of The Cavs will not be able to outlast the Celtics.  A healthy Thomas gives the Cavs another weapon on offense but his defense is simply not going to make them a better team.  

Dboss

Does that also mean that Thomas, because of his bad defense, didn't make the Celtics a better team last year.?

swish