INTERSTING CELTIC ARTICLES - NESN & WEEI

Why Colin Cowherd Blames Kyrie Irving For Celtics’ NBA Playoff Downfall

NESN by Ricky Doyle on Tue, May 7, 2019 at 3:08PM

There’s plenty of blame to go around in Boston these days with the Celtics facing elimination in their second-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Kyrie Irving is feeling as much heat as anyone, as he simply hasn’t delivered for the C’s, who trail 3-1 in the best-of-seven series after dropping Game 4 on Monday night at TD Garden.

Colin Cowherd piled on the Celtics point guard Tuesday on FS1, declaring Boston is “absolutely worse” with Irving in the mix. After all, the Celtics went to the Eastern Conference finals without Irving and Gordon Hayward last season, and they’re now on the verge of being sent packing by MVP front-runner Giannis Antetokounmpo and the top-seeded Bucks.

The Bucks will look to finish off the Celtics on Wednesday night in Milwaukee. It might mark Irving’s final game with Boston, as he can opt out of his contract and become a free agent this summer.

If we’re to subscribe to Cowherd’s theory, it could be a blessing in disguise for the Celtics if Irving signs elsewhere this offseason. Because despite Irving’s amazing talent, it often feels like the organization is trying to fit a square peg into a round hole with him leading the charge.
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Kyrie Irving Unfit As ‘Batman,’ Ex-Celtics Center Kendrick Perkins Concludes

NESN by Marcus Kwesi O'Mard on Tue, May 7, 2019 at 3:23PM

Kyrie Irving can act but, directors shouldn’t cast him as “Batman.”

Former Boston Celtics center concluded as much Tuesday morning when he described the Celtics star as “not a Batman.” Perkins delivered the damming assessment of Irving via Twitter a day after the Celtics lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 113-101 in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series.

Listen if y’all think that me and my boy @paulpierce34 was going to go against the grain in this series y’all crazy! Win, lose or draw I was riding with the Bean! Just realized that Kyrie not a Batman! Hell @isaiahthomas took the Cs to the ECF! Hell they got there last year! ‍�

— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) May 7, 2019

Irving famously wanted to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers to escape LeBron James’ shadow and test himself as the leader of his own team, and the Cavs obliged and traded Irving to the Celtics in 2017.

His leadership skills are under intense scrutiny in Boston after the Celtics stumbled through the regular season and now are on the brink of a second-round exit.

Perkins on Monday night ripped the Celtics as “selfish” and playing with “no heart” but he waited until Tuesday to single out Irving a better “Robin” than “Batman.”

Given the timing, and the Celtics’ predicament, we can’t dismiss Perkins’ opinion as the mere musings of a “Joker.”
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Why Stephen A. Smith Believes Gordon Hayward ‘Disrupted’ Celtics’ Season

NESN by Ricky Doyle on Tue, May 7, 2019 at 4:16PM

Who deserves most of the blame for the Boston Celtics falling to the brink of elimination from the NBA playoffs?

It’s a question that’s being debated ad nauseam in the wake of Boston’s Game 4 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, and Kyrie Irving seems to be the most common recipient of criticism after posting another lackluster performance Monday night at TD Garden.

But Stephen A. Smith refused to limit his finger-pointing Tuesday. While he’s disappointed with Irving’s recent postseason play, Smith believes Gordon Hayward actually “disrupted” the Celtics’ entire season by joining Boston’s starting lineup too soon following his gruesome injury.

Smith explained on ESPN’s “First Take” why Celtics coach Brad Stevens and president of basketball operations Danny Ainge need to be held accountable for putting Hayward in a position to negatively impact Boston’s chances of meeting its full potential.

The Celtics, of course, came within one win of the NBA Finals last season without Irving and Hayward, in large part because Boston’s young players — namely Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier — stepped up and seized their increased opportunities. It’s been a shaky 2018-19 campaign with Irving and Hayward back in the mix, though, and Smith even noticed recently that Tatum and Brown, in particular, looked miserable in the Celtics’ locker room toward the end of the regular season.

This will be an interesting summer for the Celtics, as Irving can opt out of his contract and become a free agent. And it all could begin as soon as Wednesday night, as the Bucks will look to close out the Celtics in Game 5 in Milwaukee.
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Why Jay Williams Thinks Kyrie Irving’s Season With Celtics ‘Atrocity’

NESN by Lauren Campbell on Tue, May 7, 2019 at 5:37PM

It certainly wasn’t the regular season many predicted the Boston Celtics would have for a plethora of reasons, but Jay Williams is targeting one specific player for having an atrocious year.

On Tuesday’s episode of ESPN’s “First Take,” the NBA analyst — and self-proclaimed “biggest Kyrie Irving fan” — said this season has been awful for Irving, and it’s all “self-inflicted.”

“This year has been an atrocity for Kyrie, Williams told co-hosts Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman. “… I know the person he is,” Williams said, “and this is not the person he is. And yes, he made that shot to in a world championship for Game 7. He asked to get away from LeBron James. He wants to have his own team … you have your own team now. Now you have a chance to lead men. And for them to get booed out of their own area last night (after Game 4), I was appalled. … We’re watching his demise.”

You can watch Williams’ full explanation below, starting at the 4:00 mark.

Sure, Irving’s season hasn’t been perfect and has had his fair share of questionable comments and his lack of confirming to commit to Boston after this season calls for concern. Williams already is convinced Irving won’t re-sign with the Celtics and after his comments Tuesday, and the C’s being down 3-1 to the Bucks in their second-round series, he likely feels even stronger about them now.

Irving and Co. look to avoid elimination Wednesday in Game 5 in Milwaukee. But once the Celtics season comes to an end, all eyes likely will be on the guard as we await where he will end up.
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Jalen Rose says Kyrie Irving's teammates 'can't wait for him to leave'

WEEI Alex Reimer

Jalen Rose does not think it would be a bad thing if Kyrie Irving spurned the Celtics and signed elsewhere this offseason. In fact, Rose thinks it would be the best outcome for this wildly disappointing group.

On ESPN’s “Get Up” Tuesday, Rose said he thinks Irving’s teammates are hoping he decides to play elsewhere. “He’s done in Boston. And you ready for this? His teammates will help him pack,” Rose said. “They can’t wait for him to leave.”

The Celtics’ 113-101 Game 4 loss to the Bucks Monday epitomized all of their worst tendencies, featuring ill-fated attempts at “hero ball” and lethargic efforts on defense. They lost the game midway through the third quarter, when Giannis Antetokounmpo went to the bench. Milwaukee immediately ripped off a 10-0 run, which was downright embarrassing.

Irving went 7-for-22 Monday and is now 19-for-62 over the last three games. The Celtics once again struggled to hit threes, only landing 9 of their 41 shots from beyond the arc.

Rose said Irving’s presence slows Boston down offensively. “They used to be a pace-and-space team, where the ball and the moment dictated who got the shot. Kyrie Irving is a ball-dominant, isolation type of player. They used to be a team where Al Horford, their center, led them in assists. That was their style. Now, they’ve chosen to give the ball to Kyrie to take them home. He’s shown he can’t be the best player on a contending team.”

While Irving remains an incredibly skilled player, it’s difficult to argue with Rose. This was Irving’s first season as an unabashed leader, and it resulted in turmoil, chaos, and losing streaks.

The Celtics may be worse on paper without him, but at least they might be more enjoyable to watch. And recent history shows they might win more, too.
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It's pile-on time

Opinions are great but sometimes opinions  lose their credibility with a little fact checking

so Colin Cowherd Blames Kyrie Irving For Celtics’ NBA Playoff Downfall.  He uses last year's playoff as a measuring stick even though the Bucks are not the same team.  Last year they did not have a great coach.  They do now.  Last year that did not have veteran PG George Hill.  Thy do now.  Last year they did not have sharp shooter Mirotic and the very underated SG PAT
CONNAUGHTON was playing in Portland last year.  What happened last year is irrelevant.  It really is.

Jay Williams Thinks Kyrie Irving’s Season With Celtics ‘Atrocity’.  Kyrie had a pretty damn good regular season.  He is not having a great playoff series but that is hardly the demise of Kyrie Irving.

Jalen Rose says Kyrie Irving's teammates 'can't wait for him to leave'   That is his unqualified opinion.  He also said that Irving’s presence slows Boston down offensively. “They used to be a pace-and-space team, where the ball and the moment dictated who got the shot. Kyrie Irving is a ball-dominant, isolation type of player. They used to be a team where Al Horford, their center, led them in assists. That was their style. Now, they’ve chosen to give the ball to Kyrie to take them home. He’s shown he can’t be the best player on a contending team.”

The Celtics pace was higher this year than last year and AL has never led this team in assists

There are a lot of reasons why the Celtics are down 3-1.  After the first game I convinced myself that Boston had a chance to win.  I was wrong.  It is true that several players have not played well but let's give the Bucks some credit.  From the beginning of the season to the end they have been the # 1 team in the NBA and lead the nba in multiple statistical categories.

Kyrie is clearly an easy target.  He wanted his own team and he wanted to lead them.  He has failed in that capacity but I cannot blame him for the entire situation.  That would be most unfair.  

None of us know what will happen in the off season.  We can only speculate.

As you know in another thread I surmised that if Boston did not make a deep deep run, Danny would be more likely to make a blockbuster trade for AD. Nothing has happened to change my opinion about that. I think Danny will go hard after AD because we need to upgrade our front line. I think Kyrie and AD give us an inside out threat that we simply have not had. I believe that Kyrie is a great player But I also think he needs to be paired with another great player. I do not think Danny goes after KD if Kyrie were to leave. I do not want this team to go through another arduous rebuilding project.

Dboss you forgot to mention the Bucks also added Brook Lopez, who has a 7’2” lumberjack presence in the paint and makes life easier for Giannis the same way Perk made KG’s life easier and Lopez can hit the 3. Add in Mirotic too and damn those guys are big, what a great job of adding talent around Giannis, Middleton, Bledsoe and Brogden, who is their GM, he sure made all the right moves to surpass us....???

dboss wrote:It's pile-on time

Opinions are great but sometimes opinions  lose their credibility with a little fact checking

so Colin Cowherd Blames Kyrie Irving For Celtics’ NBA Playoff Downfall.  He uses last year's playoff as a measuring stick even though the Bucks are not the same team.  Last year they did not have a great coach.  They do now.  Last year that did not have veteran PG George Hill.  Thy do now.  Last year they did not have sharp shooter Mirotic and the very underated SG PAT
CONNAUGHTON was playing in Portland last year.  What happened last year is irrelevant.  It really is.

Jay Williams Thinks Kyrie Irving’s Season With Celtics ‘Atrocity’.  Kyrie had a pretty damn good regular season.  He is not having a great playoff series but that is hardly the demise of Kyrie Irving.

Jalen Rose says Kyrie Irving's teammates 'can't wait for him to leave'   That is his unqualified opinion.  He also said that Irving’s presence slows Boston down offensively. “They used to be a pace-and-space team, where the ball and the moment dictated who got the shot. Kyrie Irving is a ball-dominant, isolation type of player. They used to be a team where Al Horford, their center, led them in assists. That was their style. Now, they’ve chosen to give the ball to Kyrie to take them home. He’s shown he can’t be the best player on a contending team.”

The Celtics pace was higher this year than last year and AL has never led this team in assists

There are a lot of reasons why the Celtics are down 3-1.  After the first game I convinced myself that Boston had a chance to win.  I was wrong.  It is true that several players have not played well but let's give the Bucks some credit.  From the beginning of the season to the end they have been the # 1 team in the NBA and lead the nba in multiple statistical categories.

Kyrie is clearly an easy target.  He wanted his own team and he wanted to lead them.  He has failed in that capacity but I cannot blame him for the entire situation.  That would be most unfair.  

None of us know what will happen in the off season.  We can only speculate.  

As you know in another thread I surmised that if Boston did not make a deep deep run, Danny would be more likely to make a blockbuster trade for AD.  Nothing has happened to change my opinion about that.  I think Danny will go hard after AD because we need to upgrade our front line.  I think Kyrie and AD give us an inside out threat that we simply have not had.  I believe that Kyrie is a great player  But I also think he needs to be paired with another great player.  I do not think Danny goes after KD if Kyrie were to leave.  I do not want this team to go through another arduous rebuilding project.

You typed KD, you meant AD....

Yes, the Bucks have added some nice players who fit their team quite well, but the Cs have fallen apart.

In my opinion, the Cs have fallen apart mostly due the failure of Irving to lead positively. He has clearly not been a good team leader with blaming his teammates and becoming more and more selfish as the season (and playoffs) progressed. His poor play in the Bucks series has bothered me far less than his other actions, but it does seem to draw even more negative attention.

He should have been traded at the trade deadline in February when a couple of future draft picks, a good young player and a developmental player could have been acquired along with a salary dump. Now he either goes in free agency or Ainge has to about completely revamp the entire roster for next season.

Addition by subtraction is long overdue with Mr Irving as all of the drama he has created has made this year's Boston Celtics one of my least favorite Cs teams ever.

Dboss,
I'm with you. There are multiple reasons for the Celtics fiasco. And to blame just KI or mishandling of GH is just wrong.
I guess Take #1 of KI+GH+AH+2Js didn't work. Danny's back to his kitchen...
I hope Take #2 will render better results.

AK

cowens/oldschool wrote:Dboss you forgot to mention the Bucks also added Brook Lopez, who has a 7’2” lumberjack presence in the paint and makes life easier for Giannis the same way Perk made KG’s life easier and Lopez can hit the 3. Add in Mirotic too and damn those guys are big, what a great job of adding talent around Giannis, Middleton, Bledsoe and Brogden, who is their GM, he sure made all the right moves to surpass us....???

You are correct. How could I have overlooked the Android?

This further sheds a lot of light on the fact that this Bucks team is a different team from last year. Whatever happened last year is removed from today' s reality. This Celtics team is a different team than they were last year.

dboss wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:Dboss you forgot to mention the Bucks also added Brook Lopez, who has a 7’2” lumberjack presence in the paint and makes life easier for Giannis the same way Perk made KG’s life easier and Lopez can hit the 3. Add in Mirotic too and damn those guys are big, what a great job of adding talent around Giannis, Middleton, Bledsoe and Brogden, who is their GM, he sure made all the right moves to surpass us....???

You are correct.  How could I have overlooked the Android?

This further sheds a lot of light on the fact that this Bucks team is a different team from last year.  Whatever happened last year is removed from today' s reality.  This Celtics team is a different team than they were last year.

Right those moves were all brilliant and enabled Bucks to surpass us this year, all GM’s should take note, you don’t necessarily need the superstar signing, just a lot of key moves on functional journeymen types can make all the difference. Danny had that magic in 08, we can do it again IMHO.

wideclyde wrote:Yes, the Bucks have added some nice players who fit their team quite well, but the Cs have fallen apart.

In my opinion, the Cs have fallen apart mostly due the failure of Irving to lead positively. He has clearly not been a good team leader with blaming his teammates and becoming more and more selfish as the season (and playoffs) progressed.  His poor play in the Bucks series has bothered me far less than his other actions, but it does seem to draw even more negative attention.

He should have been traded at the trade deadline in February when a couple of future draft picks, a good young player and a developmental player could have been acquired along with a salary dump.  Now he either goes in free agency or Ainge has to about completely revamp the entire roster for next season.

Addition by subtraction is long overdue with Mr Irving as all of the drama he has created has made this year's Boston Celtics one of my least favorite Cs teams ever.

Hate to admit it, but +1

wideclyde wrote:Yes, the Bucks have added some nice players who fit their team quite well, but the Cs have fallen apart.

In my opinion, the Cs have fallen apart mostly due the failure of Irving to lead positively. He has clearly not been a good team leader with blaming his teammates and becoming more and more selfish as the season (and playoffs) progressed.  His poor play in the Bucks series has bothered me far less than his other actions, but it does seem to draw even more negative attention.

He should have been traded at the trade deadline in February when a couple of future draft picks, a good young player and a developmental player could have been acquired along with a salary dump.  Now he either goes in free agency or Ainge has to about completely revamp the entire roster for next season.

Addition by subtraction is long overdue with Mr Irving as all of the drama he has created has made this year's Boston Celtics one of my least favorite Cs teams ever.

Wyde

With all due respect you have been all over Kyrie Irving all year long like an ill fitting suit..

Did you notice that AH had a very good offensive game the other night?  He put up 20 points and had 6 boards.

Giannis had 39 and 16 so our best big was destroyed.  The deficit was 19 points and 10 rebounds.  Do ya think that may have had anything to do with the final outcome?  What about scary Terry rozier?  Seems Brad has lost all confidence in his abilities.  He only played 10 minutes.  He scored 2 points on 1-5 from the field and went 0-3 from deep and had ZERO assists.  Do you think that impacted the final outcome?

Let me continue.

Marcus Smart has been out for around 6 weeks.  He made a couple of energy plays but he went 1-7 from the field and all 7 of his attempts were 3 point shots.  Did that impact the game?

Gordon Hayward played 27 minutes and he matched Rozier with a 1-5 performance with 2 points and ZERO assists.

You can go through the entire season and you will find enough evidence that shows TEAMS win and TEAMS lose.

The Celtics are losing in this series right now because the Bucks are the superior team.  It has little to do with any one player on the Celtics and more to do with the Structure of this team, the emphasis on a perimeter oriented offense and minimal post offense.  And the inability to defend the paint and rebound the ball.

Do you know that the Bucks were # 1 in rebounds?  Boston was #22
They were also

# 1 in scoring
# 1 in defensive efficiency
# 2 in Blocks per game
# 3 points in the paint
# 3 in Offensive efficiency


I could go on but I can assure you that the Bucks are clearly a better team across the board than the Celtics.

So you can keep blaming Kyrie if you want to but if and when Boston's season ends it would be absurd to blame Kyrie for all the deficiencies of this TEAM.

Lots of finger pointing right now by many of us disappointed fans. I'll point out the Fat Lady hasn't sung yet, while I also acknowledge she's warming up.

I agree with those who say there is no single reason for Celtic underachieving this season. We all have our favorite whipping post, and mine has been lack of bigs. Looking inward, though, I have to acknowledge that if it were easy to find another couple of quality forwards, the team would already have them. Maybe one or two on the roster should have been used more, but, again, I don't get to make that call.

Looking at the big picture I think we all have to consider that a big measure of our discontent is that at least 3 other teams in the East got stronger. They caught up to, or passed our horse, when we thought that stud had the clear lead.

The offseason is a potential difference maker. Maybe more so than usual. Boston has 1) an excellent young core group, 2) good position and quantity in the draft, 3) players and picks with some fairly good trade value, and, 4) the ability to add a good free agent or two for depth and maybe even rotation play.

The challenge is to tweak things enough to improve the roster to catch up with a balanced team like Milwaukee, without totally blowing up the pieces already in place. The Boston front office has shown itself willing to make a bold move or two in the past, so I'm hopeful they have some realistic targets to discuss, and can make improvements to balance and strengthen the roster once the season ends.

For right now, the '18 - '19 season, at around 11:00am on Thursday, May 8, 2019... it ain't over 'til its over.

The offseason is a potential difference maker. Maybe more so than usual. Boston has 1) an excellent young core group, 2) good position and quantity in the draft, 3) players and picks with some fairly good trade value, and, 4) the ability to add a good free agent or two for depth and maybe even rotation play.


_________________________________________________________________________

we usually agree on things around here, but I do have a different take on a couple things above.

while the #14 pick may land us a player who can be a rotational player next year, history says most players taken  at #20 and below do not provide immediate help. Some say this years draft may not be all that deep also, but that will be determined in a few years from now to be sure.

While we will have the MLE to sign an outside free agent, I doubt we should expect much more than a rotational type player coming from that signing. However I should note that I believe Lopez signed under the Bi-annual rule at Milwaukee this year. So I suppose there is a chance If Danny can find that big man who wants to come to Boston.

kdp59 wrote:The offseason is a potential difference maker. Maybe more so than usual. Boston has 1) an excellent young core group, 2) good position and quantity in the draft, 3) players and picks with some fairly good trade value, and, 4) the ability to add a good free agent or two for depth and maybe even rotation play.


_________________________________________________________________________

we usually agree on things around here, but I do have a different take on a couple things above.

while the #14 pick may land us a player who can be a rotational player next year, history says most players taken  at #20 and below do not provide immediate help. Some say this years draft may not be all that deep also, but that will be determined in a few years from now to be sure.

While we will have the MLE to sign an outside free agent, I doubt we should expect much more than a rotational type player coming from that signing. However I should note that I believe Lopez signed under the Bi-annual rule at Milwaukee this year. So I suppose there is a chance If Danny can find that big man who wants to come to Boston.

kdp50

Yep it looks like they did use the Bi-annual exception $3,382,000

Talk about getting value for your dollars.

The Celtics did not use their MLE (not even a portion of it) and they did not use their bi-annual exception.

READ MY NEW POST AS STEVENS TAKES BLAME!

112288

dboss wrote:It's pile-on time

Opinions are great but sometimes opinions  lose their credibility with a little fact checking

so Colin Cowherd Blames Kyrie Irving For Celtics’ NBA Playoff Downfall.  He uses last year's playoff as a measuring stick even though the Bucks are not the same team.  Last year they did not have a great coach.  They do now.  Last year that did not have veteran PG George Hill.  Thy do now.  Last year they did not have sharp shooter Mirotic and the very underated SG PAT
CONNAUGHTON was playing in Portland last year.  What happened last year is irrelevant.  It really is.

Jay Williams Thinks Kyrie Irving’s Season With Celtics ‘Atrocity’.  Kyrie had a pretty damn good regular season.  He is not having a great playoff series but that is hardly the demise of Kyrie Irving.

Jalen Rose says Kyrie Irving's teammates 'can't wait for him to leave'   That is his unqualified opinion.  He also said that Irving’s presence slows Boston down offensively. “They used to be a pace-and-space team, where the ball and the moment dictated who got the shot. Kyrie Irving is a ball-dominant, isolation type of player. They used to be a team where Al Horford, their center, led them in assists. That was their style. Now, they’ve chosen to give the ball to Kyrie to take them home. He’s shown he can’t be the best player on a contending team.”

The Celtics pace was higher this year than last year and AL has never led this team in assists

There are a lot of reasons why the Celtics are down 3-1.  After the first game I convinced myself that Boston had a chance to win.  I was wrong.  It is true that several players have not played well but let's give the Bucks some credit.  From the beginning of the season to the end they have been the # 1 team in the NBA and lead the nba in multiple statistical categories.

Kyrie is clearly an easy target.  He wanted his own team and he wanted to lead them.  He has failed in that capacity but I cannot blame him for the entire situation.  That would be most unfair.  

None of us know what will happen in the off season.  We can only speculate.  

As you know in another thread I surmised that if Boston did not make a deep deep run, Danny would be more likely to make a blockbuster trade for AD.  Nothing has happened to change my opinion about that.  I think Danny will go hard after AD because we need to upgrade our front line.  I think Kyrie and AD give us an inside out threat that we simply have not had.  I believe that Kyrie is a great player  But I also think he needs to be paired with another great player.  I do not think Danny goes after KD if Kyrie were to leave.  I do not want this team to go through another arduous rebuilding project.

I didn’t get the impression that they are blaming Kyrie for ALL of the C’s problems. They all pointed out KI’s shortcomings and he being the star on this team, thats usually where folks look first and for us, I believe that thats where a lot of the problems lie.
I don’t believe anyone of us watching our team this year can honestly say that none of what’s they have pointed out about KI is not true. Not the only problem but certainly the biggest and most glaring.

dboss,

As entitled, you have found your way to rip my opinions on this board this year.

When you do so, at least, please read more carefully.  If you go back you will see that in no way did I
take anything away from the Bucks and their performances. They have clearly been the best team in this series and also all year long.  

However, I do think that you may be missing the overall effect that a disgruntled star's poor leadership can have on an entire team.

I fully believe that especially in basketball (smallest roster in all of the four major sports in our country) that one player can have tons of influence on the team's overall performance.  This can come from a lesser talented guy who makes everyone around him better (positive leadership) or from a 'star' player who does not make his teammates around him better (and, perhaps even worse).

Basketball is so much a fluid team game that negative leadership can easily disrupt a team's successes.  There is still a lot to be said about last year's team performance when Irving was not playing and sometimes not even on the bench for the last 1/3rd of the season.

Also, how are you feeling about your boy from earlier in the year, Yabusele??  I see that he is certainly making strong and solid contributions this year.