Kyrie Irving is part of a new breed of NBA point guards who look to score first and pass second. It’s been one of the main knocks against him in his young career, but he could be forgiven in the past since he was by far the Cavs’ best player in the post-LeBron era. Something eventually had to give, though, when the King made his prodigal return to Cleveland.
The process has been slow, but Irving has made tremendous strides so far this season in terms of setting up his teammates more effectively, specifically LeBron. And it’s thanks in no small part to one of LeBron’s former teammates. Via Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com:
Irving has been studying film of James’ days with the Miami Heat and his first tenure with the Cavs from 2003-10, looking for situations where teammates would set him up. The play that led to James’ massive late-game dunk against the Warriors on Christmas was the result of the same type of action James used to run with Dwyane Wade on the Heat.
“He used to do that with Mo Williams even before [Wade], they used to run that play,” Irving said. “He used to get major dunks on that. I watched them.”
Irving’s on-court chemistry with James has been expanding. Last season, Irving set James up with assists 43 times during the regular season. This season, the number is already at 42. Last season, Irving assisted one of every 17 of James’ baskets; this season that number has surged to one of every six. Those stats speak for themselves.
It’s hard to argue with those numbers. Irving is already an incredible offensive player, and if he can continue to round out his game and make everyone around him better, the Cavs will be even scarier than they are now.
(ESPN.com)
