Culture of Hoops

Kyrie Irving: It doesnt take defense to be an All-Star….

Image courtesy of Erik Drost/Flickr.

Image courtesy of Erik Drost/Flickr.

Baller Mind Frame’s No Layups brings you the hottest NBA stories on the web mixed with personal opinion from our very own Aaron Lanton. Check it often and absorb the knowledge we’re dropping on you!

I asked him [Kyrie Irving] why Augustin gives him so many problems.

“Problems?” Irving responded, as if disagreeing with the assessment. So I reminded him that Augustin had 27 Wednesday after scoring 18 in the previous meeting. Irving blamed the defense.

“Most of the time when he was coming off the pick-and-roll, he was wide open,” Irving said. “He was playing so free out there. We were trying to make adjustments and most of the time he was wide open.”

That doesn’t account for all the times Augustin simply beat Kyrie Irving off the dribble, but he’s not alone.

Just within the last three weeks, here are the point guards that have really hurt the Cavs: Denver’s Ty Lawson had 19 points and 11 assists (averages 18 ppg, 8.9 apg), Portland’s Damian Lillard had 28 points and 5 assists (averages 21.2 ppg, 5.8 apg), the Lakers’ Kendall Marshall had 10 points and 16 assists (averages 10.1 ppg, 9.1 apg), Sacramento’s Isaiah Thomas had 26 points and 6 assists (averages 19.5 ppg, 6.3 apg), Utah rookie Trey Burke had 17 points and 6 assists (averages 13.5 ppg, 5.6 apg) and Philadelphia’s Michael Carter-Williams had 33 points and 5 assists (17.5 ppg, 6.7 apg).

Of that list, the only player who is supposed to be in Irving’s class is Lillard, yet all of them are reaching or exceeding their averages fairly easily against the Cavs. All-Stars don’t allow the D.J. Augustins of the NBA to beat them so soundly, nor do they allow their teams to lose by 44 to the Sacramento Kings.

Irving has to take ownership of all this. When he truly does, inferior guards will stop having big nights against him.

Akron Beacon journal

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