He is VERY good for a 23 year old. GREAT in fact. BTW, when Wade was 23, he was a MVP candidate and won Finals MVP. LOL. Couldn't resist.
Havent seen that. Kyrie is Kyrie and Wade is Wade. DWade is a first ballot HOF'r...its silly to compare the two. What i will say is Kyrie is on the verge of being special, regardless of who shares the spotlight in Cle.
I think we need a separate Heat thread, lol. May 19th is far more important to me right now that Kyrie Irving or the rest of the playoffs.
You literally told me Wade was better cuz he had a better PER and box score stats than Kyrie. I was just pointing out that was false. And Wade had a 34% USG compared to Kyrie's 26%. So Wade had a lot more opportunities. There isn't a good defensive metric out there - but as much as you are complaining about NE and CLE bias - NO ONE outside of Miami is going to say Wade is still a good defender. It was literally one of the major storylines of the Finals last year. Honestly I think we're arguing to argue at this point. I think Wade is awesome - you think Kyrie is awesome - we just disagree on which is more awesome. It's a flawed premise for an argument to begin with.
I made my argument. That LeBron guy..is pretty good. It helps Kyrie's numbers against Wade..although they ARE NOT MUCH BETTER. Last Year's Finals? Yeah, he was bad on defense.... Wade was crippled. Wade is an ELITE defender STILL. Especially in help Defense.
Look Phin-O..a simple Defensive Metric.... Opponent's FG% Diff. vs. League Average when Guarded by D-Wade: -3.8% (THAT IS #2 in the NBA among SG's and Ahead of Def. golden Boy Klay Thompson) Kyrie Irving's? +2.6% In other words...If a player shoots at the same volume as Kyrie Irving, He does not pace that player in simple FG%. Further analysis also reveals that Irving also gives up a +2.3% vs. Threes, which help him out pace his opponents by a factor or +2% from the 3 pt. line. But he basically gives up what he gets, and has to make up the difference from Three. So yeah...Still ELITE.
1. I think youre right about Aldridge. I think it would be a bad fit and put a bad taste in the mouths of Knicks fans. Aldridge is a fine player, top 20 in all likelihood, but hes got some mileage and unless youre putting him next to Towns Im not sure that works in Phils comments hes been making for weeks about wanting a rim protector. 2. I love the idea of going hard after Kawhi or Butler even if it means the Knicks have to offer them something that everyone would consider an overpay. There just are not many good 2 guards and both those guys are strong 2 way players. I dont think Kawhi leaves unless Duncan retires but I can dream. I know the Knicks like Butler; they insisted on him in any sign and trade they considered with Chicago last offseason along with Mirotic. 3. I like Gasol but I dont think Phil wants such a small window. This applies to Aldridge as well. Both those guys are 30 or will be 30 when the season starts. Gasol already has creaky knees and is painfully slow. Both great players but belong on a team thats closer then NYK. Both have short windows being star players still in their prime. Depending on the pricetag I have no problem with this. The pricetags may start to explode a year early with the cap going up to 67M and then 89 next year. If Monroe wants to sign at 10-12M per, Im good with that. He fits the triangle and next to a guy like Towns he could be a better value then Aldridge at a max deal. But at anything more then 15....no thanks. Good article on the cap projections the next few years: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...e&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=facebook.com Not this guy. I hate the Heat but it'll be a cold day in hell before I consider Kyrie (as is) on Wade's level. I like Kyrie a lot but he does not elevate teammates the way Wade does. Even at this age Wade is is a stud when hes healthy. Kyrie might be a better offensive player but hes not in Wades stratosphere on D. No one listens to Greenberg and Golic. No one serious about sports anyway. Maybe as a comedy show. Most people I know who listen to the radio in the AM listen to Boomer (Esiason) and (Craig) Carton....
BTW, Wes Mathews was #1 if you guys were wondering. James Harden is in the top 10 with -1.1%, but when you put that up against his offense, he SMASHES his opponents H2H.
Wes Matthews has turned out to be a very good two-way player. The moment he got injured that Blazer squad hasn't been the same.
Some players are just amazing glue players. Matthews is one. Draymond Green, Paul Milsap come to mind. Haslem at his peak. Knicks do need a player like that.
So Mike Greenberg has you all worked up? Crazy what us fans of non playoff teams start caring about when everyone else is playing basketball.
I love how my Wizards are playing. Not only are they hitting on all cylinders but they are talking smack to the Raptors and punking them at the same time. 26pts and 17 assists by Wall is just a total domination from a PG. The Wizards have a really good playoff team, they can play defense have size and a great backcourt. They could challenge Cleveland this year for sure.
BTW, for the record....Windy compares LeBron's exodus from paradise, to Riley leaving New York. Pat Riley TOLD Dave Checketts, that he HAD AN OFFER from MIAMI. He then told Checketts that he was offered FULL CONTROL, and that he required that to STAY. Checketts told him to go **** himself. Riley left. Rest is history.
Looking at how the Cavs have been run since LeBron got there it sounds like he got the same offer haha.
To continue with ridiculous things that Mike Greenberg says, this morning he was talking about Riley's comments and said LeBron left Miami the "right way" and cited the fact that he was a free agent, and Riley was part of LeBron leaving Cleveland "the wrong way" leaving out the fact that he was also a free agent. It still blows my mind that this is the narrative people believe.
Riley's comments are a milder version of Dan Gilberts letter. Both had alot of hate in their hearts long after LeBron left. It is amazing the power this guy has over HOF execs and 2 cities who reacted poorly when he left as a FA.
Gonnago ahead and call bull**** on this assertion. All of it. The two reactions are not even in the same solar system.
I agree with lmeister that I don't think they're even close. First of all, we don't even know what Riley's comments were in reference to. This is all based on speculation. But even if that is what he was talking about, it's VERY different than Gilbert's ridiculous letter. The only similarity is both men are unhappy about being scorned in a way that was not all that professional. One man made a brief comment taking a slight shot at LeBron (if that's what he was doing), while the other wrote a long letter laying into LeBron and making ridiculous claims like the Cavs will win a championship before LeBron does. I really don't see how you can compare the two.
Gilbert's letter was scortched earth. Riley's was thinly veiled. Completely different. And for God sakes, QUIT QUOTING MIKE GREENBERG!!!!
They are comparable in the sense that they had sour grapes written all over it, one version was simply worse than the other, but both are wreaking of bitterness by the crying parties.
AH.....you also compared the Fans. We gave LeBron a Standing ovation.....TWICE. In one game. Then DID IT AGAIN. They had urinal cakes made of his face, made bomb threats, made death threats, burned his jersey, called his mother a whore, and threw batteries. Yep..The same.
To boot, the Heat gave NYK a first round pick and $1 million for their trouble. Riley would have to go back to NY for that line up.
Come on, man. Now you're reaching. I could post a couple of pictures of people with anti-American banners and burning the flag, but that doesn't mean most Americans hate their country. There was palpable venom when LeBron returned to Cleveland. He was given a standing ovation in Miami. The reaction wasn't even close.
I encourage you to read the last two pages again. Section basically said the Heat fans didn't react in a classless manner....I simply gave him a few reminders. The level of anger was undoubtedly deeper in Cleveland, he was the "hometown hero" and the ties in Cleveland were stronger. Not to mention Cleveland fans are pretty much all around goofballs in all 3 major sports so it really comes to no surprise for me.
Coach of the Year - Budenholzer - Really emotional speech but some great perspective on coaching and passing the torch from 7:25-8:35. And then what a humble way to finish from 8:35 on. Might be one of the best, most NBA insightful speeches/interviews I've seen. [video=youtube;DwNriwcuRq8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwNriwcuRq8[/video]
LOL, a 1st round pick? Like the Knicks, especially during that era, would know what to do with one of those. Sad but true for about 20 years (1987-2007 ish)
