Mr. Chemistry
- Thread starter Imbricus
- Start date
He was also -19 and -30 in the Wizards first two wins of the series. Maybe a little hyperbole but the point is valid.
I meant he was nearly unplayable on the defensive side. The prior poster was talking about defense and defensive weak links.
Obviously he was getting most/all of it back on the other end.
Made all the more delicious by his wanna-be spiritual/intellectual guru proclamations and all-seeing eye blather. And his inability to reflect inward is why he checks out when the going gets tough, and why he’s doomed to repeat the same mistakes.
His act must wear so thin on teammates. If the likes of mature, even-keeled dudes like Al and Jaylen can’t stomach the guy, I am very excited to see the saltiest, pettiest superstar in the league react to his melodramatic impatience when he inevitably struggles to come back from an Achilles tear. They have all the talent in the world, but if they struggle, Kyrie and KD could ugly fast.
If Harris, DJ and the rest of Nets keep this up Kyrie is going to be forced to call LeBron
FWIW, The Athletic article is pretty pro-Kyrie.
https://theathletic.com/1344777/2019/11/02/the-way-your-actions-speak-kyrie-irving-is-doing-it-better-for-the-nets-than-he-ever-did-in-boston/
Yes, it feels like it was basically dictated by Kyrie to the author...
...with all the hilarity that entails.
“Given who he is? What an entitled prick. I used to think that LeBron should count his lucky stars that Kyrie hit that shot, but man, can you imagine Kyrie’s rep if he didn’t win a ring? He’s certainly not going to win one being the #1, and who knows which Kevin Durant is coming back.
My sports hate for Kyrie knows no bounds.
My sports hate for Kyrie knows no bounds.
@Chad Finn with some shade at Mr. Chemistry in today’s column on the C’s hot start:
https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-celtics/2019/11/04/kemba-walker-defense-celtics-thoughts
Maybe this was as much of a joke as everyone thought...
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj2nqUBTPc8
I'm probably just jilted, but it's pretty striking, when you read articles about the Nets or go on fan message boards of theirs, how everything written about them could have been about the Celtics last year. Just text-replace "Nets" with "Celtics" and it's the same stuff.
I mean that both positively and negatively: last year's Celtics did win 49 games after all. I think the Nets will get better, and I think they'll make the playoffs.
Kyrie is a weird player though: it's not at all fair to say that he's an empty stats guy. He contributes to winning quite heavily in terms of his own play. But Boston last year and the Nets this year (so far) lacked a certain kind of resilience. When things aren't going right for Kyrie, the wheels seem to come off for everyone else.
It's early though. I won't give my jilt-boner permission to fully bloom for another month or two.
I mean that both positively and negatively: last year's Celtics did win 49 games after all. I think the Nets will get better, and I think they'll make the playoffs.
Kyrie is a weird player though: it's not at all fair to say that he's an empty stats guy. He contributes to winning quite heavily in terms of his own play. But Boston last year and the Nets this year (so far) lacked a certain kind of resilience. When things aren't going right for Kyrie, the wheels seem to come off for everyone else.
It's early though. I won't give my jilt-boner permission to fully bloom for another month or two.
Well, here's a NYP article that lauds KI's leadership (that was written before the Suns blowout): https://nypost.com/2019/11/09/kyrie-irvings-leadership-is-causing-everything-but-problems/.
I think the different is, as both you and the article note, that the Nets haven't really done much and JB/JT went to the conference finals without KI or GH. After all, there weren't many leadership issues with KI in his first year pre-injury.
But it also gets back to the bolded. KI can contribute to winning when he's engaged. When he's not, he contributes to winning. If it were me, that would be the biggest problem I have with KI. Leadership has to be consistent. A person can't lead when he's disengaged, and if he isn't consistently engaged, people are going to look at him like a hypocrite.
For me it’s more basic — he shows up and suddenly your entire organization is having discussions about leadership and what it takes to win. He makes it all harder than it needs to be. They’re going through the same experience and making all the same excuses we were.
Thanks--this is what I what I was trying to get at by talking about the Nets this year. Leadership is like good officiating: if you're talking about it a lot, it's probably because it's lacking.
There's also probably a bit of a courtship phase going on. Like someone said above, we weren't hearing a lot of that bullshit in year one.
Maybe all it took was adversity or other bad actors (MaMo, TR) or rising kids feeling their oats (JB/JT) to sour things. Or maybe familiarity breeds contempt with Kyrie.
Maybe all it took was adversity or other bad actors (MaMo, TR) or rising kids feeling their oats (JB/JT) to sour things. Or maybe familiarity breeds contempt with Kyrie.
I had this exact same thought last night when I saw the Nets were getting blown out by the Suns. Between the quotes from Kyrie and Atkinson and how the season has started for the Nets it's like watching last year on fast forward a bit. Seeing the look on Atkinson's face some nights has given me a better appreciation for how Stevens managed whatever was going on with the team last year.
Kyrie even mentioned him by name in one interview, but the dude wants to be Harden, nothing more or less. He thinks he is an absolute top tier scorer and wants that role and that team set up. I'm not sure he was any better attitude wise the first year here, the situation was just tailor made for him. He came in replacing Isaiah, so the team was already accustomed to having one man run the whole show offensively, and Kyrie was an upgrade, then Gordon went down and he really was option 1 and 1a offensively, Brown and Tatum were entirely content being spot up shooters...it all just fit for him.
I'm not sure he has any actual capability to lead. He does nothing but micromanage those around him and throws fits with zero tolerance for any sort of "mistakes." Even though as many have pointed out, he's far from engaged and error-free himself a lot of the time.
The parallels started when the Celtics ran the exact same play for Tatum's game winner, complete with Kemba in the backcourt as a decoy, that triggered Kyrie's tantrum last year, with Kemba celebrating the moment, while Kyrie was already showing visible frustration with his teammates 5 games into the season. It's just uncanny how similar the scripts are.
Easily my favorite new thread. I've already watched as many Celtics games start to finish as I did all of last year - and that was with the NBA package. Couldn't stand what KI did to the C's last year and his quitting the Bucks series was the least surprising event of that season. Horrible teammate and it's an absolute joy to watch this year's Celtics play such unselfish ball. And it's hilarity to see KI's demolition of the Nets and any germination of a winning culture there. My only sense of empathy - and it's just an ember as I fiercely enjoy KI's utter cluelessness - is with Brooklyn's fans. They just got out from under the disastrous picks giveaway and now they're looking at potentially years of watching a max contract become more and more onerous.
Speaking to PRG's post above, I'd say he has zero capability to lead. He can be the most talented player on your team, but he's simply not a leader. Exactly the guy you don't want to find yourself having to share a foxhole. He might be, say, an ultra-talented sniper, but he's bailing when there's an assault.
Speaking to PRG's post above, I'd say he has zero capability to lead. He can be the most talented player on your team, but he's simply not a leader. Exactly the guy you don't want to find yourself having to share a foxhole. He might be, say, an ultra-talented sniper, but he's bailing when there's an assault.
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That’s a bullshit question they asked Kyrie though.
Everybody knows that the back and forth nature of the game is the hardest part of basketball.
Good thread and there are a lot of good posts about Mr. 85%. Think about when he full mails it in. I figure he’s already looking past this season and looking forward to KD’s return. He’s gonna gut this one out for his $40 mil. Here’s hoping he does a flat earth lecture soon.
PS - the 85% is because Gorman said he was 85% of the problem last season.
Na, he'll be fine. He has a great track record of patiently dealing with teammates coming back from devastating injuries, on teams with high expectations.
These are great. The hate in this thread could power a midsize city.
He gave up a career high 60 to Lillard the other night, on just 33 shots. Lillard is awesome, but not sure you can mail it in much more than that (MC had 33 on 27 shots, somehow the Nets won).
Boston is a city with an overdeveloped revenge instinct. It's not just being jilted. Hell, Johnny Damon was one of the original 25 and probably pays for his own drinks here more often than not.
Post quotes of Kyrie give me all the catharsis I need:
“I don’t think I shot one free throw, and that just tells you it’s a sign of how aggressive I am not in the game, getting downhill and really just setting the precedent and slowing the game down and getting to my spots. A lot of the accountability falls on me and just the game plan of guarding Ricky and not being in the right spots.”
“I could’ve done a better job of calling different plays down the stretch other than me and [DeAndre Jordan] in the middle of the floor, especially when it got inside three minutes.”
“They came out really attacking our defense and our switching, moved out to a 10-1 lead and never looked back,” Irving said. “Ricky started getting downhill, and they just really started picking apart our defense. It starts at the outset, especially with me setting the tone.
“I don’t think I shot one free throw, and that just tells you it’s a sign of how aggressive I am not in the game, getting downhill and really just setting the precedent and slowing the game down and getting to my spots. A lot of the accountability falls on me and just the game plan of guarding Ricky and not being in the right spots.”
“They played [well], execution down the stretch, made some hustle plays off my misses down the stretch, a few turnovers,” said Irving, who saw the Jazz run different defenders at him all night to wear him out. In the end, it worked.
“I could’ve done a better job of calling different plays down the stretch other than me and [DeAndre Jordan] in the middle of the floor, especially when it got inside three minutes.”
From a game recap:
Joe Harris halted Utah’s momentum, nailing 3s when the Nets were down 103-98 and then another when they went down 105-104. Later, he put home five straight points to give the Nets a two-point lead with 4:27 lead.
But Joe Harris only took one more shot after that. And Brooklyn soon regretted it.
Suddenly, it became the Kyrie Irving show. Brooklyn held Utah without a field goal for over three minutes, but they failed to hit the big bucket. Irving missed six straight shots — his sixth being the biggest.
With the Nets down by two, Kyrie went iso, again, and side-stepped into a three-pointer that clanked off the rim and into Utah’s hands with 7.6 seconds left. They left the door open for Brooklyn, missing the second of two free throws, but Bojan Bogdanovic knocked it out and Utah grabbed the offensive board.
Joe Harris halted Utah’s momentum, nailing 3s when the Nets were down 103-98 and then another when they went down 105-104. Later, he put home five straight points to give the Nets a two-point lead with 4:27 lead.
But Joe Harris only took one more shot after that. And Brooklyn soon regretted it.
Suddenly, it became the Kyrie Irving show. Brooklyn held Utah without a field goal for over three minutes, but they failed to hit the big bucket. Irving missed six straight shots — his sixth being the biggest.
With the Nets down by two, Kyrie went iso, again, and side-stepped into a three-pointer that clanked off the rim and into Utah’s hands with 7.6 seconds left. They left the door open for Brooklyn, missing the second of two free throws, but Bojan Bogdanovic knocked it out and Utah grabbed the offensive board.
Every single thing is about I or me.. there’s no we unless it’s negative. He thinks being accountable is always talking about himself, his shots, his spots, his focus, his leadership..etc. The team chemistry for both teams from last year is night and day.
This thread is a joy.
Is everything building to a 2v7 playoff series where Kemba drops 50 in game one on the way to a sweep?
I guess it's doubtful the Nets get there...
Is everything building to a 2v7 playoff series where Kemba drops 50 in game one on the way to a sweep?
I guess it's doubtful the Nets get there...
It’s actually possible. EC looks to be 6 deep this year. 2 playoff spots available for crap teams. Only question is can the Celtics hold off one of Milwaukee or Philly for a top 2 seed.
We're all the protagonist in our own heroic epic, in our own minds. Kobe selfish'd his way to 2 titles sans Shaq.
I hope everyone gets their fill of schadenfreude this season, because when Durant is back in action, even a B/B+ version of Durant is going to mean we have far fewer opportunities to dance on Kobe's grave.
I hope everyone gets their fill of schadenfreude this season, because when Durant is back in action, even a B/B+ version of Durant is going to mean we have far fewer opportunities to dance on Kobe's grave.
I’m not sure that a B/B+ version of Durant plus Kyrie gets you ahead of Philly, MIL, and Boston.
I'll tell this story if this is just a thread for everyone to affirm their suspicions that Kyrie is a dick.
Before they moved into the Auerbach Center, the Celtics practiced at BSC Waltham, where I was a member. I used to see Celtics fairly regularly, but I never bothered any of them. I once saw Smart just standing at the bottom of a staircase I was going down. I thought about saying hi but he had this look on his face that just said "talk to me and I will punch you in the face" which to be fair, might just be how he looks all the time. Most of the players I did see have interactions were cool, including IT, Jaylen and Avery Bradley. Assistant GM Mike Zarren would actually play ball with us from time-to-time and you could ask him stuff and he'd be pretty open to answering most of them. Mike Z is awesome.
Anyway, one day we were playing 3 vs 3 and Kyrie just walks into the gym with a few other people. He was walking towards an exit door in the back, but he was probably about ten feet from where we were playing. The guy I was checking the ball with said "What up Kyrie?" certainly loud enough for him to hear him. So of course, Kyrie just keeps walking straight ahead with a blank stare on his face. I totally understand that these guys don't want to be harassed, and perhaps even a small interaction can lead to people taking their phone out and whatever, but I always thought it was pretty lame for him to just ignore the guy. All he had to do was just say "What's up guys?" and kept walking and that would have been it.
Before they moved into the Auerbach Center, the Celtics practiced at BSC Waltham, where I was a member. I used to see Celtics fairly regularly, but I never bothered any of them. I once saw Smart just standing at the bottom of a staircase I was going down. I thought about saying hi but he had this look on his face that just said "talk to me and I will punch you in the face" which to be fair, might just be how he looks all the time. Most of the players I did see have interactions were cool, including IT, Jaylen and Avery Bradley. Assistant GM Mike Zarren would actually play ball with us from time-to-time and you could ask him stuff and he'd be pretty open to answering most of them. Mike Z is awesome.
Anyway, one day we were playing 3 vs 3 and Kyrie just walks into the gym with a few other people. He was walking towards an exit door in the back, but he was probably about ten feet from where we were playing. The guy I was checking the ball with said "What up Kyrie?" certainly loud enough for him to hear him. So of course, Kyrie just keeps walking straight ahead with a blank stare on his face. I totally understand that these guys don't want to be harassed, and perhaps even a small interaction can lead to people taking their phone out and whatever, but I always thought it was pretty lame for him to just ignore the guy. All he had to do was just say "What's up guys?" and kept walking and that would have been it.
I'd go for sweeping them in four blowouts without Kemba scoring a single point, while Kyrie hits for about 60 ppg in a losing cause.
I'll be perfectly happy with a hobbled Durant playing at 70% and cashing giant checks for the next few years.