Kyrie Irving’s trade request brought massive shockwaves to the entire basketball community. Fans were disappointed as they will no longer see the All-Star point guard wearing a Cleveland Cavaliers jersey. But all of this is in the past now, as the NBA superstar is already part of the Boston Celtics family.
Now that he is in a new organization, people are wondering just how significant Kyrie Irving will be. After all, he played alongside LeBron James and Kevin Love and managed to acquire a championship title. So, will be he a franchise player? Is he even worthy of such a role?
But according to the team’s big man Danny Ainge, he is everything Boston needs.
Ainge on Irving
According to Yahoo! Sports, Ainge was singing praises of Irving as he spoke at a press conference in Boston. He even thinks that Irving is a good passer, a characteristic that many of his critics deemed to be lackluster. Ainge also believes that Irving is a great player when it comes to making threes and passing the ball. The Celtics head man, however, agrees that Irving was only a point guard in Cleveland if LeBron James was not on the floor. More often than not, it was James who called the plays and directed the Cavaliers’ offense. While Ainge is positive that Irving is a great passer, he claims that the NBA superstar needs to improve his defensive skills.
He is positive, however, that this will become a reality “in Brad’s system.”
It holds true, though that Kyrie Irving can acquire great numbers when it comes to assists. He has proven this from time to time. The way he slices through the defense helps him find an opening. It also gives him the option to either shoot or pass the ball.
But it is also true that James is Cleveland’s go-to point guard. He has always been the team’s playmaker while Irving focused on driving straight to the basket. In fact, whenever Irving had the ball, he usually went solo. It is simply because he is great at playing one-on-one. He most often triumphs over his opponents in such plays.
Defense is a must
But as far as defense is concerned, this is where Kyrie Irving really needs to improve. He usually lets opponents drive right at him. Worse, he ends up giving the opposing team an opening, giving shooters plenty of room. In fact, this lackluster side of him was pretty much noticeable in the last NBA finals. Ainge knows this, which explains the comments he made. The question here is this: Will Irving be humble enough to follow a system that is geared towards defense more than offense?
