NBA!

[Deleted]

smh @ Harrison Barnes having the worst game of his career.

[CC]

barnes disappears every other game.

[SPENCER]

Jan 26, 2013 0:21:19 GMT -5 CC said:

barnes disappears every other game.

Very inconsistent. Never forces his offense. Too passive.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using proboards

[Broph]

insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8866553/nba-better-damian-lillard-kyrie-irving?addata=2009_insdr_mod_nba_xxx_xxx

somebody with insider post this


that way I can get the answer to, why is this a question, Irving, not even close

[Broph]

How do your shoe choices reflect your style?

Jeffries: "I get so many pair of Jordan's. The Brand does such a good job of giving us a wide selection of shoes. I mean, I have every pair of Jordan's that have come out over the last 11 years. I have them all in a storage unit in Florida where I live (in the offseason) and I probably have 2,000 pair of shoes. I save them all. I love having shoes, I love wearing different Jordan's."

Plays new hero, Jared Jeffries

[rcc]

In this space we'll break down the best individual matchup of the week to see who's the better player. But toss out career accomplishments or potential. This is about ability -- strengths, weaknesses, intangibles -- and who gives his team the best chance to win. It's about the only thing that matters when you step on the court on any given night -- who's better right now.

This is the Golden Age of point guards. While highly decorated mainstays like Tony Parker and Steve Nash enter their Hall-of-Fame sealing twilight years, the likes of Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose and Deron Williams enter their primes.

It's time to include Kyrie Irving and Damian Lillard in the next wave of young floor generals. Both are extremely polished at early stages in their career and are are good bets to be named All-Star reserves.

Mega-talent Irving, who poured in 40 against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, wows with pizzazz and charm, but the quiet and unexpectedly upstart Lillard has commanded respect through savvy beyond his years and impeccable fundamentals.

But who's better? At first glance, Irving seems to have a clear upper hand. But let's take a look at five crucial categories and break down both talented point guards.

BALLHANDLING
LILLARD: STEADY, NOT FLASHY

Lillard is an excellent -- if rather vanilla -- ball handler whose dribble meshes seamlessly with the rest of his game, connecting one fundamentally sound aspect with another. Lillard combines a level of savvy that's beyond his years as well as impeccable fundamentals. There isn't a whole lot of flash, but when it comes to function Lillard's bounce is loaded. He uses the dribble primarily to put himself in a better position to score and doesn't waste energy or precious shot clock ticks with excessive trips through his legs or behind his back. Lillard's body positioning can be a bit too upright to consistently break defenders down off the dribble but that's not quite his game anyway -- he gets more use out of head and shoulder fakes. His dribble is high but he keeps it close to his body, and rarely does it get away from him.


IRVING: AMBIDEXTROUS SKILLS

Irving has quickly emerged as one of the league's best ball handlers, seemingly unveiling a new quirk every night. His ambidextrous ballhandling skills make it nearly impossible for a defender to force Irving in a specific direction. One of his gems is a hair-trigger left-handed in-and-out dribble he uses to set up his pull-up or to sell the crossover before blasting around an opponent to the left. Particularly vexing is a little hesitation move where he appears to pick up his dribble by moving his off hand towards the ball -- forcing the defender to commit -- but instead keeps the dribble alive and explodes toward the hoop. As effective as his dribbling skills are, he had a tendency to over-dribble early on. That seems all but corrected now.
ADVANTAGE

SHOOTING
LILLARD: MIDRANGE PULL-UP

The midrange pull-up is the bread and butter of Lillard's game. He can set it up on the move equally well in either direction, pulling straight up and releasing at the height of his jump after a couple of controlled hard dribbles. From there the parade of fundamentals continues. His form is as good as you'll see from a young guard: feet square, elbow lined up with the rim and a smooth gooseneck follow through that he holds for a split second. Lillard never drifts either, normally landing in the same spot from which he took off. His 44 percent conversion percentage on long 2s is off Irving's pace but is highly encouraging considering he's a rookie. His early returns from 3-point range have been positive (35 percent compared to Irving's 40), but he relies on the shot far too much. His 6.4 attempts are fourth-most in the league and most for a rook in 10 years.


IRVING: QUICK RELEASE

Despite being in his second season with just 78 career games under his belt, Irving is already developing into one of the league's most dangerous and versatile shooters. He loves the midrange stop-and-pop and is canning a healthy 47.7 percent of his jumpers from 10-15 feet. Move him further back and he drops in a sterling 50 percent of his attempts from 16-23 feet, besting All-Stars like Chris Paul, Tony Parker and Deron Williams. One big advantage is his incredibly quick release from beyond the arc. Almost half of his 3s come at the bend in the 3-point line, where he launches after a slick dribble move or spots up if he's off the ball. Toss in his clever left-handed runner and we're looking at the total package.

ADVANTAGE

PASSING
LILLARD: LOVES ANGLES

Irving is the guy generally thought of as the more pure point guard, but Lillard holds the slight edge in assists, 6.6 to 5.7, thanks to a profound understanding of angles (elbow to opposite block, anyone?) and his team-first mentality. One of Lillard's many surprises is his ability to locate cutters and spot-up shooters who might be missed by lesser point guards. Part of Lillard's early focus was understanding where his teammates like to get the ball, and it has contributed greatly to his transition. Lillard is particularly fond of two-handed bounce passes to bigs cutting to the rim, and more often than not he delivers timely passes to screeners in the pick and roll.



IRVING: FLOOR VISION

There's perhaps no greater satisfaction than watching a player with tremendous floor vision. Irving is simply capable of every pass in the book. He hands out smart little flip passes after disorienting slight-of-hand fakes that make him fun to play with. Irving operates with the patience to let a play develop, which informs him of what type of pass to make. Even while committing to his own shot off penetration, Irving has the wherewithal to drop it off at the last second. While his assist average seems low for a pure point guard, it's likely a function of his being called on to shoot so much. Once he's surrounded with more skilled offensive players, those dime totals should skyrocket.
ADVANTAGE

DEFENSE


LILLARD: GOOD POTENTIAL

Like Irving, Lillard has at times had a difficult time finding his way defensively. We can cut him some slack considering he's played just 36 career games but unfortunately high-powered NBA offenses won't be as kind. The rook has particular trouble in the two-man game fighting through picks or getting pinned out of position by bigs. His timing and instincts on help defense have been decent but simply needs more seasoning. In a league where gifted offensive players can readily score against great defenders, any holes in a player's defensive approach can lead to huge nights for an opposing guard. Given his work ethic, solid fundamentals and eagerness to learn, it should be expected that Lillard will one day become a fine defensive player.

ADVANTAGE


IRVING: STILL LEARNING

And here we've found the one glaring hole in Irving's game, which has caused headaches for coach Byron Scott. Irving has a habit of giving opposing guards too much space and reacting slowly or not at all off the ball. Still just 20, he hasn't yet mastered the timing required to effectively rotate, and his lax defensive stance hardly causes fear and is too easy to exploit. He's a bit of a gambler, which has yielded mixed results -- mostly leading to easy scores for his man. On the plus side, Irving loves to play the passing lanes where his anticipation and quick hands get him most of his 1.74 steals per game (13th overall). Irving's defensive woes are centered around effort and focus, which given his young age are correctable problems.

ATHLETICISM


LILLARD: QUICK FIRST STEP

The Portland rookie's best attribute is a lightning-quick first step. Lillard can go from an upright position to hitting top speed by his second dribble. He's proven a deceptively good leaper, having authored a handful of poster finishes at the rim taking off of one leg or two. The Blazers are confident enough in his hops that they even run a couple half-=court sets to get Lillard backdoor alley-oops. He's got great body control in the air and enough strength to move the ball from side to side to avoid outstretched arms. While slight of build he doesn't get bullied by bigger guards and has the kind of frame that should fill out nicely.

ADVANTAGE


IRVING: GOOD, NOT ELITE

Of all the virtues of Irving's game, athletic ability isn't the first thing to come to mind. Or the fifth thing. In other words he's no Russell Westbrook. While not an exceptional high riser, Irving has a combination of quickness, strength and leaping ability that makes him a handful to defend night in and night out. Though not as quick, his skill set compares favorably to a player such as Paul. While Irving is by no means one of the elite athletes at his position, his energy level rarely drops off and his first step, outstanding change-of-direction and slight-of-hand allow him to easily keep pace with the best athletes the league has to offer.

AND THE WINNER IS...


KYRIE IRVING

Perhaps there's little surprise in the outcome, but the fact that an outstanding point guard such as Lillard could be so outmatched by Irving might say more about the depth of the NBA's point guard position more than anything.

Sooner rather than later Irving will assume the mantle of the NBA's best point guard. That could likely happen 18 months from now. Irving appears to be getting better by the week and is fast understanding the steps needed to correct his deficiencies. And he's a workhorse with a higher usage rate than both LeBron James and Kevin Durant. As the Cavaliers add talent and improve, Irving will get more recognition as one of the game's elite.

Meanwhile Lillard, while not quite matching up to Irving, has been a pleasant surprise and could likely be a perennial All-Star in his own right. With Nash and Parker in their twilight years, Lillard could join Stephen Curry as the preeminent point guards in the Western Conference.

Irving, though, drips with the kind of intangibles that suggest he could be one of the NBA's greats. Despite durability issues, he exudes undeniable swagger with a certain charm that draws your eye on the court and shows it's as fun being as good as he is for him as it is for us to watch. His body language is that of a leader and fit for a franchise star and his natural leadership skills resonate well with his teammates. Indeed, he could one day be the league's best.

[CC]

curry vs monta tonight. cant wait.

[CC]

barnes dunk

[Deleted]

[Broph]

Jan 24, 2013 22:37:53 GMT -5 Broph said:

Batum is Portlands best player

[Broph]

2nd triple double in the last three games

[CC]

so we beat clippers/okc back to back, followed by losses to bulls and bucks. awesome.

[SPENCER]

Jan 27, 2013 0:33:36 GMT -5 CC said:

so we beat clippers/okc back to back, followed by losses to bulls and bucks. awesome.

Horrible

Sent from my SPH-D710 using proboards

[Deleted]

glad to see my boy Ersan hooping again.

[Biggie]

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@wojyahoonba
As Doris Burke reported, Rajon Rondo has torn the ACL in his right knee and will be lost for the season. Celtics are scheduling surgery.

[Treasure Island]

ya they already announced it on abc celtics vs heat

[Biggie]

irving probably starts for the east now

and im guessing pierce replaces rondo on the all star team

[Treasure Island]

lol no way pierce should be on the all star team spot is going to go to Deron Williams or JR Smith

[Deleted]

Brook getting that spot.

[Deleted]

no clue how you can have an all star game without the best center in the league not on the team.