Predict Kyrie/Lebron Stats

[BigKAT]

Watching the first 2 games, it really feels like the Cavs took the Playoff mold that helped them steamroll the Eastern Playoffs.

The go to Kyrie much more as a scorer, with Lebron stepping up -if- he needs to, while doing more on Defense, Passing and game managing.

Those who watched the playoffs saw how Lebron practically -took- Love physically with him to set double screens. If that is not on-the-floor coaching I don't know what is.

So my question is this, do you think that we'll see more scoring from Kyrie in the regular season? I think he led the Cavs in all the playoffs besides the finals (Obviously.)

I think Kyrie could average a neat 24-25 PPG and 4-5 Assists.
And perhaps Lebron a soild 23 PPG with 8-9 Assists on some crazy 56-58 FG%?

What do you guys think?

[lilteapot]

I think Lebron will average like 23 on 48% shooting, 8 rebounds and 9 assists.

Kyrie will end up averaging 27 and 5 assists

Love will average a double double this season, with 19 and 10

[CTbasketball92]

It's too early for me to be totally accurate, I'll get a much better idea by december or so. With that said, I think:

LeBron: 24 ppg 7.5 assists 6.5 rebounds on 54/34/76

Kyrie: 25 ppg 5.1 assists 4 rebounds on 47/41/87

I think it will work better that way, since shot-creating can be such a laborous thing to do, especially when you're 260 pounds with a poor jumpshot. Ever since LeBron left Miami I've thought to myself, "How has he been a better scorer against elite defenses than Melo?" It's literally astounding, speaks volumes about his athleticism and bball IQ. On the other hand, Kyrie just scores effortlessly, and now that he's pretty much the straight up SG, he should get more buckets than ever. Kyrie's elite midrange and probably elite three point shooting will make scoring much easier for him. I think he'll take at least 8 threes per game this year, so that should bump up his scoring some as well. Love should be more confident in his role now, having been somewhat validated after last postseason.

[ImKobe]

both around 25 ppg, Lebron 7 rebounds 7 assists Kyrie 4 rebounds 4 assists

[moongaze]

It's too early for me to be totally accurate, I'll get a much better idea by december or so. With that said, I think:

LeBron: 24 ppg 7.5 assists 6.5 rebounds on 54/34/76

Kyrie: 25 ppg 5.1 assists 4 rebounds on 47/41/87

I think it will work better that way, since shot-creating can be such a laborous thing to do, especially when you're 260 pounds with a poor jumpshot. Ever since LeBron left Miami I've thought to myself, "How has he been a better scorer against elite defenses than Melo?" It's literally astounding, speaks volumes about his athleticism and bball IQ. On the other hand, Kyrie just scores effortlessly, and now that he's pretty much the straight up SG, he should get more buckets than ever. Kyrie's elite midrange and probably elite three point shooting will make scoring much easier for him. I think he'll take at least 8 threes per game this year, so that should bump up his scoring some as well. Love should be more confident in his role now, having been somewhat validated after last postseason.

Kyrie handled point a lot the last game

[J Shuttlesworth]

both around 25 ppg, Lebron 7 rebounds 7 assists Kyrie 4 rebounds 4 assists
Yeah pretty much. I think their point totals will even out over time. Hopefully Kyrie stays healthy. I think Love will play better this year too. He looks like he's in better shape than the start to either of the last two seasons

[RedBlackAttack]

It's too early for me to be totally accurate, I'll get a much better idea by december or so. With that said, I think:

LeBron: 24 ppg 7.5 assists 6.5 rebounds on 54/34/76

Kyrie: 25 ppg 5.1 assists 4 rebounds on 47/41/87

I think it will work better that way, since shot-creating can be such a laborous thing to do, especially when you're 260 pounds with a poor jumpshot. Ever since LeBron left Miami I've thought to myself, "How has he been a better scorer against elite defenses than Melo?" It's literally astounding, speaks volumes about his athleticism and bball IQ. On the other hand, Kyrie just scores effortlessly, and now that he's pretty much the straight up SG, he should get more buckets than ever. Kyrie's elite midrange and probably elite three point shooting will make scoring much easier for him. I think he'll take at least 8 threes per game this year, so that should bump up his scoring some as well. Love should be more confident in his role now, having been somewhat validated after last postseason.
If you take a close look at this numbers last year and apply them to his usual, non-injured game, he would have probably been in the 25+ range.

First of all, he only averaged 31.5 minutes per game last year, as he was on a minutes restriction for a good portion of the season following his return from knee surgery. His Per 36 average was 22.5 points per game. Then, factor in that he had an outlier of a bad three-point shooting season (which immediately stopped in the playoffs), that is another 2-3 points per game lost.

This is the best I've ever seen Kyrie look to start a season. If the Cavs keep with the current gameplan of Kyrie being scoring option No. 1 (and they should), I could see him averaging between 25-28 ppg.

One thing that really bothers me is how little respect he gets from the officials. He was hit on several shots last night against the Raptors, but because he is always trying to finish and make the shot instead of selling the contact (the way Lowry was), he almost never gets the call. Despite his constant pressure and aggression last night, he had just one free throw attempt and it was a defensive 3-second call.

The NBA really needs to stop rewarding guys just looking for contact and start taking a closer look at the way the guys who try to play through it are hit. He should be getting between 5-10 free throws a night with the way he is playing. You could tell he was p!ssed at the end last night ... especially after he got called for a phantom offensive foul on a play that should have given him an easy layup. Just terrible officiating.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2W0dcTyqeU

[jlip]

So my question is this, do you think that we'll see more scoring from Kyrie in the regular season? I think he led the Cavs in all the playoffs besides the finals (Obviously.)




Nah. Kyrie only led the Cavs in scoring in the 1st round. Lebron led the remaining three rounds.

[RedBlackAttack]

Nah. Kyrie only led the Cavs in scoring in the 1st round. Lebron led the remaining three rounds.
This is true. They were close throughout though. And, Kyrie averaged more points for a playoff run than any teammate LeBron has ever had, including any of Wade's playoff averages.

Detroit
Kyrie Irving - 27.5
LeBron James - 22.8

Atlanta
LeBron James - 24.3
Kyrie Irving - 21.3

Toronto
LeBron James - 26.0
Kyrie Irving - 24.2

Golden State
LeBron James - 29.7
Kyrie Irving - 27.1


Overall
LeBron James - 26.3
Kyrie Irving - 25.2

[CTbasketball92]

If you take a close look at this numbers last year and apply them to his usual, non-injured game, he would have probably been in the 25+ range.

First of all, he only averaged 31.5 minutes per game last year, as he was on a minutes restriction for a good portion of the season following his return from knee surgery. His Per 36 average was 22.5 points per game. Then, factor in that he had an outlier of a bad three-point shooting season (which immediately stopped in the playoffs), that is another 2-3 points per game lost.

This is the best I've ever seen Kyrie look to start a season. If the Cavs keep with the current gameplan of Kyrie being scoring option No. 1 (and they should), I could see him averaging between 25-28 ppg.

One thing that really bothers me is how little respect he gets from the officials. He was hit on several shots last night against the Raptors, but because he is always trying to finish and make the shot instead of selling the contact (the way Lowry was), he almost never gets the call. Despite his constant pressure and aggression last night, he had just one free throw attempt and it was a defensive 3-second call.

The NBA really needs to stop rewarding guys just looking for contact and start taking a closer look at the way the guys who try to play through it are hit. He should be getting between 5-10 free throws a night with the way he is playing. You could tell he was p!ssed at the end last night ... especially after he got called for a phantom offensive foul on a play that should have given him an easy layup. Just terrible officiating.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2W0dcTyqeU


Yeah, i totally agree. I actually think Kyrie's body control and ballhandling are so good that defenders are barely even able to actually touch him, so when he misses a layup or shot, he just happens to miss them and doesn't get the benefit of foul calls. Kyrie has said that he studied footage of AI and Kobe to adopt aspects of their midrange game so he can conserve his legs, so I don't think he'll be getting to the freethrow line more than 2-3 times this year, down from his usual four. I could be wrong, though -- the only person getting fouls called yesterday was Demar Derozan.

[CTbasketball92]

Kyrie handled point a lot the last game

Yeah he did, but I think LeBron is ultimately going to be the one running the offense, though Kyrie is capable of doing it and will operate as a really good secondary distributor. Perfect.

[AussieSteve]

I agree with the Lebron 23/8/9 and Kyrie 25/5/5 predictions. But if the Cavs are where they want to be by early March, which I expect they will be, Lebron's minutes and numbers will drop.

However, if for some reason the Cavs don't doninate the east as much as we expect, Lebron will prob be more like 26/7/7 after the all star break.

Also if Lebron is in any kind of MVP contention, would he be tempted to make any kind of late season run? If OKC make the playoffs, the MVP is Westbrook's. Otherwise it'll be out of who has more wins between Kawhi and Lebron, unless Lebron takes his foot off the gas, in which case its Kawhi's, IMO.

[RedBlackAttack]

I agree with the Lebron 23/8/9 and Kyrie 25/5/5 predictions. But if the Cavs are where they want to be by early March, which I expect they will be, Lebron's minutes and numbers will drop.

However, if for some reason the Cavs don't doninate the east as much as we expect, Lebron will prob be more like 26/7/7 after the all star break.

Also if Lebron is in any kind of MVP contention, would he be tempted to make any kind of late season run? If OKC make the playoffs, the MVP is Westbrook's. Otherwise it'll be out of who has more wins between Kawhi and Lebron, unless Lebron takes his foot off the gas, in which case its Kawhi's, IMO.
This is a year someone unexpected could jump into the MVP conversations. The Golden State guys and the Cleveland guys are going to probably cancel each other out in terms of the MVP talks. I don't think Westbrook, Harden or AD will win enough games to be at the top. The last player on a team that didn't win at least 50 games was Moses Malone in the early-80s. The last player to win an MVP and not be a Top 2 seed in their conference was prime Jordan in 1988 (Bulls were #3).

If pressed, I'd probably favor Leonard right now, but with the way Aldridge has played so far, it could have the same effect as the Warriors/Cavs guys.

If the Cavs win 60 games, they might just give it to LeBron. Crazy to think about, but what if Kyrie continues averaging close to 30 a game? Could he sneak in to conversations coming off of that crazy playoff run he had?

There are some real darkhorses out there. Lillard? Even maybe Derozen if Toronto repeats the team success from last year and he continues shooting 28 times a game. CP3 an outside possibility if the Clippers somehow fight into the 2nd seed in the West?

Don't rule anything out. Could be a really weird MVP season.