Why do you think it didn't work, chemistry-wise, between Kyrie Irving and the Celtics

[insidehoops]

For those of you who watched a decent number of Celtics games, what are some of your chemistry-related observations regarding how Kyrie Irving plays and the Celtics as a whole?

When did Kyrie fit in best, and when the least?

[Shogon]

Kyrie Irving generally doesn't look to get others involved on the court. He CAN do it sometimes... exceptionally well... but he often chooses not to, and even when he does, he doesn't necessarily understand how to set people up in certain spots on the court to tailor to their strengths or to maje the correct pass that leads to a basket.

Additionally, as has been the case since he first entered the league, he is often times completely personally aloof from his teammates. He has a definitive level of smugness that he carries himself with and he's not particularly bright despite the fact that he thinks he's a genius and despite the fact that he actually is slightly above average in terms of his ability to articulate himself.

He has massive on court and off court shortcomings. The brilliance that he does display on the court is so incredibly aesthetically pleasing, combined with a fearlessness in the clutch, that it often times confuses almost everyone into believing he's something more than he is... a tier 2 player that sometimes plays like tier 1 and sometimes plays like tier 3. He is the most overrated player in the entire NBA.

[SpaceJam2]

Pretty much everyone says Kyrie is a weird guy and hard to get along with. I think he just has a hard time fitting in pretty much everywhere.

[Bronbron23]

He dosnt fit in with a team that moves the ball and plays smart basketball. He was a perfect fit for LeBron because he dosnt play team ball either. If LeBron couldn't score or find someone coming of a pick and roll or screen he would just give it to Kyrie to go iso.

[stalkerforlife]

They didn't have a legitimate second option.

Why didn't Bran work out, chemistry wise, with every single team he's been on that didn't have two other prime stars?

[GimmeThat]

The Celtics relied too much on shooting on the weak side of the floor

[Shogon]

The Celtics relied too much on shooting on the weak side of the floor

I confess this is yet another gimmick account that I had a strong disdain for but I've grown quite fond of it as of late... bravo.

Well done.

10/10.

[paksat]

he's visibly smaller and less physical than he's ever been

but at the same time he still has jordan like confidence levels in himself

it's not even fake bravado, he really does think he's the greatest

that being said, that celtics team regressed regardless of kyrie being there or not. There were times where they shot like.. like a high school team

[CTbasketball92]

I think too much is made of the supposed chemistry issues here. Kyrie passed the ball more than enough and arguably should have run more pick & roll and ISO. No one on the team really ever proved to be more capable than their output. Hayward is a shell of himself and may never be the same. I think Tatum was close to being the worst ISO player in the league. Jaylen Brown cannot dribble. Terry Rozier can't shoot above 39% from the field. Horford was good, but not a legit No. 2 scoring option this team needed to compete come playoff time. Kyrie is a notch below those one-man offense type of players like Harden, Curry, Kawhi, LeBron, etc., but the Celtics were still a top 10 offense. If Hayward were his 2017 self they would have been in the top five offenses and had a way better shot of coming out of the East. Kyrie shouldn't have called out these guys the way he did, but really this Celtics team's supporting players never reached the level people thought they would. Kyrie's ISO rate was at career lows. He averaged a career high in assists.

The people that deserved their touches had their chances, and they sucked.

[CTbasketball92]

he's visibly smaller and less physical than he's ever been

but at the same time he still has jordan like confidence levels in himself

it's not even fake bravado, he really does think he's the greatest

that being said, that celtics team regressed regardless of kyrie being there or not. There were times where they shot like.. like a high school team

I disagree, he looked pretty big at different points this year, especially for him. His FTR dipped a slight bit, but nothing insane. Physically he looked as quick/strong as ever and put in his best season to date on both ends.

[Gus Hemmingway]

I think too much is made of the supposed chemistry issues here. Kyrie passed the ball more than enough and arguably should have run more pick & roll and ISO. No one on the team really ever proved to be more capable than their output. Hayward is a shell of himself and may never be the same. I think Tatum was close to being the worst ISO player in the league. Jaylen Brown cannot dribble. Terry Rozier can't shoot above 39% from the field. Horford was good, but not a legit No. 2 scoring option this team needed to compete come playoff time. Kyrie is a notch below those one-man offense type of players like Harden, Curry, Kawhi, LeBron, etc., but the Celtics were still a top 10 offense. If Hayward were his 2017 self they would have been in the top five offenses and had a way better shot of coming out of the East. Kyrie shouldn't have called out these guys the way he did, but really this Celtics team's supporting players never reached the level people thought they would. Kyrie's ISO rate was at career lows. He averaged a career high in assists.

The people that deserved their touches had their chances, and they sucked.

The Celtics almost made the Finals without Kyrie...

[PP34Deuce]

Kyrie is like reggie Bush to me of the NBA.

Dynamic.... when hes on its beautiful to watch....

Also..

Injury prone
More of a luxury than necessity
Great with a veteran team

There needs to be a pecking order with him. Hes not going to work with a young talented team even though hes still kinda young himself.

[bluechox2]

Kyrie gonna be real disappointed real fast in brooklyn

[CTbasketball92]

The Celtics almost made the Finals without Kyrie...


Then they regressed to the mean and played to their actual abilities. Jayson Tatum shot like 50% from midrange in those playoffs. He's really like a 40% guy and people have film of him now, he's not that good. That's what led people to overhype him. Jaylen Brown still can't dribble.

As for the playoffs, the Bucks from this year is a much different bucks team than the year before. They were like an all-time great team statistically this year in terms of the advanced stats.

For me to buy the chemistry argument more, I'd have to see evidence that anyone else on the team deserved more than they had, but no one really stepped up. There was no No. 2 scoring option/shot creator.

[SpaceJammeR]

Kyrie was not great of a player to begin win. Before Lebron James he led his team to a losing record. After James he single handedly ruined the Boston Celtics. From what ainge and other players are saying, it

[Nike D'Antoni]

Because Kyrie Irving is a shooting guard in point guard body. You need someone who can play point forward on the team to mask his playmaking deficiencies.