2016 NBA Finals - Cleveland Cavaliers Vs Golden State Warriors

I actually do think Kyrie has been selfish. He started hitting shots in game 3, which is good, but it was still in a selfish manner. Bball breakdown did a segment on the Cavs offense. The way Kyrie plays breeds stagnant offense. He doesn't pass when he should pass. His style kills spacing and ball movement. He leads all players in shots that require 7+ dribbles, and he's been highly inefficient at them. To give actual numbers, over 40% of his shots (nearly half!) have required him taking 7+ dribbles, and he's only hitting 37.5% of those shots. Can you imagine playing / passing the ball to someone who will take 7+ dribbles to shoot the ball over 40% of the time? When he's hitting those shots, sure, that's great...for him, but it still kills the offense for everyone else.

Kyrie is super talented though, and he can also play a way that can be highly successful for the team. He leads all players in catch-and-shoot efficiency, hitting something preposterous like 70%. The problem is that it rarely happens. He only attempts 2 catch-and-shoots per game in these finals.

Of course, things aren't so black and white. I'm not saying that having Kyrie play off the ball all the time will lead to success. He's been playing well, and some of those crazy shots shift momentum in the Cavs favor. But he can find ways to get others more involved though. Otherwise, he and LeBron are doing exactly what Westbrook and Durant did.

 

As of right now, LeBron and Curry are the only real superstars in the NBA. 2 players for the ages.

Durant and Wade are also possible candidates. I left out old guys like Duncan etc.

There are no other historical players anymore IMO. I don't want to hear Chris Paul....the only two teams in the western conference that have NOT made the conference finals since 2000 are Chris Paul'S hornets and Chris Paul's Clippers. Every other western conference team has been in the conference finals at least once since 2000.