Dukies in the NBA 2019-20

[npdevil27]

Simmons Walker Westbrook Curry Lillard Fox in no particular order I would take over Kyrie. Possibly also Paul Conley Lowry Murray Young Brogdon. Kyrie is a cancer.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Simmons Walker Westbrook Curry Lillard Fox in no particular order I would take over Kyrie. Possibly also Paul Conley Lowry Murray Young Brogdon. Kyrie is a cancer.

Well, your provided a list of players, I'll give you that.

Agree to disagree about this basketball acumen.

[bundabergdevil]

Simmons Walker Westbrook Curry Lillard Fox in no particular order I would take over Kyrie. Possibly also Paul Conley Lowry Murray Young Brogdon. Kyrie is a cancer.

Riposte:

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[SouthernDukie]

Simmons Walker Westbrook Curry Lillard Fox in no particular order I would take over Kyrie. Possibly also Paul Conley Lowry Murray Young Brogdon. Kyrie is a cancer.

You sure you’re a Duke fan? That’s a harsh take, basketball wise, on a guy that’s universally considered one of Duke’s best pro players ever.

[npdevil27]

I never thought I could ever prefer a UConn player over a Duke player... until Kemba replaced Kyrie on the Celts. The difference is glaring. One guy plays for the name on the front of his jersey. The other for the name on the back.

[dukelifer]

Simmons Walker Westbrook Curry Lillard Fox in no particular order I would take over Kyrie. Possibly also Paul Conley Lowry Murray Young Brogdon. Kyrie is a cancer.

Cancer? What? He may not be the best teammate but Cancers don’t win championship. That is a silly take.

[jv001]

Simmons Walker Westbrook Curry Lillard Fox in no particular order I would take over Kyrie. Possibly also Paul Conley Lowry Murray Young Brogdon. Kyrie is a cancer.

Careful how you use that word.
GoDuke!

[Furniture]

Simmons Walker Westbrook Curry Lillard Fox in no particular order I would take over Kyrie. Possibly also Paul Conley Lowry Murray Young Brogdon. Kyrie is a cancer.

Thats just not nice.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I never thought I could ever prefer a UConn player over a Duke player... until Kemba replaced Kyrie on the Celts. The difference is glaring. One guy plays for the name on the front of his jersey. The other for the name on the back.

Ah, you're. Celtics fan.

It does all make some more sense now.

[arnie]

Gary Trent with 30 last night on 12 of 18 shooting - couple of starters injured. Portland lost, but he kept it relatively close and played in crunch times.

[Duke79UNLV77]

Simmons Walker Westbrook Curry Lillard Fox in no particular order I would take over Kyrie. Possibly also Paul Conley Lowry Murray Young Brogdon. Kyrie is a cancer.

Is this the Jeopardy thread? Who are a bunch of players who shoot lower percentages, turn the ball over more, and have won less than Kyrie?

Any Kyrie drama is far outweighed by the drama of Kyrie haters.

[SouthernDukie]

Ah, you're. Celtics fan.

It does all make some more sense now.

Doesn't excuse it coming from a supposed Duke fan though. I love the Celtics as well, but I'd never resort to that kind of attitude toward a former Dukie.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Doesn't excuse it coming from a supposed Duke fan though. I love the Celtics as well, but I'd never resort to that kind of attitude toward a former Dukie.

Everyone's entitled to opinions.

[sagegrouse]

Almost peerless on the court? I’d argue he’s not a top 20 player in the NBA.

You might try to put some meat on the bones when you "argue." Kyrie was second team All-NBA in 2019, one of the top four guards selected. You obviously think that's wrong. Why???

[grad_devil]

Gary Trent with 30 last night on 12 of 18 shooting - couple of starters injured. Portland lost, but he kept it relatively close and played in crunch times.

On his birthday, according to social media.

[npdevil27]

You might try to put some meat on the bones when you "argue." Kyrie was second team All-NBA in 2019, one of the top four guards selected. You obviously think that's wrong. Why???

For starters, he plays no defense. He doesn’t even try.

He also quite clearly quit on his team.

[sagegrouse]

For starters, he plays no defense. He doesn’t even try.

He also quite clearly quit on his team.

Yet he's All-NBA and is one of the 20 highest-paid players. It seems like yours is a minority view.

Anyway, I'm done with this conversation.

[Steven43]

For starters, he plays no defense. He doesn’t even try.

He also quite clearly quit on his team.

While it’s true that Kyrie Irving does not often play strong defense, he usually does when it matters most. There are plenty of NBA players who are considered to be among the top 10% in the league, though they aren’t good defenders. James Harden comes immediately to mind. Russell Westbrook is another. And there are quite a few others, but you get the point.

While Kyrie fell a bit out of favor with me after his Boston fiasco last season, and he makes a lot of nutty and/or self-centered comments, I still like him and believe him to be a unique and often spectacular player. Those kinds of guys are exceedingly rare. Plus, he went to Duke and I love him for that.

[Duke79UNLV77]

For starters, he plays no defense. He doesn’t even try.

He also quite clearly quit on his team.

Except he had one of the best defensive ratings when his team won the NBA finals. Anthony Davis quit on his team last year. Kyrie didn’t. He had a fantastic year and just had a shooting slump at the worst possible time. Based on what Danny Ainge, there was more of an issue with other players not accepting their roles.

[miramar]

Per ESPN, RPM: Player's estimated on-court impact on team performance, measured in net point differential per 100 offensive and defensive possessions. RPM takes into account teammates, opponents and additional factors

http://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/rpm

Out of 465 players,

First quartile:

8. Jayson Tatum (4.15). I guess he is athletic enough after all
70. Kyrie Irving (1.79), has only played 15 games
77. Brandon Ingram (1.61)
90. Justise Winslow (1.44), but has only played 11 games and is out indefinitely
94. Mason Plumlee (1.39).

Second quartile:

167. Rodney Hood (0.42)
171. Jabari Parker (0.37). He has fought through the knee operations, but he would have been way higher if healthy.
174. Quin Cook (0.35). Well deserved.
175. Luke Kenard (0.32).
201. JJ Redick (0.07). Pretty good for somebody nearing the end of his career, especailly considering all the doubters.
215. Seth Curry (-0.09). Another well deserved.

Third quartile:

236. Tyus Jones (-0.24)
308. Jahlil Okafor (-0.79). He's +0.50 on offense and -1.29 on defense, but he's only six spots below Kevin Love.

Fourth quartile:

356. Austin Rivers (-1.17). I'm glad he has found a spot with the Rockets, but he was the #2 recruit IIRC. Never quite worked out.
358. Harry Giles (-1.21). By all accounts he would have been a superstar without the knee problems, so I hope he gets a chance with a new team next year.
384. Grayson Allen (-1.41). He's +0.55 on offense but -1.96 on defense.
401. Gary Trent (-1.65). No surprise.
414. RJ Barret (-2.63). Still early but surprising.
421. Marvin Bagley (-2.22). Another surprise.
431. Cam Reddish (-2.40). No surprise.
451. Frank Jackson (-3.01) No surprise.

Looking at the fourth quartile, you can't help but notice that almost all were one and dones who really needed more seasoning, so I have to wonder how they would be doing if they had stayed more time at Duke. I could see guys like Kyrie, Justise, Jayson, and Jabari as one and dones, but I had doubts about most of the players in the 4Q. Worse yet is Trevon Duval, who has played in only three NBA games and has started a mere two games in the G-League this season. For his short career he is only hitting 24% on threes and 64% on FTs.