Dukies in the NBA 2019-20

[AZLA]

5+ minutes left in the 3rd. JJ 5-7from 3, 22 points thus far. On TNT.

Got to the game early. And despite my depression that Zion was still out (it's the only reason I bought NBA tix for the first time in a decade then he got injured); I went to the floor and got to watch JJ get his game face on, go through his warm up dribbles, and shooting drills. He's a practitioner. Probably one of the quickest, most natural, efficient and fluid jump shots ever. His warm up routine is off the charts -- was like watching Phil drain puts from ever direction on the green. JJ is definitely the co leader of the team with Jrue. But it was a throwback watching him pop deep 3s like they were layups. With 6 minutes left in the 1st QTR JJ was already at 14 pts (should of been 15 but he missed a free throw). He wasn't really there for the 2nd QTR and seemed to slow down, but then got hot again and in the late 3rd and all of 4th. He's a very unselfish player and gets his teammates involved -- but for a while there -- I though he might get a 40 point game in. It's clear with Zion out Ingram has the green light (either from his coach or agent to set up for free agency) to drive and take some tough shots. He was able to get hot. When JJ is involved Pelicans are a good passing team. Ball shot well and distributes the rock well. Can't wait to see Zion back in the rotation. Unfortunately, Okafor is on the mend (so no rematch with Kaminsky). Frank made some contributions but struggled a little. Duke South heads to Clippers this weekend.

[budwom]

good stuff except for the icky comparison to Phil Mickelson.

[TheOldBattleship]

Latest I've seen is mid-December. (I'm guessing that he's going to play in the primetime Christmas Day game unless he can't walk.)

And here's an article on Zion's progress with quotes from David Griffin and Alvin Gentry (nice to hear them still so positive). Looks like he's on schedule for 8 weeks from the surgery, which was Oct 20. That puts the debut around December 15. The Pelicans are at home against Orlando exactly on the 15th, and at home against Brooklyn on the 17th. Either one of those games would make a ton of sense for a debut.

[AGDukesky]

Current list of injured players:
Irving
Zion
Bagley
Winslow
Curry
Okafor
Grayson
Reddish

Yikes, did I miss anyone?

[arnie]

Current list of injured players:
Irving
Zion
Bagley
Winslow
Curry
Okafor
Grayson
Reddish

Yikes, did I miss anyone?

Banks, Dawkins, G. Hill, Brand - just about everyone that could of, would of have been a perennial star.😡

[rocketeli]

Semi with abs of steel. Luckily, it looks like his teammate will be ok.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...uated-saturday

[Furniture]

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/24/celt...acebook%7Cmain

smart kid...

[Eternal Outlaw]

Kyrie had quite the response to the Boston crowd

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/sta...170989056?s=20

[flyingdutchdevil]

Kyrie had quite the response to the Boston crowd

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/sta...170989056?s=20

Is the kid ‘woke’ again? Dear lord, I couldn’t be happier as a Celtics fan that Kyrie is NOT on the team.

Kemba? 80% of the talent, 120% of the effectiveness.

Hey Kyrie - give Kemba a call for some pointers on leadership.

[cato]

Is the kid ‘woke’ again? Dear lord, I couldn’t be happier as a Celtics fan that Kyrie is NOT on the team.

Kemba? 80% of the talent, 120% of the effectiveness.

Hey Kyrie - give Kemba a call for some pointers on leadership.

Meh. I’ll take woke Kyrie every day of the week over Celtics fans who need to vent their spleens.

[Steven43]

Is the kid ‘woke’ again? Dear lord, I couldn’t be happier as a Celtics fan that Kyrie is NOT on the team.

Kemba? 80% of the talent, 120% of the effectiveness.

Hey Kyrie - give Kemba a call for some pointers on leadership.

Preach on, FDD. It’s unbelievably hypocritical that Irving is whining about Celtics fans deriding and mocking him after HE SAID HE WAS GOING TO RESIGN WITH BOSTON, then did not follow through on his word. I think it’s perfectly understandable that after Irving teased Celtics and then left them at the altar that they would not exactly be happy with him. For crissakes, what did he expect??

And all this talk about basketball being just a game is absurd. Basketball is his JOB. This is his chosen profession. He is being paid a virtual king’s ransom ($136 million over the next four years) — regardless of how well he does or doesn’t perform — to play this “game”.

Finally, it’s laughable that he is complaining about fans not knowing or caring who he is as a person because if Kyrie were not really really good at dribbling a basketball nobody outside of his family and friends wouid have ever heard of him, much less cared about him “as a person”.

[MartyClark]

Is the kid ‘woke’ again? Dear lord, I couldn’t be happier as a Celtics fan that Kyrie is NOT on the team.

Kemba? 80% of the talent, 120% of the effectiveness.

Hey Kyrie - give Kemba a call for some pointers on leadership.

I'd probably disagree with Kyrie if I knew what the heck he was talking about. It is disturbing that this guy can write so poorly.

[arnie]

I'd probably disagree with Kyrie if I knew what the heck he was talking about. It is disturbing that this guy can write so poorly.

But he was accepted by Duke University - his English and Writing aptitude must be off the charts.

[duke96]

I'd probably disagree with Kyrie if I knew what the heck he was talking about. It is disturbing that this guy can write so poorly.

“Obtrusive” ... I do not think that word means what you think it means, Kyrie.

[Steven43]

Look, Kyrie is a really good basketball player when healthy and fully committed to playing team ball. I don’t know him personally, but he’s probably a fine human being. What he needs to understand is that basketball is a business, and fans are in the business of rooting for their team, and rooting for them to win. As soon as fans perceive you as not being 100% committed to that goal — and especially after you leave as a free agent — you are put in their collective rearview mirror.

Kyrie (and Kevin Durant and many others) want to have their cake (millions of dollars, adulation from fans, etc.) and eat it, too (no criticism). That’s just not the way this works. While I can certainly empathize with the loss of a loved one (his grandfather), as a fan I try to separate a player’s personal life from their sporting one. I think most fans are that way.

In any case, I wish Kyrie well and hope that he can remain a great player for many years to come. His unique and exciting style of play brings a lot of sporting joy to a lot of people, myself included. Happy Thanksgiving, Kyrie.

[jimsumner]

Look, Kyrie is a really good basketball player when healthy and fully committed to playing team ball. I don’t know him personally, but he’s probably a fine human being. What he needs to understand is that basketball is a business, and fans are in the business of rooting for their team, and rooting for them to win. As soon as fans perceive you as not being 100% committed to that goal — and especially after you leave as a free agent — you are put in their collective rearview mirror.

Kyrie (and Kevin Durant and many others) want to have their cake (millions of dollars, adulation from fans, etc.) and eat it, too (no criticism). That’s just not the way this works. While I can certainly empathize with the loss of a loved one (his grandfather), as a fan I try to separate a player’s personal life from their sporting one. I think most fans are that way.

In any case, I wish Kyrie well and hope that he can remain a great player for many years to come. His unique and exciting style of play brings a lot of sporting joy to a lot of people, myself included. Happy Thanksgiving, Kyrie.

Anybody else watch Anthony Davis' return to NOLA last night? Not a positive reception. But I suspect Davis will deal with it without much in the way of public angst.

[budwom]

FWIW, Danny Ainge did a pretty decent mea culpa the other day regarding Kyrie...said he didn't blame him for last year, said he had too many guys on the roster who could/should play, he should have thinned things out.
For sure Kyrie was a moody prima donna last year, no disputing that, but the Celts had lots of other problems as well, e.g. Coach Brad trying to get Hayward going (understandable) at the expense of playing time for some others.

[Duke79UNLV77]

Is the kid ‘woke’ again? Dear lord, I couldn’t be happier as a Celtics fan that Kyrie is NOT on the team.

Kemba? 80% of the talent, 120% of the effectiveness.

Hey Kyrie - give Kemba a call for some pointers on leadership.

Hey Kemba - give Kyrie a call for some pointers on averaging 27 ppg on excellent shooting and hitting the series-winning shot in the NBA Finals.

Yeah, I bet Kyrie is the only guy in the NBA who uses the term “woke” or has exercised free agency. I happened to go to a playoff game in Boston last year and half the crowd had Irving jerseys and everyone was chanting MVP when he shot free throws. A slump to end the playoffs and choosing to play on his hometown team with Durant sure can make people fickle.

[Steven43]

Hey Kemba - give Kyrie a call for some pointers on averaging 27 ppg on excellent shooting and hitting the series-winning shot in the NBA Finals.

Yeah, I bet Kyrie is the only guy in the NBA who uses the term “woke” or has exercised free agency. I happened to go to a playoff game in Boston last year and half the crowd had Irving jerseys and everyone was chanting MVP when he shot free throws. A slump to end the playoffs and choosing to play on his hometown team with Durant sure can make people fickle.

“I didn’t give (his Celtics teammates) everything I could have," Irving said. "Bringing everyone together, I failed.”

These are the man’s own words. I see no reason not to believe him.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.masslive.com/celtics/2019/09/kyrie-irving-says-he-failed-as-boston-celtics-leader-says-death-of-his-grandfather-impacted-change-of-heart.html%3foutputType=amp

[SouthernDukie]

Hey Kemba - give Kyrie a call for some pointers on averaging 27 ppg on excellent shooting and hitting the series-winning shot in the NBA Finals.

Yeah, I bet Kyrie is the only guy in the NBA who uses the term “woke” or has exercised free agency. I happened to go to a playoff game in Boston last year and half the crowd had Irving jerseys and everyone was chanting MVP when he shot free throws. A slump to end the playoffs and choosing to play on his hometown team with Durant sure can make people fickle.

I completely agree. And that's coming from a lifelong Celtics fan. I'm not going to defend everything surrounding Kyrie, but I'm also sick of my fellow Celtic fans acting like he's the 2nd coming of Satan. Look, Danny Ainge had it correct. In spite of Kyrie posting incredible numbers for the vast majority of the season last year, the truth is that Celtic's team had a LOT of problems beyond anything having to do with Mr Irving. They had Gordon attempting to round back into form and failing miserably at it (don't look at him this year and compare - he sucked last year). You had a coach who refused to NOT play Gordon and a couple of other guys at times when they had no business being inserted into games (Jaylen at times, and Rozier almost all the time). There were too many players that needed the ball in their hands to be successful, and they had to jettison several very good players to make what is going on this year happen. Heck, the Celtics are still playing very well even with Gordon out of the lineup, and even when one other starter misses a game or two. That shows they have plenty of ballers, but not too many to cause disruptions like last year's team was plagued with.

Bottom line: everyone should lighten up on Kyrie. He's a good young man. I hope he wins multiple rings in the future.