2014 FIBA World Cup: 10 major takeaways
By Bryce Olin
3. Kyrie Irving + Much Better Players = Much Better Kyrie Irving
Like the 2014 All-Star game, we now have more proof Kyrie Irving is a much better player surrounded by other good players. This seems like it should be a given, but that’s not always how it works in the NBA. Think Rudy Gay in Memphis or Dwight Howard in LA. Irving is a good player, but he’s had limitations in the past. He doesn’t play defense, or at least, he hasn’t proven he can play defense in the NBA.
And, he didn’t necessarily make any defensive strides in FIBA, either. Irving did, however, show improvement playing with much more talented players than he’s used to in Cleveland and demonstrated he can pick and choose his spots effectively. In the gold medal game against Serbia, Irving scored 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting and made all six of his three-point attempts. Irving forced the FIBA officials to give him the tournament MVP award based on his play in the final alone.
Throughout the tournament, though, Irving took over most of the point guard for Coach K’s squad because he went to Duke Derrick Rose was still a little rusty and Steph Curry can play off the ball better than Irving can. Irving held his own throughout tournament while fighting off a sore hip from a nasty fall against Ukraine. He averaged 12.1 PPG on 56 percent shooting and 60 percent from three-point range.
He also led the team with 3.6 assists per game. While LeBron James and Kevin Love didn’t play with Team USA in Spain, it will be interesting to see how Irving meshes with Love and James in Cleveland next season. If he plays anything like he did in the World Cup and figures out how on earth to guard a pick-and-roll, Irving is going to be scary good for a long time.