Daily MVP Film Breakdown: Kyrie Irving Rips Memphis Apart
Kyrie Irving is a bad man, and the Grizzlies are just plain bad right now as evidenced by Uncle Drew’s 38 point, 11 assist performance in a Celtics win on Friday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBUW8zmJ3Mg&t=275s
Kyrie had a dramatic week as the Celtics lost three straight, he called out his young teammates, apologized to his young teammates, apologized to LeBron for the errors of his youth, and publicized that information for some reason. Then he made it all ok with 28 points and 18 assists in a win over the Raptors. Irving followed it up with pure dominance against a stumbling Memphis team.
Let’s talk about Kyrie Irving on the court. Uncle Drew put up 38 points and 11 assists in a dominant win over Memphis. To the tape! pic.twitter.com/QrS1UjBkCD
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
Marc Gasol and Mike Conley met with Grizzlies owner Robert Pera concerning the future of the franchise that has now lost ten of their last eleven games. It seems unlikely that he directed them to get torched by Kyrie Irving, but they did that anyway.
Kyrie could hardly believe his luck when they didn’t switch Marc Gasol off of him. pic.twitter.com/4tBUjZVmR7
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
Irving is dribbling with his right arm fully extended, then explodes toward the ball to beat Conley. Sick mid-air adjustment and tough finish off the glass to beat the help. pic.twitter.com/cPCBeYmcRA
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
Irving blows by Conley again, but this time in a 5-out set so there’s no help. pic.twitter.com/1MIOKSagq9
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
Out of the gate Irving focused on facilitating, and he spoonfed Marcus Smart clean looks from deep. Smart has only hit 31% from deep in his career, but he’s up to 37% this season. Smart is one of those guys who can get hot and confident from beyond the arc, and Irving made sure that happened.
Marcus Smart is shooting 37% from deep this year, much improved. pic.twitter.com/uHtLxLjkFk
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
Simple pass, but Kyrie leads it perfectly so Smart catches it right at the arc as he squares his shoulders pic.twitter.com/4LjgKYu6b1
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
Kyrie exposed Marc Gasol repeatedly in this game, especially early on in the pick and roll. Kyrie only had 10 points in the first half, but that’s because he was busy putting on a clinic on how to destroy the hedge defense. He made a former Defensive Player of the Year look silly twice in the first half, beating him and drawing the entire defense in before kicking out for three.
I think Marc Gasol tried to hedge this, but he wound up setting another screen for Kyrie.
Simple pick and roll collapses the entire defense, leaving three shooters wide open at the arc.
Irving made the sauciest pass possible. pic.twitter.com/a2Mdp7GQ3U— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
Again Gasol tries to hedge. To Uncle Drew, the Spaniard was playing matador defense. Extra sauce on the no-look driving dime. pic.twitter.com/2KjDHyV9cm
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
Even when Gasol and the rest of the Grizzlies executed the hedge well, Irving still found a way to beat it by passing the ball. That way came in the form of Al Horford, whose ability to shoot and post up makes him a nightmare to defend in the pick and pop.
Al Horford is a nice little safety blanket out of another hedged pick and pop. pic.twitter.com/YIRO9z1oon
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
Gasol shows again, again Horford gets in solid position for the bucket pic.twitter.com/gE94BdraDE
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
Hard hedge, Kyrie picks up his dribble and reads it, the help is on time but too small to make Horford’s jumper harder. pic.twitter.com/KXETa2RmYJ
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
Irving is just as good at moving without the ball as he is at dissecting the defense in the pick and roll. On both of these cuts he catches moving away from the basket, drives to the hoop, and finishes through a foul.
Irving is so smart off the screen, so tough to stop that close to the rim pic.twitter.com/Rcrq40oKHc
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
Fun little pass fake, impossible finish through contact pic.twitter.com/KYeDbjsly1
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
His diabolical movement off the ball also gets him some easy three pointers. It’s much easier when the big man guarding the screener commits to stopping the drive, leaving the arc wide open as long as the pick works.
This is a completely vicious give and go. He follows the bounce pass like he’s gonna take a DHO from Horford on the sideline, cuts back, dumps his man, and drains the triple. pic.twitter.com/CESxuvKrEG
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
Joakim Noah out here defending nobody pic.twitter.com/zjOiUyHqQy
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
The defense did Kyrie a lot of favors in this game, from hedging poorly all the way to just not forgetting to guard him in barely transition and giving him easy fouls. Kyrie is crafty, but the Grizzlies made it pretty easy for him to put on a show.
Grizzlies forgot to pick up Kyrie Irving in transition. Not an advisable defensive strategy. pic.twitter.com/bWDzmKcrl1
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
Kyrie dribbles so low to the ground sometimes that defenders are literally on top of him, so he can rise up, draw the foul, and hit the shot to boot. pic.twitter.com/SbnUKq0dqU
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
After the screen, Kyrie is maybe the best in the league at keeping the defender on his hip to protect the ball pic.twitter.com/Ggm8HCulR0
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
Irving is one of those guys who can beat the entire defense if he gets going, whether he has to beat three defenders or five. Uncle Drew has all the moves at every speed, and the faster he goes the more off balance all of his opponents are.
Name some other 6’2″ players who can finish at the rim like this. pic.twitter.com/sUjjFIVX7i
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
Not many guys can collapse the entire defense like this. pic.twitter.com/rJ5dkQY44Y
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
Back to Marc Gasol for a minute. His defense was pretty yucky in this game, especially down the stretch. Kyrie Irving is crazy good, but Gasol is showing the lateral quickness of a wounded Grizzly bear with none of the adrenaline-fueled intensity or defensive instincts.
Gasol comes to double, completely loses Horford watching Uncle Drew, flashes to the paint instinctively as Kyrie passes to the open big man who went to the corner instead. pic.twitter.com/Ey4p2EkGNR
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
Marc Gasol is a former DPOY and he looks completely lost defensively. pic.twitter.com/HUHKbEabrJ
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
So yeah, the Grizzlies are a mess right now. An unconscious Kyrie Irving took full advantage, and his game clinching bucket was a perfect metaphor for a night where Uncle Drew had his defenders running into each other all night.
Dagger through the heart of an already dead Memphis defense. pic.twitter.com/CjMmwMlxIr
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) January 19, 2019
