Kyrie Irving: Miscommunication With Coach To Blame
By David Ramil
There was a lot of hype building up to Thursday night, beginning with the summer revelation that LeBron James was coming home and the subsequent acquisition of Kevin Love to form a new Big Three. But the Cleveland Cavaliers’ season opener fell flat of expectations, culminating in an anticlimactic 95-90 loss to the woeful New York Knicks, who had just been blown out by the Chicago Bulls the previous night.
Ironically, much of the blame can fall on James’ powerful shoulders, who finished with 17 points on 5-of-15 points and a whopping eight turnovers.
To his credit, James explained that he was “careless” and didn’t know where his teammates would be on several occasions. Those are growing pains that the Cavaliers will likely figure out as the season goes on. But Kyrie Irving went into additional detail, telling ESPN that he didn’t always understand head coach David Blatt:
"“For us, it’s just a better communication between me and Coach Blatt. That’s basically what it boils down to. I’m his point guard out there, and some things that I see, you know, he has plays in his mind and I have plays in my mind as well. We’re just going to continue to grow. It’s a process. Within practice, we kind of switch on and off [calling the plays], but for us it’s about what’s going on out there on the court and what he sees and what I see, and hopefully we can get on the same page pretty soon.”"
Blatt hinted at the same issue, adding:
"“We got static, without question…We’re really good when we move the ball. And when we play without motion and without ball energy, I like to call it, then that’s what it looks like. That is exactly what happened.”"
This all feels very familiar, if anyone remembers the issues that beset the Miami Heat in 2010. An opening night loss to the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics was dissected at length, particularly when a team that was seen as a potential offensive juggernaut — much like this year’s Cavaliers — failed to mesh immediately. That Heat team would struggle out of the gate, going 9-8 before the infamous BumpGate between James and Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra made headlines.
Following that overblown incident, Miami would go on to win 21 of then next 22 games.
This Cleveland team seems to understand all that is at stake. Irving, in particular, took cues from the more-experienced James to accept responsibility for what happened versus the Knicks:
"“It starts with me and my patience in the half court and the full court. There were some plays that we were running, just what I see out there and exploiting mismatches and trying to do the best I can on making this team go.”"
Part of the challenge the Cavs will face was the continuous media circus that Miami dealt with over the past four years. The Heat, however, were largely reviled when they were assembled and were perceived as villains outside of South Florida. While Cleveland has a target on its back, there’s less pressure and expectations have been tempered.
For Irving, James, Blatt and the entire roster, problems like these will continue to happen. As they seem to understand, communication will be a key part of getting them to fulfill their potential.