Kyrie is a mega talent, and as such is more valuable. It's the subtle parts of the game that are keeping him from becoming a superstar (as well as injuries). If he puts it together, watch out.
Bingo, TP. In fairness, let me preface by saying that I'm not much of an IT fan, and I think this is one of those cases where numbers don't tell the whole story. Statistically, yeah, okay, I can see at least a bit of a comparison, but I think that that ignores the fact that Thomas did his damage off the bench, meaning that he wasn't facing starter-level talent like Irving was (with or without Lebron) for the entire game. Sure, he was out there in crunch time, but even so, I just think that this should be pointed out.
Additionally, Irving possesses the elite dribbling skills that Isaiah can only dream of, which allows him to be able to create his own shot at any moment. Defensively, as well, is where there's quite the size mismatch. Unfortunately for Isaiah, there's nothing he can do to offset his severe lack of height, which makes him quite the liability. It's not that he doesn't try, but there's only so much you can do, team wise, to cover for him. As for Kyie, at 6'3", he at least has the size to play both guard positions, and as we saw this year, playing on a contender meant that there was a much heavier emphasis on defense, so while he still has lapses every now and again, for the most part, he's taken it up a couple of notches in this regard. Look at how he saved the day for the cavs at the end of game 1 of the finals when he blocked Curry's layup attempt (iirc, anyway) to send it to overtime. He never would have made that type of effort if Lebron wasn't there, as had been the case in previous years.
Finally, in terms of player comparisons, IT reminds me a lot of a left handed, less athletic, worse ball handling version of Nate Robinson who gets to the line more often, and I'm not just saying that because they're both 5'9" and played at Washington . Both players have tremendous heart and love the big moments, but they also often play out of control and are, essentially, shooting guards in a point guard's body who are also poster boys for 'hero ball,' imo.
There is always the '13-'14 season when Thomas was starting for Sacramento when he averaged 20.3 / 6.3 / 45.3% against mostly western conference starters.
Listen, I am not here to make the case for Thomas being better than Irving, but you are basically calling him a worse version of Nate Robinson, which just isn't true. I will stand by the fact that Thomas is simply underrated because of his height while Kyrie has always been considered the next future superstar because of his draft position. Based on stats alone, Irving is just not currently that much better than Thomas...which works for us (because how little we had to give up to get him).
EDIT: FWIW, in that same '13-'14 season, in roughly the same amount of mpg (on an awful Eastern Conference team), Irving averaged 20.8 / 6.1 / 43.0%. Why is that better considerably better than Thomas?
I figured that someone would bring up the 13-14 season, and that's fine
. Fair enough. However, while you're right about having to play against mostly western conference starters that year, I think it's also important to point out that IT played with far more talent in Sacramento in Cousins (who, alone makes my point
), Rudy Gay (after he was traded there from Toronto in the December of 2013), and even Marcus Thornton, than what Irving had in Cleveland, meaning that the defense was always geared to stop him.
I never said that Kyrie's numbers were 'considerably better' - I just thought that it was important to point out the other factors when examining the respective stats from both dudes. Look at Lance Stephenson this past year as opposed to how he played with the Pacers, as an example. Isaiah is a good player, but he's not on Irving's level, imo. Didn't you see the playoffs when he got completely exposed? The reason why Kyrie is considered the next superstar or whatever, as opposed to Thomas, is because of his skills, in my eyes, not his draft position (although I suppose that that doesn't hurt). I'm sure that, yes, you could make a good case for Isaiah being underrated because of his height, which plays into his whole Napoleon Complex, lol
, but perhaps it has more to do with his draft position, as you pointed out in your assessment of Irving, coupled with playing for Sacramento, even though that has hardly diminished the stats of DMC in the eyes of most people, I think.
Finally, if anything, these performances are why Irving is considered a superstar. I'm not saying that I necessarily agree with that school of thought, btw, but I can certainly understand it. Do you think that IT is on par with Steph Curry?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXxt8hJbelohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkVhI8v5DAghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-MrcSvNP0Mhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_66oJd66-4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayYzaEvlbTMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0_iNSZfNi4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7bVhzs5JoY