As Cavaliers Falter, Irving Deserves Some Blame

Although he did miss a good chunk of games last season, Kyrie Irving was impressive when he played. His impressive play didn't always translate to wins, but I always alluded it to the inexperience of the team and the lack of key pieces. I thought about how scary the Cavaliers can be if he is surrounded with the right talent.

During the off-season, the Cavs loaded on players that in theory could work with Irving very well. The team signed Andrew Bynum to have reliable scorer down low. They added Earl Clark for to be a versatile forward who can hit shots and has good energy on defense. They also signed Jarrett Jack to back Irving in point guard duties. The rest of the roster looked solid and many believed that they could be one of the better teams in the eastern conference.

However, we are already almost two months into the season and the Cavaliers are currently out of the playoff picture at the number 9 spot of the east and have looked so bad in a handful of games. Just like many struggling teams, drama has brewed within the team. Many tried to find the reason for this debacle and as it stands right now, majority of the reason has been on Irving.

Irving hasn't quite lived up to the expectations many had for him. Looking at his stats, it doesn't look like he has improved much at all. In fact, he has struggled with his 3-point shooting. He is also being exposed as a liability on defense, often finding himself out of position and not being able to follow the defensive scheme that the coaching staff wants the team to be playing such as getting through screens. This puts the defense in peril as they don't really have guys who can cover for his mistake.

So far, the Cavs have faltered amidst expectations and Irving's performance is a primary reason for it. If the team is doing well, Irving would get plenty of credit as he is the best and currently the most important player on the team. Thus, it is also only fair that he deserves much of the blame if the team is underperforming as they are now.

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