INDEPENDENCE: A least twice this season, Kyrie Irving has done something or said something on the court that prompted Larry Drew to nudge Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue.
The Cavs associate head coach, Drew played point guard in the NBA for 10 years. Lue played the same position in the league for 11 years. On game days, while Lue is occupied with defense and rotations and offensive execution, Drew is observing the players from a broader scope.
With past experience Drew hopes to impart, it’s only natural that Irving would draw his attention.
It seemed as if Irving, 25, blossomed before fans’ eyes during the run to the 2016 championship, but Drew said he’s seen more growth from Irving this season than last.
“Just listening to Kyrie now when he’s out on the floor, I’ve told [Lue], ‘This kid is really starting to get it,’ ” Drew said during an interview last week at Cleveland Clinic Courts. “He’s starting to understand his teammates, he’s starting to understand the flow of the game, he’s starting to understand the opponent, he’s starting to understand his body.”
That should make for an exciting matchup in the 2017 Finals as Irving faces the Golden State Warriors’ two-time league Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry. The Warriors hold a 1-0 series lead going into Game 2 Saturday night at Oracle Arena. In Game 1, Curry won the individual duel with 28 points, six rebounds and 10 assists to 24 points, three rebounds and two assists for Irving.
Before he came to the Cavs in 2014, Drew coached the Milwaukee Bucks and spent three seasons directing the Atlanta Hawks. So Drew knew much about Irving’s game when he arrived in Cleveland.
“I see a transformation, really,” Drew said. “Having played against Ky, his talent level’s off the charts. Watching him from year one to year two to year three since I’ve been here, he has really matured from a knowledge standpoint. He’s really starting to get a true understanding about the game, about the flow, about the feel, and every year he’s gotten better at it.
“That’s something that’s been very noticeable within our staff. You hear the cliché about the point guard being the head of the snake and they’ve got to be an extension of the coach. I really believe he is starting to really blossom into that.”
Irving admitted during NBA Finals media day Wednesday at Oracle Arena that he regrets the 2013-14 season he spent under former Cavs coach Mike Brown, now the Warriors’ interim coach. Irving told media in Oakland that Brown “was trying to teach me a lot of things that I didn’t necessarily understand as a 21-year-old in the NBA.”
Irving is grasping it now.
“I don’t think he was fighting it. There were parts of it he didn’t quite understand,” Drew said of what he’s seen first-hand. “What’s really helped him with Coach Lue, having a former player in the NBA as a point guard — not taking anything away from coach [David] Blatt — that’s one of Coach Lue’s strong points, his ability to relate to players because he’s played the game and he’s played that position. Guys look at him and they have a true respect for him. I think that’s something that really helped Ky.”
Irving said his relationship with Lue has “strengthened naturally” since Lue took over after Blatt was fired in January 2016.
“It makes my job as a point guard, as one of the leaders on the team, a lot easier,” Irving said of having a coach that played his position. “I’m appreciative because I think he now knows what to expect out of me and I know what to expect out of him.”
Lue said since he arrived as Blatt’s associate head coach in June 2014, Irving has grown as a player each year. Lue has made Irving a “project” of one of his staff, giving the task to director of player development/assistant coach Phil Handy.
“I think Kyrie trusts him and they get their work in every day — footwork, ball handling, 1-on-1, 3-point shots,” Lue said during the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics. “They have their own routine … It’s unique. Phil is constantly working with him, constantly with him, so it’s really good for Kyrie.”
Handy, who played for the Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers, in the CBA and in Europe and also ran his own basketball training business, watches film with the Cavs, especially Irving.
“He looks at all of Ky’s minutes,” Drew said of Handy. “Ky has great natural basketball instincts. What Phil tries to do with him is go over different situations during the game, good or bad and just try to educate him.
“He’s very, very receptive to Phil and they’ve got a good relationship. The bottom line is we do anything and everything to try to get him better.”
Drew said it’s not a case of Handy trying to teach Irving all the players’ responsibilities, like a quarterback in football.
“More important is Ky’s responsibility, not just on the offensive end, but the defensive end as well,” Drew said. “They go over everything. It’s a learning, teaching tool that I think has really helped Ky blossom into the player he is today.”
When asked Monday where he thinks he’s most improved, Irving said his daily leadership.
“As a young player you want to come in, some days are going to be a little bit gloomy and some days are going to be really exciting,” Irving said. “But as one of the leaders of the team, you have to stay the course no matter how dim it’s looking, you just gotta stay even keeled. I definitely garnered that from a lot of the players that I’ve seen in the past and a lot of the guys I’ve been around now.”
Irving didn’t credit Handy for that, but Lue and Drew are impressed by Irving’s progress, not to mention the talents that make him one of the best isolation scorers in today’s game.
“I’ve never coached or played with a guy whose left hand is so good. He’s a phenomenal finisher,” Drew said. “He’s a guy when the ball is in his hand, we trust. When he goes, we go.”
Drew knows the Warriors will provide a challenge for Irving, along with the rest of the Cavs. But Drew wasn’t surprised that Irving took “The Shot” over Stephen Curry in the final minute of Game 7 that turned out to be the championship-winner last June.
“That didn’t surprise me at all. Kyrie is a very confident kid,” Drew said. “He feels he can score on anybody. We feel he can score on anybody, he has shown that.”
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.