Kyrie Irving chooses rhythm over stats

One of new head coach Tyronn Lue's big focus points early on appears to be ball movement, and the Cavaliers have responded. In three games coaching, the Cavs have had games of 30+ assists twice. In one key stretch last night, the Cavs came up with steal after steal after steal to get out on the fast break and get easy baskets. Defense, pace, and ball movement are a pretty good recipe for success.

Before the game with the Suns, Lue had written the shooting percentages of Cavs players after a certain amount of passes. The more passes the Cavs made in a given possession, the higher the team's likelihood of making the shot. Kyrie Irving wasn't exactly a fan. From Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal:

"I guess that’s an important stat," Irving said. "When you have players like we do on this team, I mean, honestly, that doesn't take away my freedom or what I feel like coming over half court. I'm going to make the best decision for the team and myself, coming up and being aggressive. One pass, two passes, three passes, if we get no passes and someone hits a shot, then I mean I'm still cool with it. As long as it's in rhythm and I feel like it's a good shot, I have confidence, no matter how many passes. That's an interesting stat though."

Before the witch hunt begins on Irving, I think it'd be important to note that most NBA players would say something similar to this. Players take shots when they're comfortable. It just so happens that this tends to happen after good ball movement. Shots that work for Irving don't always work for other players. They don't always work for Irving, and he's been struggling a bit lately. For the season, the Cavs are scoring a blistering 111.7 points per 100 possessions when Kyrie Irving plays. It's been really good.

@DavidZavac Down to 105.8 over last 10, w/ a net of +0.5. LeBron at 110.7 over last 10 for a comp, Delly at 107.9/last 10.

— Michael Curry (@ViewFrom216) January 28, 2016

A little more intellectual curiosity would be nice from Irving. More made jump shots would help as well. Maybe one will lead to another.