Cleveland Cavaliers" Kyrie Irving shines bright in Rio Olympics: Bill Livingston (photos, video)
CLEVELAND, Ohio — South of the Equator, the stars are different in the sky. On the basketball court, though, they are not.
Gallant and gritty as the Australian team was in the men’s Olympic basketball tournament in Brazil on Wednesday night in opening round play, the Boomers couldn’t do anything more to stop Kyrie Irving than the Golden State Warriors, who make up much of the American Olympic men’s basketball team, managed in the NBA Finals.
On a team with Warriors Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, former Warrior turned Dallas Maverick Harrison Barnes (Barnes, really?), and new Golden State free agent acquisition Kevin Durant, Irving outshone them all in the only close game the Americans have played so far.
Long before Irving scored 12 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter on Wednesday, teaming with New York Knick Carmelo Anthony for 26 of the American’s 28 in the period in a hard fought 98-88 victory over the Aussies, Irving had already stepped out on the international stage in a big way.
The Worlds
Irving was the Most Valuable Player of the 2014 World Championships in Spain, but that was more a coronation than a competition. The USA won by an average of 33 points per game. Their closest game was a 23-point rout of Mexico in the quarterfinals.
Irving bounced the rubble as convincingly as anyone. The international field included several well-known Olympic players, as I pointed out in a column that ran the day before the seventh game of the NBA Finals.
In the seventh game at Golden State, Irving scored 26 points and sank a step-back 3-pointer out of an isolation set in the final minute against Steph Curry’s strong challenge to win the game.
The Aussies
The Australia-Team USA game Wednesday was different than the routs at the Worlds in Spain. The core of the starting lineup for the Aussies was well-known NBA names.
Our once very own Matthew Dellavedova, a Milwaukee Buck after he couldn’t get off the bench in the NBA Finals, was playing for his homeland.
Patty Mills, a guard who helped put mid-major St. Mary’s of California on the map, a rotation player with the San Antonio Spurs, joined Delly.
The third one was former Warriors center Andrew Bogut, now with Dallas, in a roster and salary dump to clear the way for the Durant signing. Bogut’s sprained knee in the fifth game let LeBron James not only “live in the paint,” as he said, but live a life of champagne wishes and caviar dreams in it.
None of the Aussies wanted to take selfies with the American players before the opening tip, as had earlier opponents. No one was in awe of the Yanks.
The Olympic platform
The Olympics are the greatest spectacle in sports. They are also peppered with sports in which an Olympic gold medal is not the top prize, such as tennis, the newly reintroduced golf, and men’s basketball.
Still, at worst the Olympics are a great “branding” opportunity for players to increase their global reputations and name recognition.
With James, Curry and Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook skipping the Olympics, and with Durant struggling through a 4 for 16, 14-point game, Irving and Anthony were the only reliable weapons against Australia
Scouring YouTube for clips of Irving’s hesitation dribble against Delly and far-fetched-for-anyone-else driving, left-handed layup high off the glass, I found mostly highlights of Anthony sinking similar looking 3-pointers over and over again.
This is not the layup I was looking for, but it will serve in lieu of another Anthony jumper.
Hybrid monster
The superb NBA analyst Doug Collins recalled the scouting report his son Chris, now the head coach at Northwestern, gave him when the younger Collins was recruiting Irving for Duke: “I think I just saw a combination of Isiah Thomas and Chris Paul.”
Collins thinks Irving’s embrace of the conditioning and nutrition program of James enabled him to reach a potential that was only fulfilled before in curiosities such as the 3-Point Contest and exhibitions such as the All-Star Game.
Irving’s 3-point range and the way he makes the best use of glass on layups since medieval cathedral windows make him an unstoppable threat. He also can pass when moved to. He had a team-high five assists against the Aussies.
Will to win
Irving also now seems to have something like Isiah’s incredible will to win. Resentment of the way injuries kept him out of most of the 2015 Finals, the example of James, getting fed up with the Warriors’ publicity — whatever drove Irving, it drove him to new heights.
If Irving stays healthy and sustains this level of play, the Cavs can win another championship or two before James is through.
Cleveland Cavaliers" Kyrie Irving shines bright in Rio Olympics: Bill Livingston (photos, video)
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