Former NBA player Brian Scalabrine recently joined the Shan and RJ show on 105.3 The Fan [KRLD-FM] to share why he’s skeptical that the Kyrie Irving...
“I think in the league now, I think they could do better than they did last year. I think Luka needs guys like [Dorian] Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie, those types of guys. I do like what they’re doing, trying to get more size at the rim. There’s a way that they can improve their roster from last year, they kind of got caught thinking, ‘If we could just score more, we’ll be fine’ or ‘If Luka’s out, we’ll be fine.
“Kyrie wants the ball in his hands, Luka does as well. I’m not sure the rest of those guys are going to enjoy playing with those guys, but if you can get enough hard-nosed players around them, maybe they can defend at a much higher level. I’m not talking about just their total points per game, I’m talking about when they went to the Western Conference finals.
“‘It was amazing. They turned a corner when they were 18-21, they got their defense right.’ Yeah, but Dallas was second in the league that year in their defense and they were pretty amazing defensively. I just don’t see how a Kyrie-Luka combination without having size across the board is going to give you a top 5 defense in the league.”Scalabrine:
“Skill-wise and the lack of defensive stuff, and all the other stuff? No, I haven’t. To be honest with you, I was really fortunate. In my 11 years in the NBA, you can make a strong argument that eight of those years, I was on championship-level teams. Championship-level teams have such a different mindset. You had to be tough, you had to have a defensive mindset. I played with [Jason] Kidd and it’s amazingbecause he would hate Kyrie as a player if he was playing.
“Everyone seemed so offended when they saw “The Last Dance” and how Michael Jordan was hard on his teammates. I’m gonna tell you guys, winning is hard in the league and the margins are so small. I remember I did something wrong and Jason Kidd cut me with those eyes. He was like, ‘What are you doing?’ I never made that mistake again. It was so profound in my career, that it was as clear as day that you don’t do that. You just don’t. You don’t cut to the basket when he throws you the ball.
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