Everyone knows that the Dallas Mavericks are a great team, but how good are they from the perspective of another athlete? On a recent episode of The Draymond Green Show, the Warriors veteran talked about the Mavs. Draymond Green stated that they are a very tough team to guard because they have Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
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Both athletes are elite scorers and two of the best offensive players to ever play the game. However, Green believes that it’s much more difficult to guard Kyrie as compared to his 25-year-old teammate.
Green said that a majority of the opponents’ firepower goes into trying to handle Kyrie and Luka at once. But there’s a chink in the armor of the Mavs’ attacking duo and the Warriors veteran thinks it’s Doncic.
He said, “As crazy as it sounds, BD [Baron Davis], Luka probably has more offensive deficiency than Kyrie. And that’s crazy to say because Luka is one of the most skilled, one of the best players we have ever seen.”
The key difference between the two Mavericks is that Luka isn’t nearly as good as Kyrie in catch-and-shoot.
Although he has every other ammunition in his arsenal, Luka isn’t as complete a player as the 32-year-old. Green stated that there is no spot on the floor where a guard can be comfortable when going against Kyrie.
The eight-time All-Star doesn’t have any weakness in his game on the offensive end. Opponents have to get to the spot as quickly as possible while guarding Kyrie because, within seconds, he will be on an unstoppable drive to the basket.
Kyrie Irving is an elite offensive player
Kyrie is one of the few athletes who can not be boxed into one category offensively. While his defensive prowess is questionable, offensively, he is one of the most dangerous players to ever play the game. His efficiency is what puts him in a league of his own.
Kyrie has been part of the celebrated 50-40-90 club, he is one of the nine players who have been able to achieve this feat. The 50-40-90 club boasts some of the greatest shooters in the NBA’s history. The numbers signify 50% shooting from the field, 40% shooting from the three-point line, and 90% shooting from the free-throw line.
It just shows the extent of things a defense has to deal with when Irving comes down the floor with the ball.
