As stated by Kyrie Irving, he had a conversation with James Harden a few days ago, where they established that James Harden is the point guard of the Nets, and Kyrie will play shooting guard. To some, I think this may have come as a surprise. I mean, Kyrie has played point guard his entire life, and Harden, even though he was always the primary ball handler, has traditionally played shooting guard for his whole career. However, from watching these two, along with Kevin Durant, looking to develop chemistry on the fly, it doesn’t really come as a surprise to many.
For Kyrie’s entire career, he hasn’t exactly been a “true” point guard. He’s averaged 5.7 assists for his career, which isn’t anything to scoff at, but far from the career averages of more traditional point guards like Chris Paul, John Stockton, Russell Westbrook, and others. For James Harden, he really has been the whole package. On top of being an elite, three-level scorer, ever since he’s been in Houston, and now Brooklyn, he’s averaged basically more than 6 assists per game. Even watching the games this year, Harden is the main ball handler, with Durant and Irving playing off-ball, coming off screens, and getting good looks from pin-downs.
The biggest surprise in my eyes over the past few days for the Nets is that against the Golden State Warriors, Kevin Durant played Center. On paper, it makes sense. He’s a legit 7 footer, he’s got a long wing-span, and he has the ability to use his length to defend at a high level, if he wants to, that is. This is, to my knowledge, the first time he has ever played the Center position. He finished that game with 20 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds. Not too shabby. With the depleted roster after the James Harden trade, the only real Center the Nets have is Deandre Jordan, so it was only a matter of time until we saw KD at the 5.
With the new “found” roles, and the ability for KD to shift down to the 5, I think that the Nets have a good thing going. A great passer in Harden, a score-first player in Kyrie, a knock-down shooter in Joe Harris, a good three-point shooter and defender in Jeff Green, and the ever versatile offensive and defensive player in Kevin Durant. The biggest issue for this team has been, and unless they have a shift in focus, always will be playing defense. Can they lock in, especially during the playoffs, and not win games 154-148? The old saying is “defense wins championships,” and I know a counter-argument is if you put more points on the board, you win, but it is just so hard to watch the Nets play defense sometimes. A lot of their games have been in the 120 range, and they have still lost to the Cavs, the Wizards, and the Raptors. Teams need to lock in and play half-court basketball if they want to win in the playoffs. It has been this way since the beginning of time, and I don’t see that changing this year.
Round The Game 
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