CLEVELAND -- Kyrie Irving seems stuck in basketball purgatory, caught between roles with little time left in the Cavaliers' season for him to pick his path.
Should he be Iso Kyrie, dominating the ball and trying to dazzle the Golden State Warriors with his spectacular moves? Or should he be General Kyrie, driving, dishing and creating open looks for his teammates?
For a 24-year-old, the choice could be stressful, the urgency daunting, especially with a championship at stake.
Irving raised his level of play to help the Cavs reach their second consecutive NBA Finals. But going into tonight's Game 3 against the Warriors in Quicken Loans Arena with the Cavs behind 2-0, Irving has once again become the guard who stops at the top of the key and dribbles, unsure of what to do.
Whichever version of himself Irving chooses for what LeBron James called a "do-or-die game," Irving must attack it with a vengeance. If not, the Cavs will have little chance of getting back into the series.
Irving said he tries not to think too much when switching from General Kyrie to Iso Kyrie.
"I have kind of a point forward that I play with, a great player like that that comes down and he can also be the general," Irving said of James. "Over the last year and a half, I've learned how to play in between with that as well as letting him do what he does."
But there is more for Irving to learn. He seemingly has the perfect coach for the situation in Tyronn Lue, who played point guard in the NBA for 11 seasons.
Lue said after practice Tuesday that he doesn't mind Iso Kyrie, with a caveat.
"[I'm] talking to Kyrie about attacking early on in the shot clock," Lue said. "Don't let the switching make him stagnant. He's one of the players we have that can go one-on-one, because they're switching one through five, but he has to make sharp, quick moves. He understands that.
"We need Kyrie to be aggressive. He's a scorer; he's a special player. He has the best handle in the NBA, so he's able to play iso basketball. But he's got to make quick decisions."
Lue was promoted to replace the fired David Blatt on Jan. 22, so he hasn't had much time to help Irving with such a major change in his game.
The issue wasn't as evident in the Cavs' march through the East. But the Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons weren't switching on pick-and-rolls as frequently as the Warriors. According to ESPN Stats and Information, those three teams did it 19 percent of the time as compared to the Warriors' 43 percent.
Perhaps because of that, Irving's ability to create for himself has become stagnant.
According to ESPN, Irving has made 8-of-9 field goals and 1-of-2 three-pointers when shooting off a pass in the Finals, as compared to 4 of 27 and 0 of 5 when there is no pass. Overall against the Warriors, he's made 12-of-36 shots, 1-for-7 beyond the arc.
Asked how he can improve, Irving said he must be aggressive.
"In Game 2, a few opportunities I didn't take advantage of, and kind of conceded to their defense pressuring me into getting downhill, but also seeing a lot of bodies," Irving said. "So just attacking early in transition as well as in the half court and just staying true to myself."
Facing that blur of bodies, Irving had only one assist in Game 2 and four in Game 1. He's also tasked with guarding two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry.
Probably no one can turn Irving into a point guard. The Cavs should have realized that when they drafted him first overall in 2011. Iso Kyrie looks like the best the Cavs can get at this point.
So Irving must stop stopping near the free-throw line, stop thinking so much. He must commit, attack with borderline reckless abandon and hope it allows him the freedom to be the version of himself he seeks.
Sports on 06/08/2016