You indeed said he needed to keep playing, and that he wasn't going to get any better.
Of course I did, because I didn't think the Cavs would be on the verge of sweeping them with Delly as the full-time PG with Irving only playing half a game.
You still didn't answer my question - would you go into this series not playing Kyrie AT ALL (ruling him out for every game, even if they were on the brink of being eliminated) or would you limit his minutes, depending on how much he could contribute?
You made very clear that the Cavs should NOT rest him for full games because he supposedly wouldn't be in rhythm then.
Yes because I thought they would need him in this series. I said his minutes needed to be restricted so that he could regain his rhythm when they needed his play in a pivotal game of this series.
Are you going to sit there and tell me you had the Cavs sweeping the Hawks with Kyrie playin half a game?
That has nothing whatsoever to do with the series being wrapped up or not:
"Tell me what difference a day or two of rest is gonna make that a week off hasn't already?
He's not gonna get more healthy in this playoff window - he's as healthy as he's gonna get."
"You know that he had a week off already? Tell me what difference a day or two of rest is gonna make that a week off hasn't already? He already said this is the best he's felt since the start of the Boston series."
"So obviously he feels good when he isn't playing a game, but when it comes to actually playing he re-aggravates it. He just needs his minutes restricted and hopefully he can readjust/play through the pain. Because it's certainly not gonna get better by just resting. He's just gonna run into the same problems once he takes the court."
How can you not see me alluding to a difference of another day or two isn't going to help, when I worked on the premise that they would need his contribution at some point in this series? This is where you're moving the goalposts, because if they were down in this series - he would be playing. I wanted his minutes to be restricted not only in this series, but against Chicago too. I anticipated (as most did), that they would need him when they got deeper in the playoffs - especially with Love being out.
Are you telling me that the Cavs would sweep the Hawks without Kyrie and Love prior to the playoffs starting? Are you telling me the best possible gameplan would be to rule out Irving completely from this series, no matter what - even if they were down 1-2, 2-3 or 0-3? Are you telling me Irving wouldn't play in this series if they were on on the brink of elimination?
So you deny saying, "there's no point in sitting him" or "he needs to be out there" or "he needs to play more minutes" or "no amount of rest is going to help him" or repeatedly denying that he should be rested even one or two games, regardless of the series circumstances?
I never said regardless of circumstance. I said he needs to be out there because I thought they'd need his play to get past the Hawks, in any contribution he could offer. I said more minutes, in the context of playing more minutes in the series - not playing 40+ minutes every game - but more minutes (in the sense of getting game time in each game, not just resting him completely) to regain his rhythm.
I said no amount of rest is going to help him because obviously one or two days extra wasn't going to make a difference as he already felt ready to play. We're now looking at the Hawks getting swept with minimal contribution from him, I never would've gameplanned for that (as I don't think nobody else would), that's why I said no amount of rest was going to help, not only because he felt "amazing" but because even if he took off another one or two days, the Cavs would still need him in this series.
No, I repeatedly said exactly that - that he was a liability driving or defending. And of course when I say he "could actually move", that's what I was referring to:
Yeah but for how long? When were they suppose to know if he could defend or be able to drive if they didn't play him? Like he said he can't simulate a game situation in preparation - so the only way they could see if he was ready was by actually playing him. This is why your stance is built on a shaky foundation, because you said he needed to 'rest until he could ACTUALLY move' - (he said he felt ready before the game) so for how long should he rest for? Were you just talking about just the game or the entire series? Because you can't tell me with the previous knowledge that he felt ready due to 'feeling' both his feet underneath him when he was shooting, prior to Game 1 - would you then completely rule him out of the ATL series.
You would limit his minutes would you not? Rather than taking him out altogether.
Willing to admit that you were wrong yet?
Like I said there's nothing to be wrong about. You've moved the goalposts from where they initally were, only because the Cavs no longer need him in this series. You wouldn't be rehashing this argument if the Cavs were down and Kyrie came back to provide what he could.