Call me impressed with Kyrie Irving.

Standing face to face with Cavaliers’ rookie point guard Kyrie Irving, he isn’t much taller than me and I’m straddling six-feet. But the term “pro body” aptly describes him as he’s broad across the shoulders with a very strong upper body.

Think about it, he only played a handful of games at Duke last year, getting hurt early and returning for the NCAA tournament. So seeing him work on his physique has to be commended–almost as much as his play on the pick and roll.

I didn’t see enough when he came out of Duke when hearing the comparisons to Chris Paul, who I believe is a once-in-a-generation point man. I think Paul is the closest thing to Isiah Thomas, which would be considered blasphemy in this town, so it shows how high a pedestal I put Paul on.

I’m starting to see Irving have that killer instinct. He welcomes contact while being able to get virtually any shot he wants, yet still keeps his teammates involved and engaged.

He’s averaging 18 and almost six assists now, but you have to wonder how much more he can improve with another draft pick to play alongside he and Tristan Thompson, a full training camp with coach Byron Scott and a regular NBA schedule.

I saw him single-handedly steal a few games for the Cavs this season, including one against the Pistons.

He did his darnedest to do it again Wednesday night, and who knows what would’ve happened if Brandon Knight doesn’t hit that right wing three with 3:05 left and the Pistons only up by 5.

Bottom line, I see him elevating himself to the upper echelon of point guards very, very soon. By “upper echelon”, I mean the likes of Paul, Deron Williams, Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo will be his only peers.