Collin Sexton | The Young Bull

[CavsFTW]

Huh? Craig Ehlo? The spot up shooter Craig Ehlo? Don’t get the comparison.

I was at the game last night, and as mentioned earlier, Zizic messed up what should have been 2 additional assist and he also was fouled one a very nice pic and roll pass. I’m not saying he doesn’t need to improve his court vision but looking at 1 assist doesn’t tell the story.

Not to mention with the dribble handoff sets, he’s put into a position where he’s turning the corner and scoring is his best option.

Those last 3 3ptrs were clutch. Two of them were because the defender when under the screen and he made them pay. The last was a pull-up due to him being given space because defenders have to respect his driving ability. Colin is slowly becoming an elite offensive weapon for this team. Let’s watch the games and not the box scores before y’all about his assist numbers.

The example was intended to underscore the fairly obvious difference between a guard who shares the ball (Ehlo) and one that functions as the team's primary play-maker (Price). With regard to your "spot up shooter" comment, Ehlo actually averaged 4.7 APG twice on the Cavs, so he was a bit more skillful than you described. To put that into perspective, had JR Smith averaged that with the Cavs, the Cavs four trips to the Finals may have yielded more than 1 title.

With regard to the "if so and so hadn't messed up, he'd have more assists" angle, this happens to every point guard in the league. Now, if there's evidence that this is happening to Sexton at a considerably higher rate than everyone else, then we should definitely take that into consideration.

 

[CavsFTW]

I’m not concerned with his passing the ball. He does pass it he is not a black hole like Clarkson. He does not stop ball movement. As we get better players around assists will go up. Maybe we didn’t get a Stockton type ph but it looks like we got a good damn player. He is 20. Nowhere near polishing his game. One other thing. Does the kid ever get tired ?

Fortunately, the Cavs' coaching staff is concerned:

https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2019...specific-area-during-seasons-final-weeks.html

"DALLAS -- Over the final 13 games of the season, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Larry Drew is focusing on one specific area when it comes to promising rookie Collin Sexton: His assist total.

To be more specific, the number of opportunities Sexton creates for his teammates.

“I see growth, but what I’m really looking for is the consistency of it,” Drew said prior to Saturday’s shootaround in Dallas. “Game after game after game where he’s continuing to make the right plays when he gets into that situation. That’s something that has to improve because that hasn’t happened on a consistent level yet."

 

[Dr. Claw]

I actually agree with CavsFTW for what it's worth. The best thing about what we are seeing is that Sexton can and will learn what it will take to succeed. And he has learned at least 2 things that make him deserving of being in the NBA and is utilizing those things. The coaching staff (and even some players, Channing Frye said in comments after the game that they're trying to get Collin to play with his head up).

But man, last night I thought would be an "honorable tank loss" but he actually went off in the 4th for the win. Him and Cedi really.

 

[Green Lantern]

I actually agree with CavsFTW for what it's worth. The best thing about what we are seeing is that Sexton can and will learn what it will take to succeed. And he has learned at least 2 things that make him deserving of being in the NBA and is utilizing those things. The coaching staff (and even some players, Channing Frye said in comments after the game that they're trying to get Collin to play with his head up).

But man, last night I thought would be an "honorable tank loss" but he actually went off in the 4th for the win. Him and Cedi really.

Yes he did go off..getting more comfortable with the NBA game.
Plus his stroke is getting smoother .
Now does it mean he's a future star?
No, but he is improving.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

As long as teams keep going under screens and Collin keeps shooting damn near 50% from three...fuck the assist.

(by the way why are teams still going under the screen against him...? Not that I care )

Collin is really good at using screens, and we've got some guys who set good ones. Same issue with Curry - you end up having to defend him with ball denial because GSW set such good (often moving) screens, and he is so good at using them.

 

[LeeBuckeye]

Once the talent level improves on this team, Sexton’s assist numbers will improve obviously but he’s got to generate even more opportunities by keeping his head up like Frye mentioned. The full court sprint hockey assist always leads to an open three which is the best part of his game outside of his scoring.

It’s also pretty clear we need his scoring output to stay in games, but maybe give him a game within a game by targeting a # of assist opportunities created before a shot is taken. Wish they had an iPad so they can playback plays in real time when he’s on the bench

However, I selfishly don’t care about his passing currently and want his scoring to get him noticed as First Team All-Rookie after having the weirdest rookie season ever by all accounts.

 

[Kouki]

I don't know how it's all done but on NBA stats you can look at "secondary assists" and "assist opportunities"

Below is filtered by guards under 6'4, I'm pooping whilst on my phone at work else I might look into this more and make some conclusions.

https://stats.nba.com/players/passi...Regular Season&PlayerPosition=G&Height=LT 6-4

 

[1B4IGO]

Comparing him to Mark Price isn’t very good Price had a great team around him. It’s not a coincidence that Sexton’s assists were down last night and Love was rested.

 

[CavsFaninNJ]

I always find a very loose connection between team talent level and assist total for any individual. Andre Miller racked up 10.9 assists on bad Cavs teams. Of course good talent does help but I just never see a direct correlation. It's not correlated to usage % either. Sexton is 54th in usage %, right around Jrue Holiday who averages 7.7 assists.

 

[Cavatt]

I don't know how it's all done but on NBA stats you can look at "secondary assists" and "assist opportunities"

Below is filtered by guards under 6'4, I'm pooping whilst on my phone at work else I might look into this more and make some conclusions.

https://stats.nba.com/players/passing/?sort=SECONDARY_AST&dir=1&Season=2018-19&SeasonType=Regular Season&PlayerPosition=G&Height=LT 6-4

He's breaking the defense and passing. Doesn't always lead to an assist, but it does lead to a wide open shot.

He will get better, but right now he is only getting 25% of his assist opportunities converted.

Anyway, the team as a whole is assisting well, so who cares? He is playing within the team and not taking other guys out of rhythm. He is playing lead guard and succeeding .

I for one am not surprised that Collin isn't 100% a finished product. He has vision, I wouldnt say elite. I would say though that if he keeps his head up, he will get more assists.

Teams have to cut off his drive to, which so far they have been incapable of without opening up his 3 ball. Once they adjust so will he. He passes out of the trap now

 

[daddywags]

I don't know how it's all done but on NBA stats you can look at "secondary assists" and "assist opportunities"

Below is filtered by guards under 6'4, I'm pooping whilst on my phone at work else I might look into this more and make some conclusions.

https://stats.nba.com/players/passing/?sort=SECONDARY_AST&dir=1&Season=2018-19&SeasonType=Regular Season&PlayerPosition=G&Height=LT 6-4

Um, after what you just said I'm not touching that link.

 

[daddywags]

Currently, I think Sexton's biggest issue is that he too often (i.e., more than once every couple games) puts his head down, runs into the paint, and has no idea what to do next when he can't shoot. He usually ends up having his shot blocked as happened at least twice last night. I believe that's part of what Frye is talking about when he says keep his head up. More assists will come or not but to me it's hard to improve that aspect this late in a season. Let him have a full summer of work, summer league (where, if they want, he can focus solely on setting up teammates) and a training camp with new players, coaches and systems. Then we can more accurately judge IMO.

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

I’m very surprised by sextons shooting. I didn’t think he’d be this good this soon.

The NBA space has been huge for his scoring ability. Things get so cluttered in NCAA hoops. Sexton is learning how to use his speed to create space on the floor. He's so fast that it's pick your poison. Play up on him, get blown by. Go under, he's making you pay from 25 feet. Only option is to send help...

 

[Kouki]

Um, after what you just said I'm not touching that link.

Not touching my phone I would understand, but poop germs should not be able to travel over the internet. Pretty sure.

 

[Kouki]

He's breaking the defense and passing. Doesn't always lead to an assist, but it does lead to a wide open shot.

He will get better, but right now he is only getting 25% of his assist opportunities converted.

Anyway, the team as a whole is assisting well, so who cares? He is playing within the team and not taking other guys out of rhythm. He is playing lead guard and succeeding .

I for one am not surprised that Collin isn't 100% a finished product. He has vision, I wouldnt say elite. I would say though that if he keeps his head up, he will get more assists.

Teams have to cut off his drive to, which so far they have been incapable of without opening up his 3 ball. Once they assist so will he. He passes out of the trap now

Exactly...there are cases where he gets stuck driving to the hole but a lot of times teams are going under the screen so he takes a 3 (preferred shot) or he's so quick to the lane that he has an open layup and doesn't need to pass.

And even then it's more likely that turns into a hockey assist.

Let's see how he responds to people going over the screen more often and he has to execute on the pick and roll.

Also not just his 3pt shooting in general but his pullup shooting has come a long way. Almost like you can divide the season into three parts...

Beginning - low volume catch and shoot
Middle - higher volume catch and shoot
Now - high volume combination off dribble and catch and shoot

I am again on the toilet at work (my only reprise some days) or I'd pull the splits...haha... splits...shits..ahem