- Joined
- Aug 20, 2005
- Messages
- 36,828
- Reaction score
- 94,245
- Points
- 148
Garland definitely lacks strength right now, but I think his defense looks pretty solid. Whether Sexton has improved a lot this year remains to be seen, but I think Garland is much further along than Sexton was last year
Also in general the defense looks a lot better.
It's early, but I think the two most important traits in the NBA today is reliably hitting the open three and length/quickness to challenge the opponent's open three. Critics are not wrong in questioning how far a team can go with 8'1 and 8'25 standing reaches in the same back court. My concern with Sexton was always that he is a nice building block, but the team is committing to a defense that doesn't switch and relies on him always defending the point guard. Now they have two guys who have the same defensive liability.
With those skills, dribble penetration and playmaking has always been important. Sexton had always shown a great ceiling in scoring off penetration and his playmaking is progressing. Garland has the tools, however I wonder how well he will do when he gets bodies up by somebody stronger and just as quick. Offensively, they mesh... it's the defense against the three I wonder about.
However, this is the early stage of the rebuild. We don't know what the team will look like in four years. Maybe one guy established himself as the true point and the other established himself as a scoring 6th man, and they can overlap for stretches despite the defensive liability. It's just too early to know.