Collin Sexton turned in a rookie season for the ages last year. With a new coaching staff and an offseason of work, where does the Young Bull go from here?
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Joy of Sex pun here. LOL. Fave part is when Sexton says he wants to get his FT% up and Gabriele says, "You know you lead all rookies, right?" Sexton wants to shoot 90%. He's not going to be satisfied being a good player. Garland is going to push him and Sexton is going to push back. (in a good way)
irst and foremost, Cavs sophomore guard Collin Sexton is just a good kid.
If you’re reading this, you’ve seen him play. And we’ll get to his impressive stats in a moment. But it’s worth noting that at the heart of it, Sexton is a quality person who also happens to be one of most dynamic young guards in basketball.
The Mableton, Georgia native has all the qualities Midwesterners admire: tough, hard-working, humble, determined. He doesn’t miss practices or games. And many members of the Cavaliers family will always remember Collin and his family’s graciousness after tragic passing of Fred McLeod.
After being tabbed with the 8th overall pick in the 2018 Draft, Sexton posted a rookie season for the ages – topping team records and finding himself in the same sentence as legends like Larry Bird and Steph Curry.
Last season, Sexton topped his rookie class in free throw percentage (.839), was 2nd in three-point field goal percentage (.402), minutes per game (31.8), 3rd in points per game (16.7), 4th in field goal percentage (.430) and 5th in assists per game (3.0).
No incoming freshman posted more double-digit scoring performances than Sexton – leading his class with 73 and tying LeBron James’ total back in 2003-04. (Ron Harper still holds the franchise mark at 80.) Sexton’s 1,371 total points this season only trail Harper and James and the 10th-most by any NBA rookie since 2009-10.
With the knock on him coming out of Alabama being his outside shooting, all Sexton did was set the Cavaliers rookie mark for three-pointers in a season, knocking down 119 triples – 46 more than the previous record-holder, Kyrie Irving, in 2011-12. With that, Sexton became just the third rookie in NBA history to average at least 16.0 points while shooting at least 40 percent from beyond the arc and 80 percent from the stripe – joining Bird and Curry.
But all that is in the past right now, and the Young Bull is ready for his encore. He moves on to his third head coach, one that wants to pair him in the backcourt with this year’s top pick, Darius Garland.
While the Wine & Gold gear up for their first preseason contest just a few days from now, Sexton sat down to talk about his prolific first season, his thoughts on Coach Beilein and the advice he has for this year’s crop of young draftees …
Sexton turned in a rookie season that had him listed in the same sentence as legends like Larry Bird and Stephen Curry.
Photo: Alex Nahorniak-Svenski/NBAE/Getty Images
At what point last season did the light bulb switch on for you?
Collin Sexton: I feel like when January hit, I understood the game just a little bit more. I knew what I could and couldn't do.
And then once the All-Star break hit, I had
another chip on my shoulder and then I just started doing a lot better. So, I think that it came together.
For all your big numbers, one that gets lost is the fact that you were the first rookie in almost 20 years to play all 82 games. What was the secret to your durability?
Sexton: Just taking care of my body, doing the little things. Making sure that I'm eating the right things also, so I can put out good energy each and every day and just be my best on the court.
When I was a Alabama, Coach Avery (Johnson) was really big on treatment. And then Clarke (Holter), he was one of the trainers at Alabama -- and he's still is there, he wanted me there for treatment in the morning
and at night. So I've been on that same routine since the summer of my freshman year and I feel like that's the best way -- every day.
A lot of rookies come into the league with bad eating habits – snacks, fast food, etc. Was it tough to streamline into a healthy diet?
Sexton: It's not too tough because I know how my body will perform when I'm eating the right foods, getting the right amount of sleep and just taking care of myself the way a pro should do it.
Not being named to the Rising Stars Challenge at last year’s All-Star Break gave you that chip on your shoulder afterward. Did not making All-Rookie First Team motivate you as well?
Sexton: Yeah, heading into this season that was another chip on my shoulder -- especially going into (this past) summer.
I wanted there to be
no doubt that I can play. And so I'm just continuing to get better each and every day so I can prove what I can do.
If Coach Beilein decides to start both you and Darius Garland in the backcourt, how do you see it materializing?
Sexton: We're gonna be good together. We're gonna be able to feed off each other, and it doesn’t really matter which one of us is on the ball because Coach wants to play a two-guard offense and he likes getting up and down.
So I feel like it's gonna be really good.
Initial thoughts on Coach Beilein?
Sexton: Well, he's been here at the Cavs facility (over the summer) so I've been able to talk to him and hear him out a little bit, hear what his plans are and where he thinks the team will go.
I like him. He has a college feel to him -- he's disciplined, and he likes everything done the right way. He's
very big on details.
"I have a lot of expectations for the team as well as myself – and I feel like we're going to be pretty good this year."
Collin Sexton on his first impressions of the 2019-20 Cavaliers
What’s different about you this year? What was your focus in the offseason?
Sexton: I feel like I did pretty good last year, but I know there's some things that I need to improve on. But I also felt like I did that throughout the season, from the start to the end. From then to now, I feel like I've done a 360-degree change.
I feel a lot more comfortable with different situational stuff, a lot more comfortable with where my teammates want the ball. Things like that.
And this summer, I changed my body. I watched a lot of film. I pretty much took care of my body and got the proper rest.
So, I’ve added some different pull-ups, a lot of threes. And just little things that I feel like I need to improve on -- making sure I knock free throws down and just try to shoot a better percentage than last year. So, little things like that.
You do realize you were at the top of your rookie class in free throw shooting …
Sexton: Yeah, but I want to get up around 90 percent. That's my goal. I want to shoot at least somewhere around there.
Thoughts on the team overall this season?
Sexton: I can't wait! I can't wait for the season!
I have a lot of expectations for the team as well as myself – and I feel like we're going to be pretty good this year.
We just have to make sure everybody stays healthy throughout the season, just because that was the biggest thing last year. We couldn't keep guys healthy.
If we can stay healthy, I feel like we'll be good.
You’re still only 20, but you’ve been through an NBA season. What advice do you have for the young rooks that are just breaking in this year?
Sexton: There's going to be a lot of ups and downs; you just gotta make sure that each and every day you come in ready to work and come in with a positive attitude.
And then also, when you're at the arena, make sure you speak to everyone, just because you might uplift their day as well as they might uplift yours. You just gotta be courteous and be kind to everybody you come in contact with – just because you never know what that little 'Hello, how's your day going?' will mean to them.
You just never know.
