Collin Sexton | The Young Bull

DirtyDan said:

I don't really get the comparisons to Clarkson. Clarkson is an average three point shooter at best, while Collin is shooting 42% behind the arc right now. Sexton picks his spots and takes much more efficient shots than Clarkson. Sexton is also a terror in transition and his speed is elite. Giving the ball to Sexton in transition is consistently a positive play.

Clarkson is a career journeyman, that's only a above average scorer. And he derails the offense to get his numbers

Click to expand...

Clarkson is on the floor with the second unit and he often plays with guys who can't create their own shot; Delly and Nance to be specific.

From a Chris Fedor column...

"After averaging a career-best 16.8 points last season, the best mark of any Eastern Conference reserve, Clarkson wanted to physically return in the same form, believing that was the best shape of his career. He tried to duplicate that off-season regimen. He focused on his diet once again, wanting to come in around 190 pounds with about five percent body fat. He made frequent visits to the weight room, a place that used to be unfamiliar to him early in his career.

He also worked on enhancing his away-from-the ball game -- cuts, scoring off cuts, reads off cuts and shooting off cuts -- as well as improving his off-the-dribble and catch-and-shoot 3s."

Clarkson's numbers are up across the board; pts/min, assists/min, true shooting percentage, PER (35% above league average). His turnover rate is down for the third year in a row. His free throw percentage is 94% - 13% above his career average. His steals and blocks are up over last season. His assist percentage is second highest on the team. His turnover percentage is second lowest to Thompson, who doesn't pass or dribble much, and ranks in the 89th percentile for the league.


As for "derailing the offense", the Cavs score 1.8 fewer points per 100 possessions when Clarkson is on the floor, which is not bad considering the top scorers Love and Sexton are usually on the bench in place of Nance and Delly when Clarkson is in the game.

Sexton is shooting great from downtown at 42% while Clarkson is at 29%, down about 3% from last year. He's not really a 3-point shooter - he's more of a penetrator. I don't know if I'd refer to him as a "journeyman". He was second in the league in bench scoring last year. If we didn't have him the second unit would be hard pressed to score.

benchplayer said:

Didn't want to play in Cleveland but now he's stuck in Oklahoma lol

Click to expand...

Life comes at you fast.

As @Cavatt pointed out in his reply -- the danger in wanting to go to a certain team is that before too long, the certain team may not want you to be there.

I think one of the underrated parts of Sextons game is his work ethic and the effect it will have on other players. From an example standpoint, can you ask much more from a 20 year old second year player. You hope it rubs off on the other young guys and leads to a culture of holding each other accountable for their play and the work they put in. I really think the culture the team is building is going to pay huge dividends down the road.

Sexton has displayed, most importantly, much improved defensive fundamentals. He's actually contesting shots, getting in guys space, being physical on man to man D. Still has a lot of work to do on pick&roll defense but if he uses his speed and motor to disrupt the play he will see a lot more success.

His numbers were so bad last year there wasn't a lot of hope for long-term defensive ability, but I think last year may have been somewhat of an aberration. The roster, the scheme, coaching staff, etc was just a pure unmitigated disaster that was never going to help young guys come along properly.

I have more hope now that he can actually become an effective defender.

Since we are talking about Colin's work ethic, I think that is the common thread between Clarkson and Sexton. They both work hard at getting better.. Colin is more talented IMHO, and I think will wind up the stronger player. But Clarkson has improved every year since he came into the league..

InBoobieWeTrust said:

Sexton has displayed, most importantly, much improved defensive fundamentals. He's actually contesting shots, getting in guys space, being physical on man to man D. Still has a lot of work to do on pick&roll defense but if he uses his speed and motor to disrupt the play he will see a lot more success.

His numbers were so bad last year there wasn't a lot of hope for long-term defensive ability, but I think last year may have been somewhat of an aberration. The roster, the scheme, coaching staff, etc was just a pure unmitigated disaster that was never going to help young guys come along properly.

I have more hope now that he can actually become an effective defender.

Click to expand...

I love that he is blowing up plays just racing in front of guys. Fronting guys like Beal so they don't get the ball. I dunno if he learned that from Delly, but that was what Delly did in that Washington game where he first got on the radar playing with Dion.

It shows you what just hounding a guy and not letting him drive past you will do. Being smaller isn't as big deal if you can stay in front of your man, and get a hand up.

The defensive thing I have seen him do this year that I don't like is that he will abandon his man any time Tristan shows on Collin's guy. He needs to let the big recover or cover Tristan's man in that instance.

CleveRocks said:

Since we are talking about Colin's work ethic, I think that is the common thread between Clarkson and Sexton. They both work hard at getting better.. Colin is more talented IMHO, and I think will wind up the stronger player. But Clarkson has improved every year since he came into the league..

Click to expand...

Clarkson is getting a bit of a bad rap. He is taking good threes which he should and he is passing the ball more. I think there is just a lack of chemistry in the 2nd unit and Nance is your best spacer. They can just pack the paint on these guys.

Windler is a dude who barely handles the ball unless he has a direct line to the bucket. He is a swing swing shoot guy and he would slot into that group perfectly and help their spacing big time all by himself.

Cavatt said:

Clarkson is getting a bit of a bad rap. He is taking good threes which he should and he is passing the ball more. I think there is just a lack of chemistry in the 2nd unit and Nance is your best spacer. They can just pack the paint on these guys.

Windler is a dude who barely handles the ball unless he has a direct line to the bucket. He is a swing swing shoot guy and he would slot into that group perfectly and help their spacing big time all by himself.

Click to expand...

Yeah I am looking forward to seeing Windler on the floor.. but my expectation is that he will take a dozen games to get acclimated to NBA athletes.. but you are right, if he can rain 3's ala Korver, it will help that second unit..

Athaloc said:

Cleveland Cavaliers’ John Beilein, J.B. Bickerstaff made subtle adjustments to help Collin Sexton improve

He has made two subtle adjustments that have helped Sexton’s continued evolution.

www.cleveland.com

Click to expand...

It's crazy how fast Collin incorporates that advice into his game. Who doubts he finishes stronger than he started?

Sexton still has 2 major flaws. He still can't get steals and doesn't get many assists. His assists are down and so are steals. Hopefully in another year or two he can be a 20 PPG, 4 APG, 1+ SPG player who plays solid enough defense on the other teams top guard. He has the potential to be a very nice scoring guard but he still needs to facilitate some if hes going to start. Also needs to create some turnovers. Hes even worse at getting steals then he is at passing.

NMCav said:

Sexton still has 2 major flaws. He still can't get steals and doesn't get many assists. His assists are down and so are steals. Hopefully in another year or two he can be a 20 PPG, 4 APG, 1+ SPG player who plays solid enough defense on the other teams top guard. He has the potential to be a very nice scoring guard but he still needs to facilitate some if hes going to start. Also needs to create some turnovers. Hes even worse at getting steals then he is at passing.

Click to expand...

Feels like he has had several steals the last 2 games

Athaloc said:

Cleveland Cavaliers’ John Beilein, J.B. Bickerstaff made subtle adjustments to help Collin Sexton improve

He has made two subtle adjustments that have helped Sexton’s continued evolution.

www.cleveland.com

Click to expand...

Interesting article. So glad to have this coaching staff develop players like Sexton.

Cavatt said:

Feels like he has had several steals the last 2 games

Click to expand...

Still at .5 on the young season and averaged .6 last year. Also needs to be a better rebounder if he's playing SG. 18 3 2 with .5 steals ain't it. Scoring is there and not going away. But if he wants to be a legit starting SG down the line 20+ PPG 5 RPG 3 to 4 APG with 1+ SPG will be mandatory. If not his best role will be a microwave bench scorer ala Lou Williams. Although that's not a bad thing. I don't doubt his drive but I wonder if he can eventually be productive enough outside of scoring to be an effective starter on a lefit team.

Six guards put up those numbers in last five seasons (min 50 games). Curry, Westbrook, Harden, Irving, Beal, Oladipo.