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Darius Kinnard Garland

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What is Darius Garland's Ceiling?

  • One Time All-Star

    Votes: 14 8.9%
  • Occasional All-Star

    Votes: 16 10.2%
  • 5-6 Time All-Star

    Votes: 31 19.7%
  • Perennial All-Star

    Votes: 40 25.5%
  • An All-NBA Team or Two

    Votes: 23 14.6%
  • Perennial All-NBA Teamer

    Votes: 20 12.7%
  • Occasional MVP Candidate

    Votes: 11 7.0%
  • Perennial MVP Candidate

    Votes: 2 1.3%
  • MVP, Baby!

    Votes: 10 6.4%
  • Being Jim Chones

    Votes: 12 7.6%

  • Total voters
    157
Garland’s rookie year was very similar to D’angelo Russell in his rookie season.

Garland: 12.3 pts, 3.9ast, 40.1% FG, 35.5% 3pt, 2.6 T/O
Russell: 13.2 pts, 3.3ast, 41% FG, 35.1% 3pt, 2.5 T/O

I’m not saying Garland can be like Russell but there is potential out there. I’m personally excited for him and this team.
 
What they're saying about Garland....

[Darius Garland] is looking like a very dynamic point guard,” a Cavs assistant told cleveland.com. “He seems to have a lot of confidence right now. His future looks great.”

I can’t say enough positive things about Darius and how high my expectations are for him next season and the growth I think everybody will see because of the work he has put in….And then for him growing into that position, which I think he’s capable of, which the great point guards do. I think he’s got an opportunity to be one of those.- JB Bickerstaff

The speed is there, the shiftiness is there, the ability to finish in traffic, make shots, make the right plays. There’s a different Darius Garland in the building right now…There’s been a commitment on his end and physically he looks different. There’s a doggedness to him when you watch him defend. He’s there to prove a point. - Larry Nance Jr

Seeing K.P. (Kevin Porter Jr.) grow, seeing Darius [Garland] grow and seeing what we have here that’s exploding in a year like this, it gives me a lot of confidence. It should give a lot of people around here confidence that we are doing the right things and building this the right way. - Larry Nance, Jr


Exploding? Interesting choice of words. Nance is Garland's biggest fan...

When we did the minibubble, he was pretty far and away the best player there -- dominated the gym at times. He was awesome. He’s been healthy, he’s been shifty, he’s been shooting the heck out of it. If I had to pick one, that’s who my eye is on -- Darius Garland. - Larry Nance Jr
 
If he can develop some shooting gravity almost everything else will fall into place. Needs to take every open shot, and knock them down at a good clip
 
If you can find me a tall PG then I'm down. Sexton is too short to defend most 2s in the league now. He is a 1 on defense and 2 on offense. You need someone like Haliburton or Lonzo next to him.
Not convinced of this with his length. There's more to it than just someone's height. Length, agility, and reach on the hop are all major factors. His wingspan is about what Klay Thompson's is, despite being about 4 inches shorter. I think he will be able to cover 2s better than you think. Will be interesting to see his progress this year.
 
Not convinced of this with his length. There's more to it than just someone's height. Length, agility, and reach on the hop are all major factors. His wingspan is about what Klay Thompson's is, despite being about 4 inches shorter. I think he will be able to cover 2s better than you think. Will be interesting to see his progress this year.

I hope you are right. I guess height never stopped Avery Bradley or Tony Allen being elite defensive wings.

Of course if Colin can become average, I think we are set. I just have a hard time seeing him and Garland out there vs the super tall lineups like Dallas (all 6'6"+)
 
I hope you are right. I guess height never stopped Avery Bradley or Tony Allen being elite defensive wings.

Of course if Colin can become average, I think we are set. I just have a hard time seeing him and Garland out there vs the super tall lineups like Dallas (all 6'6"+)

It did in Bradley's case. His defensive metrics never matched his overall perception. From what I remember, players FG% when guarded by Bradley were actually higher than average. Players could shoot over him, and he did not generate as many steals as you would have hoped considering he was such a pesky on ball defender.

Tony Allen besides being much better as a defender overall, had a 4 inch advantage in standing reach and 2 inch in wingspan. He was indeed a really elite defender.

I think Sexton's problem is his defensive IQ above all, and he doesn't really have quick hands or anticipation.
 
Yikes m, I remember a couple years ago Lue was starting Rodney Hood who was playing like straight garbage. A reported asked him why Hood was starting, Lue stuttered giving an answer and next game took Hood off the bench :D

Anybody have any connections in themedia that can ask JBB the same question about Garland?
 
Right now the confidence he had in the bubble camp is not showing up. Four pre season games don’t make a season, but it was not a continuation of his off season. Hopefully he can turn the corner but Sexton and Garland together never seemed like a viable option long term. Again maybe they develop amazing chemistry on the offense end that makes up for the huge defensive disadvantage but that seems like a pipe dream right now. Don’t love any small lineup where Sexland is the backcourt and Cedi is the SF and Okoro moves all the down to the 4. No matter who plays the 5 that lineup is going to be horrid on the defensive end. If forces your best defender Okoro to guard a big, which takes away his strength of guarding a wing.

Pick Sexton or Garland, then go with Porter or Cedi and then Okoro at the 3. Assuming Porter can get it together.
 
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Right now the confidence he had in the bubble camp is not showing up. Four pre season games don’t make a season, but it was not a continuation of his off season. Hopefully he can turn the corner but Sexton and Garland together never seemed like a viable option long term. Again maybe they develop amazing chemistry on the offense that makes up for the huge defensive disadvantage but that seems like a pipe dream right now. Don’t love any small lineup where Sexland is the backcourt and Cedi is the SF and Okoro moves all the down to the 4. No matter who plays the 5 that lineup is going to be horrid on the defensive end. If forces your best defender Okoro to guard a big, which takes away his strength of guarding a wing.

Pick Sexton or Garland, then go with Porter or Cedi and then Okoro at the 3. Assuming Porter can get it together.

How idiotic is that to draft a defensive minded player that you wish that he would change your defensive identity and then just mix him in with two defensive undersized sieves at the 1-2 and a small ball, poor rebounding 4? Like seriously.. we might as well not have drafted him.

Like I said, the Cavs need to make a decision now and find the direction they want to go with. Okoro at the 2 is the way to go. Between Garland and Sexton and who comes off the bench I can care less about. Just make up your damn mind, and make sure they both play fairly well and achieve considerable value -- we will need to make a decision at draft night.
 
If I were JBB I would just commit to this and give it half a season:

Porter at the 1 with Garland as the backup

Sexton at the 2 with Exum and Dotson competing for backup minutes

Cedi at the 3 (he's earned it) with Okoro as the backup. Windler is still a WIP.

Love at the 4 with Nance as the backup. But they also need to keep using the Drummond/Love/Nance front line to see if it's as good as it looked last year.

Drummond at the 5 with McGee as the backup.

So when the second unit comes in you have Garland paired with Exum or Dotson at guard, Okoro and Nance at forward, and McGee at center. That's a pretty decent defensive group around Garland and you break up the Garland/Sexton pairing.

Another possibility would have Okoro starting so you don't have five shooters in the starting lineup and you would add Cedi's 3-point shooting to the second unit, which needs more offense.
 
Porter won't start for a while I'd assume, it'll either be sexton pg with Cedi and Okoro... or Garland pg with Sexton or Exum pg with Sexton
 
Garland has not earned a starting job and I can only imagine how deflating it must be for the rest of the team to see the gig just handed to him as the negatives clearly outnumber the positives with him in the starting lineup at this juncture.
Unfortunately the Cavs might not have a ton of options though. Clearly the Sexton-Garland backcourt does not work. Sexton has earned a starting spot based on his production last season. Exum and Delly would both work as a starting PG next to Sexton but neither can stay healthy at this point. KPJ is a tantalizing talent but his off court demons are clearly a huge problem.
 
If I were JBB I would just commit to this and give it half a season:

Porter at the 1 with Garland as the backup

Sexton at the 2 with Exum and Dotson competing for backup minutes

Cedi at the 3 (he's earned it) with Okoro as the backup. Windler is still a WIP.

Love at the 4 with Nance as the backup. But they also need to keep using the Drummond/Love/Nance front line to see if it's as good as it looked last year.

Drummond at the 5 with McGee as the backup.

So when the second unit comes in you have Garland paired with Exum or Dotson at guard, Okoro and Nance at forward, and McGee at center. That's a pretty decent defensive group around Garland and you break up the Garland/Sexton pairing.

Another possibility would have Okoro starting so you don't have five shooters in the starting lineup and you would add Cedi's 3-point shooting to the second unit, which needs more offense.

What I would do is just name Sexton, Love, and Drummond starters then say the other 2 spots will be a decision on matchup and who is playing best. It gives JBB the ability to work on lineups and it makes the other guys work to get into the starting lineup. Okoro probably ends up solidifying his spot at some point during the season. It also gives Sexton the opportunity to run the point and work on that part of his game.
 
Personally would not like him starting... Right now he is like a young Sebastian Telfair, all hype but hasn't backed it up on the court yet... Needs to earn it if he ever is going to start... Count me in on the Sexton-Garland duo not gonna work group, they need to choose one... As it is now, I'll prefer Sexton as the Cavs are trying to build a blue collar, grit and grind team...
 

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