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- Oct 3, 2019
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I don't agree. He dribbles into the paint a lot and is doing a nice job of either hitting a runner in lane or lobbing to Allen. He's getting really good on the middle pick-and-roll with Allen, much of that due to Allen's ability to set an effective pick and then roll with agility to the hoop utilizing his 7'5" wingspan and good vertical jump to finish on the lob.His style of play just isn't what a starting PG needs to be in the modern NBA especially when paired with another smaller guard. He seems to like to move east/west on the court while probing to find the open man. This is something backup PGs or aging PGs tend to do when they lose their athleticism. This can be effective if you have alot of experience or it's used in short stints like a backup PG. For a young starting PG to use it just makes it easy to defend.
Garland doesn't put pressure on the defense or create action to the move defense to create hockey assists. He could use this probing if it was a smaller part of his game and he was willing to pair it with an effective step back 3. Right now teams can just sit back and get set in their defense. They don't have to worry about him blowing pass the defense in either the half court or full court.
LeBron used this style of play when Kyrie left to save energy and when we didn't have a PG but he had so many other things to pair with it. Delly and Calderon used it as back up PGs which was effective. George Hill on the Cavs is prime example of a starting PG using this style and it being ineffective. A big part of a PGs job in the NBA is to create action to move the defense to create open looks.
There are still times when he's indecisive and gets too deep where he can't get his shot off without being blocked. He also tends to drive baseline and end up leaving his feet trapped under the backboard with nobody to pass to. These are errors in judgment which will decline with more experience.
Garland and Allen are only going to get better at this, forcing teams to drop defenders into the paint which will open up passes by Garland to the corners for uncontested corner threes.