BimboColesHair
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This may exactly be what it is. Darius Garland is running the team. He’s making the right play at the right time and everyone is engaged cause they even believe he’s gonna make the right play….
Again for me it’s the Steve Nash/Barbosa effect (mid 2000’s) and I understand that’s not the best example…
Each guy on any given night can give you 21 points and 8-10 ast — but it’s how and when they did it and the confidence you had in each…
Barbosa could fill in for Nash and some nights drop 27pts and 10ast but his ability to come off the bench and give you 14th and 4ast was for greater spelling Nash or sometimes playing along side him…
This is clearly Garland’s team in every aspect and the players expect him to make the right play for either himself or them— whereas with Sexton I feel they’re watching him, expecting him to create for himself first and then perhaps get them involved…
It may very well be an unfair critique criticism of Sexton, but that’s the vibe I get when watching his style of play/leadership….
For me it's also hard to judge because Sexton played with absolute trash in his 3 seasons with the ball in his hands and Garland has a legit good team around him this season. Both him and Garland put up similar passing tracking stats last year to each other, Garland had more raw stat output and conversions on his passes which suggests he is passing more in the flow of the offense then sporadically to his teammates, but I'm not sure I agree with that. But you are right, they both are 2 different passers who set things up differently to guys in different spots.
The one thing Sexton does better than anyone still on the roster, including Garland, is the drive and kick game. He has been and was hunting as many of those chances as he could up until he got hurt this season, especially in transition when he pushed the rock. When you hunt drive and kicks on the worst 3 point shooting team over the course of your 3 years as a pro you aren't going to get a lot of raw assists. He relies on penetration, collapsing defenses and then kicking out or dumping off to teammates to get a majority of his assists and thrive as a playmaker for others. So his assists come from him doing most of the work to either a stationary shooter or a big who flashes to an opening in the paint.
Garland on the other hand is a maestro with anyone moving towards the basket. Pick and roll game, hitting cutters, give and go's, in transition with guys filling the lane heading downhill, etc. He is on another level in those play types. Just a feel for the game on those passes with both him and the recipient on the move that not many guys can do efficiently and game in/game out. His assists come with all parts moving and to a number of different levels and spots.
Big reason I still like the fit of Sexton on the roster, not necessarily as a starter next to Garland, is because he thrives at the things that the team currently lacks. This team is going to get hammered with every look in the book defensively for years to come because of Garland and the skillset of Mobley giving you 2 playmaking threats at both levels with a high level feel for the game. You need a guy who can break that by himself or get into the paint and collapse those looks to set guys up when defenses design to take those looks away. You need shooting. You need efficient scoring. We've seen this team deal with a number of stretches where it is easy to see, even with Garland playing, where Sexton would have helped immensely.
Now, the big thing the Cavs FO and coaching staff has to figure out by this summer (outside of the $ and years aspect) is if a potential return of Sexton to the floor with this group would send Garland back into the passive guy we saw his first 2 seasons and the first 11 games of this season. If they have an inkling or feeling that that will happen, move Sexton. If they believe this Garland who looks for his shot, is aggressive looking to get to his spots to score, runs the offense at an expert level, etc. is here to stay regardless of personnel...well, that is something we never got to see with Sexton and it at least intrigues me in how difficult that pairing could be, in stretches, to guard.