2023-24 Season | Game #70 | Cavs @ Timberwolves | March 22, 2024 | 8:00 p.m.

[2 For The Brew]

The excuses are mounting.

I once gave him the benefit of the doubt too. Ever occur to u that what we saw of him tonight is just who he is? (excluding the very poor shooting)

Tonight we were missing three starters plus Dean and going against a very good team in their gym that plays great defense. Darius also admitted he’s not yet 100% after the injury.

I would use the last healthy year he had as a better proxy when he was voted into the all star team at 22.

I think it’s dangerous to evaluate a player in an injury plagued season and especially when we’ve had a very heavy schedule since the all star break with a lot of players out.

Very easy to classify difficult obstacles as “excuses”. Fact is that Mitchell, Strus, Mobley and Wade is a lot to have out vs a team like Minnesota.

 

[bushwick_bill]

The excuses are mounting.

I once gave him the benefit of the doubt too. Ever occur to u that what we saw of him tonight is just who he is? (excluding the very poor shooting)

It has occurred to me he might not come back to his normal self this season on top of the fact as others on here have mentioned what is going on with this team in general. And again, to be a broken record, he was considered by some an All Star Snub only just last year, even though some cannot grasp that... He has made the most 3's since the All Star Break. I will go with most likely DG will be the player who he was at some point, yes...

Before the Jaw Fracture as well DG was putting up nice numbers, some may not not want to believe it though...

Garland had been finding a solid rhythm in the backcourt, cutting down his turnovers and attacking on drives to open up shots for his teammates. In six December games, he's averaging 24.5 points and 5.8 assists per contest with just 14 miscues committed.

In November for 13 games he was averaging 19.4 points and 6 assists as well... He most certainly is capable of this again. lol lol lol

 

[bushwick_bill]

Compare Garland to all players on designated rookie extensions.

See where you think he ranks on that list.

And I'll go ahead and save everyone the trouble: he's better than Ben Simmons and I'll still take him over LaMelo Ball.


Now go.

Compare Garland to all the players in the draft he was in...Do you also only appear in game threads when they lose?

 

[bushwick_bill]

How did he break his jaw? How would you describe that play? Something that just happened? Just an accident?

Garland broke his jaw on what looked like a run-of-the-mill play. While driving to the basket, Garland banged the right side of his face into Celtics center Kristin Porzingis and suffered a fracture that required surgery. Garland's jaw was wired shut for a month, restricting him to a liquid diet

 

[Futuredome]

Strus being injured exposed Okoro

 

[mAo_mAo]

How did he break his jaw? How would you describe that play? Something that just happened? Just an accident?

To me it was just one different example of Darius playing with his head up his ass, one of the more egregious instances. Horrible turnovers mostly from a lack of focus, over-dribbling causing the whole offense to stagnate, perimeter shot goes MIA. The offense has no flow with Garland running it and I believe that causes our perimeter shooting to suffer. Just when we start to get a little run going Garland always decides to slow walk it up the floor, dribble out on the perimeter, then we jack up a desperation shot with the shot clock running out. This happened repeatedly tonight and it really seems to come down to how Darius wants to play.

I'm sick of watching it. He's had one really decent game since the AS break and I hoped like hell that he was seeing the light. But no, he reverted back to his slow-down, over-dribbling, hero ball bullshit. It's gotten old.

I also noticed that we have implemented a more DHO offense this year and Darius seems uncomfortable in running and reading the defense after that initial hand off.

He is just more comfortable attacking screens off the bounce which in the current NBA has become one of the easiest plays to defend especially if the action is between a small guard and a rim running big.

 

[Jscc]

The excuses are mounting.

I once gave him the benefit of the doubt too. Ever occur to u that what we saw of him tonight is just who he is? (excluding the very poor shooting)

I don't think this is who he is. It just happens to be how he currently plays. You don't have two full seasons of 21+ ppg, 8+ apg, and shooting 40% from 3 while being the defense's focus for much of it and then play like this. His numbers aren't too far from last season's, including his turnovers, but it's his efficiency that has taken the hit. Probably a mixture of psychological and physical. He is a very moody/heart on his sleeve type and gets upset easily.

 

[mAo_mAo]

Strus being injured exposed Okoro

Well we did bring in Strus to pull Okoro to the bench.

 

[bushwick_bill]

So I'm gonna list all the players on this list who have signed for max extensions.

Edwards, Haliburton, Maxey, Morant, Bane.

Now, who here is Garland better than?

People are being clever with the age thing here. As if the investment in Garland as franchise cornerstone isn't part of this.

Idc if he's better than Cam Thomas, whom the Nets are never gonna turn into a guy expected to help lead them to glory.

Before this season or after the injury Rich, how are you spinning this one? Because how is Haliburton looking these days? He is the franchise cornerstone that has helped make this franchise formidable again, has he not?

 

[2 For The Brew]

So I'm gonna list all the players on this list who have signed for max extensions.

Edwards, Haliburton, Maxey, Morant, Bane.

Now, who here is Garland better than?

People are being clever with the age thing here. As if the investment in Garland as franchise cornerstone isn't part of this.

Idc if he's better than Cam Thomas, whom the Nets are never gonna turn into a guy expected to help lead them to glory.

Maxey is still on his rookie contract, although in fairness he will sign a max this offseason.

Regarding DG I don’t recall anyone objecting to his max deal at the time but I might have missed something.

He’s had two seasons with bad injuries to his head.

Obviously he didn’t play well tonight and he’s had issues n the PG role but he’s been shooting the lights out until very recently. I think he’s got a lot going against him now with the busy schedule, missing teammates and tough opponents.

 

[Rich]

Compare Garland to all the players in the draft he was in...Do you also only appear in game threads when they lose?

What if every player in his draft sucks, bushwick?

Compare him to the players he's being paid like. That's the only comparison that matters. I don't care that he's better than some random 2nd round 21 year old. He's being paid like a big time star player.

Stop deflecting with this goofy shit.

 

[RonG]

Maxey is still on his rookie contract, although in fairness he will sign a max this offseason.

Regarding DG I don’t recall anyone objecting to his max deal at the time but I might have missed something.

He’s had two seasons with bad injuries to his head.

Obviously he didn’t play well tonight and he’s had issues n the PG role but he’s been shooting the lights out until very recently. I think he’s got a lot going against him now with the busy schedule, missing teammates and tough opponents.

He plays better off the ball these days.

 

[Rich]

Before this season or after the injury Rich, how are you spinning this one? Because how is Haliburton looking these days? He is the franchise cornerstone that has helped make this franchise formidable again, has he not?

I don't know what most of this is supposed to mean.

We aren't doing a career comparison here. IF we were, Ben Simmons would, in fact, be better than Darius Garland over the course of their careers.


We are looking at how players are playing this season. The whole season.

I'm sorry, but Garland has been back longer than he was hurt for at this point. If you wanna keep using the injury excuse, fine. Do you.

 

[Smooth]

There's a middle ground to be reached here and it's not quite the black and white that fans seem to live in..

I appreciate Garland getting his shot back, and I'm glad he has..

Looking at the box score, Garland has certainly posted some solid lines of late..

But watching the game, there's not the feel of control, and consistency that I would want and hope Garland brings... When Garland was out and Mitchell was leading the team, there was a sense of confidence and crispness the team was playing with... The offense was humming, and the lulls of offensive unknown just weren't there..

With Garland, there's just too many offensive lulls throughout the game... There's times where it's painfully obvious they need an organizer and someone who can put the team on his back for stretches to get them through, and while it's screamed for Garland to step up he just really hasn't on a consistent basis... Which is hard to watch because we've see him be that guy before, and it hasn't clicked this season for whatever reason.. LeVert has seemingly been that guy more at times of late than Garland has...

So yeah, there's been progress with Garland but with what he's being paid and with what the Cavs need right now, it's been a bit disappointing to not see him take that step forward like everyone wants and has hoped for...

It doesn't mean Garland needs to be moved for Keldon Johnson this offseason but it does mean the Cavs need to find a way to get more out of Garland, and Garland also needs to do some self-reflection and maturation in order for this team to take the next step..

 

[Pierre Pan]

I don't think this is who he is. It just happens to be how he currently plays. You don't have two full seasons of 21+ ppg, 8+ apg, and shooting 40% from 3 while being the defense's focus for much of it and then play like this. His numbers aren't too far from last season's, including his turnovers, but it's his efficiency that has taken the hit. Probably a mixture of psychological and physical. He is a very moody/heart on his sleeve type and gets upset easily.

Fair enough; unfortunately how he played in prior seasons doesn’t help us now and perhaps even moving forward. His fit next to Mitchell and his limitations due to strength and size are real concerns and that’s when he was even playing at a high(er) level