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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
I think Allen really took that mantle last year and knew he was one of the older guys and had to do it. Darius is trying to do the same thing. I have to think Mobley has to do it by example because it is pretty universal people describe him as quiet even his teammates.

I don't think we are gonna see any issues. Jarrett got paid already, Mobley is guaranteed a max as long as nothing terrible happens. These 3 are really close, and the whole team is supposed to be super close. They are doing it by committee. If Allen is anchoring and talking on defense and Darius is orchestrating the offense, that seems pretty ideal.

I think we saw especially how important that was with Allen. When he wasn't out there, it wasn't just missing his rim or help protection, guys were less organized on D and it showed how important his voice was on the floor.
 
Ok, well let’s go back to you saying this:

I think teams with good culture don't emphasize a single player leading a team as much as the team growing as a collective and everyone doing their part.

I believe the Cavs have done exactly that.

While I do think they have done that to this point and I think it's Koby's intentions to do so but when Fedor who most here would agree is the mouth piece of the organization is citing his sources and ranking Cavs players, I'm not sure it's good for the organization. Ive said this before, I don't think whoever is Fedor's source is in lock step with Koby. I think it's an area they need to shore up.

It could also just be I think the beat writers of old for the Cavs just had more sources and were much more prudent with what they released. I still listen to Windy's podcast and just think his style is better in terms of what he talks about. Windy also understands the aggregators, the term he uses for all these blogs/team specific sites, will run with any little bit of info and they have no way to source stuff for themselves or fact check something. The NBA storylines are really shaped by them now and it's less on the well sourced collective of writers that once were.
 
While I do think they have done that to this point and I think it's Koby's intentions to do so but when Fedor who most here is the mouth piece of the organization is citing his sources and ranking Cavs players, I'm not sure it's good for the organization. Ive said this before, I don't think whoever is Fedor's source is in lock step with Koby. I think it's an area they need to shore up.

It could also just be I think the beat writers of old for the Cavs just had more sources and were much more prudent with what they released. I still listen to Windy's podcast and just think his style is better in terms of what he talks about. Windy also understands the aggregators, the term he uses for all these blogs/team specific sites, will run with any little bit of info and they have no way to source stuff for themselves or fact check something. The NBA storylines are really shaped by them now and it's less on the well sourced collective of writers that once were.
I think you’re being really nitpicky with Fedor’s content.

I don’t think he’s said or wrote anything that’s truly ranking guys or establishing a hierarchy.

I saw an article that hyped up a young player (KPJ). Just because he’s the only one being hyped up in that particular article doesn’t mean the other guys are being put down.

All of our young guys have gotten their share of puff pieces.
 
I think you’re being really nitpicky with Fedor’s content.

I don’t think he’s said or wrote anything that’s truly ranking guys or establishing a hierarchy.

I saw an article that hyped up a young player (KPJ). Just because he’s the only one being hyped up in that particular article doesn’t mean the other guys are being put down.

All of our young guys have gotten their share of puff pieces.

I might be nitpicking but I think they should be careful with what the external narrative is. It's not like these guys only live in an NBA bubble. Players camps can be influence what is being written or said then that becomes an uncontrolled narrative that can take a life of its own which can have unforseen consequences. I think we see that in real life everyday now.
 
I think Allen really took that mantle last year and knew he was one of the older guys and had to do it. Darius is trying to do the same thing. I have to think Mobley has to do it by example because it is pretty universal people describe him as quiet even his teammates.

I don't think we are gonna see any issues. Jarrett got paid already, Mobley is guaranteed a max as long as nothing terrible happens. These 3 are really close, and the whole team is supposed to be super close. They are doing it by committee. If Allen is anchoring and talking on defense and Darius is orchestrating the offense, that seems pretty ideal.

I think we saw especially how important that was with Allen. When he wasn't out there, it wasn't just missing his rim or help protection, guys were less organized on D and it showed how important his voice was on the floor.



Not having Allen out there defensively had a cascading effect. It forced Mobley to move to the 5 which he can play, but he's really his best as a game-wrecker when he can roam and Allen is taking care of the 5 as a rim protector. Meanwhile there was no one to do what Mobley does when Allen is playing.

So, not only did we lose Allen's rim protection, we lost Mobley's ideal role as a roamer which few guys in the league his says can do at his size and skill (maybe none aside from Giannis). Having Lopez should help at least if Allen's out, Mobley can stay at the 4. But the chemistry Mobley and Allen have defensively is special.

To tie it back to the Darius thread though, Allen was also severely missed offensively, not just as a rim-runner, but for his screening which is the most underrated part of his game. That's also something I hope Mobley has focused on this offseason. Allen's screens open up so much room for Darius, he's really able to operate in a way he can't when JA wasn't out there.

But yeah... I love this trio of players. They really seem to bring out the best in one another and the bond on and off the floor should only get stronger.
 
Not having Allen out there defensively had a cascading effect. It forced Mobley to move to the 5 which he can play, but he's really his best as a game-wrecker when he can roam and Allen is taking care of the 5 as a rim protector. Meanwhile there was no one to do what Mobley does when Allen is playing.

So, not only did we lose Allen's rim protection, we lost Mobley's ideal role as a roamer which few guys in the league his says can do at his size and skill (maybe none aside from Giannis). Having Lopez should help at least if Allen's out, Mobley can stay at the 4. But the chemistry Mobley and Allen have defensively is special.

To tie it back to the Darius thread though, Allen was also severely missed offensively, not just as a rim-runner, but for his screening which is the most underrated part of his game. That's also something I hope Mobley has focused on this offseason. Allen's screens open up so much room for Darius, he's really able to operate in a way he can't when JA wasn't out there.

But yeah... I love this trio of players. They really seem to bring out the best in one another and the bond on and off the floor should only get stronger.
It created a massive cascade. Having Lauri at 3 gives you another uberlong defender sitting in passing lanes that you have to deal with as an offensive player. When he was slid down to the 4, we lose that. Big forwards could also walk all over LeVert/Okoro while Lauri's length and decent strength at the 3 made it more challenging for them on D.
 
Not having Allen out there defensively had a cascading effect. It forced Mobley to move to the 5 which he can play, but he's really his best as a game-wrecker when he can roam and Allen is taking care of the 5 as a rim protector. Meanwhile there was no one to do what Mobley does when Allen is playing.

So, not only did we lose Allen's rim protection, we lost Mobley's ideal role as a roamer which few guys in the league his says can do at his size and skill (maybe none aside from Giannis). Having Lopez should help at least if Allen's out, Mobley can stay at the 4. But the chemistry Mobley and Allen have defensively is special.

To tie it back to the Darius thread though, Allen was also severely missed offensively, not just as a rim-runner, but for his screening which is the most underrated part of his game. That's also something I hope Mobley has focused on this offseason. Allen's screens open up so much room for Darius, he's really able to operate in a way he can't when JA wasn't out there.

But yeah... I love this trio of players. They really seem to bring out the best in one another and the bond on and off the floor should only get stronger.

Yeah the screening was a huge loss for Levert as well. That first game they played together it seemed like they still had chemistry and then Aleln immediately went down.

Wade was probably our 2nd best screener and he was down as well. Tough end to the season.

I'd Love Okoro to set more screens
 
Yeah the screening was a huge loss for Levert as well. That first game they played together it seemed like they still had chemistry and then Aleln immediately went down.

Wade was probably our 2nd best screener and he was down as well. Tough end to the season.

I'd Love Okoro to set more screens


Interesting concept. If Okoro screens on ball who do you have in the corners? Otherwise, I think the paint would probably be a bit congested? Could be a scenario I’m not thinking of.
 
Interesting concept. If Okoro screens on ball who do you have in the corners? Otherwise, I think the paint would probably be a bit congested? Could be a scenario I’m not thinking of.
I'm guessing the idea is to use Okoro like Bruce Brown was with BKN. You plop love or markk in one corner and try to force a 3 v 4 with Okoro rolling and you can take advantage of his vision in the short roll
 
I'm guessing the idea is to use Okoro like Bruce Brown was with BKN. You plop love or markk in one corner and try to force a 3 v 4 with Okoro rolling and you can take advantage of his vision in the short roll

I dont think ive ever seen the word "plop" typed out...
 
I dont think ive ever seen the word "plop" typed out...
That's funny, today I saw the word "Skosh" typed out here.
I'd never even thought of how it was spelled before.

It seems vaguely Yiddish?
 
So alot of this stuff comes from Fedor and his source constantly ranking Cavs players. It's also constantly changing and I think if the players are hearing this kind of stuff that it isn't good for the culture of the team. I think they just need to naturally have it play out. If it's a collective of leaders and they are your best players that's good. The moment it starts becoming it's one player's team, you risk someone wanting to go somewhere else to have their own team.

I think teams with good culture don't emphasize a single player leading a team as much as the team growing as a collective and everyone doing their part.
A team doesn’t “emphasize” a leader! That certain player steps up takes on that role…ie: CP13, Curry, Giannis, Lillard, Luka etc….every good team has that ONE player that says “I’m going to keep this team focused”. I think it’s rare a team has 2-3 leaders on its roster.
 

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