Darius Kinnard Garland

[Dr. Claw]

Another shot creator is sorely missing. We could have punished GS in hiding Curry defensively but we are offensively limited right now in the 2 guard position

And 3- forward position. An "Okoro" like defender with some offensive punch over there would have made even the refs unable to stop the Cavs from doing what they need to do.

 

[Heat Check]

So how do we get this guy to cut down the turnovers?

 

[Cavatt]

Hope he didn’t seriously mess up his back. Last thing we need.

What happened? I missed it.

Badly needed someone to penetrate this game.

 

[roozy]

JBB putting Garland on Curry was ridiculous, Garland is our whole offense why tire him out.

 

[JJ_PR]

I'd take Garland over Ja Morant. Last season, that wasn't the case.

 

[sailfish]

Hope he didn’t seriously mess up his back. Last thing we need.

Have heard absolutely nothing, so it appears this was a very minor back injury.

 

[DirtyDan]

The Garland, Rondo, Stevens, Lauri, and Mobley lineup made me sick. Garland needs a guard like Okoro/Stevens to chase Curry around. Rondo isn't that guy and they had barely played together, so JBB puts this lineup out there that is horrible defensively and only has like one above average shooter with a bunch of guys that shoot around 30% from three.

Just a bad matchup and JBB not really giving his guys a chance.

 

[Cavatt]

The Garland, Rondo, Stevens, Lauri, and Mobley lineup made me sick. Garland needs a guard like Okoro/Stevens to chase Curry around. Rondo isn't that guy and they had barely played together, so JBB puts this lineup out there that is horrible defensively and only has like one above average shooter with a bunch of guys that shoot around 30% from three.

Just a bad matchup and JBB not really giving his guys a chance.

I agree with this, you can't just put out no spacing lineups.

 

[Henry Tuttle]

I guess no news on Garland’s back/hip is good news? Kinda surprising considering he was having trouble walking that last minute or so.

 

[Triplethreat]

I'd take Garland over Ja Morant. Last season, that wasn't the case.

What a horrendous take.

 

[Alec]

What a horrendous take.

its really not. to quote myself...

FT%
Ja: 75.4% career.
Darius: 86.4% career.

On the subject of FTs: Ja is a high flying rim-attacker who averages 5.4 FTA. Darius only averages 2 FTA career (2.4 this season). 62% of Ja's FGA take place 0-10 feet from the rim. Darius only attempts 40% of his shots from that range.

3P%
Ja: 32.3% career on 3.4 3PA.
Darius: 37.8% career on 5.4 3PA.

On the subject of 3s. Darius shot 35% his rookie season. 39.5% last year. and 38.6% thus far this year. The trendline is highly favorable. Versus Ja who shot 33%, 30%, and currently 35.6% on increasing volume each season. Some detractors would point out that Ja has only been assisted on 56% of his career 3P, and Garland 66%, and somehow this can explain the difference. To which I say: that's what you get for being a ballhog. but seriously, that number is down to 49% for Darius this season. He's running the show and creating his 3P shot more than it's being created for him now. and it's still going in.

Ja averages 7.3 assists per game career. Darius = 5.5.

Ja came in as something of a finished product in this regard. Being healthy also helps. Garland has been slower to develop, but he's caught up.

DG's assists in seasons 1 through 3 = 3.9 -> 6.1 -> 7.2

We can look at potential assists and all that, but for the sake of saving digital ink, I'm just gonna call this a draw. They both pass the eye test as legit floor generals even if they do it a little differently.

Turnovers are basically a wash. Ja's are a touch higher but he also has high usage.

Ja is clearly a more physical player and this likely accounts for his superior rebounding numbers. As does being a rim attacker. You're closer to the rim on drives and kicks, you can get your own misses easier, etc.

Last note:

Darius seems to be about a year behind Ja in raw production. This makes sense due to the nature of Darius's injuries. Ja averaged 19.1 pts last season on 15.2 FGA per game. Darius this season: 19.6 pts on 15.4 FGA. Ja is averaging 5 more PPG this season, but he's also taking 3 more shots per game. We just need to keep unleashing Darius the scorer and I'm sure the gap can be bridged. If we go on effective FG% that takes 3Ps being more valuable than 2Ps into account, Darius appears to have surpassed Ja as an efficient scorer already.

 

[CavsKermit]

So how do we get this guy to cut down the turnovers?

That was the first time in a long time where the opposing team over committed to closing down the entire paint. They didn't let him get take the tear drop unchallenged. They contested every lob. They had two or three guys playing the passing lanes to the bigs. We're really hampered by the fact that Garland is, by far, our best 3 point shooter.

If Lauri can't start knocking down some outside shots, and they don't even have to be three point attempts, we might have move off of him as a starter. I really want to see Okoro continue to develop offensively but we might have to give Windler some starting minutes as well if other teams copy of what GS did. You don't need to space all the way out to the three point line, but you have to be able to shoot over that type of de facto zone.

 

[Rich]

Morant's raw production is way higher and his usage rate is through the roof.

He has more on his plate and can handle it.

He's better.

 

[ice cream man]

JBB putting Garland on Curry was ridiculous, Garland is our whole offense why tire him out.

I’d rather he challenge his franchise point guard, who does need to improve all areas of his game still. We weren’t gonna win either way.

I’m okay with it. Lamar was your only other option to chase him around, and he’s too slow and can’t get around screens as well as Garland. Then you’d stick Garland on Klay? Wiggins? Can’t. Too small.

 

[ice cream man]

On the subject of FTs: Ja is a high flying rim-attacker who averages 5.4 FTA. Darius only averages 2 FTA career (2.4 this season). 62% of Ja's FGA take place 0-10 feet from the rim. Darius only attempts 40% of his shots from that range.

You can pick and choose numbers to argue anything, but…I’ll play by picking this one out. This just supports what we already know. Ja has way more opportunities and ability to get to the rim and finish or draw a foul, whereas DG is too small, less explosive. So Ja’s threat to get in the lane while being a good enough shooter allows him to create better opportunities for him and his team. And even if he doesn’t shoot as well from the line, drawing more fouls has other positive impacts on the game.

Ja is almost like if you combined Sexton and Garland into one. Athletic attacker who can still pull-up and knock down shots (Sexton) with the ball handling, savvy, bball IQ of a good point guard (Garland).

And being 2 inches taller helps.