Darius Kinnard Garland

[RchfldCavRaised]

I’m not so high on Ja.

He’s super athletic, but he’s a bad defender and lacks a jumper.

We may have to revisit this my brotha

I've seen him in person 2x now.

Trust me, he's special

 

[Derek]

We may have to revisit this my brotha

I've seen him in person 2x now.

Trust me, he's special

I’m just saying I don’t think he should be rated much above Garland.

Trust me, I’m hip to the Grizz.

 

[Goldin Brown]

I think the main thing with Morant is going to be his durability. He's a little like D wade, Iverson, D Rose, guys who are fearless attacking the rim but hit the ground a lot. All of those guys kind of peaked early and then lost what made them special because of their play style. Whereas a guy like Chris Paul has been good for a long time because his play style is more conducive to longevity.

So yeah, I could see Garland outpacing Ja in the long run just based on his play style. Of course, Darius does need to work on his body because he has not proven to be a durable guy either.

 

[RchfldCavRaised]

I’m just saying I don’t think he should be rated much above Garland.

Trust me, I’m hip to the Grizz.

I agree with you. Said as much even before their draft. Morant really benefit from the tourney exposure and the triple double he dropped in that second round. Before that, he was probably neck and neck with DG even with his injury.

I knew both of them were in another tier from the rest of the pgs in their class though.

This sophomore year for him, he's been learning the floor game more and his jumper has been less reliable than I expected for sure. He was terrible in the bubble as Portland chased them down and that brought him back to earth.

If Garland had played the whole college season without the injury, I bet they would have been more of a toss up come draft time.

 

[Lee]

We may have to revisit this my brotha

I've seen him in person 2x now.

Trust me, he's special

I have laughed when people compare Kyrie to Sexton. All they are doing is looking at stats and making a comparison.

But Garland is just a notch below Kyrie when it comes to handles. And i think Kyrie has the best handles of all time. Garland is a better passer than Kyrie too, but make no mistake, Kyrie is allot of things, but he is also the best handles ever along with a special scorer.

I just dont think some of the posters on here realize just how good Garland's on ball skills are. Turnovers are a product of his experience and trying to do too much running the team and passing. He will learn, he is a 2nd year pg.

So i do mainly agree with you, i havent seen him in person, but those handles of his are special and he has very good court vision too.

 

[Lee]

@RchfldCavRaised If you had to compare Garland to one player in the league right now on who he could become, who is it?

I honestly see allot of Dame in Garland. If he extends the shot some, they have similar handles, Dame is probably better around the rim and might remain that way, but I think Garland has similar but better court vision to Dame.

Like someone came up with the Ben Gordon for Sexton, and it fits well to me. But I think Garland really seems to be a Lillard like pg, not exactly the same, but there is allot of similarities.

 

[RchfldCavRaised]

@RchfldCavRaised If you had to compare Garland to one player in the league right now on who he could become, who is it?

I honestly see allot of Dame in Garland. If he extends the shot some, they have similar handles, Dame is probably better around the rim and might remain that way, but I think Garland has similar but better court vision to Dame.

Like someone came up with the Ben Gordon for Sexton, and it fits well to me. But I think Garland really seems to be a Lillard like pg, not exactly the same, but there is allot of similarities.

This is who I picked after he was drafted. I think I did a writeup/rant here on him and how I projected him to translate to pros

Dame meets Tony Parker. I keep coming back to TP because I really appreciate how they've helped him weaponize his in-between game to setup teammates and become a better finisher over length.

The passing though.

I knew he could create in the few games I saw him with more talent around him than he had here at Brentwood Academy, but I didn't know he could see the floor like THIS and make the passes he can.

His passing is creeping into Chris Paul territory. He's not the defender of course CP3 has always been, but I do notice that with Okoro next to him as a defender, he's a much smarter positional guy who knows when to take risks and baits offenses into these center field interceptions he's been getting every night.

Basically, I'm saying he has a mix of strengths from a few guys but his weakness as a individual defender is the main thing that keeps him from projecting to be THAT dude as of now

 

[Lee]

This is who I picked after he was drafted. I think I did a writeup/rant here on him and how I projected him to translate to pros

Dame meets Tony Parker. I keep coming back to TP because I really appreciate how they've helped him weaponize his in-between game to setup teammates and become a better finisher over length.

The passing though.

I knew he could create in the few games I saw him with more talent around him than he had here at Brentwood Academy, but I didn't know he could see the floor like THIS and make the passes he can.

His passing is creeping into Chris Paul territory. He's not the defender of course CP3 has always been, but I do notice that with Okoro next to him as a defender, he's a much smarter positional guy who knows when to take risks and baits offenses into these center field interceptions he's been getting every night.

Basically, I'm saying he has a mix of strengths from a few guys but his weakness as a individual defender is the main thing that keeps him from projecting to be THAT dude as of now

Only Parker i see in him is his float game, i know its a decent part, that 5-10 foot floater, but more Dame for me.

As for Chris Paul vision, not sure i agree, but i get what you are saying. This is going to be an eye test thing. Garland has some flashy passes. For about a month now there seems to be once or twice a game that Darius makes a pass that makes you stand up and take notice. CP3 isnt like that, CP3 just always, always, always makes the correct, safe pass and sees the court 2 or 3 steps ahead. CP3 is sneaky good. I watch the Suns a decent amount, and Ayton and Booker make plays every game that make you ay "Damn!!!!", but then you look up at the scoreboard and CP3 has 20 points and 12 dimes and you dont remember him doing that, lol.

 

[Simmy]

I have laughed when people compare Kyrie to Sexton. All they are doing is looking at stats and making a comparison.

But Garland is just a notch below Kyrie when it comes to handles. And i think Kyrie has the best handles of all time. Garland is a better passer than Kyrie too, but make no mistake, Kyrie is allot of things, but he is also the best handles ever along with a special scorer.

I just dont think some of the posters on here realize just how good Garland's on ball skills are. Turnovers are a product of his experience and trying to do too much running the team and passing. He will learn, he is a 2nd year pg.

So i do mainly agree with you, i havent seen him in person, but those handles of his are special and he has very good court vision too.

The only thing I’ll add here is that it seems Darius’ dribble is a little “looser” and “sloppier” than Kyrie’s at this point in his career. I remember as early as Kyrie’s second year, while the NBA world wasn’t necessarily giving him his flowers as a player, he was already being recognized as the best handler in basketball. Heck, his highlight-reel with the dribble was just majestic — nothing like I’d ever seen before.

Darius has moments where he’s moving a little too quick for his dribble and loses the ball. To his credit, he quickly recovers and it rarely results in a turnover. But I still feel as if he’s a way apart from Kyrie in terms of overall “flashiness” and then using this skill as a means to get buckets.

 

[Lee]

The only thing I’ll add here is that it seems Darius’ dribble is a little “looser” and “sloppier” than Kyrie’s at this point in his career. I remember as early as Kyrie’s second year, while the NBA world wasn’t necessarily giving him his flowers as a player, he was already being recognized as the best handler in basketball. Heck, his highlight-reel with the dribble was just majestic — nothing like I’d ever seen before.

Darius has moments where he’s moving a little too quick for his dribble and loses the ball. To his credit, he quickly recovers and it rarely results in a turnover. But I still feel as if he’s a way apart from Kyrie in terms of overall “flashiness” and then using this skill as a means to get buckets.

Kyrie is just magic with the ball, amazing, no way does Garland become that good, Kyrie is probably the best ever

 

[OptimusPrime]

Kyrie is the best ball handler and under the rim finisher I've ever seen. Garland will tighten up his handle and be very good. He'll never finish like Kyrie, but he can get good at that too with work. He is a superior passer to Kyrie though. I don't think Kyrie is a good comp, but Garland can definitely be on that level as a player. It will depend on if he can get to an acceptable level defensively.

 

[ansatsusha80]

I think the main thing with Morant is going to be his durability. He's a little like D wade, Iverson, D Rose, guys who are fearless attacking the rim but hit the ground a lot. All of those guys kind of peaked early and then lost what made them special because of their play style. Whereas a guy like Chris Paul has been good for a long time because his play style is more conducive to longevity.

So yeah, I could see Garland outpacing Ja in the long run just based on his play style. Of course, Darius does need to work on his body because he has not proven to be a durable guy either.

You can say the same thing about Garland.

 

[Goldin Brown]

You can say the same thing about Garland.

I did!

 

[inliner311]

It's hard to compare Garland to Lillard. So much of who Lillard is, is his fire and fearlessness. Garland doesn't have that at all.

 

[ansatsusha80]

It's hard to compare Garland to Lillard. So much of who Lillard is, is his fire and fearlessness. Garland doesn't have that at all.

I can't knock him for it since we have Okoro and Sexton. I still think he can develop it though.