Darius Kinnard Garland

[The Oi]

I started a chant for Rui that caught on at the last 4 Wizards games I went to:

Whooooooo Biiiiiig Ruiiiiiiiii

And I do the Japanese eyes while I do it. People love it out in Washington.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

I am hopeful that Garland becomes Kyrie like. He is young, and has the quickness and form.. But that path is 3-4 years to full value, and every game has a potential injury in it..

It might not take that long. Beilein already referred to him as an "elite passer" and we know he'll start hitting 3's. It's just a matter of him learning the pro game, what he can do and what he can't. He's only played 12 games in the last year.

He got 15 and 6 against the Wizards, including a key bucket late in the 4th when the Wizards were threatening to steal the win. Beilein left him on the floor in crunch time and the Cavs pulled away to a 13-point win after the Wizards pulled to within one point. I think he's going to be much improved by the time this season is over and possibly well before that.

 

[CleveRocks]

Not arguing that he will not play. I am arguing he will not reach his potential for three years because he will need an NBA body.. look at Beal.. he is strapped up. You need that in the NBA.. Collin has made a lot of progress in that direction, but still has some distance to go..

 

[AllforOne]

We need a stat on how many assists Garland would have if his teammates would convert their shots. I get that you can't count on teammates making every bucket -- but Garland has given the other Cavs quite a few wide-open looks that they weren't able to cash in. I particularly remember a nice drive and wrap-around pass to Osman for an open three that Cedi bricked.

Still, if he gives us 12/6/3 every night in his rookie year, I'll take that. And that's still with his shot not dropping. Which I'm betting it will.

 

[Amherstcavsfan]

His defense is not terrible, which is much more than I expected from him.

 

[roozy]

This guy just carves defenses with his penetration, could of had double digit assist tonight.

 

[Goldin Brown]

We need a stat on how many assists Garland would have if his teammates would convert their shots. I get that you can't count on teammates making every bucket -- but Garland has given the other Cavs quite a few wide-open looks that they weren't able to cash in. I particularly remember a nice drive and wrap-around pass to Osman for an open three that Cedi bricked.

Still, if he gives us 12/6/3 every night in his rookie year, I'll take that. And that's still with his shot not dropping. Which I'm betting it will.

I've been noticing this too, one game I counted and it was 5 wide open shots he got for teammates and they missed, I think it was against the Celtics.

 

[Cavatt]

Garland getting comfortable. Looks good penetrating will, making plays.

He has just been more aggressive. Until these last 2 games he was playing against good defenders each night

 

[pinoycavsfan]

I remember kyrie's rookie year we had left hand lay ups. Darius needs to practice his floaters and overall finishing.

 

[AussieCavFan]

Huge improvement the last 2 games.
Needs to take the open mid-range when it's there rather than taking those extra 1 or 2 dribbles into a contested and/or off balance floater.

 

[cabs]

Garland getting comfortable. Looks good penetrating will, making plays.

He has just been more aggressive. Until these last 2 games he was playing against good defenders each night

The french boy for the Knicks that was guarding him majority of the time is a decent defender

 

[Cavatt]

The french boy for the Knicks that was guarding him majority of the time is a decent defender

Sure. They didn't defend him well as a team tho like Boston and Indiana did. Fun to see him ball out against these teams that don't just grind you down.

Really, it did seem like the physicality was hard on him. Great to see him adjust and be more decisive

 

[stick]

We need a stat on how many assists Garland would have if his teammates would convert their shots. I get that you can't count on teammates making every bucket -- but Garland has given the other Cavs quite a few wide-open looks that they weren't able to cash in. I particularly remember a nice drive and wrap-around pass to Osman for an open three that Cedi bricked.

Still, if he gives us 12/6/3 every night in his rookie year, I'll take that. And that's still with his shot not dropping. Which I'm betting it will.

There is a stat for that, which accounts for passes that would have led to assists should the player that attempted the field goal makes the shot.

Darius is #1 number one on the team in potential assists at 8.0 a game. (Jordan Clarkson is #2 at 5.3 btw). You can find this information on NBA.com.

Top 3 on the Cavs in that category:

Name​	Passes Made/Game​	Potential Assists/Game​	% of Passes that may yield an Assist (rounded)​
Darius Garland	38.8	8.0	21%
Jordan Clarkson	23.1	5.3	23%
Cedi Osman	24.8	4.6	19%

Right now, Darius is #2 in the Rookie Class in this category, behind only Ja Morant (10.6 potential assists a game/22.4% ratio). He is around 45th in the league (all positions accounted for).

Good progress for the rook! Some of the passes he's making are extremely well timed and thrown, I remember one where he was able to get near the paint from the baseline and whipped it out (hmm, should I adjust that phrasing? =P) for a wide open three on the weakside wing when the defense collapsed on him. On time and on target. It's apparent Garland has very good playmaking potential/vision out there.

There's other passing stats you can check out:
NBA.com | Player Passing Stats

 

[AllforOne]

There is a stat for that, which accounts for passes that would have led to assists should the player that attempted the field goal makes the shot. ...

There's other passing stats you can check out:
NBA.com | Player Passing Stats

Stick, did you ever know that you're my hero? You are the wind beneath my wings. This is gold. Thanks!

Assists are an inherently flawed stat for this exact reason -- it's dependent on whether some other player does his job too. Even accounting for that, it sure seems like Garland has gotten shafted the past couple of games. He has had several passes that put teammates in a great position to score, but said teammates just couldn't cash it in. Such is the life of a point guard, I suppose. I'm hoping that it evens out soon, and that we get one of those 15-assist games that announces "I've arrived" to the NBA world.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

"Except for the percentages" That's a very big "except for"!

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?