Cavaliers: Collin Sexton aligns well mentally with John Beilein
By Dan Gilinsky
The pairing of Collin Sexton and John Beilein should align well from a mental standpoint for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
We’ve often detailed how great Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Collin Sexton‘s work ethic is here at KJG, and we’ve also noted how new head coach John Beilein‘s work ethic is reportedly in the same realm as Sexton’s. That leads me to believe the two can help make positive things happen in the coming years for Cleveland (along with contributions from others, obviously).
Collin Sexton’s rookie season production of 16.7 points on 48.0% effective field goal shooting, to go with 3.0 assists per game (correlating to an assist rate of 15.3%, per Basketball Reference) has to have made people in the Cavaliers’ leadership, such as general manager Koby Altman, very optimistic that Sexton can be a key piece for the team for a long time.
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As KJG contributors have expressed numerous times, it was especially encouraging to see Sexton have the post-All-Star break surge he had from a scoring standpoint.
He had a jump to 20.8 points per game on 55.0% effective field goal shooting, per NBA.com), which was in large part due to better decision-making in terms of reading how defenses were playing him as a ball-handler and a much-higher three-point shooting rate compared to pre-All-Star break (when he only shot 2.7 three-pointers per contest), of which he was successful on 41.3% of his 5.8 attempts per contest.
You could see Sexton continue to work on that before Beilein’s introductory press conference on Tuesday with current director of player development/Cavaliers assistant coach Mike Gerrity (who should be retained by Beilein/Cleveland, by the way), which I’m sure the hard-working Beilein had to absolutely love from his 20-year-old point guard (courtesy of Cavs.com/Fox Sports Ohio’s Cayleigh Griffin and Basketball Insiders’ Spencer Davies).
Sexton turning a perimeter shooting weakness coming out of college at Alabama into him shooting 40.2% from deep at the NBA level (though it was just one season thus far) aligns perfectly with Beilein, who has reportedly worked incredibly well with young players throughout his days in every other level of basketball other than the NBA (as has been demonstrated by many members of the local and national media since Beilein became Cleveland’s head coach), and I would think that Beilein should help Sexton improve his all-around game.
Beilein touched on how his offensive system, which is predicated on constant motion, perimeter shooting and well-timed ball screens, is meant to be, in large part “read and react.”
I would imagine that, given how much of a worker Sexton is, combined with extensive film study with Beilein/new top assistant J.B. Bickerstaff and veterans such as Matthew Dellavedova (who Cleveland should give a contract extension), Sexton’s passing/pick-and-roll ball-handling and overall feel should improve, because his perimeter shooting volume leap last year was very promising in regards to him being receptive of decision-making criticism.
In his presser Tuesday, Beilein praised Sexton’s explosiveness and work ethic, courtesy of Cleveland.com’s Matt Goul, and also said that “he wants Sexton receiving the ball more off the catch.”
That’s good to hear early on from Beilein, because though it was only on a frequency of 12.8%, Sexton flashed solid off-catch shooting in his first season, as he had an effective field goal shooting rate of 63.2%, per NBA.com.
As Goul noted how Beilein touched on, having Kevin Love on the floor more than during the 2018-19 season (of which he only played in 22 games) wouldn’t hurt in relation to off-catch shooting for Cleveland because of his passing and scoring presence, presumably for pieces such as Sexton, Cedi Osman, Larry Nance Jr., Dellavedova, and perhaps Cleveland’s (likely) two draft selections in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Though his perimeter defense and team defensive feel could be question marks his whole career, Sexton once again is only 20, and he could grow on that end, and perhaps with a coaching staff led by Beilein (whose Michigan team had one of the best defenses in college basketball last season, as our own Josh Friedman highlighted) and Bickerstaff, Sexton can get better on the money end of the floor and at least be able to have better position as a help and/or weak side defender.
Additionally, Sexton’s reputation as an elite competitor is something that Beilein has to be thrilled with.
Beilein basically noted in an appearance on 92.3 The Fan’s “Baskin and Phelps” how he was even more on-board with leading the Cleveland Cavaliers in their efforts to return to relevance after interviews with potential draft picks at the draft combine involved Cleveland front office personnel asking prospects tough questions, and followed up with them essentially asking why those prospects weren’t participating in scrimmaging when they were self-described “super competitive” players (h/t Sam Amico of Amico Hoops).
Sexton fits right in-line with that super competitive mold, and you saw that with him appearing in all 82 games in his first NBA season, and eventually being named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team on Tuesday (per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski). Moreover, Sexton and Beilein are a seemingly ideal pairing with the way both are completely committed to getting the Cleveland Cavaliers back to relevance in the near future.