Cleveland Cavaliers rookie point guard Collin Sexton has definitely been critiqued throughout the first half of the 2018-19 season. But there’s one thing you can’t call Sexton out for and that’s his durability.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have seen their rookie, Collin Sexton, face some adversity this season. Criticism from his own locker room, a coaching change, and a shooting slump have made this a rather trying campaign for the Alabama product. But Sexton has been there to face all of his critics every night, most importantly on the court.
That’s right, Sexton has been visible for every game. He hasn’t missed a beat and has appeared in every single game this season. Now playing in 43-straight games, it’s clear that the term “durable” should be used when describing Sexton. That matters in the grand scheme of things.
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Sexton is well aware of the notes against his game. He isn’t the greatest of shooters, finding the bottom of the basket at just a 41.5 percent clip. His three-ball accuracy has been better than most would have thought it would be thus far, as he’s hitting 38.5 percent of those shots, per NBA.com, but his three-point rate of just 15.9 percent must be better.
Overall, his offensive game has experienced the challenges of adapting to the NBA-level.
Defensively, Sexton is tenacious but very green when it comes to getting stops. While he plays super gritty, the fundamentals are still lacking at times for the 20-year-old.
It’s little things like knowing who to pick up on a pick-and-roll play and switching correctly that are still giving Sexton trouble. It was something that was expected to be a strong suit about his game but instead has given the haters more ammunition to fire at him. Of course, being the worst defender in the league (according to Fox Sports’ NBA statistics) isn’t anything to be proud of.
There’s still time, plenty of it, for everything to fall into place for the eighth overall pick. Sexton being on the floor for every game this season shows that he’s willing to put the work in to get better and won’t shy away from his shortcomings thus far.
How refreshing is that, by the way? Not many times can one say that a just-turned 20-year-old is showing up to work every day planning on getting better while hearing the noise that he’s not what the franchise expected out of him.
What’s even more impressive, bouncing back to the durability Sexton has displayed, is that he’s now played in 76 games over the last fifteen months between college and the NBA. Dedication to his craft is one critique that the Cavaliers rookie will never have to worry about.
Oh yeah, he’s also one of nine rookies that have played 40 or more games this season, per Basketball Reference.
So sure, there may be facets of his game you don’t particularly care for or believe can improve. But Sexton is proving to everyone that he’s trying to better himself to be the best Collin Sexton he can be.
At the end of the day, one has to respect that.