Cavs: Two PGs Darius Garland should be learning from

Cavs: Garland should emulate Westbrook’s defensive mentality and his thinking

Russell Westbrook, who now plays for the Los Angeles Lakers, has been one of the better guard defenders in the NBA since he was drafted fourth overall by the-then SuperSonics in 2008. His pairing with Kevin Durant was great. Whether they were running the pick-and-pop, or Westbrook was leading the break, it all happened because of the effort Westbrook put into defense.

So far in his 12-year career he has an average of 1.6 steals per game. Russell Westbrook is also a guy I feel like, that wants to go against the opponents’ best perimeter scorer often. He’s not Jrue Holiday-level these days, but the mindset and effort from Westbrook allows him to often still make an impact on defense.

Garland’s defense, and most of his teammates as well, needs a lot of work. There are a lot of things you can take away from Westbrook’s game, but if DG could take Westbrook’s defensive mentality and effort, he would be hard to take off the court. Having a defensive mindset only enhances your offensive ability.

Say for example, if Garland is guarding the aforementioned Trae Young, if he picks up the pressure, he’ll force Young to be uncomfortable. Point guards are very vulnerable if they are uncomfortable. So then, say Young throws an errant pass that’s grabbed by Isaac Okoro, who finds Garland wide open for a layup on the other side of the court.