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Darius Garland cocked his head to the side, took a second, considered.
A statement had been presented to him and discussed with several of his teammates earlier in the day, at morning shootaround ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ season opener one year ago — a binary proposition capping a conversation about the growth of Garland’s game:
True or false: DG’s the most underrated player in the NBA.
It’s a statement born of understandable but frustrating circumstances. Line up next to a perennial All-NBA candidate with a megawatt game like Donovan Mitchell, and people might not necessarily remember that Garland has an All-Star selection, too (and arguably got snubbed for a second the following season). Or realize that only 60 players ever have turned in both a 50-point and a 15-assist game … and that Garland’s one of them.
Those finer-point details that Garland displays from October through April? The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it release on the jumper, the Nash-esque penchant for keeping his dribble alive under the basket to preserve passing possibilities, the pristine footwork and shot-making touch, the ludicrously capacious bag, the change of pace he learned from his NBA father, that evil hesi — all that stuff? Well, they don’t tend to stick in the collective consciousness if your team doesn’t make a deep run in the playoffs.
It all adds up to a perhaps artificially depreciated value. So: The statement?
“Yeah, I feel underrated,” Garland told Yahoo Sports. “I don’t really get the credit that I deserve … but we’ll keep making strides in the right direction, keep growing, and that’s how you move on.”
Cavaliers guard Darius Garland is back in a big way. (Ken Blaze-Imagn Images)
Garland offered that assessment shortly after a season-opening win over the Brooklyn Nets — one in which he strained his left hamstring, costing him the next four games, and setting a grim tone for his 2023-24 campaign.
The Cavs, broadly, did keep making strides last season, finishing fourth in the East despite a slew of rotation players missing significant time, and winning their first playoff series in six years….
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/the-nbas-most-underrated-star-clevelands-darius-garland-back-proving-hes-among-games-elite-145919974.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-11-19 14:59:00
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