Cleveland rookie Collin Sexton has “proven everybody wrong,” Cavaliers coach Larry Drew said, including, apparently, some of the NBA team’s veteran players.
Drew was talking about Sexton’s ability to score from the outside, a concern of scouts as he entered the NBA Draft from Alabama. But the comment also could apply to the early perceptions of some of his teammates.
Drew took over the Cavs on Oct. 28, when Cleveland fired Tyronn Lue and elevated Drew from assistant to interim head coach.
He soon had a fire to put out.
On Nov. 3, Joe Vardon of The Athletic reported Cleveland’s veterans said the No. 8 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft didn’t “know how to play.”
“I actually pulled some of the guys aside when we were in Orlando (on Nov. 5),” Drew told cleveland.com. “That was my exact point -- having to be patient with a 19-year-old kid ... Just didn’t think it was fair at all to go at a 19-year-old kid like that. As I told a couple of the guys, ‘Hey, you were 19 at one point. To step up to this level, I’m sure you would’ve been in a situation where you were making mistakes, too. In order for Collin to learn, he’s going to have to make mistakes.’”
Two days later, Sexton was in the Cavaliers' starting lineup after George Hill went down with a sprained right shoulder.
In the first 10 games of his NBA career, Sexton had averaged 10.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 23.0 minutes per game.
In the eight games that he's been a starter, Sexton has averaged 19.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 33.4 minutes per game.
After shooting .407 from the floor and .300 on 3-point attempts as a reserve, Sexton is shooting .508 from the floor and .556 on 3-point attempts as a starter.
“I think for any young player that comes into the league, and whatever the scouting report may be against that guy, they’re going to play you and force you to prove them wrong,” Drew said. "And I think certainly Colin is starting to open eyes as far as his ability to make shots on the perimeter. I think the scouting report on him was to go underneath him on the screen and roll. …
"If you try to take away what you perceive to be a weakness of his, he's going to try to prove you wrong. Thus far, he has certainly proven people wrong about their ability to defend him in the pick and roll. If they continue to go underneath him, I'm going to encourage him to take that shot."
Sexton said if defenders are playing off him, he must make the open shots.
“If they give it to me, I’m going to take it,” Sexton said. “My teammates have confidence in me in taking the shot and making it, so I feel like if they’re sagging off, I have to be able to knock it down so my teammates can get open shots.”
Sexton credited his father, Darnell, for his improvement in shooting, especially on the 3-pointer, over the past month.
“My dad helped me to correct certain things I need to improve on,” Sexton said. “He watches the games all the time, and he knows how I make shots. It was easy for him to correct it. We got in the gym, and we worked on it. I feel like I’m shooting a lot better.”
Something else that's gotten better is the Cavaliers' record since Sexton entered the starting lineup. At 4-14, Cleveland's record is still better than only the Phoenix Suns and Atlanta Hawks, but the Cavs have gone 3-5 with Sexton starting.
Sexton scored 23 points in Cleveland's 121-112 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night, then reached a career high with 29 points in the Cavs' 117-98 victory over the Houston Rockets on Saturday night.
“When we’re moving the ball and playing together, I feel like we’re one of the best teams in the league,” Sexton said after Saturday’s game.
Cleveland will seek its third consecutive victory when the Minnesota Timberwolves visit Quicken Loans Arena at 6 p.m. CST Monday.
“I feel like we found some things we’re good at,” Sexton said after Monday’s shootaround, "and we just have to keep working toward those things and make sure we do them each and every game. …
"We’re playing a complete game, and we have been playing unselfish. I feel like when we're doing that and sharing the ball, it's fun to watch and fun to be out there playing."
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
