How the “fundamental” campaign of Darius Garland elevates Cavaliers

It is a reasonable goal for the Cavaliers, who have the best NBA record with 48-10 before the visitor match on Friday night against the Boston Celtics defender (7:30 pm et, AM850). And as a result of what Garland easily admits that it was a personally disappointing season – when he dealt with the tragedy of his grandmother’s death and the difficulty of returning from a broken jaw that had to be closed with wires – the escort has been a driving force in Cleveland’s success, averaging 21.3 points and 6.7 assists during the best season of shoot of the stars.

“He is wearing the same as before again,” said Pivot Jarrett Allen, who is tied to Garland in the rotation of the Cavaliers.

Garland emphasized his commitment to the Cavaliers when he met Altman a few weeks before the training field began. Altman emphasized that the confidence of the franchise never hesitated in Garland, the original “Core Four” of Cleveland, which also includes the pivots Allen and Evan Mobley.

Altman was based on the message that Atkinson broadcast when he visited Garland in Nashville, Tennessee, shortly after accepting the work. It was a very intentional indication of Garland’s importance by Atkinson, who had spent the three previous seasons as assistant coach of the Golden State Warriors.

They talked about strategy, like some of the ways in which the Golden State Warriors used Stephen Curry that Atkinson thought they would benefit Garland. Despite the external discussion about whether the “Core Four” had adjustment problems, Atkinson made it clear that he saw Garland as a central piece for the coming years, along with the other three fundamental pieces of the Cavaliers.

“There is nothing wrong with tranquility,” Rich Paul, the Klutch Sports CEO that represents Garland, told AM850. “I thought Kenny was reading the atmosphere correctly to make the effort to do so, because they have a great unit and have a group of boys who love each other. In a professional team, that is not always the case.”

Five years beforeAltman had selected Garland with the fifth selection of the 2019 Draft despite having only 4½ film games to study his first year in Vanderbilt, since a knee injury interrupted his only university season. It was a commitment to the talent of a four -time state champion in high school that had surprised the managers of the Cavaliers with their ability in private training.

That commitment to Garland paid off. He emerged as an All-Star at 22 in 2021-22, when he averaged 21.7 points and 8.6 assists as the young leader of a team that doubled his total victories of the previous season, emboldeing the main office to achieve an exchange of great success for Mitchell in an attempt to accelerate the process of building a contender in Cleveland. Garland registered similar numbers in his first campaign playing with Mitchell before his production fell last season (18.0 points per game, 6.5 assists per game).

“I wanted to return to an All-Star level and that was our work to help him return there,” Altman told AM850. “It was our job to help him with the staff who was going to empower him again. But Darius never asked him to come out, he never had a problem with Donovan and never had a problem with the organization.

“His problem was, how, how do I return?

Garland’s summer began with the bitter taste of a bad performance in the playoffs in his mouth. He threw only 4 out of 17 field shots in a qualifying defeat against Boston Celtics.

Throughout the second round series, the great and physical defenders of the Boston perimeter intimidated Garland. Its weight had dropped to 170 pounds, around 20 pounds less than normal, during the six weeks that went by sucking food with a straw while having a jaw closed with wires after fracturing it in a collision on January 14 with Kristaps Porzingis of Boston.

“They are hitting and pushing me,” Garland said. “I really didn’t feel myself.”

Garland’s priority in the low season was to fill his physique again, not find an escape route.

“I was really not too concentrated in all exchange conversations and many people saying all the other things about me,” Garland said. “Last year it was simply a difficult year for me, so I escaped. I went to Los Angeles alone, almost completely, and I concentrated completely on my trade.

“It really helped me mentally and physically to have a clear mind, not to worry about what others say and the fingers on Twitter. Just try to work on myself and return to where I was before.”

It is an approach that joined the immense respect for Garland within the cavaliers locker room.

“In an era or day and time in which so many children press so that different things happen, to have a new beginning, he started working hard every day this summer to return and be prepared for what was coming,” the former Cavs Georges Niang, who was transferred to the Atlanta Hawks on the deadline told AM850. “I am happy for him because he deserves it. Because when he could have retired, he did not. And he struggled to the fullest and overcame it, something that many children of his age could have said easily: ‘Do you know what? This is not for me. I want to go to another place where it is easier.’

Mitchell could understand how Garland felt after a disappointing performance in the playoffs. He still shudders when he remembers his second postseason in 2018-19, when he shot with 32.1% from the court while the Houston Rockets eliminated their Utah Jazz in five games. Vividly remembers how the hard defenders of the Rockets Eric Gordon, Luc Mbah a Moute and Trevor Ariza “locked it up.

“I think when you are a young boy, you have to go through that season,” Mitchell admitted. “Everyone will tell you that it has gone through that season in their career and that it changes you. It changes you for the better. I think everyone goes through that crucial moment in their career. I do not want to say that he has failed. He has simply not been so successful as he would have wanted in this situation. He did not live up to his eyes, but not those of others either. So now you return and answer this way. I think it is perfect.”

Many scouts, coaches and executives from other teams suspected that a elimination in the second round was the limit for a Cleveland team built around a couple of small and dominant bases of the ball.

There were also unbridled speculations that Garland wanted the opportunity to be the main manager of the undisputed ball, which would have required to be transferred after Mitchell accepted the extension. But none of that was generated by Garland.

“Look, this is a young boy who could easily say, ‘No, this is my (team). Who are you?'” Mitchell said. “And for him not to have ego and be able to take that step back, you enjoy playing with that. You want to build with that. You want to work with that day by day where it becomes selfless.”

Mitchell’s body paid a price for carrying an offensive load so heavy last season. A variety of injuries limited it to 55 games during the regular season, and Mitchell lost the last two playoff games of the Cavaliers due to a spring in the calf.

Mitchell acknowledged that for the Cavaliers to become legitimate contenders, Garland, 25, needed to return to his way of Star. Mobley, 23, had to have an outstanding campaign, that Mitchell and Garland agree that it has been the largest catalyst in Cleveland’s jump. Mitchell had to be willing to have the ball in his hands less frequently to empower his co -stars.

Mitchell leads the Cavaliers with 24.0 points per game, but that is their lowest average since 2019-20, when he made the first of six consecutive appearances in the All-Star. His 31.1 minutes per game are the minimum of his career, which expects him to help him have fresh legs for a deep race in the playoffs.

“My numbers are going down? Whatever. But that took time,” Mitchell said, recognizing that it would have cost him to accept a statistical fall at the beginning of his career.

Garland attributes merit to Mitchell’s sacrifice for marking the cultural tone in Cleveland this season.

“I really get my hat against Don,” Garland said. “It can be ultra aggressive and go to the court and score 30 points whenever you want, but you really believe in us. That’s why I said when it came here: ‘Trust us.'”

It is a trust that has been formed in recent years and has strengthened during the summer. Mitchell visited Garland in Los Angeles at the beginning of the low season so they could train together. Garland made a trip to Mitchell’s summer base in Miami later for a couple more days of joint sessions. And they have studied videos, often with Atkinson, to discover how they could improve each other’s game instead of getting caught in turning to operate with the ball.

“It is one thing to be great talents, but another thing is to be great guys,” Paul said. “When you have two players who dominate the ball, they have to find a rhythm. In any relationship, effort is needed, no matter if it is personal or business. Effort is needed to maintain success constantly. These two boys have come out, they have left their egos aside and have really shown that, ‘hey, this could work now.”