A lineup shift this season by Cleveland Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton is something that he believes has allowed him to further develop as a player.
Morten Jensen of Forbes interviewed Sexton and noted how the arrival of rookie Darius Garland was behind the decision to shift the second-year guard.
Sexton admitted the shift was a new experience, but one that broadened his scope of the game.
“It’s very different. I’ve always been the point guard, always been the floor general out there, and it’s helped me see things I didn’t previously see on offense from a shooting guard standpoint,” Sexton said. “Because as a point guard, you see things way different than you would in a different position.
“Now I’m able to see [the offense] as the point guard as well as a shooting guard position, and I feel like that’s helping my game.”
The 21-year-old Sexton saw his scoring average improve from 16.7 points per game last year to 20.8 this season.
While Sexton’s rebounding and assists averages have remained the same, he had already collected 21 more steals in 17 less games for the 2019-20 campaign compared to the year before.
One of the key areas where Sexton has seen improvement is in the area of shot distribution.
“Oh yeah!” Sexton said. “Absolutely! I feel like, as a point guard, when you come off that pick and roll, you get in that midrange area and you just pull up and shoot it, and you don’t even think about it. When you move into becoming more of a shooting guard, you get more catch-and-shoot threes, lot of pin-downs and things like that where you shoot the three a lot more. So I’ve just been working on both sides of the ball, like [still having] that midrange, but also shooting a lot more threes.”
On those three-point attempts, Sexton was connecting at a rate of 38.0 percent for the season, a number that’s actually down from his rookie percentage of 40.2. However, he knows that the 3-pointer has become an integral part of the game and is focusing on harnessing his shot.
Overall, Sexton is brimming with confidence as he hopes for a resumption of play. Even if that turns out not to be the case for this year, Sexton fully believes the Cavaliers will be a playoff team next season.
