Even before the season started I questioned having two ball dominant guards, if Garland is able to handle dropping down to #2 and if they start competing in a negative way. Then after Donovan had a strong start and Garland started to struggle badly it raised flags that one or more of those concerns might be legit. I also watched a few games and it almost looked like Garland wanted to pass to anyone but Don. And I don't think its a "black hole thing", I think its more of "**** this guy, who does he think he is" type of thing.I watched the first half of the Cav/Tor game last night and Don just looked as complacent on both ends of the court as he did on defense here in Utah. We will see how long the "honeymoon" lasts. My gut feeling is that he really in his heart of hearts would prefer to play in a market such as NY, Miami, or LA. We will obviously find out in 2 1/2 years or less.
Yes OG was defending him last night.
Some Cav fans were making excuses on twitter saying he was supposedly sick or something. If that's the case why was he even playing in some almost meaningless game in November.
It just looked to me like their PG Garland for whatever reason isn't passing to Don like he should. Maybe he feels that Don won't pass it back. Who knows.
Watching Conley blossom again after Don left might be some kind of clue. They really have some work to do in order to get those 2 playing well together. They don't have any NBA caliber 3&D wing pieces surrounding that pair either. The bigs are very nice but Mobley hasn't taken a leap this season playing next to the ball dominant guards. They have LeVert who is also ball dominant who further mucks everything up. Good luck to them (not really).
And then there was that one moment where Donovan "stole" the rebound from Mobley. The fact that the whole team overreacted so badly made me question Dons position in the locker room. The fact such a reaction was directed towards "the new guy" (who you usually treat better than guys you know) and "the #1 guy" (who you usually let get away with stuff) was more than curious. Was there already malcontent or someone talking trash behind the scenes? Since then, their performances have been on a decline.
So the question is, how much respect the other players have for Don? I think the honeymoon is already over. Whether they gel or implode is still up to grabs, but right now the outlook is not optimal.