After catching the eye of the entire league last season, Darius Garland is the subject of new preferential treatment in the NBA this season. Already seriously hit in the eye at the start of the exercise, the leader is closely defended and taking small blows in passing has become his daily lot.
Since his return, he soon lost count of the matches where he was hit in the face, in the eye in particular. For a long time, Daris Garland played with one side only!
“I’ve been shot in the eye about eight times this season. I don’t know what’s going on, I mean, I got a target in the back. So I have to accept it, prepare to be hit in the face”.
After Gary Trent Jr against Toronto, there was Aaron Holiday of the Hawks who hit Darius Garland in the face, then Franz Wagner who accidentally hit him in the eye twice during a match against Orlando on Last weekend.
“When this kind of thing happens, we absolutely have to protect our playmaker. By having his back and letting other teams and this particular player know that’s not how it’s going to be. That’s not how we’re going to play.”, said Kevin Love.
The Mask?
What especially annoys Cleveland is that the opponents are somehow encouraged to do the same since each time, the penalties are minimal and do not exceed the simple fault in general.
“He was often punched in the face,” confirmed JB Bickerstaff. “It’s our responsibility to make sure we protect it. It starts with us, the players on the pitch. They are his teammates. We have a responsibility to protect all guys. I think people are a little too physical because they realize that if you can’t get your hands on him and slow him down, you can’t stop him. So opponents insist on being physical on him and when it’s like that, you end up in those positions. So I think it’s the responsibility of everyone involved to protect him.”
If the trend did not change, the player slipped that he could ask the staff to mold him a mask or protective glasses in order to be less reluctant to go “in contact”. This is also the ransom of glory.
| Darius Garland | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2019-20 | KEY | 59 | 31 | 40.1 | 35.5 | 87.5 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 3.9 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 2.6 | 0.1 | 12.3 |
| 2020-21 | KEY | 54 | 33 | 45.1 | 39.5 | 84.8 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 6.1 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 3.0 | 0.1 | 17.4 |
| 2021-22 | KEY | 68 | 36 | 46.2 | 38.3 | 89.2 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 8.6 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 3.7 | 0.1 | 21.7 |
| 2022-23 | KEY | 19 | 36 | 43.5 | 39.7 | 86.5 | 0.3 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 7.9 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 3.2 | 0.2 | 22.2 |
| Total | 200 | 34 | 44.2 | 38.0 | 87.4 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 6.5 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 3.1 | 0.1 | 17.8 | |
