Darius Garland’s maturity will determine how far the cavs go to the playoffs and it begins with the heat: Ethan Sands

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In the playoffs, the swing can turn to the breath – a blinking, a beat too slow, and it is gone. Garland does not have the luxury of frustration. Because as Atkinson knows too well, the heat will Stroke and produce until you find a weakness. What if you feel that Garland’s head space slips? You will come to him twice as hard.

This is not new in Garland.

During the regular season, Garland was targeted by opposing teams at the defensive end to see how he could assert himself in the switching defense of the Cavs. And Atkinson let it happen. He encouraged it – not to uncover it, but to season it. So if the playoffs arrive and everything arrives, Garland would not be unprepared. He would already be dormant.

It is what Garland has prepared over the scenes throughout the season. And the heat is the perfect first test for the 25-year-old.

“I go out there and I am myself, have a lot of confidence, play with a little physicality, play with a little toughness,” said Garland. “Try to be as much physical as I can, although I know that Miami has always been a physical team.

In order to win the series, it’s not just about Garland’s defense and punishment, but also about how this will affect his body and its production at the offensive end.

Miami would not be the first team to set a defender for 94 feet in Garland to disturb his rhythm and get it out of a river before he came back to him with the same intensity. Over and over again. Garland will not only run the offensive – it will run a glove.

“We need him to be great. Not good, great,” said Garland’s mentor Tristan Thompson at the end of the regular season. “Good, and we will be in a long series. Great, (we), the boys get on the way early. So that has to be the mentality.”

Last season Garland had dropped by almost 20 pounds after his game weight after a broken jaw. This year it was all about revenge and proves that he can rely on a player on whom the cavs can rely on the playoffs.

Atkinson, the coaching team and the Garland have done everything they have behind the scenes to help their point Guard improve their focus in the weight room, to recover and to keep their body in the best possible way for these moments.

But it will be that his feelings remain in chess, which realizes how far the cavs go to the playoffs and whether all this work is actually used.

Because there is a goal for Garland and this group.

“Win the ring,” said Garland. “This is the only thing that is successful. Win the championship and bring you back to Cleveland. This is the only picture I can imagine.”

Garland was grown for me. Maybe not up to 28, but far enough. He played over chess all the season, with the defensive reporting that was thrown in his way. He learned when he has to press, when to shop, when to retire. He now understands that speed is not just the pace – it is control.

What if he controls this series? Cleveland goes.

I have the cavs in five.

Yes, the heat is hard. Yes, you have championship -dna. But this version of Garland? With a controlled fire and a killer instinct? He will crack your code. He doesn’t have to be the loudest voice in the room – just the quietest.

And when the garland smiles, this usually means that the cavs cook.

Observe body language. Observe the serenity. When Darius Garland nods, smiles and goes back to the defense when he has already played the film – then Cleveland is about to start another series.