Veteran guard Collin Sexton has earned a reputation — perhaps unfairly — as a defensive liability over his eight NBA seasons. Now with the Los Angeles Lakers, he plans to leverage the added spotlight to prove his critics wrong.
Earlier this offseason, Sexton revealed he has been studying film of elite defensive guards like Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley to address his weaknesses. He expanded on those comments amid the Lakers’ ongoing training camp.
“I’ve been dialing in a little bit more on the defensive side,” Sexton said, via Silver Screen and Roll.
“I know how much I can impact ball pressure, how I can start picking up full court and just be disruptive on the defensive end. I think not doing it always but picking and choosing the flow of the game and trying to change the pace of the game a little bit on the defensive side,” added the 27-year-old guard.
Collin Sexton Not Known for Defense
Nobody has ever questioned the motor of the “Young Bull” — a nickname Sexton earned for his relentless intensity on the offensive end. However, that same aggressiveness on defense often leads to over-gambling and out-of-position breakdowns. Early in his career, particularly in Cleveland, he was frequently criticized for losing track of his man off the ball, resulting in easy back-door cuts and late team rotations.
“That’s something that me and the coaches, we’ve been talking is how I can bring that competitive juice and ball pressure,” Sexton stressed.
“…I think it’s ways that I feel like I can take a jump and it’s some things that I want to get better at and some goals that I want to set. Because even just watching Marcus [Smart] last year, that was his job. He would come in, be so physical off the ball, on the ball. He was just a pest.”
Sexton’s physical profile further complicates matters. Listed at 6-foot-3 with a modest 6-foot-5 wingspan, he lacks the length to contest shots against taller guards and wings. That is precisely why studying Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley — two undersized guards who carved out elite defensive careers — makes so much sense for him.
Lakers Focused on Defense
“I watched some film of Avery Bradley as well when he was here and how he just never got screened, how he was always fighting through anything and how his competitive juice helped the team win,” Sexton said of Bradley, a former champion with the Lakers.
“Those two guys really help [set] a role that I feel like I can compete in because I know what I can do offensively. I feel like I can shoot, I can score. I can do that offensively but I think on the defensive side, those two guys are something that I’ve been really focusing in and watching stealing things from, for sure.”
Besides Sexton, Quentin Grimes has also spoken extensively about trying to improve his reputation on defense. The Lakers, as a team, have been extra-focused on working on their defensive principles in training camp, according to head coach JJ Redick.
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