Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Collin Sexton got off to a slow start in his rookie year although he eventually proved that he had what it takes to survive in the NBA. He finds himself in a team in total disarray although it could be a different story next season.
Currently in the Philippines to help out as a coach in the Jr. NBA camp presented by Alaska, the 20-year-old was in high spirits, meeting future ballers, fans and media. He was thrown a lot of questions and the 8th overall pick of last year's NBA Draft was happy to oblige.
The first thing that most had asked him was if he had already talked to new Cavs head coach John Beilein. Apparently, he already had preliminary talks with the 65-year-old coach and is looking forward to working with him once he returns.
"Before coming over to the Philippines, I got the first time to talk to him before the lottery. I got to have a conversation with him and he is a great guy and I can't wait for him to coach us and see what happens next year. We have some pretty high goals like making the playoffs so I can't wait," Sexton said in a report from Manila Bulletin Sports.
He was also asked on his slow start in his NBA rookie year. He singled out the importance of adjusting to NBA life and the fact that he was in a team going through a lot of. That included seeing his first NBA coach getting fired and that he had to earn his minutes before settling in.
"The first part of the season, it was pretty tough. Our coach got fired, I was coming off the bench. I was adjusting. So I was trying to adjust, getting used to the NBA - coming in, it was pretty tough at first. But then once I picked it up, I was pretty good," he said.
Sexton was also thankful for the support that his parents and friends gave him during that period. Like him, they just extended their patience and knew that at the right point, Collin would show what he is really made of.
"I knew that at some point I was going to. I just had to be patient and not worry about having a bad game. Just move on to the next one because we play 82 (games). You can't think about the last one coz it might mess up the next one. I just had to put those bad games behind me and try to move forward each and every day," said Sexton.
