The Cleveland Cavaliers are up 2-0 in their first-round series against the Miami Heat in part because they have targeted Tyler Herro relentlessly. They’ve attacked him one-on-one, hunted him with ball screens and made him defend off-ball actions. Cavs guard Darius Garland told reporters after Game 2 on Wednesday that they were picking on him, and Herro responded on Friday by saying, essentially, that Garland is not a strong enough defender to be calling him out like that.
Asked if it’s appropriate for a player to talk about attacking a weak link, Herro told reporters: “I mean, it’s cool. At the end of the day, it’s competitive. But somebody who doesn’t play defense shouldn’t be talking, either. He don’t play any defense. We’ll see that tomorrow.”
Herro said that there was “some back-and-forth” between the two guards on the court, but implied that he expected the conversation would stay on the court.
“To go to the media to talk about game plan or this or that kind of says a lot about him,” Herro said. “I’m not worried about Darius Garland. I’m worried about winning a playoff game, and that’s what we came back to Miami to do.”
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Herro added that Garland’s comments will not serve as motivation for him: “I have enough fuel in me and in this locker room, around the organization, in the building. I don’t need any fuel from that guy over there.”
This all started when a reporter asked Garland to explain the key to playing clean basketball — i.e. not turning the ball over — against the Heat.
“Pick on Tyler Herro and take care of the ball,” Garland responded. “Don’t play in tight spaces and pick on their weak defenders. Go at them.”
I, for one, am all for players being honest about tactics, especially when they’re as obvious as this. And while I don’t agree that Garland doesn’t play any defense, Herro is right that the 6-foot-1 guard is not exactly a stopper. Overall, this is a pretty amusing and pretty harmless war of words.
Game 3 of the series is Saturday.
