Cavs coach tells players to go easier on rookie Collin Sexton

Cleveland Cavaliers interim head coach Larry Drew is trying to get the team’s players to back off rookie Collin Sexton a little.

The Cavs lost at home to the Oklahoma City Thunder 95-86 on Wednesday night to fall to 1-10 this season. There has been a lot of finger pointing going around as the team tries to find itself without LeBron James.

According to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, Drew told some of the team’s players to stop being so critical of Sexton.

#Cavs Larry Drew said he pulled some players aside in Orlando to tell them to stop being so critical of Collin Sexton and to understand he’s 19 years old and will make mistakes

— Chris Fedor (@ChrisFedor) November 8, 2018

The Cavs’ game against Orlando was on Monday, two days after a story by The Athletic’s Joe Vardon was published. In that story, Vardon said veteran Cavs players were critical of Sexton and accused him of not knowing how to play. Sexton was criticized for not knowing how to defend the pick and roll, how to set up his teammates offensively, and for not taking losses hard enough. Keep in mind that Sexton is 19 and only has 11 games of NBA experience.

Many of the Cavs veterans are holdovers from LeBron’s time and are used to playing in the NBA Finals. They’re obviously having a tough time dealing with a rebuilding team that’s giving significant minutes to a 19-year-old.