Speaker 1: Well, well, well, look at us. We're just about a
Speaker 1: quarter of the way through the NBA season.
Speaker 2: Some teams have fallen.
Speaker 1: Back to the back of the pack, while others like
Speaker 1: Milwaukee and Memphis are both on the move in the
Speaker 1: right direction. But don't look now, Jack, I don't know
Speaker 1: if you saw, but the Philadelphia seventy six ers. Yes,
Speaker 1: they're on a one game winning hot streak of baby.
Speaker 1: We're going to discuss that and the latest trends in
Speaker 1: more with Calves podcaster Justin Rowan on today's episode. I'm
Speaker 1: Miles Bray and I'm Jack O'Brien and this is Miles Miles.
Speaker 3: Sez sorry, got it, look at the kitch ches.
Speaker 1: Okay, there you go.
Speaker 3: Indeed, driving Spinny Baby Fatter number eighteen.
Speaker 4: That's Trench Secure the Suffox or NBA Champions over the
Speaker 4: pubble team.
Speaker 1: Justin Rohan, you host the Chase Down pod for the
Speaker 1: Cavs organization, and iHeart podcasts. You are also this is fantasic.
Speaker 1: Is so serendipitous because last week's game of the Week,
Speaker 1: the homework assignment we gave to listeners was we're watching
Speaker 1: one game next week and all eyes are on the
Speaker 1: Celtics at Calves. I hope everyone watched because we felt
Speaker 1: this is aside from the other matchups, this felt like
Speaker 1: a this was the test that we really wanted to
Speaker 1: see this. Cleveland really got it. The Celtics continue to
Speaker 1: just keep having it. But the game ended with a
Speaker 1: fantastic win for the Caves one fifteen to one eleven.
Speaker 1: I'm ecstatic. I thought that it's nice to see the
Speaker 1: Celtics be mortal, and it was wonderful to see Darius
Speaker 1: Garland absolutely just shackled Jason Tatum in that fourth quarter.
Speaker 3: It was fantastic to see.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and that's exactly what he's known for, right clamping
Speaker 5: down the larger wings. No, it's you know, it was
Speaker 5: part of an interesting strategy and something that Carter and
Speaker 5: I have advocated for for a while because I think
Speaker 5: even dating back to the Knick series, the Caves would
Speaker 5: kind of overreact to primary initiators right like that, you know,
Speaker 5: they're throwing doubles, they kind of get out of their
Speaker 5: their set defense and they scramble too much. And what
Speaker 5: we've just kind of been advocating for is, you know,
Speaker 5: stay home, trust, trust the back line help that you have.
Speaker 5: You have Evan mobiley. You have Jared Allen there. You know,
Speaker 5: if they are able to force a switch, take that switch,
Speaker 5: and you know, just kind of play it straight up.
Speaker 5: And I think when it comes to the Boston Celtics,
Speaker 5: you know, despite the Cavs winning that game, I think
Speaker 5: it's still fair to say that they're in a tier
Speaker 5: of their own when when it comes to both the
Speaker 5: East and the NBA overall. But I think the key
Speaker 5: to beating them is kind of baiting them into their
Speaker 5: worst habits. And if you can bait them into consistent
Speaker 5: ISO ball and trying to hunt those screens and just
Speaker 5: kind of count on your guys the whole up defensively,
Speaker 5: I think that that is a strategy that can bear
Speaker 5: some fruit there. I probably wouldn't advocate for as much
Speaker 5: soft switching as they did in that game. I thought
Speaker 5: they let Jason Tatum get to Darius Garland a few
Speaker 5: too many times. But you know, Tatum went six for
Speaker 5: thirteen with Garland on him in that game. I think
Speaker 5: you live with that, with the majority of those being
Speaker 5: two pointers. In the previous game, when Darius Garland was
Speaker 5: defending those switches, I think it was like zero point
Speaker 5: seven points per possession.
Speaker 3: That Boston scored on.
Speaker 5: That, which is the same as like an Icicle Coro
Speaker 5: spot up shot in last year's playoffs, which everyone you
Speaker 5: know that got so much attention for him being left
Speaker 5: alone and him not shooting. Well, It's functionally the same thing.
Speaker 5: So I think when you're dealing with a lot of
Speaker 5: bad options, which is what you have to do when
Speaker 5: you're talking about slowing down that Celtics offense, I think
Speaker 5: that that is a potential way that you can go.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 6: My advice as a Sixers fan to my the players
Speaker 6: of my team is also to stay home.
Speaker 3: But literally, I want, I want to say show.
Speaker 5: Up, because that seems to be more of the problem
Speaker 5: staying home. The problem is they are already staying home. Yeah. No,
Speaker 5: I think I think they can stay home and we
Speaker 5: can get Cooper flag. I'm just trusting the process. You know,
Speaker 5: a lot of people are freaking out, and I'm just like, guys, guys, guys,
Speaker 5: this is what we do. Baby lose in bunches.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, I mean they were really I mean they
Speaker 1: were hunting Garland and yeah, it was nice just to
Speaker 1: see him. Like I think after the game, Kenny Atkins
Speaker 1: was like, dude, you can like you can do this,
Speaker 1: like just step up and you.
Speaker 3: Got this and sell were hunting Garland.
Speaker 4: Yeah, they got on the Christmas spirit, right, but like, yeah,
Speaker 4: Tatum would have had four points in the fourth quarter
Speaker 4: and was like I think minus thirteen.
Speaker 1: Basically it was not a great moment. But also Donovan
Speaker 1: Mitchell was it twenty in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 5: Yeah, which was big because he had you know, pre
Speaker 5: consecutive terrible halfs.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 5: You know, I think he went five of twenty three
Speaker 5: against the Atlanta Hawks. And you know that post Thanksgiving
Speaker 5: afternoon game. I think anytime you have one of those
Speaker 5: afternoon games, especially right after a holiday, that can be
Speaker 5: a perfect recipe for some weird things to happen.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but he had a very rough first.
Speaker 5: Half against Boston, and you know, it kind of echoed
Speaker 5: what we saw in that first matchup where he didn't
Speaker 5: shoot well in the first half. But then you know,
Speaker 5: I had a strong second half in Boston. He had
Speaker 5: a strong second half in Cleveland, and he joined Michael
Speaker 5: Jordan now as the only two players that have history
Speaker 5: to average over thirty points per game against the Celtics.
Speaker 5: You know, as great as the Celtics perimeter defense is,
Speaker 5: Donovan Mitchell does seem to have success against them.
Speaker 3: Yeah, look at the first career.
Speaker 1: Yeah, wow, Michael had thirty point seven, Donovan Mitchell thirty
Speaker 1: point two, Luca twenty eight point nine, Kareem twenty eight
Speaker 1: point nine, Lebron twenty eight point eight, Wilt Chamberlain.
Speaker 3: Twenty eight point seven. And you're like, yeah, that's that's
Speaker 3: it's a rare air up there. Yeah, you know that.
Speaker 5: I always include him in that group, So it's fitting
Speaker 5: to see him there.
Speaker 6: Jordan was playing against like ninety like mL CAR Celtics.
Speaker 7: You know, it wasn't it wasn't the cream of the crop.
Speaker 1: YEA, yeah, I would say, like Kareem is probably more
Speaker 1: of like a better comparison given you know that era
Speaker 1: of Celtics playing for Mike.
Speaker 5: You know they they moved the three point line closer
Speaker 5: so you could shoot them there.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of factors there.
Speaker 7: That's right.
Speaker 6: So I've watched the Calves mostly play the Celtics. I've
Speaker 6: watched the two Celtics games that I've seen highlights. Their
Speaker 6: ranked number one in the league and offensive efficiency, what
Speaker 6: have they figured out this year offensively?
Speaker 3: That? And like did you see this coming? This is
Speaker 3: your chance to just lie, and so that you did.
Speaker 6: Because, like, I don't know, I thought they could be
Speaker 6: like better and maybe like a four seed this year.
Speaker 6: I didn't see this being like the team to beat
Speaker 6: other than the Celtics in the league this year.
Speaker 5: But yeah, so great thing about podcast is you can
Speaker 5: go back and listen to it. And I did say
Speaker 5: coming into this year that I did think that this
Speaker 5: was realistically the first season that the Cavs have had
Speaker 5: with this group that they had a chance to win
Speaker 5: a championship. I said, you know, it might only be
Speaker 5: a five percent chance, and you know a twenty fifteen
Speaker 5: Warriors type situation where you play four rounds and the
Speaker 5: other team is missing their starting point guard in all
Speaker 5: four rounds and you get some lucky breaks or whatever
Speaker 5: to get there. But I did think that they were
Speaker 5: going to be a whole lot better. And a large
Speaker 5: part of that was I thought the leap that they
Speaker 5: were going to make this season wasn't actually reflective of
Speaker 5: where the team was at, because I thought it was
Speaker 5: artificially deflated by last year, where you know, even in
Speaker 5: the games that they had everybody, they weren't healthy. Garland
Speaker 5: started the year with a hamstring injury and a shooting
Speaker 5: hand injury. Mitchell had a hamstring injury. He missed the
Speaker 5: entire post All Star Breaks stretch as well. You know,
Speaker 5: karros laverdead injuries, mobilely missed time, were so banged up,
Speaker 5: and I really kept pointing people back to, well, look
Speaker 5: at twenty two to twenty three when they were healthy,
Speaker 5: they had the seventh best offense in the league. They
Speaker 5: had an elite defense, it just didn't translate to the playoffs,
Speaker 5: and they were missing shooting. They brought that shooting in,
Speaker 5: but they had a ton of injuries. So I thought
Speaker 5: just getting back to where they were at in twenty
Speaker 5: two to twenty three would have been, you know, would
Speaker 5: have been a big leap.
Speaker 3: From last year.
Speaker 5: But I think the other factor is Darius Garland isn't
Speaker 5: just back to where he was in twenty two to
Speaker 5: twenty three.
Speaker 3: He's taken a step beyond that. He's been a big.
Speaker 5: Time difference maker and kind of that tie that raises
Speaker 5: all boats on the offensive end. It was the same
Speaker 5: thing when you look two years ago in that first
Speaker 5: year with Donovan Mitchell, where when Garland was on the court,
Speaker 5: they had a.
Speaker 3: Top two offense in the league.
Speaker 5: When he was off the court, they had a bottom
Speaker 5: two offense in the league. So I think it made
Speaker 5: sense that when he wasn't healthy for basically all of
Speaker 5: last year, the offense was going to struggle a lot.
Speaker 5: And I think the other difference is Evin Mobley's and
Speaker 5: a big step forward and they're running more offense through him,
Speaker 5: And you know, I think they've been building off a
Speaker 5: foundation of what was there. I don't think the sets
Speaker 5: are dramatically different, but I think there's a different level
Speaker 5: of buying and the individual pieces are playing at a
Speaker 5: higher level than they were in the past.
Speaker 6: All right, yeah, so maybe i'll I'll maybe a three
Speaker 6: seed I'll get I'll give you guys a three seed?
Speaker 3: Yeah sure, why not? Mitchell?
Speaker 6: So one big question that I have, like because I
Speaker 6: root for the field against the Celtics, that's my main concern.
Speaker 6: I would rather the Celtics lose than I would want
Speaker 6: the Sixers to win.
Speaker 3: Is true eating?
Speaker 6: I respect that truly just a six human being. Mitchell,
Speaker 6: I feel like has had a couple playoffs in a
Speaker 6: row where he's like not consistently as dominant as you
Speaker 6: might expect. Was he injured in these past couple of
Speaker 6: playoff runs because he has been like in his earl,
Speaker 6: the like Utah playoff runs, he was really like awesome
Speaker 6: in the playoffs.
Speaker 7: Like, how are you thinking about that heading into the playoffs.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So going.
Speaker 5: Into last year, definitely, you know, as I said, he
Speaker 5: missed basically the entire post All Star Break stretch. The
Speaker 5: Cavs went eighteen and two into the All Star Break,
Speaker 5: and unfortunately that was the last time we saw Donald
Speaker 5: Mitchell in the regular season. The knee injury that he had,
Speaker 5: the knee issue that he had prevented his movement and
Speaker 5: you know, I'll honestly like, going into the contract talks,
Speaker 5: the fact that Mitchell was able to be still pretty
Speaker 5: effective as a score with some limited athleticism was an
Speaker 5: encouraging sign. I didn't really know that he had that
Speaker 5: in him. And you know, the year prior against New York,
Speaker 5: I think he was mostly healthy. You know, no one's
Speaker 5: one hundred percent going into the playoffs, but I just thought,
Speaker 5: you know, the decision making wasn't particularly strong, the spacing
Speaker 5: wasn't great, and you know, it just kind of all
Speaker 5: fell apart, and you were going against a very good
Speaker 5: defense in the New York Knicks, but I definitely think
Speaker 5: that getting him healthy and keeping him healthy at the
Speaker 5: right time of year has been a big focus. I
Speaker 5: think that's why his minutes are way down and Kenny
Speaker 5: Atkinson's using a nine to ten man rotation this year.
Speaker 5: You know, even when you look from a touch a standpoint,
Speaker 5: he's actually third on the team and touches, So it
Speaker 5: really is, uh, we're getting you to finish plays this year,
Speaker 5: and we're keeping your load a lighter and hoping that
Speaker 5: that's going to bear fruit and that's going to allow
Speaker 5: you to be healthier because you know, he was banged
Speaker 5: up for a few of those years in Utah too,
Speaker 5: where you know, some years were on, some years was off,
Speaker 5: and I don't yeah, and I don't think it was
Speaker 5: a coincidence that his best playoff run with Utah came
Speaker 5: in the bubble where you know, they had time off
Speaker 5: and he could go into that fully healthy. So I
Speaker 5: think that has definitely been part of the mentality for
Speaker 5: the Caves of all Right, we want Donovan Mitchell to be,
Speaker 5: you know, at his best when we need it the most,
Speaker 5: and the best way to do that is by you know,
Speaker 5: empowering Evan Mobley continuing to run offense through Darius Garland
Speaker 5: and get everybody else to the level where you know
Speaker 5: he can kind of slot into his ideal role come
Speaker 5: playoff time.
Speaker 3: All right, I mean maybe it may be a two seed.
Speaker 7: Maybe maybe I'll give you as a two seat.
Speaker 6: Uh in our way, but we're we're pulling for you
Speaker 6: out here and uh anti Celtics Land.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Like I said, it was a delight. I needed
Speaker 1: that to hop off my holiday weekend.
Speaker 6: Should we uh, should we take a quick break and
Speaker 6: come back and talk about the rest.
Speaker 3: Of the league. Yeah, all right, we'll be right back.
Speaker 7: And we're back.
Speaker 3: We're back.
Speaker 6: And there's been some movers someone even say shakers in
Speaker 6: the league over the past couple of weeks. Some of
Speaker 6: that a lot of people. This is my main theme.
Speaker 6: I did not see this coming the podcast Who is
Speaker 6: dumb and doesn't know anything about basketball? I did not
Speaker 6: expect Orlando to be fifteen and seven and winners of
Speaker 6: twelve of their last thirteen. That's wild with Paolo out
Speaker 6: for the majority of the season so far. Yeah, but yeah,
Speaker 6: I mean they're just like that. It's kind of partially
Speaker 6: what we saw in the playoffs last year, where it
Speaker 6: was like there's they are just.
Speaker 7: A different thing.
Speaker 6: Like their defense is such a weapon, Like it feels
Speaker 6: like something you only see in like football, where it's
Speaker 6: like when they're on defense, they're actually more dangerous than
Speaker 6: when they're on offense because they're going to turn you
Speaker 6: over and then get a you know pick six, the
Speaker 6: best twelve version, you know, breakaway.
Speaker 1: I was watching some of that Brooklyn game and then
Speaker 1: there's one point where like Jalen Sugg just had such
Speaker 1: a are like just all over, I forget who was guarding,
Speaker 1: stole the ball, and then just ended it with a
Speaker 1: three sixty dunk, and I was like, oh, like, you're
Speaker 1: really on top. He kept looking around, He's like, oh yeah,
Speaker 1: I got enough time for a three sixty. I'm becoming
Speaker 1: such a Jalen Sugs fan. And it's not just because
Speaker 1: we both have similar male pattern baldness, but it's because
Speaker 1: it's nasty as a player. Although I shout out all
Speaker 1: my players out there with similar male pattern baldness, but
Speaker 1: maybe if he goes Derek White with it.
Speaker 2: Then we'll know he means business. That's that's what we know.
Speaker 6: God a great basketball player who goes full male pattern
Speaker 6: baldness and leaves the hair on the sides would be
Speaker 6: so dope, Like, oh, and he's like twenty seven and
Speaker 6: just fully looks like a forty five year old in
Speaker 6: the Simpsons, you know, just like.
Speaker 1: A shout out Trey Young.
Speaker 3: But I feel like that would be so dope.
Speaker 1: No, I mean it is like one of those things
Speaker 1: the same way like Michael Jordan was like, nah man,
Speaker 1: you got to back your head at that point, like
Speaker 1: and everyone's like, yep, those are the instructions. I do
Speaker 1: want to see the guy who's like, nah man, just
Speaker 1: let those let those sacks developed bite or your temples,
Speaker 1: and that's what it's all about. Baby, that's that new swag.
Speaker 1: You can't you're born with this. But yeah, he's he
Speaker 1: is fantastic, and yeah, it's I yeah, obviously I think
Speaker 1: we were both like, we'll see the magic could be great.
Speaker 1: I mean, they added pieces like CACP and you're like, okay,
Speaker 1: this could be something. But now that's it's fully I.
Speaker 3: Didn't think it was going to be enough to be
Speaker 3: this good.
Speaker 5: But again, the funny thing is CACP hasn't been that great, right,
Speaker 5: Like he's been okay for them, but it's not like
Speaker 5: he's the one moving the needle. And I'll give a
Speaker 5: shout out to my co host Carl Rodriguez because he
Speaker 5: was saying after the playoff series last year that, you know,
Speaker 5: the Cats going seven games with Orlando's probably going to
Speaker 5: look a lot better when we look back at it
Speaker 5: in the future, because Orlando was right up there in
Speaker 5: the standings to throughout like the first half of last year,
Speaker 5: and then injuries hit and they kind.
Speaker 3: Of slid back to the pack.
Speaker 5: But that's an elite defense man like Jalen Suggs, I
Speaker 5: think is the best point of a tag defender in
Speaker 5: the league. And you're right, like their defense really is
Speaker 5: their offense. And I'm not surprised that they've been able to,
Speaker 5: you know, continue to tread water and move up the
Speaker 5: standings even without Polo, because that defense is so elite, right,
Speaker 5: And when you're when you're making teams work that hard
Speaker 5: to score every single bucket, it's going to wear them down.
Speaker 5: It's going to make their defense worse because they're so
Speaker 5: tired going up against your defense, right, So I think
Speaker 5: it just gives them a really high floor. There's a
Speaker 5: lot of talent there, there's a lot of length. They
Speaker 5: beat the hell out of you, and like you know,
Speaker 5: NBA seasons are so damn long, nobody wants to play
Speaker 5: the Orlando Magic, like especially when a third game and
Speaker 5: four nights or they're just going to beat the hell
Speaker 5: out of you and it's no fun to play them.
Speaker 5: And they're just you know, they're bringing something to the
Speaker 5: table that you don't see most nights, and it doesn't
Speaker 5: surprise me. I think that's definitely one of those teams
Speaker 5: that's going to be around for a while with that core.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I mean what happens when Poolo comes back?
Speaker 2: I know you're talking off Mike de Lake.
Speaker 6: Well, they're going to lose the game and everyone's going
Speaker 6: to be like, see they're better without them.
Speaker 7: Move Plo maybe to my team.
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, yeah, come on, by come on. But but yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, how do you see that like managing that?
Speaker 1: Do you think it's because it's like sort of an
Speaker 1: addition by subtraction kind of thing, or do you think
Speaker 1: they'll be able to maintain this balance with his return? Oh?
Speaker 3: I think they'll be able to maintain this balance.
Speaker 5: I mean their offense is just abysmal with Frons off
Speaker 5: the court, and you know, Polo, let's not get a
Speaker 5: twisted He's still the best player on that.
Speaker 3: Team, you know. I he went down so early in.
Speaker 5: The season, and their schedule was a little tough at
Speaker 5: the beginning as well. That you know, sometimes we overreact
Speaker 5: to the start of the season, like he even look
Speaker 5: at the Milwaukee Bucks like they had such a bad
Speaker 5: start to the year. But they played Boston twice and
Speaker 5: they played Cleveland twice, like, you know, you lose those games.
Speaker 3: It is what it is.
Speaker 5: It's going to even out over eighty two, So I'm
Speaker 5: not worried about that. You know, Polowe isn't why their
Speaker 5: defense is great, like you know, but he's going to
Speaker 5: elevate the offense and I think he's going to make
Speaker 5: them a much better team and someone's going to really
Speaker 5: hate playing them in the first round. So I'm happy
Speaker 5: to see them move up the standings because I do
Speaker 5: not want that to be the one eighth or the
Speaker 5: two seven. But I'm continuing a penciling the Cows in
Speaker 5: at number one because I'm a homer.
Speaker 3: God I love Yeah.
Speaker 6: Also, we should clarify first of all, because people are
Speaker 6: probably distracted by how cool the way you say against us,
Speaker 6: you say.
Speaker 5: Against the Canadian Turettes comes through every now and then.
Speaker 7: It's beautiful. Though.
Speaker 6: It's like the Canadian word that I feel like if
Speaker 6: if I could pronounce it that way, I would.
Speaker 5: Really It's like the inglorious Bastards holding up three the
Speaker 5: wrong way.
Speaker 3: I can probably pass and then I say against it
Speaker 3: and then.
Speaker 1: Whiskey, Hey, what's what's this knit hat I have on?
Speaker 1: It's a two.
Speaker 3: It's a win.
Speaker 7: Winter hat.
Speaker 1: Long fu. Thanks to everything, Julie Newmar, a fantastic movie.
Speaker 6: But I do also want to just clarify that you're
Speaker 6: not from the city of Cleveland, so you don't have
Speaker 6: that uh defeatism.
Speaker 7: You know, you're I do.
Speaker 5: That's what I do. That's what drew me to them
Speaker 5: as a fan to begin with. And you know, Winnipeg
Speaker 5: has its own curse sports history. We just lost, you know,
Speaker 5: for our football team, just lost in the championship three
Speaker 5: years in a row. Where so we're already the Buffalo
Speaker 5: Bills of up North. So no, I'm I'm very familiar
Speaker 5: with it.
Speaker 6: But yeah, the Bills of the further north, right, the Bills.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, So I've got a healthy amount of that.
Speaker 5: But for regular season, regular season, I feel good about
Speaker 5: her her ability to to weather the storm. And uh,
Speaker 5: you know, Boston, you get a little fat on your
Speaker 5: success sometimes, and you know, guys like Porzingis are going
Speaker 5: to need time off and whatnot. So I think the
Speaker 5: Cats can do a decent job of holding on to
Speaker 5: number one.
Speaker 7: We're all rooting for you, baby.
Speaker 6: It's okay if I call you baby, right of course,
Speaker 6: as long as you do it softly like that. Yeah,
Speaker 6: Harden put up thirty nine as the Clippers beat the
Speaker 6: Nuggets over the weekend. The Clippers are seven and three
Speaker 6: over the last ten and they're in sixth in the West.
Speaker 6: A lot of people were counting them out, I think
Speaker 6: heading into the season, and they.
Speaker 1: Aggressively as a Lakers fan, but then man, Norm Powell
Speaker 1: came back.
Speaker 2: Shout out to my fellow bruin.
Speaker 3: Norm Powell came back.
Speaker 1: He looked really great in that game, and I was like, man,
Speaker 1: I hate seeing the Clippers do good in their brand
Speaker 1: new stadium.
Speaker 3: And keeps talking about how cool Norman.
Speaker 6: How would be a good name for the male male
Speaker 6: pattern bald in this guy? You know yea.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, Norm rocking the norm?
Speaker 3: Yeah baby, Oh yeah.
Speaker 6: They're sixth the overall defensive efficiency with James Harden playing
Speaker 6: a lot of minute, So hats off to their coaching
Speaker 6: staff and just overall team and scheme twenty first in
Speaker 6: offensive efficiency somehow. All right, Let's move on to the
Speaker 6: seventy six ers of the Central Division, the Milwaukee Bucks, who,
Speaker 6: similar to the seventy six ers, were seeing a real resurgence.
Speaker 6: They've won six in a row, which is more than
Speaker 6: the one in a row that the seventy six ers
Speaker 6: have won. Ten they are, yeah, which if you think
Speaker 6: about it, and then like a lot of ways is close. Yeah,
Speaker 6: both teams are on a trend and never lose again,
Speaker 6: thank you. It is at a certain point. Our winning
Speaker 6: percentage is one thousand percent. So the Bucks are in
Speaker 6: fifth place after a lot of people spent the early
Speaker 6: part of the season clowning them, and they're looking more
Speaker 6: like the team that I think a lot of people
Speaker 6: expected them to be coming into the season. And yeah,
Speaker 6: I don't know, eighth in offensive efficiency, sixteenth and defensive efficiency,
Speaker 6: which they got some gaps there, but Giannis is still incredible,
Speaker 6: and yeah, it feels like early days was was more
Speaker 6: of like God, they're they're still feeling some things out.
Speaker 7: They'll be all right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, and I think also there was a lot
Speaker 1: of it was easy, especially from like my very narrow
Speaker 1: Lakers perspective, it was very easy for us to be
Speaker 1: like and Darvin Ham, see what you did over there,
Speaker 1: Look what you did, and then you're like, nah, you
Speaker 1: forget that.
Speaker 2: They're actually pretty good.
Speaker 1: And I know, Middleton being Middleton's still out right because
Speaker 1: he got he does he did the double dip double
Speaker 1: ankle double yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, So I
Speaker 1: mean there's still that, Like I feel like every season's
Speaker 1: like and then then Chris Middleton will come back at
Speaker 1: some point.
Speaker 3: And then don't look yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah right right, but yeah, I mean were you were
Speaker 1: you ever in I mean justin You're so smart that
Speaker 1: you were even saying like, I mean, look it's eighty
Speaker 1: it's an eighty two game season. Were like, no, it's
Speaker 1: a six game season and they're at the bottom.
Speaker 5: Yeah, And I've been counting for as long as I
Speaker 5: can remember, Man, I don't remember how many years. And
Speaker 5: maybe I could learn how to count that, but yeah, no,
Speaker 5: like I think they're going to end up being a
Speaker 5: top five team in the East.
Speaker 3: I worry a little bit about.
Speaker 5: The playoff upside, Like I just think that the supporting
Speaker 5: cast isn't good enough, and you know, the game gives
Speaker 5: you a little bit of a target to attack on
Speaker 5: the offensive end, right, Sure, Middleton will need to see
Speaker 5: how good he is. Giannis has taken a little bit
Speaker 5: of a step back defensively, but he's as awesome as
Speaker 5: ever offensively. So I don't trust them as much as
Speaker 5: I trust like, you know, obviously Boston, Cleveland, the Knicks,
Speaker 5: even like I think that that the Knicks probably have
Speaker 5: a little more playoff upside. But the tricky thing is,
Speaker 5: it doesn't matter how your team's built. Sometimes when in
Speaker 5: a playoff series, it comes down to who has the
Speaker 5: best player. And the honest is still capable of being
Speaker 5: the best player in any given series. I just don't
Speaker 5: know if he can do it for straight at this
Speaker 5: point and overcome all of it roster issues. But that's
Speaker 5: also a team that I just wouldn't want to play
Speaker 5: because I absolutely think that Joannis can can win just
Speaker 5: about any series that he's in. Yeah, we call that
Speaker 5: twenty eighteen Lebron syndrome, right where the team is very
Speaker 5: flawed and you know, sometimes the best player is what matters.
Speaker 6: Yeah, right, It's really like a shame they I feel
Speaker 6: like they could be near the top of the East
Speaker 6: if Jiannis and Dama just worked out together over the break,
Speaker 6: you know, they knew how many push ups the other one.
Speaker 7: Could do have, we'd be good.
Speaker 1: Who was faster and a dead sprint on the beach.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Other than the six or the other streak, that I'm
Speaker 6: most excited about is the Grizzlies having won six in
Speaker 6: a row, three seed out West, sixth in offensive efficiency
Speaker 6: fourth and defensive efficiency, second in point differential in the West.
Speaker 6: I just think the league is more exciting when they're
Speaker 6: in the mix and near the top. And it hasn't
Speaker 6: even been like Jo's been out for about half of
Speaker 6: these games, but Triple J has been leading the team
Speaker 6: in scoring and just a great defender. And yeah, they
Speaker 6: were a lot of people's sexy sleeper pick coming in
Speaker 6: for a reason. They've you know, well, when they have
Speaker 6: jaw and everybody's playing, they're they're they're tough.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think they're you know, looking at Memphis as
Speaker 5: an example is probably what Orlando is hoping for because
Speaker 5: last year, with Job missing so much time, Jared just
Speaker 5: got to like explore the space, right, like we often
Speaker 5: don't have a full roster of NBA player, so we're
Speaker 5: just going to have you go out there and lead
Speaker 5: the team in scoring and make mistakes and kind of,
Speaker 5: you know, fool around. But now coming into this yere, Okay,
Speaker 5: we've got you know, Bain's back jaw you know, has
Speaker 5: been back at times, but it's a more complete roster.
Speaker 5: And you know, as you said, he's still leading the
Speaker 5: team in scoring, but he's not doing it as many shots,
Speaker 5: right like, it's more efficient. And Orlando's probably hoping that
Speaker 5: similar thing happens with Franz right like that it's time
Speaker 5: to kind of that lead number one option is going
Speaker 5: to help him settle into a more complimentary role in
Speaker 5: the future and expand his game.
Speaker 6: Yeah, any teams that we want to call out for
Speaker 6: being on a bit of a downward trend, I guess
Speaker 6: the Phoenix Suns three and seven over the last ten.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the Lakers.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean the Lakers are five and five or
Speaker 6: the last ten. It's not like A Well, I.
Speaker 1: Think it's more like Ron He's in a pretty bad
Speaker 1: cold snap right now, and I think that's kind of difficult.
Speaker 1: It's also wow to be like the stats like he
Speaker 1: hasn't scored this little point since his rookie year, and
Speaker 1: he's like averaging.
Speaker 2: Like twenty two at forty and you're like.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just a it's a shame the position.
Speaker 2: That we're in with Lebron at the moment.
Speaker 1: I just didn't I wish it didn't have to all
Speaker 1: center around him because I feel like he's a competitor
Speaker 1: and what like relishes that.
Speaker 2: But also, you know, this is obviously a different era
Speaker 2: for him, so.
Speaker 5: Yeah, but it never really to your point, it never
Speaker 5: really shows up in the numbers because he's got the
Speaker 5: ball so much. He impacts the game at so many levels,
Speaker 5: right like the rebounding, the assists, all that. Even the
Speaker 5: scoring is going to be there. But it's like there
Speaker 5: were even times where it felt like he was coasting
Speaker 5: and not playing well with the Cavs, especially in that
Speaker 5: last year, and you couldn't point to the box score
Speaker 5: because it's still, you know, as he said, twenty two,
Speaker 5: seven and seven, and it's like, Okay, well, how much
Speaker 5: can I really put on him? But you know, there's
Speaker 5: just a different level when he has a rolling and
Speaker 5: he's making that impact. But you know, I just I
Speaker 5: think you hit the nail on the head where the
Speaker 5: Lakers are still relying on him to be like a
Speaker 5: certain level, and you know, it's just unreasonable to expect
Speaker 5: at this point.
Speaker 1: And I don't like getting I don't want to be like,
Speaker 1: what's wrong with Lebron. I'm like, he is, he's in
Speaker 1: the twilight of his career. Like, there's nothing wrong with him.
Speaker 1: He performs at a certain level, and he performs well.
Speaker 1: But I'm like, the front office is app it's malpractice.
Speaker 6: I would say, I would just be constantly asking if
Speaker 6: he's mad at me? If I was a part of
Speaker 6: the organization, what's.
Speaker 7: Wrong with Lebron? Is he mad? What I do?
Speaker 2: Did I say something?
Speaker 1: I mean, looking on I mean, like obviously, you know,
Speaker 1: Lebron's here untill I think twenty five, twenty six, the
Speaker 1: end of that season. But what what was life like.
Speaker 2: In Cleveland both times he left?
Speaker 1: What were those those in between years like that?
Speaker 2: What was that effect?
Speaker 3: Oh you mean like in the stretch Warriors in Miami? Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 3: just like what was just seeing justice?
Speaker 1: What was it?
Speaker 7: And then what was it like when he went to
Speaker 7: the Lakers.
Speaker 5: I mean, it made me a better podcast, I'll tell
Speaker 5: you that because you know, I never was sitting there
Speaker 5: being like, oh, you know, this team's going to make
Speaker 5: the playoffs even without Lebron, blah blah blah. Like I
Speaker 5: didn't put the fly and blinders on to that extent,
Speaker 5: but you know, in like saying, yeah, I think we're
Speaker 5: going to win twenty two games this year. But here's
Speaker 5: the reasons to care. Here are the reasons to be interested, Like,
Speaker 5: here are the player development stories. Here are kind of
Speaker 5: the trends that might mean something in the future. You know,
Speaker 5: I think we were well ahead of the curve on
Speaker 5: Darius Garland, or actually I should just say I was
Speaker 5: because Carter kept comparing him to DJ Augustine.
Speaker 3: But I like, you know, I was.
Speaker 5: Like, look at this post All Star break stretch. Here's
Speaker 5: how you can scale it up. Here's important things. The
Speaker 5: high water marks are there, right, Like. I just think
Speaker 5: that even with a lot of these rebuilding teams, there's
Speaker 5: a lot of interesting stuff to talk about. And I
Speaker 5: think I got a little bit lucky because in twenty eighteen,
Speaker 5: I was like, you know what, I'm kind of okay
Speaker 5: if Lebron leaves, like, let's just build something different. We
Speaker 5: don't have any assets left in the cupboard. We spent
Speaker 5: it all on this you know, four year final run.
Speaker 3: It was great. I appreciate it, but at.
Speaker 5: That time, I was like, I don't want the leading
Speaker 5: segment of the jump every single beat day being the
Speaker 5: Cavs are letting Lebron down, they are killing his legacy,
Speaker 5: blah blah blah, the need they need to trade everyone.
Speaker 5: You know, the Lakers can do that and not have
Speaker 5: it be you know, the leading subject like, you know,
Speaker 5: they're not going to get slammed as an organization in
Speaker 5: the same way. But I was like, let's just try
Speaker 5: to build something different. Let's try to build something fun.
Speaker 5: I was hoping for, you know, our version of the
Speaker 5: grit and grind grizzly that's not going to be able
Speaker 5: to get over the top. I think that this core
Speaker 5: maybe has a little bit more potential than that. But
Speaker 5: I'm enjoying the hell out of this run, and I
Speaker 5: think it was a little bit of dumb luck that
Speaker 5: the Caws were able to turn things around it as
Speaker 5: quickly as they did.
Speaker 6: Yeah, the Lakers ever had like a gritty, grimy team.
Speaker 6: It just feels like I can't picture it because it's
Speaker 6: been a showtime since the eighties and then Kobe and
Speaker 6: Shack and then like.
Speaker 7: It's never been like the bad Boy Lost It.
Speaker 1: Years were not there. The del Harris ears were not
Speaker 1: like that. I mean, ye, Van.
Speaker 6: Exel was certainly like kind of had them for an edge,
Speaker 6: but like, I don't think of the Lakers during that
Speaker 6: time as being like, hey man, you don't want to
Speaker 6: be playing them.
Speaker 7: They're gonna come away from.
Speaker 3: Better with bruises on a windy Friday night.
Speaker 6: Yeah, all right, should we take a break and come back.
Speaker 7: And round things out with the supposed to take a
Speaker 7: podcast thing?
Speaker 3: Mm mmm mm hmm.
Speaker 6: Okay, well you asked for it, justin We'll be right back.
Speaker 6: Did and yeah, baby back, yeah baby, Oh you were
Speaker 6: just saying that.
Speaker 1: No, no, I was just saying that Jabari was saying
Speaker 1: in that text said the baby Lakers.
Speaker 2: Were scrappy, and I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 6: But the way there's come on, Jack, Muppet Baby was
Speaker 6: there like a Muppet Babies spin off of the Lakers.
Speaker 3: The Muppet Baby.
Speaker 1: Anyways, it is time, that's right, the fourth quarter rapid
Speaker 1: fire round of questioning justin Rowan, but before we.
Speaker 6: Get to it, or maybe this can be one of
Speaker 6: the round of rounds of one of the questions, we
Speaker 6: got the game of the week.
Speaker 1: No, no, actually I think maybe this is Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: should we make that a question?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Maybe, Yes, it's gonna be hyper brother. Oh my goodness, sir,
Speaker 1: hold on to your tuk because it might blow off
Speaker 1: from this high intensity speaking. We're about to hit you with.
Speaker 2: This is time for the fourth quarter wrap a five
Speaker 2: roundup question.
Speaker 1: This is the fastest question answer podcast segment in all
Speaker 1: podcasting history. I and Jack Jack and I.
Speaker 3: Will ask you a question.
Speaker 1: You respond as quickly as possible, as quickly as humanly possible.
Speaker 1: If you do not, we will be that version of
Speaker 1: rudeness that only Americans can.
Speaker 3: Achieve to you.
Speaker 2: So I just want you to be forewarned.
Speaker 1: Are you ready to accept?
Speaker 3: I'm ready. Fantastic.
Speaker 6: We'll like try out being rude and then we'll like
Speaker 6: apologize for it a little bit.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I was like, was that too hard?
Speaker 3: Sorry? Was that hard? Sorry?
Speaker 7: Is he mad at me?
Speaker 3: Okay? O course, people don't even know about that. Is
Speaker 3: he mad? Just ask him? Dude, I don't want to
Speaker 3: ask Jack.
Speaker 2: Do you want to start?
Speaker 6: Oh?
Speaker 7: I would love to start, Miles.
Speaker 6: Okay, thank you so much for asking Hey, Justin Jack
Speaker 6: from the podcast we've just been recording together.
Speaker 7: Quick question.
Speaker 6: So the Cavs Celtics game ended with a lot of
Speaker 6: free throws seventeen and thirty four seconds. The final thirty
Speaker 6: four seconds ended up taking close to a half hour,
Speaker 6: and it raised this idea that's been tossed around, the
Speaker 6: elam ending elam not elam musk, which eliminates the running
Speaker 6: clock at the four minute mark of the fourth quarter.
Speaker 6: From that point forward, the game is played to a
Speaker 6: target score of seven points greater than the leading team's total.
Speaker 6: So if Team A is winning one oh four to
Speaker 6: one hundred with four minutes to play, the clock stops
Speaker 6: and the game becomes a race to one hundred and
Speaker 6: eleven points. I think we tried something similar with the
Speaker 6: All Star Game not too long ago.
Speaker 7: Yeah, and it was fun.
Speaker 6: It was like intense when it got down to it,
Speaker 6: like this would eliminate all the you know, fouling to
Speaker 6: try and get the ball back to hit a three.
Speaker 6: What are your thoughts on an idea like this?
Speaker 3: I love it, man.
Speaker 5: I go to CBL games, the Canadona Elite Basketball League
Speaker 5: Winnipeg se Bears flag rape behind me. They have been
Speaker 5: doing this target score ending what they do, as you said,
Speaker 5: at the four minute mark, they add nine points. So
Speaker 5: it does have to be a maximum of three possessions
Speaker 5: right where you could have the three three state to
Speaker 5: go win it. But I love it. I think it
Speaker 5: makes it so intense. I think it forces both teams
Speaker 5: to continue playing real basketball. I've seen some wild comebacks,
Speaker 5: I've seen some wild blown leads, and it's a lot
Speaker 5: of fun, and every.
Speaker 3: Game ends on a game winning shot.
Speaker 5: It's a little anti climactic when there's fouls and you
Speaker 5: know someone wins it at the free throw line, but
Speaker 5: it's also anti climactic where eleven seconds takes a half hour.
Speaker 5: So I think that the you know their strengths and
Speaker 5: weaknesses on both sides from a history of the game standpoint.
Speaker 7: I don't know if you can change it, but.
Speaker 3: I do like the ilam ending.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it does eliminate my favorite thing where team's winning
Speaker 6: by twenty and they have the ball and they're dribbling
Speaker 6: it out and then they pass it to the rookie,
Speaker 6: so he gets the turnover one time it expires, and
Speaker 6: the best part about that is it doesn't actually get
Speaker 6: attributed to either of them.
Speaker 3: Right like it gets a traded as the team turn
Speaker 3: it over.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's it's the funniest thing, but they you know,
Speaker 5: they don't recommend it.
Speaker 7: Luck Yeah.
Speaker 6: Yeah, you look you look like a loser holding the
Speaker 6: ball as things end. All right, great, great answer. Uh,
Speaker 6: elam ending is the way it's pronounced, I'm told. Okay, Miles,
Speaker 6: you're up.
Speaker 1: Justin what is the best and the worst Calves jersey
Speaker 1: from history?
Speaker 5: Okay, so my favorite Calves jersey in history is the
Speaker 5: the award to in the first Lebron era. It's like
Speaker 5: the maroon one with the Calves hoop by logo. I
Speaker 5: am a firm believer that the Cavs hoop b logo
Speaker 5: is their best look and it's the best logo. A
Speaker 5: new one's actually really grown on me. I like the
Speaker 5: updated hoop fee. But that that one with the gold
Speaker 5: trim and whatnot, I think that was my favorite one
Speaker 5: in history. The worst, I will say, is the gray
Speaker 5: like good Year one that they had in twenty eighteen
Speaker 5: or maybe twenty Yeah, I think it was twenty twenty seventeen,
Speaker 5: twenty eighteen with the land on it.
Speaker 3: The land I couldn't. I hated that jersey. That one
Speaker 3: didn't land for me, didn't land for me.
Speaker 1: And that is how there it is. And that is
Speaker 1: the daily double.
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 6: We are doing a thing where we have a game
Speaker 6: of the week that we watch and evaluate and you know,
Speaker 6: do really advanced analysis from you because oh no, man
Speaker 6: as soon like Yshall a free throws, Tatum soft dog.
Speaker 6: But all right, so our options, We've got four candidates
Speaker 6: that we would love.
Speaker 7: For you to pick from.
Speaker 6: So Thursday night, we got the Nuggets at the Calves
Speaker 6: on it and it is on NBA TV. Friday night,
Speaker 6: got the Bucks at the Celtics on ESPN. Saturday Grizzlies
Speaker 6: at Celtics on League pass or locally Sunday, Rockets and
Speaker 6: Clippers on League passer locally.
Speaker 5: What are we picking here? I have a feeling. I
Speaker 5: know it's gotta be Celtics Bucks on Friday. It's all
Speaker 5: about the Cup, baby, NBA Cup action. You know, maybe
Speaker 5: Milwaukee keeps that winning streak going into that game, but Jack,
Speaker 5: we're rooting for Celtics losses here. Yeah, and I think
Speaker 5: it is only appropriate that matters more than some now
Speaker 5: as good as Nuggets Gas is going to be on Thursday,
Speaker 5: that's cross conference play.
Speaker 3: And all all that stuff. We need to see Boston loose,
Speaker 3: so for me to lose. Yeah, maybe we'll get a
Speaker 3: fun Dame game. Maybe we'll get to see.
Speaker 6: Janis turn back the clock and shred them. Maybe we'll
Speaker 6: get to see Jason Tatum be a little bit soft
Speaker 6: in the fourth quarter. Who knows.
Speaker 3: Yeah, or we'll go on us. Yeah, yeah, we'll see. Anyway,
Speaker 3: we'll see.
Speaker 1: Last question for those who never got to see him
Speaker 1: play in the Cabs uniform, just how out of this
Speaker 1: world and different was Robert Tractor Trailer?
Speaker 5: Oh baby, I mean Vancouver Chris Fludge right, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 5: out of this world.
Speaker 3: Man. I don't have a lot to add I don't
Speaker 3: have a lot to add there, but.
Speaker 1: I just remember he would come in and just like
Speaker 1: the lebron would be out there and then tractor Trailer
Speaker 1: come in and then be like, Okay, who's getting absolutely bulldozed?
Speaker 1: And that was always fun to see the recipes. Robert
Speaker 1: Tractor Trailer.
Speaker 5: We need, we need more guys with that body type
Speaker 5: out there, and I think that's one of the things
Speaker 5: that the NBA is missing, you know, the ultimate player.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's solid and male pattern baldness. That is that
Speaker 1: is the alpha and Omegan.
Speaker 5: Just supreme athlete and that's that's that's what we really
Speaker 5: need here. You know, too much conversation about too many
Speaker 5: threes and all that kind of stuff. No, we need
Speaker 5: more big bodied individuals, preferably ones that are bolding.
Speaker 3: Maybe yeah, there it is.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well justin Rowan those were actually as we check,
Speaker 1: I got that one right, you got that one? You
Speaker 1: know that one right?
Speaker 3: Answers?
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, yeah yeah, because I'm an expert accounting, I
Speaker 5: know that that's four correct answers.
Speaker 3: There you go for four?
Speaker 1: Can I see? Can I see you put four fingers
Speaker 1: up again? Oh?
Speaker 7: He's Canadian?
Speaker 1: Canadian who does it like this with their finger down?
Speaker 1: What is this?
Speaker 5: I'm trying to do it with like my pinky finger
Speaker 5: down and I just like my hand can't do that?
Speaker 3: Can You're just cramping?
Speaker 7: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Well, thank you so much for joining us on my
Speaker 1: House and Jackot mad Boosties. Where do the people find you?
Speaker 1: Follow you, support you and listen to you all that
Speaker 1: good stuff.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you can find me on Twitter or at Blue
Speaker 5: Sky at Kazanaa just slap the calves in Canada and
Speaker 5: you'll find me there. You can listen to our podcast
Speaker 5: wherever you found this podcast. We go live on the
Speaker 5: Caves YouTube channel twice a week during the season. And
Speaker 5: you know where a fine podcast. That's where you find
Speaker 5: the chase down.
Speaker 2: So so do that there, you're doing it right now.
Speaker 6: Podcast on to quote my parents, Well, and that's just
Speaker 6: the internet.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what channel is that? Does it come with my
Speaker 1: direct tv?
Speaker 2: You stop direct Tv?
Speaker 1: So make sure you follow us at the hashtag mad
Speaker 1: Boosti's b W S t I E s S show links,
Speaker 1: updates and the ways to get into our discord server
Speaker 1: shout of everybody in the discord. Make sure you follow
Speaker 1: us on Twitter and Blue Sky. I'm at Miles of
Speaker 1: Gray on both.
Speaker 3: And me I thought that was too easy.
Speaker 6: So on Twitter I'm Jack Underscore O'Brien, but on Blue Ski,
Speaker 6: I'm Jack ob the number one dot the sky. That's
Speaker 6: social and that's gonna do it. We nailed it again.
Speaker 6: I mean, what is happening?
Speaker 5: Swift perfect a streak that that the seventy six ers
Speaker 5: are hoping.
Speaker 7: To live in one in a row.
Speaker 3: Baby, we did it that way. We did it.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening to us. We'll be back
Speaker 1: next week. It was more my Jack got bad Boost.
Speaker 6: You see you that make sure you watch the game
Speaker 6: of the week.