Speaker 1: This crowd rises to its being.
Speaker 2: What Carl slammed it?
Speaker 1: Oh? Carle left wing reball, perfect handlift block the shot
Speaker 1: at the rim? How with the left hand head of fowl.
Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to the Chase Down Pod. The Chase
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Speaker 1: no Justin Rowan. We got a sick boy, a sick
Speaker 1: lad with us. You know. It goes to show the
Speaker 1: Calves finally lose a game and he ducks the smoke.
Speaker 1: Just kidding. He's actually super bummed because he he loves
Speaker 1: being on after losses. He loves a body to dissect.
Speaker 1: But no, have no fear. I'm not here alone. You
Speaker 1: don't have to hear me drone for forty straight minutes.
Speaker 1: We've got host of lockdown Calves and the inside shot
Speaker 1: on substack. Danny Cunningham, How you doing, buddy.
Speaker 2: I'm well man, Thanks for having me. How are you doing?
Speaker 1: Oh? You know, doing fine and dandy going through you know,
Speaker 1: doing bedtime solo night. So we're just blasting from thing
Speaker 1: to thing to thing, but you know, we're feeling good.
Speaker 1: And I was thinking, Danny. I was thinking, because yesterday
Speaker 1: we had an afternoon mattin a loss, and those are
Speaker 1: always a little weird because you just kind of have
Speaker 1: to sit with the rest of the day, you know,
Speaker 1: And I was thinking that. You know, so I started
Speaker 1: out like, you know, fine with the loss overall, but
Speaker 1: then I thought about it more and I was getting grumpy,
Speaker 1: and I realized that I am functionally like the president
Speaker 1: of a homeowner's association in a nice neighborhood. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm looking, I'm really my problems aren't too serious, but
Speaker 1: to me they feel serious. You know, it's been such
Speaker 1: a weird year where like you just have no sense
Speaker 1: there's so little to poke at that like a loss
Speaker 1: like that where they had the game well in hand
Speaker 1: and then you know, blow it down the stretch does
Speaker 1: feel kind of jarring.
Speaker 3: It feels so strange to even talk about losses, and
Speaker 3: like doing it on my own podcasts, like how do
Speaker 3: I approach this? Because the end listen, it's not as
Speaker 3: if during this sixteen game winning streak can't sit here
Speaker 3: next like every single game that they wondering that streak
Speaker 3: was perfect basketball. I think they actually had one of
Speaker 3: their worst weeks of the season and they went four
Speaker 3: to oh in that week, which is an incredible and
Speaker 3: remarkable thing. I think really does speak to their greatness
Speaker 3: that they were able to find ways to win games
Speaker 3: that they didn't necessarily play their best. But the way
Speaker 3: I look at it is they had a really bad
Speaker 3: shooting day.
Speaker 2: That's gonna happen.
Speaker 3: It doesn't happen to them very often because they're such
Speaker 3: a good shooting team and Orlando, a team that's a
Speaker 3: pretty awful shooting team, had one of its best shooting
Speaker 3: days of the season, and though that combination just sunk
Speaker 3: them for an afternoon, Like, I don't think that that
Speaker 3: loss is anything that is repeatable.
Speaker 2: I don't think it's anything to be worried about.
Speaker 3: It think, hey, sometimes when you play these two games,
Speaker 3: a game like that's going to happen, and for this
Speaker 3: team to be where they're at at fifty six and eleven,
Speaker 3: the fact that they haven't had many of those is
Speaker 3: kind of incredible to.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, they are now a lowly forty eight
Speaker 1: and one after heading into the fourth quarter with the leads.
Speaker 1: You know, I was really by the way talk about,
Speaker 1: you know, the small tragedies, I was really excited for
Speaker 1: that one to be like, didn't lose a game all year,
Speaker 1: heading into the playoffs with the lead in the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: I was excited for them to have that stat in
Speaker 1: their back pocket. So, you know, I don't know, it
Speaker 1: is one of those things where there's been so few losses,
Speaker 1: there's been so few poor like straight up just poor performances,
Speaker 1: that it is hard to kind of analyze what's real
Speaker 1: and what's not. You know, was this just a shooting
Speaker 1: variance loss in your opinion, or do you think there
Speaker 1: was some stuff for the Cavs to pull out of it?
Speaker 3: I mean, I never I think it's never one thing, right, Like,
Speaker 3: if you look can any of the other ten games
Speaker 3: they've lost incredible, if you look at those, like, it's
Speaker 3: never just one thing that necessarily goes wrong, And anytime
Speaker 3: a team loses a game, you can't point to one thing.
Speaker 3: I think that the shooting variance is the biggest part
Speaker 3: of that because look at some of the shots that
Speaker 3: the Calves are able to generate on Sunday, like Sam
Speaker 3: Merril had how many three pointers where he could have
Speaker 3: kind of checked for wind inside of rocket arena And
Speaker 3: those are shots that you're going to expect se him
Speaker 3: to make. He's been shooting almost fifty percent on threes
Speaker 3: from February first onward, like he's been awesome lately, just
Speaker 3: didn't have a great day. Donovan Mitchell goes three or
Speaker 3: fourteen from three, you expect Donovan to shoot the basketball
Speaker 3: better than that. Like, I think the shooting variance is
Speaker 3: the biggest thing. I thought the turnover is certainly the
Speaker 3: ones at the end of the third quarter where Ty
Speaker 3: loses the ball twice Donovan loses it once, Like that
Speaker 3: was I thought a really big swing because Sam had
Speaker 3: one of those threes it was in the right corner
Speaker 3: that if that goes in, the Calves are up by
Speaker 3: eleven with two minutes left in the third quarter.
Speaker 2: Instead, that doesn't go in, there's a foul.
Speaker 3: The magic split the free throws and then create three
Speaker 3: quick turnovers and the game's tied. Like, I think that
Speaker 3: is the ultimate sliding doors moment, if you will, of
Speaker 3: that game. But I think the shooting is probably the
Speaker 3: biggest thing that just went wrong, not to say they
Speaker 3: were perfect.
Speaker 2: The ball movement could have been better.
Speaker 3: They haven't played necessarily their best offensive basketball this season.
Speaker 3: Last month I think they're fifteenth in March in offense.
Speaker 3: But overall, it's just like, you know, if they make
Speaker 3: a few shots that we're used to seeing them make
Speaker 3: that they've made all season long, they win that game
Speaker 3: by ten to fifteen points, and no one even thinks
Speaker 3: twice about it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I do think it is worth kind of keying
Speaker 1: in on that turnover Leyden kind of stretch, because I
Speaker 1: do think they win the game without it. You know,
Speaker 1: a ten er run when you're kind of in firm
Speaker 1: control of the game does And you know, I do
Speaker 1: think if you're Orlando, you went from we're just hanging
Speaker 1: on to we think we can, we think we got
Speaker 1: this now? Who can hang? You know? And they've just
Speaker 1: had the season from hell. I mean after the forty
Speaker 1: point drubbing, I kind of compared their arc to where
Speaker 1: this team was a year ago, where you have your
Speaker 1: really fun breakout and then you know, the year after
Speaker 1: you just have a dump truck of bad luck. Everyone's hurt.
Speaker 1: Even when they're playing, they're not hole and all that stuff,
Speaker 1: and you know so, I but like there's still a
Speaker 1: team that with a lot of pride, especially coming out
Speaker 1: of that out of that first round series last year.
Speaker 1: And I do think that is kind of where the
Speaker 1: game changed. I think mostly gets a lot of credit
Speaker 1: for springing in out of nowhere full court press that
Speaker 1: I certainly was not ready for, and it certainly didn't
Speaker 1: seem the Calves were either. I got to ask, we
Speaker 1: have seen more often than not that when the Calves
Speaker 1: have trouble, when they are knocked out of their rhythm.
Speaker 1: You know, Justin I'll represent my dear sweet co host
Speaker 1: who's laid up right now and saying that. You know,
Speaker 1: the national media always points to long wings being what
Speaker 1: bother the Calves, and Justin has always kind of persisted that, no,
Speaker 1: it's ball pressure. The Calves don't like it when people
Speaker 1: are up in their grill and how does Orlando turn
Speaker 1: this game? It's ball pressure? And like, how much of
Speaker 1: that do you think is kind of one of these
Speaker 1: flaws that the team just isn't super well built to handle.
Speaker 1: How much of that is just Avan not being there
Speaker 1: to be an outlet and a release valve when that
Speaker 1: pressure comes, Like how much do you index on that
Speaker 1: because I still am not sure.
Speaker 2: So I think it kind of depends where the ball
Speaker 2: pressure is.
Speaker 3: Like I view the ninety four feet ball pressure type
Speaker 3: of a thing is something that's not super concerning when
Speaker 3: the postseason arrives, because you know, and it's happened.
Speaker 2: I can count probably four of their.
Speaker 3: Losses, the one on Sunday, the one against Indiana, and
Speaker 3: both of them against Atlanta where you saw that right
Speaker 3: where it is into pressure.
Speaker 2: Yeahertainly the loss. I think that.
Speaker 1: Exact loss, that exact loss, so fiet I.
Speaker 3: Don't think the one in Cleveland where they scored I
Speaker 3: think it was one hundred and thirty two points in
Speaker 3: a loss necessarily counts against Houston, but the one in
Speaker 3: Houston does, and that gave me more so point two. Well,
Speaker 3: Darius Carlin missed five free throws, which he's never done
Speaker 3: in any other game as a professional basketball player.
Speaker 2: That's not going to happen again.
Speaker 3: So like there are all these little things, but you
Speaker 3: look at the one at home against Indiana, both losses
Speaker 3: to Atlanta around Thanksgiving, like he kind of felt like
Speaker 3: that was part of the problem there. And I actually
Speaker 3: equate struggling with that maybe a little bit more to
Speaker 3: a focus type of thing. And I just don't know
Speaker 3: that necessarily, for a full forty eight minutes of all
Speaker 3: eighty two regular season teams, players are able to stay
Speaker 3: completely focused. And I think that when the postseason arrives
Speaker 3: that becomes a non issue.
Speaker 2: So I just don't know that that's necessarily the thing.
Speaker 3: Now, if you want to point to how certain guys
Speaker 3: like upper tier perimeter defenders can handle maybe Derry Garland,
Speaker 3: maybe Donovan Mitchell in postseason, I think that is a conversation,
Speaker 3: particularly when you look at Drew Holliday with the Boston
Speaker 3: Celtics and the numbers that he has defending Darius Garland
Speaker 3: at times in Garland's career, Like that could be maybe
Speaker 3: the thing, But I don't view it as oh man,
Speaker 3: Anthony Black really got into tide Rome in the third
Speaker 3: quarter of a game in March. The Calves might be
Speaker 3: in trouble dealing with ball pressure there. Like I think
Speaker 3: that to me is maybe more of a focused thing.
Speaker 3: Maybe it's more of a Hey, it was a one
Speaker 3: o'clock Sunday game. It was the intensity level at a
Speaker 3: playoff level. No, it wasn't like I think that those
Speaker 3: things matter when you're having that conversation.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's fair. I think I think it's
Speaker 1: a little bit of column A, a little bit of Columby.
Speaker 1: I do think these small guards would much rather, you know,
Speaker 1: you hang back and play a conservative defense because they
Speaker 1: are one just faster, they can get to the spot
Speaker 1: better than your big can and a drop coverage like
Speaker 1: they're going to get to that spot. He hit their
Speaker 1: float to range, and when you're backpedaling against the calves,
Speaker 1: you're just kind of toast because of how well Darius
Speaker 1: and Donovan changed directions, to say nothing of the other
Speaker 1: supplementary pieces on this team. Whereas when you are kind
Speaker 1: of in their grow, when you're pushing them back one,
Speaker 1: it gets a little harder for them to let their
Speaker 1: tempo kind of control the game. You're kind of imposing
Speaker 1: your tempo on them. And then also they're just smaller,
Speaker 1: so it's a little bit harder for them to hit that.
Speaker 1: You know, that guy in the short role, when you're
Speaker 1: making the past thirty three feet from the basket as
Speaker 1: opposed to twenty feet from the basket, you know they're
Speaker 1: Jared Allen's catching it at the top the three point
Speaker 1: arc and has to make three dribbles on the way
Speaker 1: to the hoop before he makes a decision instead of
Speaker 1: you know, one step and then either a pass or
Speaker 1: a floater. So, like, I do think there's something to it.
Speaker 1: I do think it's the first thing that teams will
Speaker 1: try against them. I just am not sure you know
Speaker 1: how to your point, like, I think you're still going
Speaker 1: to have to have the right personnel to do it,
Speaker 1: and really, like not to oversimplify it always is going
Speaker 1: to come down to just how good are you add like,
Speaker 1: how many different kind of looks can you throw at
Speaker 1: this team? Because I don't think, you know, I don't
Speaker 1: think seven games of ball pressure is necessarily the answer.
Speaker 3: No, And I think that's a hard thing for opponents
Speaker 3: to keep up for seven games too, because you know,
Speaker 3: we look at this as a because it is a
Speaker 3: thing that has affected the calves. It's the lens that
Speaker 3: we view it through. But how how repeatable is that
Speaker 3: To do that seven times in two weeks for forty
Speaker 3: eight minutes, Like that's a really difficult thing to do,
Speaker 3: especially when the entire game is at a much more
Speaker 3: intense level. In the postason because the regular season just
Speaker 3: I mean, the effort level is obviously really high from
Speaker 3: every team every single night, and that's something that probably
Speaker 3: doesn't get talked about enough. But the intensity level isn't
Speaker 3: at the same in the regular season it is in
Speaker 3: the postseason. It becomes harder to defend full court in
Speaker 3: the in the postseason than it doesn't it. You know,
Speaker 3: the defense in the half court, I think becomes tougher
Speaker 3: in the post, and I think that actually makes it
Speaker 3: tougher to pick up full court because you're having to
Speaker 3: expend so much energy on every single possession that sometimes defensively,
Speaker 3: it might make sense to save that energy and just
Speaker 3: defend in the half court because you're gonna have to
Speaker 3: do more there.
Speaker 1: Anyways, Yeah, it's it's an interesting conundrum, you know, for
Speaker 1: this team, and in some ways it does make me
Speaker 1: think any that as much as I don't relish the
Speaker 1: idea of an Orlando first round series because they're so physical,
Speaker 1: because they're so tough, and you know, and for a
Speaker 1: team this good, really just you know, there's a bit
Speaker 1: of like, let's just get through this first. You know,
Speaker 1: Round or two is unscathed as humanly possible. Part of
Speaker 1: the reason I'm not crazy excited about playing Giannis in
Speaker 1: the second round. Do you think that this is a
Speaker 1: this is actually kind of an iron like a wetstone
Speaker 1: almost kind of match up for the Calves where if
Speaker 1: you do play them in the first round and you
Speaker 1: do figure out how to get your off going to
Speaker 1: the way it was earlier in the seat in this
Speaker 1: season series where the Calves put up one hundred and
Speaker 1: twenty points plus in the first two games, if you
Speaker 1: can prove that, hey, we you know, your ball pressure
Speaker 1: actually doesn't mean anything to us, We're going to get
Speaker 1: buckets on you, you think that's more valuable, even if
Speaker 1: the series is a little more physical and hard fought
Speaker 1: than playing a team like I don't know, like the
Speaker 1: Bulls or the Hawks.
Speaker 3: I mean, at the end of the day, like in
Speaker 3: I think that we learned this during the run from
Speaker 3: twenty fifteen to twenty eighteen, where we would just routinely
Speaker 3: see this franchise sweep through the first round, and you
Speaker 3: want to be able to conserve that energy for second, third,
Speaker 3: fourth round playoff games, like you don't want to spend
Speaker 3: more time in the first round than you have to.
Speaker 3: I actually look at the Orlando matchup as Yes, maybe
Speaker 3: that series would be a little bit more physical, but
Speaker 3: I look at it as the Magic just don't have
Speaker 3: an answer to what the Caves present from a math perspective,
Speaker 3: like the Calves are going to shoot way more threes
Speaker 3: in the Magic. They're going to make way more threes
Speaker 3: than the Magic. So Yesterday's game FO Orlando was the
Speaker 3: ninth time this season they've shot forty percent or better
Speaker 3: from three in a single game. Like that's just not
Speaker 3: something that ever happens. That they are the worst three
Speaker 3: point shooting team in basketball. They're not going to be
Speaker 3: able to keep up with the Cavs offensively. I think
Speaker 3: it would be a really short series because an average
Speaker 3: performance from the Cavs on offense is a ten to
Speaker 3: fifteen point victory over the Magic's average performance. Like that's
Speaker 3: just the way that I view that. Yes, it would
Speaker 3: be more physical. I think it would be a good
Speaker 3: hump for the Cavs to get over really just to
Speaker 3: prove how much different they are. And I understand that
Speaker 3: the Magic, as you mentioned, have had a season from health,
Speaker 3: like they've not had their full allotment of key players.
Speaker 3: Jalen Suggs is not going to come back this year,
Speaker 3: like they are a team that is going to look
Speaker 3: different if they make the playoffs then they did in
Speaker 3: the four to five matchup that we all watched seven
Speaker 3: games of last year. But I do think that getting
Speaker 3: past that team, particularly in a quick fashion, which I
Speaker 3: would expect to happen, I think that would be a
Speaker 3: really good sign for this team, just like even if
Speaker 3: it's internally feeling we are so much different than we
Speaker 3: were last year, Like if they can look in the
Speaker 3: mirror and say that after a first round series win
Speaker 3: in four or five games as opposed to seven games
Speaker 3: that it was last year, I think that could be
Speaker 3: a good thing for them.
Speaker 1: I think so too, And I do think that the
Speaker 1: kind of the personnel that Orlando presents do help you
Speaker 1: solve teams like you know, they're going to play a
Speaker 1: very similar style to you know, in terms of their
Speaker 1: ability to switch, in terms of their ability to close
Speaker 1: out on your three point shooters and keep you from
Speaker 1: getting your attempts up against teams like Boston. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm not as worried about New York and Milwaukee on
Speaker 1: the floor, obviously, but like you know, like I do
Speaker 1: think there is some value in having a get the
Speaker 1: offense going in a tough defensive series kind of thing,
Speaker 1: and like to some extent it is like a bit
Speaker 1: of a proof of concept, And no matter what data
Speaker 1: we see and no matter what tape we see, I
Speaker 1: do think every Cavs fan is going to have that
Speaker 1: lingering concern in the back of their mind of like,
Speaker 1: when the pressure gets ratcheted up and when the scout
Speaker 1: gets good and teams are really locked in, is this
Speaker 1: Cavs offense going to score at the level they've been
Speaker 1: scoring in the regular season or at least in the neighborhood.
Speaker 1: Because we're two years in to pretty precipitous dropoffs from
Speaker 1: their regular season average in the postseason, I would continue
Speaker 1: to argue that last year probably deserves a little bit
Speaker 1: more grace than that. I'm not sure any team played
Speaker 1: two tougher matchups on the other side of the floor
Speaker 1: than Orlando than Boston and very shorthanded versus Boston, mind you,
Speaker 1: but like, we still haven't seen this team just go
Speaker 1: for a four or five game series put up one
Speaker 1: hundred and fifteen, one hundred and twenty five, one hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty Like it's been a race to one hundred
Speaker 1: for this team in the playoffs. So I do think
Speaker 1: there's something I don't know. I kind of go both ways,
Speaker 1: because like, it would kind of be nice just to
Speaker 1: play Atlanta and just be like, all right, let's just
Speaker 1: let's just score, let's just play it, let's just play
Speaker 1: our basketball, let's let's play. Let's get a taste of
Speaker 1: what focused playoff basketball looks like without any risk of
Speaker 1: of of you know, bits and starts in an accidentally
Speaker 1: long series.
Speaker 3: Right, So I do think it would be to a
Speaker 3: good thing for the Caves to play the Magic because
Speaker 3: they get that test on the one end of the
Speaker 3: floor where you know, we're going to see exactly what
Speaker 3: their elite, elite, elite level offense looks like against a
Speaker 3: really good defense, and the Magic are still a top
Speaker 3: five defense. They haven't necessarily played like a top five
Speaker 3: defense since you know, the turn of the calendar to
Speaker 3: their best since yes, he has very much changed that team,
Speaker 3: I think, on both ends of the floor, like he's
Speaker 3: been a big, big absence for them. But I think
Speaker 3: that this would be an opportunity for the Caves to
Speaker 3: get a taste at playing a really, really good defense
Speaker 3: without necessarily being totally threatened on the other end of
Speaker 3: the floor, Like Orlando is twenty eighth in offense, They're
Speaker 3: not a team that's going to be able to win
Speaker 3: race to for the most part, one hundred and ten points.
Speaker 2: Like maybe it's not the first to.
Speaker 3: One hundred and twenty five points the way that some
Speaker 3: regular season games have been for the Calves, and the
Speaker 3: Calves have been since February first, the best defense in basketball.
Speaker 3: So that conversation is very much different now than it
Speaker 3: was maybe in November or January when.
Speaker 2: They were not playing great defensively.
Speaker 3: But I think that you look at this and say, Okay,
Speaker 3: maybe that defense in Orlando is going to find a
Speaker 3: way to slow down the Calves a little bit.
Speaker 2: But there's maybe they're not scoring one hundred.
Speaker 3: And twenty five points a night in the playoffs, but
Speaker 3: they're scoring one hundred and seventeen points a night, and
Speaker 3: like that, I think against an Orlando offense, which is
Speaker 3: a tough watch at times, I think, to put it nicely,
Speaker 3: I think that would be more than enough and I
Speaker 3: think that would be a confidence builder as saying, Okay,
Speaker 3: we might not see a tougher defense in the Eastern
Speaker 3: Conference than what we see in the first round against Orlando,
Speaker 3: then they can say, and we figure that out, so
Speaker 3: now we can figure out anything else for us the way,
Speaker 3: whether it's against Milwaukee, Boston, Indie, Detroit, whoever, they could
Speaker 3: see the rest of the way in the Eastern Conference
Speaker 3: playoffs and then now in the finals. Like, Okay, C's
Speaker 3: defense is really really good too, but you worry about
Speaker 3: that if and when you get there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's fair. And I would rather see
Speaker 1: them conquer on the offensive end rather than you know, like,
Speaker 1: I don't know if I would learn as much from
Speaker 1: a first round series against Chicago where they, you know,
Speaker 1: locked down on defense and held Chicago to nothing as
Speaker 1: much as I would learn if the if they were
Speaker 1: able to score on an Orlando, Right, I do think
Speaker 1: there is something better to be learned there. Speaking of
Speaker 1: the race to one hundred, Danny, how many times have
Speaker 1: the Cavs scored less than one hundred points this year?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 3: Man, it can't be many. I mean it has to
Speaker 3: be what's three? One it happened against one, just the
Speaker 3: game against Indy and that's.
Speaker 1: The one against it they lost. They've had a they've
Speaker 1: five of their six losses. Are are their lowest scoring outings.
Speaker 1: They they so like it just goes to show. They
Speaker 1: have two losses this year, sorry three elt Nope, bad
Speaker 1: counting whatever. They don't have a ton of losses when
Speaker 1: they score over one hundred and ten.
Speaker 2: I don't have a ton of losses period.
Speaker 1: No, they sure don't. But yeah, yeah, five of their
Speaker 1: five of their eleven are are are in their are
Speaker 1: in their very worst offensive outings. Really, they've only had one, two, three, four, five, six,
Speaker 1: seven games with less than one ten. So you know,
Speaker 1: I do think like that is where I will start.
Speaker 1: That's and that is going to be the standard I
Speaker 1: kind of expect for the postseason. Like, it's so weird
Speaker 1: to have this team that's kind of been this electric
Speaker 1: on offense and still me having some of these questions
Speaker 1: on offense. I guess I should ask, like, do you
Speaker 1: share my concerns? Do you have that little needle of
Speaker 1: doubt in the back of your mind of like, are
Speaker 1: they gonna are they gonna, you know, tighten up a
Speaker 1: little bit? Is the machine not gonna look so sexy
Speaker 1: in the postseason?
Speaker 3: No, because I think that they would have to tighten
Speaker 3: up so much, Like I don't know that I would
Speaker 3: have a lot offensive rating, right, I don't know that
Speaker 3: I would expect them to have a postseason offensive rating
Speaker 3: of one hundred and twenty two, which is what it's
Speaker 3: around right now for the regular season, Like that might
Speaker 3: be a little.
Speaker 2: High, but I think that if they take.
Speaker 3: A step back offensively, they're still the best offensive team
Speaker 3: in basketball.
Speaker 2: Like they have.
Speaker 3: I think they're they are the leaders in offensive rating
Speaker 3: by more than two points per one hundred possessions in
Speaker 3: denversus number two offense, Like that is a pretty significant
Speaker 3: gap when you look at things. So if they take
Speaker 3: a step back and you factor in, okay, well, most
Speaker 3: other teams are going to take a step back too,
Speaker 3: Like even if the step back that the Calves might
Speaker 3: take on offense in the postseason is bigger, they've built
Speaker 3: up enough of a buffer that it's like, okay, yeah,
Speaker 3: well they're like eight out of ten offensive game is
Speaker 3: better than the nine or ten out of ten offensive
Speaker 3: game for how many other teams in basketball? Like, I
Speaker 3: think that matters as part of this conversation too, And
Speaker 3: so much of this is for shooting, Like if the
Speaker 3: Cavs shoot thirty two percent or better, they've lost from
Speaker 3: three point range. They've lost four times this year. They've
Speaker 3: only lost if they shoot thirty two percent or better.
Speaker 3: They have four losses on the season. I would expect
Speaker 3: them from three point range to be able to shoot
Speaker 3: thirty two percent or better most nights. Like they're just
Speaker 3: when they hit their shots, they're really really hard to beat.
Speaker 3: And I know that is as simple as it gets
Speaker 3: with basketball, to make or miss league. We've all heard
Speaker 3: that before. But when the Cap shots ball well, they
Speaker 3: don't lose. Like that's just who this team is.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I do think their high defensive ceiling and
Speaker 1: them showing that over this last month is important to
Speaker 1: that because you know, the difference between dropping from a
Speaker 1: one oh eight one ten offensive rating to like one
Speaker 1: hundred is pretty brutal, but one twenty to like one
Speaker 1: oh one twelve, one thirteen, one fourteen isn't so bad
Speaker 1: if your defensive rating is also kind of moving commensurate
Speaker 1: with your offense. Like if your if your defense is
Speaker 1: locking down twenty percent more, but your offense is getting
Speaker 1: locked down twenty percent more, you're still in really really
Speaker 1: good shape and you know you're in a position to
Speaker 1: do your best work, and Danny only you can do
Speaker 1: your best work. Zoom AA CampaignOn can help you do
Speaker 1: the rest, like automatically taking notes, answering meeting questions, and
Speaker 1: helping you respond your coworkers. Available at no additional cost
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Speaker 1: It's been a wild year and a really amazing year,
Speaker 1: including one ty Jerome who was yapping' with Palo Bancaro.
Speaker 1: What did you think of that exchange? I thought it
Speaker 1: was fun. I feel like the national scene got to
Speaker 1: see just how much our boy likes to talk.
Speaker 3: Right, I mean, that's who Tie has been all year.
Speaker 3: I think that that swagger, if you will, is a
Speaker 3: part of his game. And I don't know that Ti
Speaker 3: Drome is the player that Tidrome has become this year
Speaker 3: without that type of edge that he's he's found the
Speaker 3: way to play with on a regular basis, Like that
Speaker 3: is part of who he is. He's somebody that is
Speaker 3: going to talk every single night. And you know, you
Speaker 3: got to give him credit the play that he's had
Speaker 3: on the floor. And I will be the first to
Speaker 3: raise my hand and say I did not factor in
Speaker 3: Ti Drome having this amount of success this year to
Speaker 3: what I thought the Calves would be like, for me
Speaker 3: looking at this team before the season, he was kind
Speaker 3: of an afterthought. I don't necessarily know how much organizationally
Speaker 3: the Calves expected him to contribute. I certainly don't think
Speaker 3: they expected him to be a guy that's flirting with
Speaker 3: fifty forty ninety splits. And I haven't looked at what
Speaker 3: his free throw percentages after he missed a few free
Speaker 3: throws on Sunday. But he's had an incredible year and
Speaker 3: I think that he kind.
Speaker 1: Of dropped eighty eight points.
Speaker 2: I know, that's tough. That's tough.
Speaker 3: I th that was what I thought about when he
Speaker 3: missed because he missed three three throws on Sunday, that
Speaker 3: was immediately what I thought of, Like, man, that's especially
Speaker 3: for somebody who doesn't get to the line a ton,
Speaker 3: those three misses are are pretty penal.
Speaker 2: But I think that he brings an edge that the
Speaker 2: Calves kind of need.
Speaker 3: You need somebody on the floor that plays on a
Speaker 3: nightly basis, that has that sort of attitude. And I
Speaker 3: think he's been awesome for them in every way, imaginable
Speaker 3: and better than anyone could have expected.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I saw some I saw some discourse, you know,
Speaker 1: in our in our podcast discord and a few other
Speaker 1: spots that they didn't love the tie. Minutes after that
Speaker 1: kind of verbal scuffle, Uh, you know, thought he played
Speaker 1: a little out of control, and I do. I will
Speaker 1: kind of say, I feel like the tie out of
Speaker 1: control and tie playing the way he's played all year
Speaker 1: kind of exists on a racer's edge, you know, Like
Speaker 1: I feel like sometimes that to me, I felt like
Speaker 1: that was playing the result a little bit, Like, Yeah,
Speaker 1: he kind of had a rough second half, missed the
Speaker 1: three free throws, had a couple a couple of really
Speaker 1: rough turnovers. But I also think like he's been making
Speaker 1: a really really high degree of difficulty decisions all year,
Speaker 1: and like I think, like, you know, if he's able
Speaker 1: to loop that crazy cross court pass over to the
Speaker 1: left wing, then we're talking about what a great pass
Speaker 1: I was have he If he finishes a couple of
Speaker 1: those crazy floaters, then we're really happy. I mean, the
Speaker 1: free throws, I just don't know what you say. He's
Speaker 1: miss free throws, which you know we see Larious Garland
Speaker 1: miss free throws with that, Do you think it was
Speaker 1: playing the result? Do you think or do you think
Speaker 1: that was an opportunity where you know, if you're coaching
Speaker 1: the team, maybe you give a little more Isaacle Coro
Speaker 1: run or or something like that, just to change the rhythm,
Speaker 1: you know, when the games kind of slipping away from you.
Speaker 3: No, because I think that, and we just got done
Speaker 3: talking about the ball pressure that Orlando was able to
Speaker 3: present to the Cavs, I think that they needed a
Speaker 3: little bit more additional, you know, ball handling on the floor.
Speaker 3: And that's why I think Tye is kind of given
Speaker 3: that longer leash there even on a night when he
Speaker 3: maybe doesn't have his best stuff, and that's going to
Speaker 3: happen over the course of eighty two games.
Speaker 2: Like I don't think he should be faulted for.
Speaker 3: Not having his best game of the season on Sunday,
Speaker 3: but I thought that the shooting that he provides, the
Speaker 3: ball handling, and I know that it wasn't all great
Speaker 3: and Tye plays One of the things that I really
Speaker 3: really enjoy about his game is that he plays the
Speaker 3: game at a much different speed than anybody else. And
Speaker 3: part of the reason why I've always really loved Darius
Speaker 3: Garland's game from the time that he first got to
Speaker 3: Cleveland is it felt like he have the ability to
Speaker 3: play slow, right, Like he could kind of slow things
Speaker 3: down and still find his spots and use a change
Speaker 3: of pace that can be really hard for other guys
Speaker 3: to get to. And it feels like Tie doesn't necessarily
Speaker 3: always play at that change of pace, but he plays
Speaker 3: at that change of.
Speaker 2: Pace far more frequently than anybody that I can think.
Speaker 1: Of slow and he can play slower.
Speaker 2: Right, yes exactly.
Speaker 3: I mean, how many guys get into the paint slower
Speaker 3: than Ti Jrome does And it works so perfectly because
Speaker 3: defenses are not used to it, Like it's such a
Speaker 3: hard thing to defend because we think about athleticism being oh,
Speaker 3: this guy is just bigger, stronger, faster. Sometimes athleticism can
Speaker 3: be about changing speed and changing directions. And when you
Speaker 3: think about changing speed, you think about going from fast
Speaker 3: to fast. Tie goes from sometimes fast too slow, too slower,
Speaker 3: And I think that is just as difficult as a
Speaker 3: change to defend against as going from fast to faster.
Speaker 3: And I think that's one of the beautiful parts of
Speaker 3: his game.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, you won't find a bigger Tige your
Speaker 1: own fan than me. I really do think he should
Speaker 1: have legitimate six Man of the year consideration. I think
Speaker 1: most of the stats when you look at the per
Speaker 1: thirty six is right next to Peyton Pritchard, Who's going
Speaker 1: to win it. Apparently all you got to do to
Speaker 1: win six Man of the Year is play in Boston.
Speaker 1: Uh uh, you know with Brogen winned it a couple
Speaker 1: of years ago. Any any really Niche award, We gave it.
Speaker 1: We gave the point of Marcus smart out of control,
Speaker 1: these these Boston media. But you know, I I do.
Speaker 1: I do think that he was a guy who I was,
Speaker 1: you know, more than happy to see uh get them
Speaker 1: minutes he got, even if the results were a little
Speaker 1: up and down in the in the second half. And
Speaker 1: like I also would argue, like for those that wanted
Speaker 1: more Corman, it's like Cas did great on Franz Wagner
Speaker 1: and Paolo Bankero, like even without Evan, And I thought
Speaker 1: with that, no Evan Okora was going to be really
Speaker 1: really needed to throw on a Pallo or Franz just
Speaker 1: because you just you need a lot of warm bodies
Speaker 1: to throw at them. I felt like they did great
Speaker 1: on those guys, and I don't think that Paola or
Speaker 1: Franz really ever got comfortable on the offensive end of
Speaker 1: the ball. So it was a rare game. Normally, I
Speaker 1: feel like when I see, you know, losses always bring
Speaker 1: out rotation criticisms. For me, I just didn't really see
Speaker 1: it in this one. I thought, I thought the Tristan
Speaker 1: minutes were a little tough, but I mean they won
Speaker 1: those minutes, right, So I don't know. I just don't
Speaker 1: know how to feel.
Speaker 3: Even the first half minutes for a corps, I think
Speaker 3: the Calves were a minus in those minutes. Those minutes
Speaker 3: did not go well. He might have been like a
Speaker 3: minus thirteen to seven minutes. And of course that was
Speaker 3: when Orlando went on its run, and that's not Isaaca
Speaker 3: Korro's faulton After the game, Kenny Atkinson said that that
Speaker 3: was him not playing in the second half is sort
Speaker 3: of a victim of circumstance things. So if you remember,
Speaker 3: Tristan was at the scorers table to check in for
Speaker 3: Jared Allen with about three minutes left in the third quarter,
Speaker 3: and the next whistle was Jared Allen got fouled and
Speaker 3: had to go to the free throw lines. Of course,
Speaker 3: you can't check in for a guy the shooting free throw,
Speaker 3: so Jared ended up playing a longer stint, which means
Speaker 3: Tristan didn't get on the floor until later. And then
Speaker 3: instead of having Isaac mccuorro come in and maybe play
Speaker 3: some deanweight at the five minutes early in the fourth quarter,
Speaker 3: the Calves didn't do that because Tristan's run hadn't been
Speaker 3: very long yet, and then they were ready to go
Speaker 3: back to Jared Allen. So that's kind of the reason
Speaker 3: too that you look at is Okay, maybe that's why
Speaker 3: Isaac coccuero wasn't on the floor in the second half,
Speaker 3: and you no, I think that with what he would
Speaker 3: have been tasked doing, I don't know that that's where
Speaker 3: the Calves needed the help.
Speaker 2: Like I think they needed help to make shots.
Speaker 3: And Isaac is certainly pre shoulder injury, was shooting the
Speaker 3: leather off the basketball.
Speaker 2: Hasn't been as good since.
Speaker 3: Injuring that right shoulder, and that's a really difficult thing
Speaker 3: to come back from in the middle of the season.
Speaker 3: But they needed more offense, and I just don't know
Speaker 3: that you're looking at Isaac mcuorro to provide that in
Speaker 3: that spot.
Speaker 1: Now, I'm with you, I mean, I really think you know,
Speaker 1: if you're looking for a bit more space, a little
Speaker 1: more shooting, a little bit more creation, you're going to
Speaker 1: play and Sam Merril the majority of those minutes. And
Speaker 1: that's what Kenny did. You know, Sam has a nightmare
Speaker 1: shooting game. He go misses first six threes, and sometimes
Speaker 1: you just have games like that where things just aren't falling.
Speaker 1: And you know, it is always important to say, like,
Speaker 1: people don't like it when we do the open three
Speaker 1: point stats, but they matter. And the Cavs shot five
Speaker 1: of fourteen on wide open threes. They shot four of
Speaker 1: eighteen on slightly contested threes. So you know, nine of
Speaker 1: thirty two on open or on wide open or somewhat
Speaker 1: open shots is like, that's just a tough hill to climb.
Speaker 1: You know, they didn't. I thought Orlando did do a
Speaker 1: lot of interesting stuff. And like one thing I will
Speaker 1: say is this was a game where you miss Evan
Speaker 1: on the offensive end of the floor.
Speaker 3: One hundred percent. I thought that they missed his playmaking
Speaker 3: more than anything on offense. Like, I think a big
Speaker 3: part of his success this year has obviously been he's
Speaker 3: been more aggressive and seeking out his own shot.
Speaker 2: He's been more aggressive going to the basket.
Speaker 3: He's been far less hesitant, I think beyond the arc
Speaker 3: shooting the basketball.
Speaker 2: But what he's been good at.
Speaker 3: His entire career I think has been the playmaking thing,
Speaker 3: and that's probably been a little bit underrated from him.
Speaker 3: But in watching that game, especially as you talk about
Speaker 3: with the ball pressure, it's like, Okay, well, how would
Speaker 3: this offense look different if Evan's making a few plays
Speaker 3: and finding open shooters? How would things look different for
Speaker 3: you know, Donovan Mitchell in particular, who spends a lot
Speaker 3: of time on the floor with Evan mobile, Like, how
Speaker 3: would that have changed his game that he had on Sunday?
Speaker 2: I thought they missed him.
Speaker 3: And it's easy to say this in a game where
Speaker 3: they lose, giving up one hundred and eight points, like
Speaker 3: it was not a bad defensive effort by any stretch
Speaker 3: of the imagination. But I thought it was clear they
Speaker 3: missed him a ton on offense. And I don't want
Speaker 3: to say they don't miss the defensive player of the
Speaker 3: year on defense because that wouldn't be entirely true. But
Speaker 3: they played well enough on that end of the floor
Speaker 3: be like, eh, you could take the day off defensively
Speaker 3: and you didn't necessarily feel it a ton and then
Speaker 3: offensive was like I would have liked that there.
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, I feel like the thing with Evan on
Speaker 1: offense is because everything else in the machine is worked
Speaker 1: so well. This year, it's felt like his offensive growth
Speaker 1: has been the straw that breaks the camel back a
Speaker 1: lot in a lot of these games. You know, you
Speaker 1: look at that Memphis game where he hits three straight threes,
Speaker 1: and you just felt like the game was over right away,
Speaker 1: Like he hit those three threes and I'm like, all right,
Speaker 1: we're done. We're done here he's bullying Zachy off the floor,
Speaker 1: and you know, that's been so much of what he's
Speaker 1: done has been that extra piece to push them over
Speaker 1: the top, and very rarely has he had to be
Speaker 1: the guy that's raising the floor for the offense. But
Speaker 1: Orlando made a scheme change in this game. Jared Allen
Speaker 1: just had a parade of free runs in the pick
Speaker 1: and roll in that first half, and they were crashing
Speaker 1: down hard. They were taking advantage of the fact that
Speaker 1: the Cows weren't hitting, because again the Cows regenerating a
Speaker 1: lot of open looks, but they were crashing down hard.
Speaker 1: Darius had five turnovers, Donovan had three. I'll bet five
Speaker 1: or six of those were in the second half of
Speaker 1: just them trying to hit a pocket pass to Jared
Speaker 1: in Orlando crashing in and forcing and hitting him early.
Speaker 1: And if you're able to get Evan the ball, you know,
Speaker 1: on those on those kind of slips at the top
Speaker 1: of the arc or running an inverted pick and roll
Speaker 1: or whatever it may be, there are things that you know,
Speaker 1: as good as Jared's gotten with the ball, you still
Speaker 1: don't want him taking five or six dribbles in a possession.
Speaker 1: You know, you want one dribble, you know, step step,
Speaker 1: lay up or floater or pass, like that's just that's
Speaker 1: just where Jared's game is. And I felt like that
Speaker 1: with no Evian on the floor or Lander just kind
Speaker 1: of said, Hey, whatever you want to do, we're just
Speaker 1: not going to give you those two steps, We're going
Speaker 1: to make you. We're going to make you beat us
Speaker 1: in another way. And I feel like that's part of
Speaker 1: why the Cabs offense short circuit is because the thing
Speaker 1: that was so successful went away and then it's it's like, okay,
Speaker 1: well now what because running off ball stuff, no one
Speaker 1: chases harder than Orlando off ball and no one's more physical,
Speaker 1: blowing up screens than Orlando, And I do think like
Speaker 1: that is where Evan raises the floor of the offense
Speaker 1: as much as he raises the ceiling, because he can
Speaker 1: just do different stuff that you that you just don't
Speaker 1: get to do when he's not on the.
Speaker 3: Floor, right, And I think that having another guy that
Speaker 3: can too go and get his own stuff, like go
Speaker 3: and get his own basket too, and that's been a
Speaker 3: big I think a big plus of adding DeAndre Hunter
Speaker 3: is having somebody else that's a little bit bigger, that
Speaker 3: has that wingspan that can kind of create for himself.
Speaker 3: Like I think he's been really awesome in that area.
Speaker 3: But I think that they missed Evan's playmaking. They missed
Speaker 3: him getting downhill to the basket, being aggressive. And I
Speaker 3: don't know that Orlando can make the same adjustments they
Speaker 3: made after that first quarter where the Caps scored thirty
Speaker 3: eight points if Evan Mobley's on the floor, Like, I
Speaker 3: think that that game really speaks to his importance side
Speaker 3: on that end. And to your point about the turnovers,
Speaker 3: Darius and Donovan combined to have eight turnovers on Sunday,
Speaker 3: Seven of them came in the second half, so it
Speaker 3: was a big adjustment that Orlando made, And I don't
Speaker 3: know that the Magic deserves all of the credit for that.
Speaker 3: Like I think some of that was a little bit
Speaker 3: of a lack of maybe attention to detail on offense.
Speaker 2: But it's something that just Evan mobile. He solves a
Speaker 2: lot of problems for this team, like he really truly does.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they're one and three and their last four without Evan.
Speaker 1: In games Evan has played, they're on a seventy three
Speaker 1: win pace, And if he had played all eighty two,
Speaker 1: and that doesn't include the Miami game, he left in
Speaker 1: the first quarter. So, like, I mean, clearly they miss him.
Speaker 1: Are you at the point now where you would say
Speaker 1: he is their most important player, like the guy who
Speaker 1: is most crucial for them to do what they want
Speaker 1: to do? Obviously it's hard in tight margins here, right.
Speaker 3: I think it kind of depends on the matchup, you know.
Speaker 3: I was having a conversation with somebody about this a
Speaker 3: little bit earlier today, And I think for the Calves
Speaker 3: to win the finals in a I think they're gonna
Speaker 3: have to get through Boston in the Eastern Conference. Like
Speaker 3: I really truly feel strongly that's gonna be the Eastern
Speaker 3: Conference Finals, and I think for the Calves to win
Speaker 3: that series, Donovan Mitchell probably has to be the best
Speaker 3: player in that series for the Calves because of how
Speaker 3: well he's played against Boston, just because of the some
Speaker 3: of the defensive stuff against Darius, and I think some
Speaker 3: of the numbers with Evan against Porzingis have also not
Speaker 3: been great. I think that has to be Donovan Mitchell
Speaker 3: series and say they get past that.
Speaker 2: And okay, so he's waiting for them on the other end.
Speaker 3: That's the series. I think Evan needs to be the
Speaker 3: best player in the Caves. Like I just think it
Speaker 3: kind of depends. It's a matchup dependent thing. Like he
Speaker 3: is obviously vital to winning I think any series in
Speaker 3: the postseason, but I think like his importance level varies
Speaker 3: maybe a little bit depending on who the opponent is
Speaker 3: to and just how things look stylistically.
Speaker 1: I think it goes to speak to how well these
Speaker 1: top four dudes fit together that that is the answer,
Speaker 1: Because I think you're right. I was getting ready to
Speaker 1: just say it's Evan, but I think I think you
Speaker 1: already swayed me off of that to say that it
Speaker 1: is what I'm here for. Thanks buddy. I do think
Speaker 1: it is going to be inherently matchup based, and I
Speaker 1: do think it's reflective of how these dudes paper over
Speaker 1: each other's weaknesses. You know, you could, you could certainly
Speaker 1: make the case that it's Evan, But to your point,
Speaker 1: if you're in Boston and you don't have Donovan Mitchell
Speaker 1: for a game, and you're like, A, who's gonna just
Speaker 1: create a bucket for us? Because that's not Darius isn't
Speaker 1: a great bucket generator on his own. Evan is not
Speaker 1: a great bucket generator on his own. Jared is not
Speaker 1: a great bucket generator on his own. All great scorers,
Speaker 1: all great, very helpful players, but they're not just the
Speaker 1: you know, the ISO star that Donovan can be, especially
Speaker 1: against that Boston team, and you know, with with if
Speaker 1: Darius wasn't in the game, we'd probably be like, can
Speaker 1: someone get us into the offense? You know, so it's
Speaker 1: just like everyone covers up. You know. I don't think
Speaker 1: any of those four guys, and certainly at the top three,
Speaker 1: I don't think any of the those three have like horrific, glaring,
Speaker 1: like five alarm fire weaknesses, but they do have things
Speaker 1: that maybe they're like a B minus at and the
Speaker 1: playoffs require playoffs require a lot of A pluses, you know,
Speaker 1: and so the fact that these four I do think
Speaker 1: it is so core to their identity that all of
Speaker 1: these guys can have all these different A plus elements
Speaker 1: to their game. And there's been a lot of talk
Speaker 1: about depth in the postseason and top end depth, you know,
Speaker 1: which is a bit of an oxymoron, but I do
Speaker 1: think it's a real thing where like having you know,
Speaker 1: That's why I think Boston won the title last year
Speaker 1: because they had four or five guys who could literally
Speaker 1: take over a half with their play. And I think
Speaker 1: the Calves are right there with that top end depth.
Speaker 1: They have enough guys who can get to an A
Speaker 1: plus and whatever the game needs them to have that
Speaker 1: you know, they they can. They have that high ceiling,
Speaker 1: so they.
Speaker 3: They have the ability to, you know, And I think
Speaker 3: this is one of the best parts about this team
Speaker 3: is that on how many games can you look at
Speaker 3: and in big games and just be like, you know what,
Speaker 3: Jared Allen was one of the biggest reasons why the
Speaker 3: Cavs won this game, Like you can, I can think
Speaker 3: of the OKAC game in Cleveland that they won that
Speaker 3: game because Jared Allen had twenty five points and however
Speaker 3: many rebounds he had in that game, like he was spectacular,
Speaker 3: or how many games did they win because Donovan Mitchell
Speaker 3: was just a flat out superstar, Like you look at
Speaker 3: the game they just won in Boston a few weeks ago.
Speaker 2: That was absolutely part of it.
Speaker 3: Darius Garland has games like that, Evan Mobley has games
Speaker 3: like that, like they just the top end depth, I
Speaker 3: think is a great way to look at it, because there.
Speaker 2: Are not many teams in the NBA that have the luxury.
Speaker 3: Of the fourth best player on the team is somebody
Speaker 3: that is as good as Jared Allen and also as
Speaker 3: unselfish as Jared Allen, Like if I think that, and
Speaker 3: he won't do this because this is not who Jared
Speaker 3: Allen is. And that's part of the reason why the
Speaker 3: Calves work. Like Jared is a good enough player to
Speaker 3: be like I should get the ball more like I
Speaker 3: should be scoring twenty two to twenty five points a game.
Speaker 3: But that's not who Jared Allen is. And that's part
Speaker 3: of the thing that makes this team so special is
Speaker 3: that he is that talented and doesn't necessarily require some
Speaker 3: of the maintenance that maybe other guys of his caliber
Speaker 3: in other situations might I.
Speaker 1: Was really thinking, like I was thinking that by the
Speaker 1: end of Jared's tenure, he might be my favorite CAV ever,
Speaker 1: just in terms of his complete, unique perspective, his general demeanor,
Speaker 1: what a good duty is. Like, you know, I will
Speaker 1: always remember that that poster where he tried to do
Speaker 1: that I'm me, I'm him, and then he breaks out
Speaker 1: laughing because he can't even hold on. It's trying to
Speaker 1: be a hard ass for more than five minutes or
Speaker 1: for more than five seconds. It's just immediately a collapse. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they really do have it all, And like I do
Speaker 1: think it really and maybe I'm over into on last
Speaker 1: year's title because that's what we do, right. We always
Speaker 1: try to learn maybe too many lessons from the most
Speaker 1: recent success. But I do think, like I don't really
Speaker 1: think it matters that much how good the middle class
Speaker 1: of your roster is. If you don't have three or
Speaker 1: four guys or you have a Yo Kicch or something
Speaker 1: like that who can just consistently be supernova. But if
Speaker 1: you don't have at least two dudes who can take
Speaker 1: over a game for stretches, who can dominate a quarter
Speaker 1: or two quarters, then I just think you're dead in
Speaker 1: the water. And I think so much of what we've
Speaker 1: seen from this season, and like, yeah, you have to
Speaker 1: give Tie his flowers, you have to give guys like
Speaker 1: Max Struce their flowers, and even Keras and Niang before
Speaker 1: they were traded their flowers. But I do think so
Speaker 1: much of their success is built around the ecosystem that
Speaker 1: the the team provide. Like it's just not, like I've
Speaker 1: said it a lot this year, I just don't think
Speaker 1: it's that hard to play your best basketball for the
Speaker 1: Cleveland Cavaliers this year.
Speaker 3: No, I couldn't agree with that more. And I think
Speaker 3: a big part of that too, is this team when
Speaker 3: they're playing their best, and even sometimes when they're not
Speaker 3: playing their best, Like think to the buzzer beater that
Speaker 3: DeAndre Hunter hit just before halftime on Sunday, and how fun.
Speaker 1: I'm so mad that that wiped out by the loss.
Speaker 3: Right, But like they have moments like that, and it
Speaker 3: seems like this team just genuinely enjoys.
Speaker 2: Playing basketball together.
Speaker 3: And I think that's a really rare and special thing
Speaker 3: that should probably be a little bit like celebrated more
Speaker 3: than it is by the public, by fans just like
Speaker 3: this is so special because you don't often see this
Speaker 3: and it doesn't last forever. But the way that this
Speaker 3: team genuinely seems to love and Karen enjoy playing basketball
Speaker 3: with each other is a really really cool thing to
Speaker 3: watch on a regular basis too.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll tell you what. I spent my whole life
Speaker 1: hearing people complain that the NBA players don't care, are
Speaker 1: only out for themselves, don't play defense, don't try hard,
Speaker 1: And so I imagine everyone I grew up with must love
Speaker 1: this Cavaliers team, and the in the in the entire
Speaker 1: country must be falling in love with this Cavaliers team.
Speaker 1: Oh wait, no, they're just complaining about something else. That's because,
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, this is a sport. He goes that
Speaker 1: that voice the most bad faith complaints. But yeah, it's
Speaker 1: been it's been an amazing season. It's been a lot
Speaker 1: of fun. Even after a loss. They almost it almost
Speaker 1: does wake you up to how fun the year is.
Speaker 1: We're like, oh wait, I have to feel I felt
Speaker 1: like this like twenty plus times last year. You you know,
Speaker 1: like it does really, you know, we've been very spoiled
Speaker 1: and I did want before we said goodbye, I did
Speaker 1: want to just take a look into the next week
Speaker 1: for the Cavs because attorneys in town BA Baby Calves
Speaker 1: are going on the road. We've got a five game
Speaker 1: road trip at LA at Sacramento, at Phoenix, at Utah,
Speaker 1: at Portland. Four of those five games very late, starting
Speaker 1: at ten o'clock Eastern time or later. Before we dive in,
Speaker 1: I'm going to give my forever precursor. If things aren't
Speaker 1: going well, or maybe they're not going the way you
Speaker 1: want them to, and you, as a fan, are finding
Speaker 1: yourself getting a little grumpy drawing big conclusions, I just
Speaker 1: want to remind you you're sleepy. You're staying up till
Speaker 1: one thirty in the morning watching basketball and then probably
Speaker 1: taking an hour to wind down after the game, so
Speaker 1: you're really going to bed at like two thirty, and
Speaker 1: then you're waking up at seven point thirty to go
Speaker 1: work out, get ready to go to work, and then
Speaker 1: you're just not sleeping enough, so you're grumpy. So just
Speaker 1: remind yourself, dude, am I really mad? Or am I
Speaker 1: just tired? All right, preamble over, Danny, what do you
Speaker 1: expect from this West Coast trip? You know, on one hand,
Speaker 1: this team has bounced back unbelievably well from losses, but
Speaker 1: on the other it's just a grueling margin. This is
Speaker 1: about as grueling of a trip as they're going to have, right.
Speaker 3: So I think that Tuesday's game is the one I'm
Speaker 3: most interested in because one it is the one right
Speaker 3: after a loss, and two it comes against a really
Speaker 3: good defense. The Clippers are third in defensive rating entering
Speaker 3: games on Monday for the entire season. Like that is
Speaker 3: how they have built the record that they have. That
Speaker 3: is why they're in the playoff picture out West is
Speaker 3: because they're a really good defensive team. After that, I
Speaker 3: kind of think this could serve as a get right
Speaker 3: trip for the Cavs offense because you look at Yes,
Speaker 3: Sacramento is on the second edge of a back to back.
Speaker 3: The Kings will be rested that the Cavs won't be,
Speaker 3: but they're a below average defense. The Blazers have been
Speaker 3: a better defense lately, but they're still sixteenth for this season.
Speaker 3: Phoenix has the worst vibes in the NBA and one
Speaker 3: of the worst defenses too. Gee imagine that, and then
Speaker 3: Utah is the second worst defense in basketball.
Speaker 1: Like I think that if the Caves are the wheels
Speaker 1: off on that campaign.
Speaker 2: Oh my goodness, I.
Speaker 1: Heard Walker Kestler took like six threes in the game.
Speaker 1: I was like, Oh my god, it's just.
Speaker 3: It is they have they have a goal out there,
Speaker 3: and that goal is not to beat the Calves next Sunday,
Speaker 3: but they the.
Speaker 1: Casas is walking through these doors.
Speaker 2: Danny, what a callback. Oh my goodness.
Speaker 3: But the Calves have been fifteenth in offense in the
Speaker 3: month of March, and that's not who they are as
Speaker 3: a basketball team. I think they're in a little bit
Speaker 3: of a shooting malaise, if you will, and I think
Speaker 3: that going against some of the defenses that they're going
Speaker 3: to see over the next week and change is something
Speaker 3: that could serve as a bit of an antidote towards
Speaker 3: their their shooting struggles.
Speaker 2: As of late.
Speaker 3: And I would expect by the time they return home
Speaker 3: next week that they will look much more like the
Speaker 3: team that has been number one in offense virtually the
Speaker 3: entire season than what we've seen lately.
Speaker 1: All Right, Danny, before we go, I just got because
Speaker 1: we're probably not going to have you back on before
Speaker 1: the end of the season, because there ain't that much
Speaker 1: season left. I got to ask you, what's this team's
Speaker 1: final record.
Speaker 3: The final regular season record. I think they are going
Speaker 3: to go sixty eight and fourteen. I think that they
Speaker 3: will lose three more games this year. I don't know
Speaker 3: that they will necessarily play everybody in some of those losses.
Speaker 3: I think that we could see some games down the
Speaker 3: stretch where the Cavs value being a little bit rested
Speaker 3: and healthy for the postseason as opposed to going all
Speaker 3: out to win every single regular season game. I think
Speaker 3: they're going to get to sixty eight wins and set
Speaker 3: a new franchise record for the best regular season in
Speaker 3: Cavs history.
Speaker 1: Brother, I think I'm right there with you. I got
Speaker 1: to say, I was really really hoping for seventy. Seventy
Speaker 1: just felt like such a special number to reach. And
Speaker 1: obviously it's not out of question. They could only lose
Speaker 1: one more game, but they've had, you know, they've had
Speaker 1: enough insane win streaks this season that I'm not counting
Speaker 1: it out. But I do think sixty eight feels like
Speaker 1: a really good number. You know, fourteen losses over a
Speaker 1: basketball season is bananas, and it would be one of
Speaker 1: the greatest seasons in the history of the sport, which
Speaker 1: reflects how good this team is. So you know, I
Speaker 1: think I think it's a very reasonable prediction and and
Speaker 1: and very fair and would still put them. Well, now
Speaker 1: here's the other question is do they hold off Okay,
Speaker 1: see for the number one overall record in the league.
Speaker 2: I think sixty eight wins would would do that.
Speaker 1: I think that's ok.
Speaker 2: He's probably gonna win sixty six if I had to bet.
Speaker 2: And I think the craziest thing about what you.
Speaker 3: Just said is I said I think they're gonna win
Speaker 3: sixty eight games in euro That's pretty reasonable for prediction there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're being we're being measured and cautious observers of
Speaker 1: the game. All right, Danny, before I before we go
Speaker 1: go ahead and plug your stuff. You do unbelievable work
Speaker 1: and really really appreciate it having you on.
Speaker 3: Well, I appreciate that you can find me every day
Speaker 3: wherever you get your podcasts over at locked on Calves
Speaker 3: coming your way just about every single day at.
Speaker 2: This point, weekends included.
Speaker 3: And you can find everything I write about the Cleveland
Speaker 3: Cavaliers at my subsect.
Speaker 2: The inside Shot.
Speaker 3: Links for that and everything I do can be found
Speaker 3: on my social media at really cunning him on Twitter
Speaker 3: or Danny Cunningham on Blue Sky.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you so much. Go subscribe to Danny
Speaker 1: Cunningham substack. It is unbelievable. It's some of the best
Speaker 1: writing that you're going to see covering this team. It's
Speaker 1: really really nice to get that extra perspective on top
Speaker 1: of the pods. Also highly recommend your beginning of the
Speaker 1: week whip around pods with Beat reporters or people who
Speaker 1: cover each individual team. I think those are some of
Speaker 1: my most informational and kind of quick, quick digestive snapshots
Speaker 1: of what the Cavs week is going to look like.
Speaker 1: So thank you so much for coming on, Danny, and
Speaker 1: really appreciate you, and I really appreciate you listeners and
Speaker 1: viewers of the Chase Down. If you'd like to support
Speaker 1: the podcasts, go ahead subscribe on Subscribe resubscribe and help
Speaker 1: cook those books. If you're watching on YouTube, go ahead
Speaker 1: and to hit the subscribe button on the Calves official
Speaker 1: YouTube channel. Go ahead and like this video if you
Speaker 1: if you're feeling if you're feeling kind, my deepest, deepest
Speaker 1: and best wishes go to my poor sick co host.
Speaker 1: We love you. So much justin get better. Thank you
Speaker 1: so much for watching and listening and as always go
Speaker 1: get