Speaker 1: This crowd rises to its me what Carlos slamming it?
Speaker 1: Oh Carlo, left wing free ball perfect, darl then Hellift
Speaker 1: lock the shot at the rim, pow in the left
Speaker 1: hand and of fowl. Welcome to Chase Doown podcast, part
Speaker 1: of the Cave Media Family. I'm your host, Justin Browan.
Speaker 1: The Chase Down is presented by Fubo, the official streaming
Speaker 1: partner of the Calves. Watch over three hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: channels of live sports and TV, including Vanduel Sports Network
Speaker 1: without cable. There's no cost and no commitment. Try for
Speaker 1: free at foobotv dot com Slash Calves. The Cleveland Cavaliers
Speaker 1: have won their fourteenth consecutive game with a comfortable win
Speaker 1: over the Milwaukee Bucks. A good test for them, one
Speaker 1: of the few teams that they are still measuring themselves
Speaker 1: up against, a potential second round matchup for them, and they.
Speaker 2: Got the win in Milwaukee.
Speaker 1: Joining me today to discuss that and the upcoming stretch
Speaker 1: is my co host Carter Rodriguez. Carter, how you doing, Buddy,
Speaker 1: I'm doing great. It is a really one of the
Speaker 1: first really lovely day of the burgeoning spring in Columbus, Ohio.
Speaker 1: Kids were out without their coats on, playing with a
Speaker 1: bubble machine going down the slide. It was absolutely wonderful.
Speaker 1: I'm sipping on a Mystic Mama from Jackie O's I'm
Speaker 1: in a great mood, and the Cavs certainly have done
Speaker 1: nothing to hurt that fourteen wins in a row, and
Speaker 1: it felt to me justin I don't know if the
Speaker 1: matchup mattered as much as much as their approach to
Speaker 1: the matchup mattered. You know, I think they've proven everything
Speaker 1: they probably want to prove against the Bucks in the
Speaker 1: first couple games of the year. But they you know,
Speaker 1: we joked on our last podcast that admit it. You know,
Speaker 1: a thirteen game win streak. Were they slumping a little?
Speaker 1: And I felt like this game really was a demonstration
Speaker 1: of what a focused Cavs team can do even when
Speaker 1: they're not playing that well, because I thought they outplayed
Speaker 1: the Milwaukee Bucks for forty eight minutes last night. Do
Speaker 1: you feel that they didn't play that well last night
Speaker 1: or they didn't shoot that well?
Speaker 2: But yeah, that's what I meant.
Speaker 1: I meant even when things aren't firing on all cylinders,
Speaker 1: like their attention to detail and their their system and
Speaker 1: their connectedness, all those things were going for them, and
Speaker 1: even when they're not shooting particularly well, they're still just better.
Speaker 1: Like I thought, Jannis brought an a game and you know,
Speaker 1: he probably had six dunks through two and a half quarters.
Speaker 1: And I jumped on to the Fear of the Sword
Speaker 1: playback a live stream just to kind of react to
Speaker 1: the game in real time with Tony Pesta talking about,
Speaker 1: oh man, yeah, it's having a great game, and all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, I look at the box scorers, like
Speaker 1: twenty six points on twenty shots. Oh, it's not that good.
Speaker 1: You know, like they really trusted their own process us
Speaker 1: in this game, and it made it. They just kind
Speaker 1: of ground Milwaukee down to a dust until and then
Speaker 1: Jarrett kind of puts the puts the finishing touch with
Speaker 1: that poster on Brook Lopez and and it looks it's
Speaker 1: just a walk away victory, even when Donovan goes four
Speaker 1: to fifteen, Darius goes four to thirteen, combined two of
Speaker 1: fifteen from three from those guys, and it just didn't
Speaker 1: really matter.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: It's really funny because when I reflect back on kind
Speaker 1: of the four games that we've had against Milwaukee this season,
Speaker 1: normally the formula when you play the bucks is, hey,
Speaker 1: when Giannie has got it going, you want to play
Speaker 1: that to a draw, right like you want to you know,
Speaker 1: hang around and then when he goes to the bench,
Speaker 1: you can make a little bit of a run and
Speaker 1: you can pull.
Speaker 2: Away at that time.
Speaker 1: I think it's fair to say that Jannis is the
Speaker 1: best player in the Eastern Conference. Like when I look
Speaker 1: kind of at the best players on the best team
Speaker 1: throughout the East or even across the league, that like
Speaker 1: Tier one group of like yokicch Shay, Jannie Lebron, Luca,
Speaker 1: like that group, there's really only one of them in
Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference where just definitively if you go into
Speaker 1: a series, that's the number one guy. Jason Tatum, Jlen Brown,
Speaker 1: you know, Jalen Brunson, all those guys. If we're in
Speaker 1: a series against them, there is a chance that someone
Speaker 1: on the Caves is the best player in that series.
Speaker 1: I think Giannis is one of those guys that he's
Speaker 1: just going to be that best player no matter what,
Speaker 1: and for the Cavs to win the yannest minutes in
Speaker 1: every single one of these matchups, or at least it
Speaker 1: feels like that. I know that was the case for
Speaker 1: the first two and then he didn't play the third.
Speaker 1: But in everything they did, they definitely won the minutes
Speaker 1: with Giannis in the third matchup where he didn't play, Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: we did terrific there in those minutes. But you know,
Speaker 1: to outscore the Bucks by thirteen in honest's minutes again,
Speaker 1: Like that's really really encouraging because he is tough to handle.
Speaker 1: He's going to get his own he's going to test
Speaker 1: your defense, and I don't think every team is built
Speaker 1: to handle what Yannis is capable of doing offensively, the
Speaker 1: way that he plays with so much force, going to
Speaker 1: the basket with such relentlessness, the way that he's able
Speaker 1: to get his own rebound and second chance opportunities, and
Speaker 1: the Cavs have bodies to throw at him, right, Like
Speaker 1: DeAndre Hunter can do a good job. Dean Wade does
Speaker 1: a good job. Max Deane has always done a good job.
Speaker 1: And I thought he really battled in this game because
Speaker 1: normally he does a good job of kind of baiting
Speaker 1: Giannis into his worst habits, and Giannis was not having it,
Speaker 1: Like he was going through his chest as much as
Speaker 1: he could. And you know, when you're Dean Wade and
Speaker 1: you just don't have the physical advantages there. You just
Speaker 1: got to hang on pe to your life and hope
Speaker 1: the help comes. I thought he did. He didn't change.
Speaker 1: You know, again at the beginning I said it was
Speaker 1: really steadfast the game plan from the cab. I think
Speaker 1: that was really emblematic in the way Dean was guarding.
Speaker 1: You know, He's like, I'm just going to do my best.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to go crazy. I'm not going to
Speaker 1: reach I'm not going to try to I'm not going
Speaker 1: to change what I'm doing. I'm just going to trust
Speaker 1: that eventually it's going to take him one more bump
Speaker 1: to get through me than he wants, and we're going
Speaker 1: to be able to bring help and we're going to
Speaker 1: get the stops we need.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And you know, on the other end, while the Cats
Speaker 1: held up well defensively and did a great job on
Speaker 1: you honest, the Bucks really struggled with the cast, particularly
Speaker 1: on the perimeter. You know, when when you look at
Speaker 1: this matchup on paper, you would think that is the
Speaker 1: way that this should go, right, Damian Lillard is going
Speaker 1: to be a target on defense, not a target in
Speaker 1: the way that you know, Boston will target Darius or Donovan,
Speaker 1: were like, hey, we can shoot over these shorter guys.
Speaker 1: You can get by name, Like you're he's going to
Speaker 1: allow very easy penetration. It's not shooting over you're getting
Speaker 1: by him. Gary Trent Junior I thought had a tough game.
Speaker 1: There were times that he was a little bit pesky
Speaker 1: and physical, but he's one of those guys that's going
Speaker 1: to gamble a little bit too much and create opportunities.
Speaker 1: And so they prints at the two just as not
Speaker 1: also do not. It's just not enough foot speed. Yeah,
Speaker 1: for this Cavs team, they really are lacking foot speed.
Speaker 1: And when you look at the shot quality for the
Speaker 1: Calves in this game, it was staggering. Like they got
Speaker 1: a lot of open threes. They took twenty three wide
Speaker 1: open threes without a defender within six feet. They went
Speaker 1: ten of twenty three on those, so good but not
Speaker 1: you know, great, not one of their best shooting nights.
Speaker 1: But then they also went seven of twenty on kind
Speaker 1: of those late contest threes where a defender is within
Speaker 1: four to six feet, so not wide open, but you're
Speaker 1: getting a clean look in those spots. And they felt
Speaker 1: and they felt rhythm. You know, that's where the tracking
Speaker 1: data can show you is are they lightly contested pull
Speaker 1: ups or are they lightly contested swing? Swing swing in
Speaker 1: the rhythm of the game. You know, ball, you know,
Speaker 1: hitting the shooter's pocket and able to rise up like
Speaker 1: that stuff.
Speaker 2: I felt like.
Speaker 1: I felt like even when Milwaukee was contesting, it was
Speaker 1: one of some of those contests where it was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: but they're probably you know, they're not really impacting the shot. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's forty three shots that a defender was at least
Speaker 1: four feet away from the three point line, Like that
Speaker 1: is an incredibly great shot quality. I thought the ball
Speaker 1: was moving really well. And going back to what you
Speaker 1: said at the start of the podcast, it really did
Speaker 1: feel validating. It was a comforting win because they've struggled recently, right, Like,
Speaker 1: they've had close games against lesser teams and you're never sure,
Speaker 1: right because there are the ebbs and flows of a
Speaker 1: season of are they in a rut and you know
Speaker 1: this is something that they have to work their way
Speaker 1: out of, or is this a little bit of human
Speaker 1: nature of hey, we're not really playing for anything at
Speaker 1: this point. We are eight games up on the Boston Celtics. Well,
Speaker 1: we're like, what we're really competing against is Cavalier's history.
Speaker 1: Can we get the win record, can we get you know,
Speaker 1: the number one seed in the NBA Finals and keep
Speaker 1: pace with the Okay? See, but you know, if you're
Speaker 1: playing a shorthanded Chicago Bulls or the Charlotte Hornets, you're
Speaker 1: not going to be able to get up for those
Speaker 1: games in the same way that you would for a
Speaker 1: matchup against Boston. But you also can't take for granted
Speaker 1: the fact that, hey, we can just turn this on
Speaker 1: when we need to, especially with basketball being such a
Speaker 1: rhythm game. And even though they didn't have their best
Speaker 1: shooting night, I felt that the intensity was there throughout
Speaker 1: the entire night. I thought the ball movement was spectacular.
Speaker 1: I thought it was a really really fun team effort.
Speaker 1: And the thing that I really enjoy about it is,
Speaker 1: you know the kind of old adage that role players
Speaker 1: play well at home, they don't necessarily play well on
Speaker 1: the road. This was one of those games where the
Speaker 1: Cavs depth and the role guys really stepped up.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean you just look at the bench scoring. You know,
Speaker 1: Wade has nine, Hunter has a bad game and has
Speaker 1: six bros five tied Jerome chips and nine, Merrill Chips
Speaker 1: and nine, and then you look at the Bucks bench
Speaker 1: and you know, it's really nothing. Gary trans Junior scored five,
Speaker 1: Kevin Porter scored two, and that was really it. And
Speaker 1: in the you know, in the competitive portion of the game,
Speaker 1: the depth that the Calves can play is just, you know,
Speaker 1: so overwhelming, and they I think Danny Cunningham said it
Speaker 1: best on his podcast un Lockdown Calves, where he goes
Speaker 1: I felt like this was like closer to a Caves
Speaker 1: thirty point win than it was to a Bucks win. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they just looked like they were on a different level
Speaker 1: that they could absorb a Yannis a game because the
Speaker 1: honest is also guarding pretty well. It's just, you know,
Speaker 1: they just didn't have the personnel. Like I think there's
Speaker 1: you know, you look at like the Bucks in a
Speaker 1: matchup against the Celtics or something. I feel like their
Speaker 1: positional size could help them a little bit. You know,
Speaker 1: they could be okay, but they just don't get the
Speaker 1: foot speed for these guards and the Calves machine as well.
Speaker 1: It's not just the guards speed with the ball, it's
Speaker 1: them getting into the paint, getting in rotation and the
Speaker 1: ball just moves so well for this Caves team that
Speaker 1: it's just you're just so far behind. Yeah, And I
Speaker 1: think one of the toughest things for Calves opponents is,
Speaker 1: especially when you look at Milwaukee, it's okay when Dame
Speaker 1: and Giannis are out there, they have a fighting chance
Speaker 1: at playing the Calves to a draw, right like, they're
Speaker 1: able to, you know, maybe hang around. If Dame gets
Speaker 1: hot or you know, gets a few enough trips to
Speaker 1: the free throw line, they can maybe play that to
Speaker 1: a draw. Whereas with the Calves, it's okay, our starting
Speaker 1: lineup is very good. Now you know, Donovan and Mobili
Speaker 1: are going to the bench, you have to deal with
Speaker 1: Alan and Garland with a bunch of very productive role
Speaker 1: players that are going to play well. Then Donovan and
Speaker 1: Mobili are going to come in refreshed, ready to go.
Speaker 1: Then we're going to come back and going to hit
Speaker 1: you with that closing lineup right like. It reminds me
Speaker 1: of the Omniman meme of look what they have to
Speaker 1: do to mimic a fraction of our power.
Speaker 2: You have to have Dame and.
Speaker 1: The honest out there playing forty eight minutes if you
Speaker 1: want to be as good as we are as a collective,
Speaker 1: and when you have a night where at least eight
Speaker 1: players have nine points for the Cavs, you know, and
Speaker 1: your best bench scorer in DeAndre Hunter as a little
Speaker 1: bit of an off game, but eight players with at
Speaker 1: least nine points, ten players with at least fifteen minutes,
Speaker 1: five guys coming in off the bench kind of in
Speaker 1: that fifteen to twenty minute range.
Speaker 2: Like, that's a.
Speaker 1: Lot of depth, that's a lot of production, and it
Speaker 1: just it really helps them put their best foot forward.
Speaker 1: And I think it's going to be an interesting conundrum
Speaker 1: for Kenny Atkinson of how he's going to pair this
Speaker 1: down in the playoffs if at all. Here's the thing, man,
Speaker 1: I just think, like, I don't think it's actually that
Speaker 1: hard because while the depth of options is great, I
Speaker 1: still do think number one strength is at the top
Speaker 1: in the core liability in that shell. And then I
Speaker 1: just think he's gonna play who's playing the best. You know,
Speaker 1: it's just gonna be a form thing. You know, on
Speaker 1: a night where DeAndre Hunter just doesn't have it, he
Speaker 1: only plays nineteen minutes and that's fine on you know,
Speaker 1: in Okoro, who I honestly think could have used a
Speaker 1: lot more run than he got. Needed was going to
Speaker 1: pick up a lot of those minutes. Like, I just
Speaker 1: feel like they have so many options, dude, I'm just
Speaker 1: so grateful over this season. Man, They've won fourteen games
Speaker 1: in a row and lose that game to Boston to
Speaker 1: go to forty and ten, and they respond by ripping
Speaker 1: off fourteen straight wins. Dude, Like, and I just kind
Speaker 1: of who told you that there was a winning streak
Speaker 1: around the corner. You're good, pal, justin You're never wrong.
Speaker 1: You're just late, buddy, I'm just early. Sorry, never late,
Speaker 1: never late. You've never been late on a Cav's optimistic, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: if I've never been the last one to the table,
Speaker 1: that's concerning. That would be very concerning. People need to
Speaker 1: do a wellness check on me at that point. But
Speaker 1: you're right, man, Like the death is a strength. But
Speaker 1: to me, like, the interesting conundrum is, right now you're
Speaker 1: able to go ten to eleven deep and figure out
Speaker 1: who the hot hand is among the bench.
Speaker 2: Right in the.
Speaker 1: Playoffs, you might not have that option, right, Like, you
Speaker 1: can go up with a really strong eight or nine,
Speaker 1: but you know you almost have to get some first
Speaker 1: half run. You might have to go ten in the
Speaker 1: first half, and then in the second half you're like,
Speaker 1: all right, these are my eight that I'm playing the
Speaker 1: last twenty four with, right, So you rather can I
Speaker 1: say that a little bit? Or you start your series
Speaker 1: that way and then by game five you know who
Speaker 1: can't play, you know, or who isn't fitting or isn't
Speaker 1: giving the run. I just think that's because the series
Speaker 1: is a small sample. But it's like one of those
Speaker 1: things where you have to kind of throw out a
Speaker 1: sample size and just be like, what's working, what's not?
Speaker 1: And if through four games into a series, one lineup
Speaker 1: is just getting run off the court, I do think
Speaker 1: you got to adjust.
Speaker 2: I do too.
Speaker 1: My question for you, and where it like some clarification
Speaker 1: is do you think because you said you're going to
Speaker 1: figure out who can and can't play in the series,
Speaker 1: do you think there's actually anybody that's currently within the
Speaker 1: rotation that just like from a matchup standpoint, can't play
Speaker 1: in a particular matchup or I think going to be
Speaker 1: performance based where like you know, they're in a little
Speaker 1: in their heads, they're not playing at the level that
Speaker 1: they can, rather than some deficiency they have within their game.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's I don't think that's an important
Speaker 1: distinction to make when you're coaching in a playoff series.
Speaker 1: I think it is like when it's the latter, it's Hey,
Speaker 1: from the start, we know that this is going to
Speaker 1: be a bad matchup, Like if George Nang was still
Speaker 1: on the roster, you would know that, Hey, Boston's going
Speaker 1: to be a tough matchup for him, or okay, so
Speaker 1: he's going to be a tough matchup. When you had
Speaker 1: Channing Fry, you knew, Hey, I can't really play him
Speaker 1: against the Warriors. That's different than you know, giving Isaacle
Speaker 1: corel run. And if he's turning down shots and he's
Speaker 1: not playing confidently on the offensive end, hey, it's a
Speaker 1: little tough for us to get him out there, even
Speaker 1: though we value what he's doing defensively. I think that
Speaker 1: that distinction does matter. It matters for team building, but
Speaker 1: not for Kenny Atkinson. That would be my argument is, Okay,
Speaker 1: whether it's an archetype problem or a confidence problem, eventually
Speaker 1: you're gonna have a guy who's just it's not their series.
Speaker 1: I agree, and it's I think you need to in
Speaker 1: that tie, especially under duress, like if you're in the
Speaker 1: first round and you're you're up, you know, three to one.
Speaker 1: You know, maybe you don't need to make that change.
Speaker 1: But if you're like on the ropes, yeah, if it's
Speaker 1: five and two to two or game six and you're
Speaker 1: down three to two or something like that, Like that's
Speaker 1: where it's like, I don't care what it is, We're
Speaker 1: just not gonna We can't afford to let you work
Speaker 1: through this right now, whether it's a if you just
Speaker 1: hit that shot, you know, because here's the thing. Channing
Speaker 1: had opportunities in those Warriors series. You know, he got
Speaker 1: chances to play and got run and had shots, and
Speaker 1: if he had hit those shots then he would have
Speaker 1: played more, you know, like it was a hard matchup
Speaker 1: for him. But there were good switchy teams that Channing
Speaker 1: played well against for US. But like ty Lu didn't
Speaker 1: have the luxury of being like, well, let's just give
Speaker 1: it a couple more games. It's like, no, we're losing.
Speaker 1: We gotta we gotta make changes now. And like, I
Speaker 1: do think the playoffs voist that on you. So that
Speaker 1: is why I don't think the distinction matters. Do I
Speaker 1: think I think every player on this roster could help
Speaker 1: in every matchup. Okay, so were to be very clear,
Speaker 1: but but the chance of a of a team just
Speaker 1: being like, hey, we're going to blow up every Sam
Speaker 1: Merril off ball action.
Speaker 2: It's the playoffs.
Speaker 1: We're going to beat the crap out of him off
Speaker 1: ball and it's just not and they're not going to
Speaker 1: call fouls for Sam or something like that. Like and
Speaker 1: if those minutes aren't going well, then I would expect
Speaker 1: him to go out of the rotation. Same thing with Isaac,
Speaker 1: same thing with Dean. I mean there are and there's
Speaker 1: levels to this, right, Like the top five guys aren't
Speaker 1: going to get cut out. You know they're going to
Speaker 1: go down with a ship with those guys. But like
Speaker 1: you know, with your seven, eight, nine, ten in the rotation,
Speaker 1: those are those fungible minutes that you might just have
Speaker 1: to swap out and see what changes under duress. Okay,
Speaker 1: I think we're actually on the same where it's like
Speaker 1: game one and two. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think game
Speaker 1: one and two. You know, first half you play a
Speaker 1: deeper rotation, see who has it, see who doesn't, see
Speaker 1: kind of what you feel out the matchup, right, Like
Speaker 1: those first two games of a series are always a
Speaker 1: little bit of a feeling out process, and then you
Speaker 1: can make those assessments, right, like, hey, we probably can't
Speaker 1: keep playing Ricky Rubio in this series. We have options here, right,
Speaker 1: And I think if you would have asked me a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago, I probably would have sat here
Speaker 1: being like, you know, I don't know if Sam can
Speaker 1: play against Boston. I think we have enough depth. I
Speaker 1: think we can kind of make that assessment going in.
Speaker 1: But with the way he's been playing, like especially now
Speaker 1: that the shots falling, like you know, he's doing the
Speaker 1: main thing he's been holding up defensively. I thought, you know,
Speaker 1: when he got put on Dame of a couple times
Speaker 1: last night, I was like, eh, that's a little too
Speaker 1: much dip on that ship. He killed Boston the other
Speaker 1: or Boston Milwaukee on the other end of the floor, so.
Speaker 2: You know he did.
Speaker 1: But you know, you don't have to put him on
Speaker 1: Dame right, like you can put him on someone else.
Speaker 1: But my point is, I think he's done a good
Speaker 1: enough job as an all around player to merit, you know,
Speaker 1: that opportunity to see what he's got. So I do agree.
Speaker 1: I think as the series progresses, you're going to become
Speaker 1: more selective with your lineups. You're going to see which
Speaker 1: ones end up working. But to start the series, I
Speaker 1: think you almost have to go ten at least in
Speaker 1: the first half, and then in the second half it's
Speaker 1: all right, this is our eight that we're running with.
Speaker 1: In the second half, we're going to you know, we're
Speaker 1: going to give you know. What the advantage of that is, too,
Speaker 1: is you're giving your core guys and your starters a
Speaker 1: little bit more rest in the first half so that
Speaker 1: they can go harder in the second half so that
Speaker 1: they can close games. You're not playing back to backs
Speaker 1: in the playoffs, you're not playing three and four nights
Speaker 1: with travel. You have the opportunity to do that. So
Speaker 1: I think going a little deeper, not only to assess
Speaker 1: what lineups are working and what kind of looks that
Speaker 1: you feel good about a relative to the opponent that's
Speaker 1: putting them in the tough spot, you have that ability
Speaker 1: to then play your guys a little tougher in the
Speaker 1: set and half when you want to close out those games.
Speaker 1: And I do think that does reflect the sea change,
Speaker 1: at least for me in terms of what I would
Speaker 1: do if I were Kenny, because if I'm being honest
Speaker 1: with myself. I was looking forward towards the playoffs and
Speaker 1: I was thinking, it's going to annoy me if Kenny
Speaker 1: tries to run ten guys. M I was thinking, I
Speaker 1: was like, he'll I was expecting him to, and I
Speaker 1: wasn't going to be excited about it. I was going
Speaker 1: to be like, I'd just rather you pick the nine
Speaker 1: and you know, and really and really pare it down,
Speaker 1: you know, again we want a title with TYLERU. So
Speaker 1: like there's some muscle memory here of you know, pairing
Speaker 1: down and being cool with that. Yeah, But I think
Speaker 1: that's the change is I now am of the opinion
Speaker 1: that playing those ten, at least in the first half,
Speaker 1: is so representative of what the team's culture is and
Speaker 1: of what of how they play and how Kenny five
Speaker 1: figures out who to play over the rest of the
Speaker 1: game that I am now I'm now going in aligned
Speaker 1: with that idea that he'll play ten. Now he might
Speaker 1: surprise us in play nine. I mean, we don't know.
Speaker 1: We're doing as we're guessing and we're doing prognostication. But
Speaker 1: again I went and expecting to be like, h I
Speaker 1: wish he wouldn't. And now I'm like, yeah, it's cool
Speaker 1: if he does.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And I think a big part of that is now
Speaker 1: we have an extended track record of all these guys
Speaker 1: coming in off the bench and providing something. Right, everyone's
Speaker 1: won us a game. They've all bring something different to
Speaker 1: the table, right. I think that's a big part of this.
Speaker 1: It's not like there's big redundancies between what a lot
Speaker 1: of them are bringing, right, Like, they all bring a
Speaker 1: different flavor. They're bringing a track record of success within
Speaker 1: the season, and when you have that track record of success,
Speaker 1: you feel more comfortable with it, just like I feel
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Speaker 1: What a year?
Speaker 2: What a year?
Speaker 1: I know, I'm sure they got to win one more game.
Speaker 1: They got to win one more game to match your
Speaker 1: prediction for this season. They got to win two more
Speaker 1: for them to match mine. I think they're hitting those marks. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and normally picking, Hey, a win total like seven higher
Speaker 1: than the Vegas line is like all right, Homer.
Speaker 2: Like you know that Vegas line was nonsense.
Speaker 1: Though even the national guys are like, I don't know
Speaker 1: about the Calvs, but that line looks stupid, Like, yeah,
Speaker 1: it was awful. You made the best point. Everything went
Speaker 1: wrong last year and they exceeded that total. There was
Speaker 1: no reason to I think people got maybe a little
Speaker 1: too worked up over the changes some other teams in
Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference made right, like we always sit here
Speaker 1: in the off season being like oh Man Tias Jones
Speaker 1: going to the Phoenix Suns, They're going to win seventy.
Speaker 1: But then you know, the offseason moves ended up not
Speaker 1: mattering as much as they do in that transaction cycle.
Speaker 1: And you know, I think maybe the cast standing pat
Speaker 1: led this sum doubt there, but they have far exceeded
Speaker 1: those expectations. And you know that I think that ties
Speaker 1: into the depth. Like looking at last night, it was
Speaker 1: really really cool to see so eight lineups played or sorry,
Speaker 1: three lineups played at least eight minutes last night. The
Speaker 1: starting lineup basically played Milwaukee to a draw twenty four
Speaker 1: to twenty six. They just got outscored by two in
Speaker 1: ten minutes. You had the Jerome Mitchell, Merrill, Hunter and
Speaker 1: Mobiley lineup that played eight minutes that played Milwaukee to
Speaker 1: a draw twenty two, twenty two. And then you had
Speaker 1: the lineup that was the most productive last night, Garland
Speaker 1: o'coro Struce Way to Allen, which in eight minutes outscored
Speaker 1: Milwaukee by eleven twenty five to fourteen. You know, that
Speaker 1: really was the biggest kind of differential on the night.
Speaker 1: And you know, it was so cool about the Garland
Speaker 1: o'coro Streuceway to Allen lineup. To me was like there's
Speaker 1: so many ogs in there, you know, there is like
Speaker 1: that felt like, I don't know, it's funny. I think
Speaker 1: it was Chris fiedor or maybe it was Joe Varden
Speaker 1: on the Athletic they talk about like what a wacky
Speaker 1: lineup that was, and I was like, that was what
Speaker 1: they ran. That was their team like two years ago
Speaker 1: for a lot of minutes. So it was just like
Speaker 1: kind of funny to see them and like those are
Speaker 1: guys who have just been on this team. You know,
Speaker 1: Strus obviously in year two, but it feels like an
Speaker 1: older I know, but Garland's year five of Coros four. No,
Speaker 1: maybe Garland's six, I don't remember. Either way, those guys
Speaker 1: have just been here since this They a lot of
Speaker 1: those guys got here when this team wasn't good yet,
Speaker 1: and it's really really cool to see them out there,
Speaker 1: Like it almost felt like like kind of like a
Speaker 1: comfort thing, like I was watching an old movie I've
Speaker 1: seen a hundred times and watching Kevin dwer Junr was
Speaker 1: on the floor for the Bucks last night, and what
Speaker 1: three four of those guys were on the same team
Speaker 1: as him at one point, So it just yet it
Speaker 1: felt like, you know, cuddling up to watch your favorite
Speaker 1: movie you've seen a hundred times, which is why it's
Speaker 1: funny that you know, you saw a few people talk about,
Speaker 1: oh that that lineup one. I'm like that those guys
Speaker 1: together have won the GAVs a lot of games and
Speaker 1: are really crucial in this renaissance, and you know they're
Speaker 1: not getting to this level without those, especially those four guys.
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously Stews has been amazing, just hasn't been
Speaker 1: here quite as long. And yeah, those minutes just felt
Speaker 1: really really fun. And I mean how many times are
Speaker 1: were we're like, oh if only we can get Okoro
Speaker 1: and weighed on the floor with one of the bigs.
Speaker 1: No one's going to score on us because you know,
Speaker 1: we've just wanted them all to be healthy and in
Speaker 1: form at the same time. Kind of feels like we're
Speaker 1: getting that right now. Yeah, and you know that is
Speaker 1: a really good defensive lineup, right, Like DG's been working
Speaker 1: his butt off defensively. I thought he had a great
Speaker 1: defensive game against Milwaukee, really really felt his presence there.
Speaker 1: Of course, what Acoro does kind of goes without speaking. Max,
Speaker 1: I'm on record, you know, he's one of my favorite
Speaker 1: role players, maybe my favorite role player that I've had
Speaker 1: watching the Cavs. I just love his energy and what
Speaker 1: he brings to the table. He was great, wads terrific
Speaker 1: against Gianness and Jared. Obviously we know what he does
Speaker 1: on the defensive end, so it's no surprise that that
Speaker 1: lineup really stepped up. And you know a Korro in particular,
Speaker 1: what he's done to Damian Lillard. He's guarded Dame more
Speaker 1: than any other player the last two years. He spent
Speaker 1: forty minutes over forty minutes guarding Dame the last two seasons,
Speaker 1: and in that time Dame is seven to twenty one
Speaker 1: from the field. And while that percentage, you know, we're
Speaker 1: talking about a small sample size here, twenty one shots,
Speaker 1: the percentage is terrific that you know, that indicates he's
Speaker 1: playing really good defense. I think the more significant thing
Speaker 1: is twenty one shots in forty minutes for a very
Speaker 1: high volume player that's able to get a shot off
Speaker 1: against a lot of guys. That goes to you know,
Speaker 1: a coorro's ability to suppress shots, to make guys uncomfortable,
Speaker 1: to get him out of his spots. He does a
Speaker 1: terrific job on Damian Lillard. And you know, I'd be
Speaker 1: very embarrassed if I was a podcaster that recently said
Speaker 1: Calves have no one that can guard Dame, I would
Speaker 1: be too, And thank god, that wouldn't be our podcast.
Speaker 1: I particularly if that same podcast or recently or after
Speaker 1: the Okac loss said that our insanity run is over,
Speaker 1: that would be really really embarrassing. As the Calves are
Speaker 1: on the verge of another fifteen game winning streak, certainly
Speaker 1: again could not be this podcast. I just think Okoro
Speaker 1: is one of those guys that you're really really glad
Speaker 1: that the Calves have hung on too, because in one
Speaker 1: of the reasons why I think both of us were
Speaker 1: angsty about losing him in the off season or doing
Speaker 1: a sign and trade even for a good player back
Speaker 1: as his name is bounced around the transactional circles, is
Speaker 1: he does do a thing no one else in the
Speaker 1: team does as well as him. Yeah, I would rather
Speaker 1: have him on Dame Lillard than anyone else in this roster.
Speaker 1: You know, Mobley is a better defender overall, obviously, you know,
Speaker 1: I would probably put Alan above Oquaro as well, but
Speaker 1: for this one chore, this one task, putting him on
Speaker 1: a six foot six y one guard, Yeah, it's so nice,
Speaker 1: you know, And I feel like in a Knick series,
Speaker 1: it'll matter. In in a in a Bucks series, it'll matter,
Speaker 1: you know. I don't know if Boston is the perfect
Speaker 1: series for Ice. That's that's the funny thing, because Drew
Speaker 1: Holiday and Derek White, like Derek White is the Calves killer,
Speaker 1: but you know, not in the way that Ice, right,
Speaker 1: it's not you know, solo isolation. Let's put him on
Speaker 1: and try to you know, shut off the flow of
Speaker 1: the offense. Usually, like Derek White is almost a barometer
Speaker 1: of how you know, when their offense is rolling, the
Speaker 1: ball is swinging getting to Derek White, and he's and
Speaker 1: he's hitting kind of those knockout punches rather than he's
Speaker 1: going to be the guy that's running the offense. No,
Speaker 1: their offense runs through all right, let's find a mispatch
Speaker 1: and play isolation basketball. Yeah, And that's where it just
Speaker 1: unless you just don't give up the switch, which, by
Speaker 1: the way, Okorra was part of them not doing that
Speaker 1: against Boston. So I'm not saying it's not a good matchup,
Speaker 1: but those the Knicks and the Bucks specifically are just
Speaker 1: like the perfect Even if he's not starting, you can
Speaker 1: you can just kind of muck up their rhythm for
Speaker 1: a bit and and you know, maybe turn a game
Speaker 1: in a five minute stretch. So I feel like Ice
Speaker 1: is really, really in good form. And I don't know
Speaker 1: if I've hit on this on the pod. I can't remember, honestly,
Speaker 1: so you'll just have to hold me accountable here. But
Speaker 1: I feel like I have to hold an ol a
Speaker 1: little bit with Ice because we talked about it on
Speaker 1: the pod in the summer, we talked about it last year,
Speaker 1: where you know, we've kind of always been at odds
Speaker 1: on this where you've always said, hey, man, like, parking
Speaker 1: him in the corner isn't going to get what you
Speaker 1: need out of him structurally. And I always said, well,
Speaker 1: he's got to do more with the times he does
Speaker 1: get the ball if he wants to get the ball
Speaker 1: more and get to do more like because involving a
Speaker 1: player in an action is an inherently costly thing, you know,
Speaker 1: it's a resource thing. If Isaac is the one setting
Speaker 1: the screen, then Evan or Jared is not the one
Speaker 1: setting the screen, you know.
Speaker 2: So that's all.
Speaker 1: That was kind of my party line was like, hey, Isaac,
Speaker 1: I love Isaac. He's a great player. He's hit and hit,
Speaker 1: the jumpers come along, all this stuff. I want to
Speaker 1: see him earn all the touches and in more activity
Speaker 1: in the offense because the way the Cops were playing
Speaker 1: last year, you need someone in that corner.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 1: And I think I just have to hold the LP
Speaker 1: because Kenny has gotten Isaac a lot more involved. I mean,
Speaker 1: he has been so good on the short roll all year.
Speaker 1: He's been a very good off ball screener, really making
Speaker 1: good contact, dragging that foot in just the sneaky little
Speaker 1: way so you don't get called to get a little
Speaker 1: bit more of a chip on the guy trying to recover.
Speaker 1: I just think he's been a much more complete player.
Speaker 1: And to your point that you've made a billion times,
Speaker 1: you're just not as reliant on the three to go
Speaker 1: in for him to have a good game.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, when you're sitting there and it's hey, you're
Speaker 1: going to get three shots from the corner all game,
Speaker 1: and your offensive output is going to be reliant on
Speaker 1: how you do on those, Like that's such a low volume.
Speaker 1: You know, Darius and Donovan, we'll go oh for three
Speaker 1: at times, right, And the largest sample is he's been
Speaker 1: shooting well. But I like seeing him used in more ways.
Speaker 1: And I think, you know, we should probably acknowledge that
Speaker 1: there was a foundation for this late in the past too, right,
Speaker 1: Like this is something that we would occasionally see. Remember
Speaker 1: the game against Miami last year where o'coro was the
Speaker 1: role man was instrumental late in the fourth quarter of
Speaker 1: getting great looks and getting those wins. But I think
Speaker 1: kind of the kind of crisis situation that they were
Speaker 1: in from a health perspective last year, it was tougher
Speaker 1: to you know, let's explore some things with o'coro. Let's
Speaker 1: let him, you know, stretch his wings here, let's you know,
Speaker 1: experiment with other guys on the roster. The focus was
Speaker 1: let's get Darius back on the right track. Let's Evan's
Speaker 1: coming in back off a knee surgery. Let's try to
Speaker 1: get him reintegrated. Oh yeah, we went eighteen and two
Speaker 1: and now we're missing Donovan for the rest of the
Speaker 1: you know, the regular season, like there is always some
Speaker 1: sort of issue going on and made it tougher. And
Speaker 1: I think one of the other things that's made this
Speaker 1: easier for Ocoro coming back is since he's come back
Speaker 1: from the injury. Now DeAndre Hunter's on the roster, that
Speaker 1: means he's able to play almost exclusively as a shooting guard.
Speaker 1: And I think that guard to guards, screening and the
Speaker 1: ways that Kenny's using him are so much easier as
Speaker 1: a shooting guard. That was the spot that you know,
Speaker 1: Bruce Brown really excelled as I'm basically like functioning sometimes
Speaker 1: as a power forward at the shooting guard position and
Speaker 1: he has more gravity as a result of that. I
Speaker 1: saw the openness ratings for three point shooters so far
Speaker 1: this season. Dean Wade actually has a higher openness rating
Speaker 1: than isacle Coro. Oh that's a great stat that's a
Speaker 1: great pull, brother, And I think a large part of that,
Speaker 1: you know, him shooting better is part of it, but
Speaker 1: I think part of it is when you're playing as
Speaker 1: a shooting guard, the defender has to stay connected.
Speaker 2: You're not going to.
Speaker 1: Sag off as a shooting guard defender and oh, I'm
Speaker 1: going to fill the paint. I'm feeling the paint here
Speaker 1: on the weak side.
Speaker 2: No, what are you doing.
Speaker 1: You're not bringing anything to the table there. As a
Speaker 1: small forward or you know, even a power forward, you're
Speaker 1: able to kind of change defensively.
Speaker 2: And let's put.
Speaker 1: Al Horford on isaacle Coro in the corner because he
Speaker 1: can sag often too the paint. You're not able to
Speaker 1: do that at the shooting guard position. And I just
Speaker 1: feel like he is playing since he's come back with
Speaker 1: the injury. He's hit the ground running, he is attacking
Speaker 1: the glass, he's getting rebounds, he's doing the act of stuff.
Speaker 1: It's both what I wanted to see and it's also
Speaker 1: producing the kind of supplemental production that you really wanted
Speaker 1: to see to continue justify giving him those minutes, Yeah,
Speaker 1: for sure, and Brandon and the YouTube chat just also
Speaker 1: just made a little extra comment that you know, Okoro
Speaker 1: in action does make the Dames and the Bronsons and
Speaker 1: the tray Youngs of the world have to guard for
Speaker 1: twenty four seconds. Yep, there's just all these knock on
Speaker 1: effects that make his life a little bit easier. And
Speaker 1: you know, and that is the one thing I will
Speaker 1: press on Kenny a little bit is I don't think
Speaker 1: against Milwaukee Ocoro should be playing basically twelve competitive minutes.
Speaker 1: I think that's a twenty minute a game matchup. And
Speaker 1: I would take minutes from the DeAndre Hunters, the Isaac
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, the Dean Wades, the Sam Merrill's of the
Speaker 1: world to find ice those minutes because I think he
Speaker 1: is so singularly impactful against the most volatile element of
Speaker 1: the Bucks attack.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I agree.
Speaker 1: And you know, credit to Chris Fedor's Wanting Gold Talk podcast,
Speaker 1: but he was mentioning a couple of games ago where
Speaker 1: Kenny was saying he was basically looking down at the
Speaker 1: stat sheet and said, man, I gotta find ways to
Speaker 1: get Isaac more minutes and basically saying, hey, you know,
Speaker 1: we close with DeAndre here, but I just as easily
Speaker 1: could have had Isaac in that role right like what
Speaker 1: he brings to the table defensively, and you know, I
Speaker 1: do think there's differences in terms of their length, but
Speaker 1: that's you know, that's one of those tricky conundrums because
Speaker 1: I typically would agree with you. But I think one
Speaker 1: of the kind of trickle down effects that we're dealing
Speaker 1: with now when you're looking at it from a rotation standpoint,
Speaker 1: is if this was a month or two ago where
Speaker 1: Merrill's playing good defensively but the shots not falling, Okay,
Speaker 1: that's an easier kind of transition to make now that
Speaker 1: the shots falling and he's playing well balanced basketball. You
Speaker 1: when you have a team this deep, it needs to
Speaker 1: be merit based. And I think that Kenny is doing
Speaker 1: the right things here. And I understand how different shooting
Speaker 1: the crap out of the ball. I didn't realize how
Speaker 1: good It's been three of seven, three of five, one
Speaker 1: of two, four of four, three of five in the
Speaker 1: month of March. And you're not losing anything with him
Speaker 1: on the court, right Like, he stands up defensively, his
Speaker 1: screen navigation, his footwork is terrific. There Basically the only
Speaker 1: spot when you look at like Basketball Index is a
Speaker 1: great resource for this kind of thing where it breaks
Speaker 1: down the different defenses. The only spot where he's going
Speaker 1: to have issues is in isolation. I think they rate
Speaker 1: him at it like a great amount of C minus there.
Speaker 1: But every he's doing his part, he's playing good team defense.
Speaker 1: So I think it's great that Isaac is playing so
Speaker 1: well and we're having these conversations because the other thing
Speaker 1: that we've talked about, just reflecting on, you know, years
Speaker 1: of Isaacle coorl conversations is hey, you know, when he
Speaker 1: starts off the year and he's in a reduced role,
Speaker 1: you don't feel his impact, You don't notice him out there.
Speaker 1: And it's yeah, it's great that when he steps in
Speaker 1: as a starter he plays really really well, but can
Speaker 1: we get this in a reduced role, can he play
Speaker 1: an impactful fifteen to eighteen minutes? And I think what
Speaker 1: we're seeing is he came back from the injury and
Speaker 1: immediately was doing that. That to me speaks to a
Speaker 1: confidence in his role. And I think credit needs to
Speaker 1: go to the coaching staff of really defining exactly what
Speaker 1: they want from him when he's out there on the court.
Speaker 1: Very very fair justin we got to talk about Max.
Speaker 1: It's a disservice that we took this long to get
Speaker 1: to Max, who killed mel in this game, absolutely killed them.
Speaker 1: He was moving, he was really attacking the boards. He
Speaker 1: had four offensive rebounds seventeen and nine. Everything about his
Speaker 1: game last night was reflective of what I love about
Speaker 1: him as a role player. He read space, He had
Speaker 1: only two assists. He had a few unbelievable reads that
Speaker 1: did not lead to buckets. I think he is You know,
Speaker 1: that starting group has come under fire the last week
Speaker 1: or so just because they haven't been starting particularly well,
Speaker 1: even either half. Really the lineup usn't been playing that well.
Speaker 1: If we're really being honest with ourselves, Max has been
Speaker 1: playing very good basketball. And I just you know, even
Speaker 1: in that Orlando series last year where he couldn't hit
Speaker 1: the broadside of a barn, no one could, but I
Speaker 1: loved his then too. I just think he is a
Speaker 1: winning player, and all the things I loved about him
Speaker 1: as a free agent signing I still love. I just
Speaker 1: think he adds an edge to this team. He adds
Speaker 1: a professionalist professionalism to this team. I think he is
Speaker 1: part of the whirling dervish of movement that they can
Speaker 1: kind of provide and put teams in that blender. I
Speaker 1: just I am so appreciative of his place on this roster.
Speaker 1: And I feel like with all the fun of the
Speaker 1: core four and then the Ty Jerome renaissance and the
Speaker 1: DeAndre Hunter mid season acquisition, I feel like sometimes he
Speaker 1: is kind of the underdiscussed player on this roster. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I feel like he has just been the Metrome man.
Speaker 1: He is so reliable to play good basketball every night. Now,
Speaker 1: sometimes the jumper goes in at a really high level.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it doesn't, but it doesn't impact the way he
Speaker 1: plays general. And I'm just very appreciative of him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he plays very intelligent basketball. And I think, you know,
Speaker 1: I joked about this with you last night where I said,
Speaker 1: I just don't understand how the fan base that came
Speaker 1: to love and adore j R. Smith can't, you know,
Speaker 1: sometimes embrace a streak shooter that does a lot of
Speaker 1: other things really well, right, Like Jr's passing in his defense,
Speaker 1: you know, was great. Like I think he was a
Speaker 1: very underrated defender in his time with the Cavs. I
Speaker 1: think he's a better defender than Max. I think, you know,
Speaker 1: he was a more dynamic shooter, but Max brings a
Speaker 1: lot of that same stuff to the table. And I
Speaker 1: think his chemistry, his ability to reliably run a two
Speaker 1: man game with Alan and Mobley is a huge asset.
Speaker 1: And you know, when you play a team like Milwaukee, Man,
Speaker 1: I don't want to be disrespectful saying this, but when
Speaker 1: you are a team that sometimes gets disorganized defensively, that's
Speaker 1: the exact type of team that maxters can kill because
Speaker 1: he is so intelligent in finding those passing lanes, finding
Speaker 1: those pockets off ball to get those shots up. Those
Speaker 1: crawl around jumpers from the corner were absolutely absurd. And
Speaker 1: you know, there's a reason why when you dive into
Speaker 1: the kind of advanced analytics on his shot profile, he
Speaker 1: always rates out as a better shooter than his percentages
Speaker 1: because of his shot difficulty. You know, I think that's
Speaker 1: something that you have to take into consideration. I would
Speaker 1: also say at the same time, sometimes that shot difficulty
Speaker 1: is based on his choices as a shooter, Like you know,
Speaker 1: it's not always hey, you know, he's being clamped down.
Speaker 1: Sometimes he's going to take some ridiculous threes. But I
Speaker 1: think you need a guy like that and I think
Speaker 1: once now that you know, we have DeAndre Hunter in
Speaker 1: the mix, now that Dean Wade is back and playing well,
Speaker 1: you have Samui, you have Isaac Corral, all these other
Speaker 1: guys that are bringing other things to the table, being
Speaker 1: a little less reliant on Max and having alternatives on
Speaker 1: those evenings where it's not working. Just like, it almost
Speaker 1: frees me up to enjoy it even more because I
Speaker 1: really do think what he brings to the table is
Speaker 1: valuable and it's going to matter in the playoffs. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just think he's a guy I would go to
Speaker 1: war with ten times out of ten. And I pulled
Speaker 1: up his basketball reference and I was like, I wonder
Speaker 1: other numbers are actually looking because I haven't just looked
Speaker 1: in a while, I actually look. Can I guess what
Speaker 1: his three point percent is at go ahead? He shot
Speaker 1: the thirty five last year? Is he at thirty eight
Speaker 1: this year? He is at thirty eight point one, I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: thirty eight point three. And he's up to three point
Speaker 1: volume by about one three point ten per thirty six.
Speaker 1: He's shooting a little bit better from the field three
Speaker 1: percentage points better from three. The free throw rate is down,
Speaker 1: which makes sense, but here's a little factoid, because remember
Speaker 1: last year, we were so excited about his playmaking, the
Speaker 1: fact that he was averaging just under five assists for
Speaker 1: thirty six and we were like, man, we didn't know
Speaker 1: he could do that, But we were kind of like,
Speaker 1: is that going to play a lot of ball handling minutes? Yeah,
Speaker 1: because Darius and Donovan were hurt so much of the year,
Speaker 1: they didn't have ty Jerome like he had to run
Speaker 1: a lot of offense. So it was one of those
Speaker 1: things where we were glad the assist numbers were up,
Speaker 1: but were like, maybe that's not Maybe that's reflective of
Speaker 1: the roster situation more than anything. Yeah, his assists for
Speaker 1: thirty six have stayed almost even. Four point six last
Speaker 1: year is at four point four this year. You know,
Speaker 1: And this is a much, much, much smaller example, but
Speaker 1: you know, considering we have another game coming up against
Speaker 1: them recently and we played them, it's the examples fresh
Speaker 1: in my mind. But last year, when Memphis had all
Speaker 1: those injuries, they let Jaron Jackson explore the space and
Speaker 1: really paid dividends when they got healthy. I think that's
Speaker 1: reflective in Max's playmaking, right, and he's not being forced
Speaker 1: into those spots he was last year when he had.
Speaker 2: To play so much point guard.
Speaker 1: But the reads he makes, I feel like all kind
Speaker 1: of the the the advancements he made in that category
Speaker 1: last year are still there this year. I'm I'm surprised
Speaker 1: that the number is so high, just because you know,
Speaker 1: all these playmaking reps for Jerome and Mobiley and all
Speaker 1: that stuff. I would have ASSU was cut in half
Speaker 1: just by circumstance, Mobiley is taking on such a larger
Speaker 1: part of that than he did last year. Darius has
Speaker 1: been phenomenal. Donovan Is I think he's taken a step up.
Speaker 1: We've talked about it. I literally didn't exist last year. Yeah, right,
Speaker 1: Like I just I'm shocked that that is in fact
Speaker 1: the case. But yeah, I think, you know, that's a
Speaker 1: great poll. I think that's a great example of you know,
Speaker 1: him just being kind of that connective player. And you know,
Speaker 1: I one thing that I want to point out because
Speaker 1: on the last podcast, I mentioned how DeAndre hadn't played
Speaker 1: any minutes with the Core since his first you know
Speaker 1: game with the Calves. The last two games, Kenny has
Speaker 1: got him second half minutes with the Core four, So
Speaker 1: that's at least encouraging. I'd like to continue to see that.
Speaker 1: But you know, this current kind of balance is working
Speaker 1: pretty well. DeAndre has been terrific as they stagger. If
Speaker 1: I look at the cleaning the glass numbers, Carter, you're
Speaker 1: going to laugh at this. This is this is how
Speaker 1: reliable Kenny is when it comes to rotations. But we
Speaker 1: know that Garland and Allen is the main pairing so
Speaker 1: far with DeAndre Hunter, they've played one hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: nine possessions. Mitchell mobleyan Hunter without Garland and Allen have
Speaker 1: played one hundred and sixty three possessions. It's almost down, baby.
Speaker 1: And you know you look at the Garland, he's got
Speaker 1: a guy and the staff. That's just his rotations. Guy.
Speaker 2: Oh, someone's definitely doing it.
Speaker 1: There's no way he's remembering this while he's coaching the game. No, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: no no, there's got to be some assistance. But to
Speaker 1: give the numbers for those lineups, Garland, Allen and Hunter
Speaker 1: plus twenty two net rating, Mitchell, Mobley and Hunter plus
Speaker 1: twenty net rating, Yeah, that rocks like they are very
Speaker 1: good in every way. And you know, I think you're
Speaker 1: correct in pointing out that the starting lineup has not
Speaker 1: been good recently. I think a lot of that has
Speaker 1: been effort based, like they have not seemed as locked in.
Speaker 1: The Other part is, you know, the Guards are going
Speaker 1: through a bit of a slump. Darius had a couple
Speaker 1: of games where it looked like, you know, was coming back.
Speaker 1: I thought Miami was pretty good Charlotte even though he
Speaker 1: went four of ten, it's still twenty points on ten
Speaker 1: shots because he got.
Speaker 2: A lot of free throws there.
Speaker 1: But you look at the last four games, man Darius
Speaker 1: is twenty of fifty seven from the field and twelve
Speaker 1: of thirty four from three, and Donovan is twenty five
Speaker 1: of sixty eight from the field and six of thirty
Speaker 1: from three. That lineup's not going to be as good
Speaker 1: if the Guards aren't shooting well. Yeah, absolutely, And I
Speaker 1: do think there's slumma just a little bit, but not
Speaker 1: in a way that is like, you know, horrible. I
Speaker 1: have a little factoid for you, justin go for it.
Speaker 1: Who do you think leads the NBA and plus minus
Speaker 1: in the last ten games?
Speaker 2: Hunter?
Speaker 1: Sure does? Yeah, And isn't that fun that they just again,
Speaker 1: they have all these options first off, which is just wonderful,
Speaker 1: But isn't it fun that a guy who has been
Speaker 1: criticized for being a pretty good stats but the IMPACT's
Speaker 1: not there, you know, you just drop him into this
Speaker 1: new environment and immediately he becomes one of the best
Speaker 1: on off guys in the NBA.
Speaker 2: Is fine. It's fine. Honestly.
Speaker 1: I like that that trade is kind of working out
Speaker 1: to be a win win because at Atlanta really needed
Speaker 1: the playmaking, they needed warm bodies, they needed. They got
Speaker 1: three playable players at the deadline. Yeah, and that helps.
Speaker 1: And you know, George had been playing great this year.
Speaker 1: Karris has been playing really really well up until when
Speaker 1: he had that hand injury. So for those two guys
Speaker 1: to be playing really well and given Atlanta what they need,
Speaker 1: that's terrific. DeAndre has been giving the kvs exactly what
Speaker 1: they need. And as we said at the time of
Speaker 1: the trade, I was excited to see the trickle down effects.
Speaker 1: I was excited to see Moro Kora at shooting guard.
Speaker 1: I was excited to see, you know, having that alternative
Speaker 1: to Dean weight Like, it just feels like it's been
Speaker 1: such a bounced roster and it's no surprise that DeAndre
Speaker 1: has had that kind of an impact and you know,
Speaker 1: I think, just reflecting on the last couple of years here,
Speaker 1: if Darius and Donovan were having a stretch like that,
Speaker 1: things wouldn't be going well. Even in twenty two to
Speaker 1: twenty three, I remember there was a January where neither
Speaker 1: of them was shooting particularly well. I think the flu
Speaker 1: was running through the team, and then went five hundred
Speaker 1: for that month. Now you can kind of have this,
Speaker 1: you know, a stretch like this where the shots aren't falling.
Speaker 1: But I feel like both of them are still playing
Speaker 1: pretty good basketball. Like I just think a five hundred
Speaker 1: month would probably give you as many losses as we
Speaker 1: have this season pretty much. But like you know, when
Speaker 1: it comes to Darius and Donovan, even when they're not
Speaker 1: shooting well, I still want to see those thirteen to
Speaker 1: fifteen attempts, right, Like, don't press beyond that. But you're
Speaker 1: good enough shooters, keep taking the right shots. I thought
Speaker 1: the only game where Darius was like jacking up shots
Speaker 1: and it felt bad with Chicago. Outside of that, I
Speaker 1: feel like he's taking the right kinds of shots right
Speaker 1: and Miami and Charlotte. I was very good with his games. Donovan,
Speaker 1: even though he's not shooting all these last four games.
Speaker 1: He's up this playmaking. He's generating opportunities for guys. He's
Speaker 1: getting ten, generating ten assist opportunities per game over that stretch,
Speaker 1: Darius thirteen. That's what you want to see. They're both
Speaker 1: playing hard on the defensive end. You know, they're they're
Speaker 1: chipping in on the glass. It's it just feels like,
Speaker 1: you know you're able to weather that storm a little
Speaker 1: bit more. And for you to play a game against
Speaker 1: the Bucks regenerate good looks. Your guards don't shoot particularly well.
Speaker 1: The you know, big time score that you brought in
Speaker 1: in DeAndre Hunter doesn't have a good shooting game, and
Speaker 1: you still comfortably win against a Bucks team that's had
Speaker 1: won nine of its last eleven games. That's a pretty
Speaker 1: damn good feeling. It absolutely is, buddy, And so is
Speaker 1: fourteen in a row. And I got to ask you,
Speaker 1: I know we're getting near probably near closing time here,
Speaker 1: but when does this streak end?
Speaker 2: Dude?
Speaker 1: Because you go this week it's home versus Brooklyn, then
Speaker 1: on Friday at Memphis, Sunday ABC afternoon game against Orlando.
Speaker 1: Do they lose this week or do they go up
Speaker 1: to seventeen. I'm going to predict. This is a fun game.
Speaker 1: Predict when the Cavs are going to lose. It's hard.
Speaker 1: Here's the one Wednesday, the nineteenth at the Kings One.
Speaker 1: I feel I feel like we always have a funky
Speaker 1: game there. That's the third game in four nights. You're
Speaker 1: at a back to back, still close enough to daylight
Speaker 1: saving time, which just sucks. I'm going through hell right
Speaker 1: now everydow. You don't have children. I don't want to
Speaker 1: talk to you. You're not allowed to talk to me
Speaker 1: about this.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm you know, I'm tired.
Speaker 1: I'm oh, you're tired. Yeah, but you know three and
Speaker 1: four you travel to La then you travel up to
Speaker 1: Sacramento to play that back to back. I can see
Speaker 1: it happening there. But you know, if that is the case,
Speaker 1: and if I am right, as I so often am,
Speaker 1: that's a franchise record winning streak.
Speaker 2: That's a lot of fun. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, the only got to win two more to
Speaker 1: set a new franchise record. So I gotta say, I
Speaker 1: think that's a great poll. I think it's probably the
Speaker 1: right pole. An important thing to say for the entirety
Speaker 1: of March. The Calves do not play the same you know,
Speaker 1: stay in the They don't have consecutive home games the
Speaker 1: entire month, so they never are going to play in
Speaker 1: the same place two games in a row, and they're
Speaker 1: pretty much on the road in perpetuity for the entire month.
Speaker 1: So this will be a big, you know, weight of
Speaker 1: travel month, especially with a big schedule challenge month. Yeah,
Speaker 1: after Brooklyn they have two days off. They don't have
Speaker 1: two days off the rest of the month. They are
Speaker 1: playing every other day, and they are flying between every
Speaker 1: single one of those games. So I'm going to go ahead,
Speaker 1: and I'm actually gonna say I think they're due for
Speaker 1: a national TV stinker, and I'm going to pick Sunday
Speaker 1: against Orlando.
Speaker 2: It's one.
Speaker 1: It's a matinee afternoon game against the team they're pretty
Speaker 1: sure they got, you know, they just beat him by forty.
Speaker 1: That's always a hard game because they're embarrassed and they
Speaker 1: want to come for your throat, but you're like, we
Speaker 1: got these suckers. It's just got like a cock. Plus
Speaker 1: like that Friday Memphis game, I think is going to
Speaker 1: be tough, and I don't know, if I had to pick,
Speaker 1: it'll be that one. But I think your pick's probably
Speaker 1: better than mine.
Speaker 2: To be honest. Okay, well, you know, my mind's a
Speaker 2: little to.
Speaker 1: See him get to twenty, though I want him to
Speaker 1: get to twenty.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm staying on brand. That's really good.
Speaker 1: By the way, about all this is that even though
Speaker 1: this month sucks, they do have the streak to kind
Speaker 1: of motivate them. They do, like, because if this was
Speaker 1: if they weren't streaking, I think they would have they
Speaker 1: would definitely lose one of these games, just because you know,
Speaker 1: eventually you lose, and instead they're gonna be like, I
Speaker 1: don't want to lose the streak to Sacramento on a
Speaker 1: late at night on a Wednesday, No, thank you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So I don't know. We'll see what if this went out.
Speaker 1: I mean't really anything out anymore with these With these dudes.
Speaker 1: The fun thing is, man like, seventy is still kind
Speaker 1: of possible, you know, they if they all it's more
Speaker 1: than kind of they're on pace for sixty nine.
Speaker 2: Nice.
Speaker 1: You know, the number that I really just wanted to
Speaker 1: see is sixty seven because I want to get that
Speaker 1: franchise win record. So if you drop a couple, that's fine,
Speaker 1: but that's looking more and more feasible. Man Like, that
Speaker 1: this is this month is going to be tricky. I
Speaker 1: think they're they're really going to be battling the schedule.
Speaker 1: But this is one of those spots where hey really
Speaker 1: benefit from the depth the.
Speaker 2: Last topic I had.
Speaker 1: I think this is going to be a shorter one,
Speaker 1: so I'm okay doing this even though we've kind of
Speaker 1: gone along today. I wanted to ask you if you
Speaker 1: could pick who you'd rather play, not who you think
Speaker 1: is the better matchup for the Cavs, you as an
Speaker 1: emotional fan, who would you rather play in the second round?
Speaker 1: The New York Knicks or the Milwaukee Bucks. This is
Speaker 1: less of a realistic hypothetical because the Bucks just lost
Speaker 1: two games and kind of lost the momentum there. But
Speaker 1: with Brunson, you know, missing some time here and the
Speaker 1: Bucks being hot, it's at least a possibility that those
Speaker 1: two flop in the stantics. Who would you rather play
Speaker 1: in the second round? I don't Luckily I don't have
Speaker 1: to worry about it, both narratively and basketball. I would
Speaker 1: like to beat the New York Knicks. I don't like
Speaker 1: I don't like that the embarrassed is two years ago.
Speaker 1: I think the only way to really wash the stench
Speaker 1: out of an ass kicking is to go get them back.
Speaker 1: And I think this team is so well built to
Speaker 1: get that next team back. And I don't think they're
Speaker 1: meaningfully more talented than the Bucks, no, Like I I
Speaker 1: think I kind of trust the Bucks more.
Speaker 2: Like.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the other advantage of playing the Knicks is I
Speaker 1: don't think Boston's as well suited to defend you, honus
Speaker 1: as we are, you know, Jason Gingham taking those body
Speaker 1: blows for an entire series. I would like them after
Speaker 1: Here's the thing. Would the Celtics sweep the Knicks? I
Speaker 1: think they would.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they would.
Speaker 1: You know, maybe if the Knicks get hot, I think
Speaker 1: the Caves and Celtics would both either sweep the next
Speaker 1: or be a five game series if the Knicks get
Speaker 1: hot for a particular game.
Speaker 2: So I would like that from a.
Speaker 1: Narrative standpoint, But I also kind of like I'm weighing,
Speaker 1: you know, going into last night's game, I wanted Milwaukee
Speaker 1: to go above them, go above the Knicks, because playing
Speaker 1: playing the best player in the conference. That's always scary
Speaker 1: going into a playoff series, but really validating if you win.
Speaker 1: That's the thing that is such a good feather in
Speaker 1: the cap that you know, and I feel comfortable that
Speaker 1: we would win that series. I don't think that they
Speaker 1: can guard us on the perimeter. I think we're well
Speaker 1: suited to guard Jannis, and all due respect to cal Kuzma,
Speaker 1: him being there instead of Chris Middleton does not make
Speaker 1: me fear them more.
Speaker 2: So.
Speaker 1: I think he helps them in a lot of ways,
Speaker 1: but not against the Cabs, not against Cats. That's that's
Speaker 1: exactly right. So I I think if I stop caring
Speaker 1: so much about what national podcasts are saying bringing up
Speaker 1: the New York Knicks, I think, in my heart of hearts,
Speaker 1: i'd say Milwaukee. Oh, I don't care what national podcasters say.
Speaker 1: I want them to hurt.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I want to see Nick Muse crying. If I'm honest,
Speaker 1: if I'm honest with myself and I'm honest about what
Speaker 1: a petty individual I am, I think the answer is
Speaker 1: the New York Knicks. Oh, it's gotta be dude. I
Speaker 1: want to I want I want Jared Allen to go
Speaker 1: into the end of the Garden and a close out
Speaker 1: Game four and to and tell them the lights are
Speaker 1: perfectly bright. I want everything he's gotta wear some sunglasses
Speaker 1: or something to the close out game.
Speaker 2: That'd be great.
Speaker 1: Oh man, how about you guys listeners dropping in the comments?
Speaker 1: Who would you rather play in the second round? Nicks
Speaker 1: or Bucks? A little interaction there. Big thanks to all
Speaker 1: you guys tuning in and hanging out on youtubehere. You're
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Speaker 2: Until next time. Jokay