Let Em Meow

Justin and Carter react to the Cleveland Cavaliers making it to the 60 win threshold with their win over the Los Angeles Clippers. They discuss what stood out to them about the win, and how it could be a significant step towards returning to form before the playoffs. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This crowd rises to its being what Carl slamming it?
Oh Carl, left wing free ball perfect Darl, both please pop?
They have a block the shot at the rim? How
with the left hand and of foul.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome to Chase Doown Podcast, part of the Caves Media family.
I'm your host, Justin Rowan. The Chase Doown is presented
by Fubo, the official streaming partner of the Calves. Watch
over three hundred and fifty channels of live sports and TV,
including fan Duel Sports Network without cable. There's no cost
and no commitment. Try for free at FuboTV dot com
Slash Calves. The Cleveland Cavaliers have reached this sixty win threshold,

(00:36):
just the third time in franchise history. They have won
sixty games. There are is seven games left. They'd have
to run the table to have the best record in
franchise history, or go six and one to match the
best record in franchise history. That's how math works, and
this podcast works by me introducing my co host, Carter Rodriguez.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
Carter, how you doing, buddy, I'm doing great. Uh. Sixty
wins ain't nothing. Uh. I thought it went about as
good as you as you could ask for a game
like this to go where I feel like the Clippers
gave them a really really good punch and hit some
really really tough shots. You know this the listeners don't

(01:16):
that I missed the fourth quarter live because I was
doing dad stuff and I kind of messaged you to
be like, hey, was there like a pretty big drop off?
Is that why I got competitive again? And you're in
you know? The message I kind of got back was like, no, no,
like Clippers got hot, and really what I saw watching

(01:36):
that forth and like, obviously it's always easier when you
know that the Calves pulled it out, but like I
was kind of expecting to maybe feel like maybe Justin's
being too nice, but no, I really do. I felt
like the Calves were running really really good offense. They
were getting really clean looks and they were missing, and
the Clippers were hitting really really tough shots or the

(01:58):
guys that if you have to give an open shot,
the guys that were taking those, we were hitting. So
I felt like they the Clippers gave them a very
very strong punch and the Calves didn't stop playing Cavalier
basketball on the road to the win. Yeah, I totally agree.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
Honestly, I feel like this game from a process standpoint,
was their best performance since the home win over Memphis,
which kind of kicked off at seventeen game road trip
essentially that the Caves had been on. I know that
there's a couple home games that were sprinkled in there,
but if you're only there for a night or two,
that's just another stop on the road trip here, not
unpacking your bags. As you say, that was a grueling,

(02:39):
grueling stretch, And frankly, I can't remember any Calves team
or any team having a stretch that extreme when you
look at it and take it back even further, because
that Memphis game was the second home game, but if
you take it back to the beginning of February, they
played twenty six games and only that one time did
they play two games in a row in Cleveland. The

(03:00):
entire time they are, you know, on the road, arriving
in the next city at four or five in the morning,
you know, quick turnarounds. I think there were four backed
backs within that stretch. That is a grueling, grueling stretch,
and I think, you know, I don't. I don't think
we thought that they'd struggle as much as they did,
you know, having a four game losing streak. This team

(03:21):
has done a really good job of bouncing back after losses.
But we did say at the beginning of March, hey,
they're playing the schedule right now. February was grueling, March
is even worse. This is something that is going to
have an impact on how they play, particularly with the one.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
Seed basically locked up.

Speaker 2 (03:40):
So if they struggle a little bit, if they look fatigued,
if they have cold shooting spells, that might be something
that you know, we may end up seeing this month.

Speaker 1 (03:50):
We did that. We did see that.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
And I'd say even in this Clippers game with the
Cows didn't shoot particularly well from three, I thought it
was the most locked in they've I thought even when
the shots weren't going in, they stuck with the right
types of looks for the most part. I thought they
were more prepared to play against the Clipper small ball lineup,
and I just thought, start to finish, this was their
best forty eight minutes since that Memphis game.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
Yeah, important to note that in the Cavaliers absolute nightmare
March that had many people questioning this team's top end ceiling,
had them questioning their heart their toughness. They go eleven
and five. Yeah, that's a fifty six win pace. An

(04:35):
eleven and five month in any other season is a
great month. And like, I don't want to dismit, and
i'd say that in the tone there is inherently a
little dismissed. If it's a little snide, you know whatever,
But like, and I don't want to completely undermine the
fact that this was a hard month because even in

(04:56):
some of those wins, I don't think they were playing
their best basketball. A lot of their underlying metrics weren't
that strong.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
Even in the winning streak, we said that they were slumping,
that they weren't playing their best basketball.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
Yeah. So but with that said, like, if this is
the floor, like it's a pretty good floor, guys. And
I do think it's important for every single Cavs fan
who was feeling a little grumpy for the last two
weeks to acknowledge that, like, this is a higher teams
would beg for a floor this high. You know, the
Knicks almost certainly will not win at a fifty six

(05:29):
game pace this season. The Rockets are maybe knocking on
the door. Really only there might be three teams that
finished with fifty six games or wins or more this
whole season, and that was our pace for our worst month. Yeah,
So like, I don't know, man, I just feel like
I have to lead with that context, in that perspective,

(05:51):
because no matter how grumpy we've been, like, it's still
first world problems, bro.

Speaker 2 (05:59):
It really is. And you know, you look back on it.
The twenty sixteen Calves know what they did in March
eleven and five. They had the exact same record as
this Calves team. And if you look at the last
nine champions and how they've played in March, there's only
two that had a better record than the Calves, one
of them being the twenty seventeen Warriors that went twelve
and five, So really they cheated. They had just as

(06:20):
many losses. They just happened to play one more game.
We would have won the you know, the twelfth game
if we had seventeen games. And the only other one
is last year Celtics, who actually played better. They were
twelve and four, so they won one game more than
the Calves did in that stretch. If you look at it,
out of those nine champions over that stretch since twenty sixteen,

(06:40):
four out of the nine had a losing record in March,
forget you know, just eleven and five they had a
flat out losing record. So it is typically when you're
looking at the season, this is the month that correlates
with postseason success less than any other. But some of
the struggles we're seeing, trying to see, you know, the
guards get back on track, trying to get the core

(07:03):
all plane at a high.

Speaker 1 (07:05):
High level.

Speaker 2 (07:06):
That stuff that even if it doesn't translate to the postseason,
you're going to feel a little bit better. You're going
to have a little bit more confidence as fans and
honestly probably even as players if you're having success. So
what I'd like to see is for them to take
this win against the Clippers that I thought was really
really solid and build upon it and start to you know,

(07:27):
regain some of that positive momentum, even if you're going
to lose it with that play and break.

Speaker 1 (07:33):
Yeah, And one thing I want to note before we'll
and we'll talk about the game. I promise you know,
this narrative stuff is tiring, but I do think it's
important as we've gone through this season. The other piece
of context I think that makes has made this month
hard is the fact that Boston and Okay see are

(07:53):
freaking electric right now, you know, like Boston's riding an
eight game win streak. Okay's right, a nine game win streak.
So like, yeah, there is a degree where you kind
of look around and go, well, those are the only
two teams we've been told by people like us to
care about for the rest of the season and look
at their form, look at our form? What's wrong with us?

(08:16):
You know? Now? Like you have correctly kind of pointed
out that Austin's had stretches like this. I mean, there's
a reason we've won five more games than them.

Speaker 2 (08:27):
Not only has Boston had stretches like this. My analysis
on the podcast and when we talk privately is don't
read too much into it. This is a team that's
coming off the Olympics. They're tired. It's tough to repeat
months like this happened. It doesn't impact how if you
you know the regular season, you know what a Boston
also had from February twenty eighth all the way to

(08:49):
March twelfth. Do you know what they do? You know
where they were where Boston, Massachusetts? Oh man, two weeks
at home. We've had three days our one break in
This two month stretch was three days long.

Speaker 1 (09:02):
On two, three, four, five, six, seven game homestand a
seven game homes dance economy. Wait, you know, sometimes you
know they're but boy are they about Boy are they
in the middle of paying for it though that they're
they're also wrapping like they're gonna have quite a few
on the road here in response. So I don't know,

(09:27):
and they're winning through those two Yeah.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
You know, it's a dirty secret about the NBA schedule.
You end up playing forty one at home and forty
one on the road. So you know, that's that's why
when when teams go on these long stretches. For Boston,
I think they went like six and ten or something
like that in January where they just had.

Speaker 1 (09:43):
A tough, tough month.

Speaker 2 (09:44):
That kind of stuff happens, man like it particularly like
when it is something like that when you're out on
the West Coast. You know, when you're dealing with some
nagging injuries don A Mitchell, you know, coming back from
the groin injury, you're missing Tied Jerome with knee tendonitis.

Speaker 1 (10:01):
It's just really really tough.

Speaker 2 (10:03):
We talked about them getting in at five point thirty
in the morning from Portland, and then you're playing a
road back to back right after that. And not only that,
the second half of that back to back is against
a very physical Detroit Pistons team.

Speaker 1 (10:16):
Yeah, and like, I do think you've made a very
good point that the Calves really are just playing against
the schedule because their magic number is down to four
for the one seed. You know, they have to go,
you know, four and four the rest of the way,
four and five, four and three, four and three. Jeez,
I can't do math right now. You're right, you're right,

(10:37):
four and three. No whatever, I'm not doing math live
on the pot. My brain is tired. But the magic
numbers four, you know, they would have to truly collapse
down the stretch in order to not hold on to
that one seed. And meanwhile, you're playing Detroit, who's fighting

(10:58):
for home court, like they're a game out of home court.
The Clippers are, you know, they're in the eight seat.
They're trying to get out of the play in like
like it is just all these teams they're playing are
fighting for their lives right now. And it does matter
when you are just trying to get yourself amped up. Yeah,

(11:23):
when you're tired and you're not playing your best, and
you know, like all your motivation has to come within
from within. That's not to say that they shouldn't figure
out how to motivate themselves, but like it's a different
starting point. You know, It's like you're playing a game
of Mario Kart and someone knows how to time up
that green light at the beginning to get that little boost,
And the Cavs are coming out of the gate with

(11:45):
you know, it's getting their tires bad starts.

Speaker 2 (11:48):
You know, in for that twenty six game stretch where
they basically were on the road the entire time traveling
twenty and six, they had were fourth, and net rating third,
and offense tenth in defense. As you said, I that's
the floor. That's encouraging. But when you're a team that
does not have the playoff track record that you know,
the Boston Celtics have, I shouldn't say you know, all

(12:10):
contenders because okay, season the exact same boat as us.
But when you don't have that track record, people are
going to pick nits. I think it's fair to pick nits.
If you already had doubts about the Cleveland Cavaliers, you know,
their ability to make it through two months of the
playoffs where it's going to be physical, it's going to
be grueling, You're you're going to get tested. Teams are
going to be familiar with all of your pet sets.

(12:32):
If you see them struggle going through you know, schedule
adversity and playing through some injuries and things like that,
If it confirms your priors, you're going to hold on
to that, right because that's where your inclination is. If
you're an optimist like myself, you're going to say, well,
you got you gotta look at the context here. You know,
I still have those questions, Like I have questions about

(12:55):
how the offense is going to hold up in the playoffs.
I want to see it until they actually do it
and do it for four rounds. You're going to have
some doubts. But you know, I can't really blame anyone
who has those doubts or you know already had some concerns,
particularly where some of those pain points are things we've

(13:15):
seen before in the past, like given off offensive rebounds.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
Yeah, and like I do think these concerns are are
some of these concerns are real, and some of them
are fair, you know, like I've said this before in
like a lot of different ways, you know, a lot
of different rappers. But like every team has a fatal
flaw that will eventually kill them except one. You know,

(13:40):
like like almost no one, no team shows up perfect
and then accidentally loses. You know, everyone's got a thing
that when you're as a fan, you're washing and you
go like, you know, like with Boston, it's the it's
the it's it's just the hunting threes. And when they're
not going in, they don't get out of that rhythm.

(14:03):
They don't change what they're doing.

Speaker 2 (14:04):
They they blow more leads than almost any team because
they play such an iso heavy style and just jack
up threes with Oka.

Speaker 1 (14:11):
See almost every loss they have, you look at the
fourth quarter and they have like sixteen points and their
offense goes cold when Shay's sitting. Like, everyone's got a
fatal flaw, you know, it's just a matter of whether
you're good enough to accommodate it and whether that it's
so bad you know that you can't overcome it. But
like and like for this Caps team, like I have

(14:34):
scars tissue too as a fan, and when I've seen
this team getting mangled on the on the defensive glass
where they can't finish possessions, and Kenny's talking about calling
tom Izzo for advice because the great quote, Yeah, because
the team is just not handling things on the boards.
Like I do get those concerns, and like I share

(14:54):
them to some extent. I just like I just think
everyone's being a little too black and white and how
they feel about those flaws, Like it's very easy to
point out a flaw and say that will be our
fatal flaw and you will probably be right. And I
still don't think it's an interesting discussion. What I think

(15:15):
as interesting as them figuring out how watching them figure
out how to account for that flaw. And that is
where I want to start tonight's kind of discussion about
this game itself. So the Clippers finished with ten offensive
rebounds in this game. The Cavs matched that Clippers had
a twenty six point five offensive rating in this one,

(15:35):
just offensive rebound rate in this one, that would be
good for twenty fifth in the league, just a little
bit above the twenty sixth overall Phoenix Suns. And I
thought it was a great answer from the team up
and down the roster on the glass, you know, because
they got punked by the Clippers on the glass just

(15:55):
a few days ago. And I really want to point
out that, yes, the defensive the Bigs did better on
the boards. But if this, if there was ever any
indication that this was a group effort to to to
kind of handle that, it's this game. Jared Allen has

(16:16):
six defensive or nine defensive rebounds in this game. Very good.
Evan Mobley had six, it's fine. Donovan Mitchell has eleven. Yeah,
And and I saw a much more concerted effort from
the team up and down the roster to help the
Bigs out. It is too hard to wrestle a Vikazubac

(16:39):
and break off to go get that board when there's
other bodies in the fray. It's hard to get two
hands on the boards when you're wrestling a bear like
sometimes the best you're able to do is tap it.
And you know, there were a lot of plays where
Okoro shows up and helps deflect Dean come in, Sam

(17:01):
crashes in. Donovan obviously was unbelievable at this twelve rebounds. Yeah,
in terms of just you know, getting into the space
where it's like all right, Jarrett or Evan you've got Zubach,
just keep him out of the way. We'll finish the
possession for you. And that's what good rebounding teams do. Yeah,

(17:23):
they do not just rely on their big to hoover
up every available board. And like, that's why I get
really frustrated when there's a lot of when when people
you know, immediately go to Dog Jarrett or Evan in
the wake of a poor rebounding game. And I've always
found I've felt this for like four years. It's like, hey,

(17:43):
everyone else has to help too, Like this is you know,
you your favorite stat is that Mitchell Robinson didn't average
ten rebounds against US two years ago.

Speaker 2 (17:53):
Yeah, and Jared Allen, you know, he really nine and
seven against the Knicks, going against some the head nine
and nine.

Speaker 1 (18:01):
You know, like like it wasn't Mitchell Robinson that killed them.
It was RJ. Barrett, it was Josh Hart. It was
all these perimeter players swooping in while the caves either
leaked out or ball watched. And you know that when
we talk about fatal flaws or things that the team
like just structurally isn't that good at you look up

(18:22):
and down the roster and you don't see a lot
of rebounders outside of the two bigs. You know, like
Donovan is an okay rebounder for his position, Darius is
not a good one, Okoro is not a good one.
Struce's average hunter is below average. So like you look
up and down the roster and you see, okay, this

(18:42):
is a thing that like, no, you're not going to
bail yourself out with just raw skill. And rebounding is
a skill, yep. Is not an effort thing. It's part
of it obviously, but consistently knowing what angle to chase,
being in the right spot. You know, there there's a
reason that some bigs go nuts and some don't. Why

(19:03):
Josh Hart is a menace, and it's not just because
of his motor He really has a keen sense for
where to go to get rebounds. Yep. And I don't
think that's something the Cabs are great at. So what
do you want to see them do in that structure?
You want to see them account for it with intentional
decision making. You know, you want to counter with, hey, philosophically,

(19:26):
we're going to help out the bigs today. Yep. And
I felt like they really did that in this game,
and it goes to show that you can overcome a
talent gap with rebounding by collectively working towards a single goal.
And I thought they did a great job of that tonight,
and that's why I wanted to start with that.

Speaker 2 (19:46):
No, I think it's a great point. I think you know,
it ties into what you were saying before. But every
team is going to have some flaws. Even the Boston Celtics,
who have, you know, a very expensive, very stacked roster,
have their own flaws. It's just impossible. Particularly in this
salary cap era, we basically have only seen one team

(20:07):
that structurally has zero flaws, and that's the twenty seventeen Warriors, Right,
And that was a Fluke scenario of all Flukes scenarios.
To help construct that, you're going to have to find
what those flaws are, understand that your opponents are going
to understand those flaws, and do what needs to be
done to mitigate that to make sure that it ends

(20:28):
up not being a fatal flaw. Right, that you're taking
some stuff off the table because you believe it brings
more stuff onto the table. And this is why I
like playing a team like the Clippers. Twice in a
very short period of time. Yes, there was no Kawhi
Leonard here, but the first time they played him, Zubach
gave them a lot of trouble. Even though the Cavs won,

(20:48):
these Zubach minutes, those offensive rebounds, there's a wear and
tear effect to that. It's mentally draining, it's stopping you
from getting out into transition. It's not what you want
to see happen ten ten in terms of offensive rebounds totally.
Even you also struggled against them going small last time.
You just did not seem prepared to it. They didn't

(21:11):
let them off the hook. That's an instance of the Clippers,
you know, sacrificing some interior defense and exposing a flaw
potentially in the roster to attack a different flaw for
the Calves. Calves this time, much more prepared. They made
them pay. They attacked them at the rim, They go
outscored them by twenty points points in the paint, sixty

(21:33):
two to forty two. Like that, that's what you want
to see. I want to see adjustments. I want to see, Hey,
the team did something to us, we didn't like it,
and we hit them right back. We had the counters
available and it wasn't hey, let's just go small when
they go small, you know, we'll go a little deanweight
at the five and play that style. No, we trust

(21:55):
our bigs to be dominant in this situation. Let's force
feed them. Let's make sure that we're running offense through them.
Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell seven to one assist a
turnover ratio against a very active long defense. I loved
what we saw from them. And to your point about
you know, team efforting and gang rebounding here this has

(22:15):
kind of flown under the radar. But we have eight
straight games from Darius Garland where he has at least
four rebounds. Ten of his last eleven games he has
at least four rebounds, with a couple you know, with
seven plus here.

Speaker 1 (22:28):
That is what you want to see.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
When you get sixteen rebounds from Darius Garland and Donovan
Mitchell in a game which you know heavily carried by
the twelve from Mitchell, that that is the type of
buy and that's the understanding that, hey, we all have
to be pulling in the same direction to you know,
make up for what was a disadvantage in the previous matchup.
And we've seen it before the All Star break, the
Cavs were eighteenth in terms of defensive rebound rate. If

(22:52):
that's where they are, like, you know, middle of the pack,
that's fine. That's not a weakness, that's just not a strength.
If they can keep it in that space, we should
not have any problems, particularly when you look at the
offensive rebound rates for the teams they're likely going to play. Okay,
see bottom ten, Boston, eighteenth, Milwaukee dead last, Indiana not

(23:14):
a particularly good offensive rebounding team. They're not going to
get tested in those ways in all likelihood.

Speaker 1 (23:20):
Yeah, the best offensive rebounding teams are the upper middle
class of the Western Conference. The Houston's, the Memphis is,
the Minnesota's. I think Minnesota's up there either way, Like,
those are the teams, and you're right, the Cavs aren't
meant to play them and as such, like they just
have to not be so bad that even an okay

(23:41):
team at offensive rebound and cooks them.

Speaker 2 (23:43):
And more importantly, when you're playing Boston, Yeah, it's not
a strength. But because it's not a strength, maybe you
just do an extra good job on the defensive glass
and don't give them, you know, if it's the difference
between them getting nine offensive rebounds in a game and
seven with the way they can shoot with how you know,
Finn the margins are in terms of dethroning the NBA champions,

(24:04):
that might be the difference in the series. Even though
it's not a weakness, that just gives you an opportunity
for it to be maybe a little bit more of
a strength than it would be in another matchup if
you commit yourself on that end.

Speaker 1 (24:16):
Yeah, man, I was yeah overall, just like this is
what I want to see. I want to see them
show that they can do it. Put it on tape.
Sometimes when you're having a bad two three weeks in
a row, you do kind of have this like, well,
how are we supposed to dig out of this? You know?
And like when you put it on tape when you
really can, like and I hope you know, Like if

(24:38):
I'm Kenny and I'm or I'm the film team at
the Calves, I am running tape of all this gang
rebounding to show how impactful it is on the defensive
glass because I actually don't really care about the gang
about offensive rebounding for anyone other than the bigs, Like

(24:58):
I am happy to be a get back in transition
team and if in Jarrett is the one that's fighting,
you know, and trying to trying to extend some possessions.
I don't need three four guys crashing the glass on
offense to show how tough we are. But on defense,
I do want to see that. I do want to
see like just help, just be an extra body to

(25:20):
tip the freaking ball to, or if the ball hits
the ground off of a rebound, because all the bigs
are in a fight, Darius can just swoop along the baseline,
pick it up and start the break against an unbalanced defense.
Like that's how you punish teams. Or crashing the glass
is getting them, is getting the you know, gang rebounding,

(25:43):
securing the board and going anyway. So yeah, I just
wanted to start talking about that, the rebounding, because I
really do think, no, it's not like, you know, the
Clippers had zero, like you're still going to get some,
but it's about not letting it kill you. It's about
holding them into the you know, the the low were
you know, third of the league. From an offensive rebound

(26:04):
rate perspective, I would like to flip it to the
other side. Of the ball though, justin Okay, and talk
about our boy, Donnie Donovan Mitchell, who I thought, you know,
another game where the three pointer wasn't great. I thought
he played one of his best overall games this season.
And the playmaking dude has been really really good as

(26:27):
of late.

Speaker 2 (26:27):
Yeah, I honestly, I've been pretty happy with his last
couple of games. I think he's moving well. I think,
you know, a bit of a funk from three that
that's kind of continued all of March here. It's not
something I'm concerned about anymore. I was a little concerned
about it. I think that he is playing really really
intelligent basketball. I think he's picking his spots one to attack.

(26:48):
It's going to be the odd time that he settles
for three, But I still want to see him being
aggressive and taking those right. And I think you saw
late in the Detroit game and then late in this
game again the Clippers, he starts hitting some of those
right and that gives the Cavs so much momentum. And
I don't want to see Donovan Mitchell ever shy away
from the moment because his ability to not shoot well

(27:11):
for three quarters but then explode in the fourth quarter
is part of what makes him special. That's part of
what gives you confidence with great, great players, and I
totally agree. I think his play making has been phenomenal.
I think he's been locked in on the defensive end.
You're seeing some of those explosive plays that Donkey had
against Detroit was, you know, eye popping. I'm just really

(27:34):
really impressed with his play. And I gotta say, like,
when I look at how the Guards have played recently
these last couple of games, it's becoming less and less
of a concern for me. Darius is shot well from
three to the last couple of games. A couple of the
floaters didn't go, But for the most part, I feel
like he's been pretty efficient lately. Nothing that really looks

(27:54):
concerning the fact that he's attacking the glass. The way
that he is to me, indicates everything you know they're physically,
and I just really hope that having two days off
before this next game and finally getting that break is
gonna be something that that pays dividends for this team.

Speaker 1 (28:10):
Yeah. I'll tell you what. If I'm Kenny Atkinson, I'm
telling the team not to bother showing up to the
facility to shoot around. Yeah, on on Wednesday. I'm just
gonna say, hey, man, take care of your families, relax.
If you want to come get a workout in and
get your treatments, that's fine. But like, we ain't playing,
we ain't running drills, we ain't doing we ain't doing

(28:33):
a scout. We're just gonna We're gonna roll the ball
out Wednesday morning and shoot around and go through the
scout then. And I mean that's just me, That's what
I would do. Who knows what they end up doing.
But like, I think that this team has really shown
you that when they are well rested, which is the
nice thing about the playoffs to get a lot of
opportunities for rest, yep, especially if you take care of

(28:56):
your your opponents and take care of your series early on.
But uh, but yeah, I think this team really does
show that they they've done that. And I think you're
right that Darius is moving around much better and looking
very crispy. The floaters are still you know, a little
hit and miss. I still think, you know, in this

(29:17):
Clippers game, the one thing I will challenge is the
degree of difficulty on them. He's still like some of
them are from too far it's like that's yeah, I
mean that's just where I'm at. It's like, brother, like
you're playing against Zubac, He's gonna keep backpedaling, just going
making backpedal one step more before you go up, you know,

(29:38):
because you're gonna you're gonna take a thirty five percent
floater up to a forty five percent floater with two
extra steps. Like That's the thing with floaters is like
every every foot further away from the rim, the degree
of difficulty the curve is like exponential, you know, in
terms of how hard it gets and less you Nicola

(29:58):
Jokich apparently, and like so that is the one quote
quibble I'll give is like brother, just keep making him backpedal,
like yep. But like, overall, I do think the movements there,
the playmaking has been really really strong. Last four games.
He's got seventeen twenty five thirty two assists to a

(30:21):
total of seven turnovers. Wow, Like that's really really good.
I feel like he's got a lot of control the
offense right now. And that's why I didn't really notice
that he went five or fourteen today other than a
few of those misfloaters.

Speaker 2 (30:34):
Yeah, and you know, made up for it getting to
the free throw line. It was really just that stretch
in the third quarter. Looked like he had jammed his
hand a little bit going for a defensive rebound at
one point late in the second quarter. But you know,
he looked fine. I thought the playmaking was really, really strong.
You know, hit big shots in the fourth quarter, made

(30:54):
the right pass.

Speaker 1 (30:56):
But I agree with you. I think you know.

Speaker 2 (30:58):
The main thesis there is don't make things harder than
they need to be, right, don't don't take floaters.

Speaker 1 (31:04):
Kind of the story of Darius.

Speaker 2 (31:07):
Yeah, Like you know, if they're plane drop and you
have a pull up three, take it. Don't don't drive
into a congested defense. Right, if you've got to an
open lane, take the ten foot floater instead of fifteen
foot floater. You don't need to make things more difficult.
You need to work smarter, not harder. And that's why
tools like zoom ai Companion are so important, Carter, because

(31:28):
only you can do your best work, zoom Ai Companion
can help you do the rest, like automatically taking notes,
answer meeting questions, and helping you respond to your coworker.
Bailable no additional cost with eligible paid plans. Were happy
with zoom AAI companion.

Speaker 1 (31:41):
I got it rich. I feel like you've really found
your stride on the zoom AI reads. I think from
you know, when we when we flipped over, I thought
you were really, you know, bumbling in the dark a
little bit on your segues. I really feel like you've
gotten somewhere. It's you know, it's a little trickier. It's
a little trickier. The support was so easy, so easy,

(32:02):
but now you just gotta you know, you got to
think about all the benefits, right, you gotta. Even if
you want to.

Speaker 2 (32:07):
Compile some of those with AI, you can do that
as well. But I thought the Calves, you know, were
working happy, and a large part of that was how
good the bigs were, Darius and Donovan.

Speaker 1 (32:19):
The playmaking was phenomenal.

Speaker 2 (32:21):
We've talked about that, but Jared Allen and Evan Mobley
were phenomenal tonight. I really really feel like this was
not only the best game from a process standpoint from
the Calves in about a month, this was probably your
best game from the core that we've had, right, and
you're missing a significant bench punch from Ty Jerome having

(32:43):
Jared Allen like some of the finishes he did like
blew my mind, Like he had Zeubac going up and
under the touch with some of those finishes, the steels
were you know, he had the footwork, the little tiptoeing
with the ball, Evan Mobley, you know, giving another defense
player of the Year caliber performance. I just thought it
was a terrific performance from the Bigs.

Speaker 1 (33:06):
Yeah, if there's any indication that you need to see
that like that, you know, it's just March. Guys are tired.
Like Jared's last three games. Thursday against the Spurs, plays
thirty minutes, goes ten of eleven from the field, It's
twenty nine points and fifteen rebounds. Then the next night

(33:27):
he only makes it nineteen minutes against the Pistons, puts
up eight and four as a complete non non factor.
And then two days later against the Clippers, he puts
up twenty five on eleven of twelve shooting in thirty
one minutes and grabs twelve rebounds. So it's just just
kind of funny to see, like how the highs and

(33:48):
lows of like when your legs are a little dead,
how that can kind of represent itself, and like some
days you're feeling great and some days you're really not,
and you know, I think that's okay. Here is a
little bit of a tangent on this, because I will
say something if I have a quibble with mister Atkinson's rotations,

(34:11):
is I find that he often on nights where Jarrett
doesn't have it, he'll just really pull the plug. You know,
he'll have a nineteen minute night where he's barely playing
at all because that like business game is close, Like
you know, it wasn't close for the beginning of the
fourth quarter, but it got close. And you know, I

(34:35):
sometimes like I feel like there have been games where
Jarrett doesn't quite have it, but then when he gets
that fourth quarter shift after sitting a while, he's rejuvenated
and sharp again, and it's like, hey, like we don't
have to just be like, well, I guess Dean Wade's
our backup five for Evan because Jarrett had a rough
first half. And I'm not saying it's that reductive or

(34:56):
that simplistic, but like I would, as you know, probably
the most predominant Jared Allen supporter in the community, I
just would like to see him get that extra shot
in the fourth quarter and if it's still not there,
all right, no harm, no foul, like go do something else.

(35:18):
But like I just feel like sometimes we just we
downshift really fast when things aren't going well, and I
feel like it runs us away from our identity a
little bit. I think it's a fair note.

Speaker 2 (35:31):
I you know, when some of this might be you know,
self preservation given the stretch that they were going through.
I'll be interested to see, you know, we in these
last seven games here, how are we going to approach it?

Speaker 1 (35:45):
Right?

Speaker 2 (35:45):
Are we going to test things out? Or are we
going to try different lineups? You know, as much as
I'd like to get some comfortable wins coming off of
a stretch where the Cats weren't playing their best basketball,
at the same time, like I kind of want to
get you know, those data of all right, it's a
late game situation. You're up five points with four minutes
to go against the next Are you going to go

(36:07):
two bigs? Are you going to close with DeAndre Hunter
in that scenario? If Jared, as you said, didn't play
particularly well the first couple of quarters, are you.

Speaker 1 (36:15):
Going to go back to him in that spot?

Speaker 2 (36:18):
I think Jared deserves a lot of credit for being
ready no matter what it is, right, like, because I
think what you're talking about there is the trust that
they have that, hey, if you have sat for a
while and we go to you, you're going to be ready.
If you have sat for a while and we don't
go back to you, you're still going to be bought,
and you're still going to give that maximum effort the

(36:39):
next game. There's no hard feelings with it. You're going
to do what's best for the team. And that's a big,
big credit to Jared Allen and you know, his mentality,
his mental toughness, and his approach throughout the season because
you know, there's games where everybody doesn't have it. It's
just natural. It's part of the regular season, is part

(36:59):
of the playoffs. But for him to you know, bounce back,
to stay ready in a variety of different scenarios is
going to be interesting. And I just I want to
see I want to see some of these close games
down down the stretch how they approach it.

Speaker 1 (37:13):
Yeah, and uh, that's that's kind of you know basically
my plea, which is like, hey, like I get among
the core four, there's probably you know, a small dotted
line under the three, and then Jared is the fourth.
You know, I think we generally can acknowledge that, you know,
the other three have a little bit more. I don't know,

(37:35):
Panash some a little extra.

Speaker 2 (37:38):
All NBA candidates and All Star candidate. Right, yeah, like
that's that's basically what it comes down here. That's a
good way to frame it. But I feel like sometimes
when he's not at his best, he's treated like a
member of the rest of the roster, and I think
he is, you know, like I just don't see a

(38:00):
lot of fringe All Stars going just being like pulled
off the floor just because they're having a rough first half.

Speaker 1 (38:07):
So that's my only note. And you know, again it's
not fair because I'm not a coach. I'm not you know,
I'm not sitting having to live with the consequences of
rotational choices. And you know, ultimately this is a theoretical discussion.
I'm not trying to be like Kenny's h jareded or
something like that, but right, but like it's just if
I were coach. If I were coaching, which as always think,

(38:28):
God we're not, I would maybe do things a little
little differently. What did you think of Evan's game tonight?
Because I felt like he had a really really nice
offensive night in kind of a quiet way. Yeah, I
thought he picked his spots really well, you know the
I like seeing him confidently taking those three poorners, particularly

(38:48):
when when the defense is playing off of him going
three of six from three, like that's it's funny that
that isn't something that we're leading the podcast with. I
feel like, if that happened last year, we're talking about,
Oh my god, happy learned to pot like this is
really exciting.

Speaker 2 (39:03):
But Evans had games like this where he's gotten a
good number of threes up that's what the defense is
giving up, and every single one of them felt like
a good attempt. None felt rush. Sometimes it feels like
you're settling maybe a little bit here. These are Hey,
if I don't take this three and the defense is
playing off of me to this extent, we're probably not

(39:23):
getting a good shot on this possession. Because if I'm
driving into a said defense or I'm kicking it to
someone that is defendant because I'm not defended, odds are
the shot clock's going to run down and someone's going
to have to force up a difficult shot.

Speaker 1 (39:37):
So I love seeing him take those types of shots.

Speaker 2 (39:40):
But I also really love to see him, you know,
not let the clippers off of the hook when they're
playing Nick Batoome at center, or you know you got
to switch.

Speaker 1 (39:49):
I'm going to attack that switch. I have a zoobotch
on me. I don't care.

Speaker 2 (39:54):
I'm going to drive right through him and get an
and one right Like, it wasn't just taking advantage of
those small lineups. He was being aggressive no matter who
his cover was and understanding what the defense was giving
him and picking his spots. I thought it was a
really really mature performance. And in addition to those twenty
two points for assists right like, he's getting it done,

(40:16):
he gets the three blocks. Just a fantastic performance from
him all around.

Speaker 1 (40:21):
Yeah, one play that it really jumped out to me.
And maybe I'm misremembering and I'm having a small crisis
of confidence on my memory, but I remember the play
where he got aboard and was pushing in transition and
flowed straight into a transition pick and roll with Jared Allen,
And I really really liked that play. Where we've seen

(40:44):
Evan Ron pick and roll with Jared before and I
feel like it always yields a really good result and
kind of makes me wonder why we don't push that
button a little more often, and especially in transition. Is
one of the cavs great strengths, isn't that they have
two skilled bigs, that they have two athletics skilled bigs

(41:07):
that are really really good on their feet, really good
catching the ball in the move, and you're asking a
lot of times you're asking a power forward who's trying
to pick up Evan in transition, and then the center
who's trying to pick up Jared in transition to definitely

(41:28):
navigate a pick and roll situation with very little institutional
help around them because everyone else is trying to scramble
to the corners trying to catch the trailer threes. No
one gets to really pay that much attention to that action.
And I think a transition flow for them into a
pick and roll is kind of the best way to
do it. Like I feel like most of the time

(41:49):
we've seen them run pick and roll, it's been a
very like Evan caught the ball at the elbow, Jared
comes up from the opposite block, and they set like
basically a it'll compressed screen and roll, which is cool
because they're good passers. They get good results there but
like I do think it's short circuits a lot of
BIG's brains trying to figure out how to navigate that action,

(42:14):
because that's where size and smarts get wiped out by
coordination and foot speed. And I think that's like that's
Evan and Jarrett's superpower more than anything else. So yeah,
just a little thing. I wanted to note that I
really really liked that they did that, and I want
to see more of it.

Speaker 2 (42:34):
Yeah, it's the type of thing that you have to
be playing with tempo in order to take advantage of
those types of looks, right, and I thought the cast
did a great job with that against the Clippers thirty
to eight edge in fast break points. You know, I
still feel, you know, on the subject of who you
close with and all that, I'm fine with some games,

(42:55):
Hey we're closing with DeAndre or even DeAndre and Dean
along with Evan. I'm sure there's going to be matchups
or certain games where that's advantageous. But I still feel
like what makes the Cavs unique, what makes them special,
is their ability to play with the two bigs that
are not only able to play with size, but they're
able to play with a tremendous amount of skill. And

(43:17):
I think it's important remembering that, you know, we did
close against Okay, see, we have closed against Boston with
the two Bigs and won those games. We have done
this in a lot of kind of big matchups against
very very good teams that we've found success with it.
So as much as now we have a valid option
in DeAndre Hunter to potentially, you know, scale down and

(43:40):
play a small ball style, and some games are going
to call for that, I do think it's important to
not move away from what makes you unique and what
your identity is too easily. You don't want to, you know,
take away one of your advantages without the other team
really forcing your hand.

Speaker 1 (43:59):
Yeah. I mean again, we've said this before, but one
of the reasons neither one of the reasons neither of
us really liked what the Knicks did this summer was
we felt like they just turned themselves into a worse
version of the Boston Celtics, you know, in terms of
losing a lot of their downhill players and going getting
a lot of dudes who are side to side you know,

(44:19):
okay shooters, but not great shooters, and and like I
feel like they kind of gave up the thing that
made them really unique and special in an attempt to
get a little more conventionally built. And I think as
much as I've you know, really enjoyed the DeAndre Hunter

(44:40):
experience so far, I still like most of the lineups
where I feel like I'm and this is kind of
where I want to flow into a DeAndre Hunter conversation,
because he's been used a ton at the four. I mean,
he's basically just replaced Nyang in the rotation. You know,
Tyjier rome Is and Sam Merrill have replaced karrisl in
the rotation. Yep. And even when I've really liked Hunner

(45:05):
lineups normally there with with like Dean Waite, yeah you know,
or you know, or or another big player like and
another defender like Okoro or something on the floor, I
just feel like that's still not your superpower is not
going to DeAndre Hunter at the four and downshifting. I

(45:27):
feel like that's a great extra look to throw at someone,
but like I just generally like I would I would
rather see them up shift in size and play Hunter
at the three with those guys, with that with those
core four than the inverse of downshifting, because again, I
just think that's that's not what makes them unique, and

(45:50):
I'm always going to be predisposed to what makes this
team unique.

Speaker 2 (45:54):
Yeah, And you know, it's funny when when people talk about, hey,
I want to see a down shifting, usually it's oh, like,
you know, Jonas found Chunessy is beating up Jared, like
we got to go small here, And no, that's not
solving that issue. You're you're going to be more prone
to giving up offensive rebounds when you're doing that, particularly
when you're doing it with three guards. It's one of

(46:15):
the things that gives me just a little bit of
pause heading into the playoffs is I think that playing
DeAndre at the three is something that we're going to
need to do at times, and I just don't feel
like we're getting a lot of reps of it.

Speaker 1 (46:27):
And that just I think he's versatile.

Speaker 2 (46:31):
I think, you know, the basketball i Q is so
high with the cores and DeAndre has fits so well
in the minutes that they have had. But even tonight,
like I think they had a four or five possession
stretch where they played together, whereas the core four and
DeAndre Hunter, you're not really learning a whole lot from
those minutes, right, Like, it's going to accumulate, and I
think those minutes went well, so it'll go on top

(46:53):
of you know, the fifty three that they've had together
already to this point this season. But I just feel
like you're just not going to have enough experience with that,
and maybe it's something that hey, we're going to figure
out in the first two rounds of the playoffs. They're
going to get their chance to get reps. It's going
to be a pretty natural fit. Playing alongside these guys

(47:14):
has helped them him learn their tendencies, and it doesn't
really matter how much time they've had together as a
five sume. But it's not even just about that lineup
as a five some. It's as you said, playing him
with Dean Wade at the four, along with Evan Mobley
or Jared Allen, Like I think that that's a unique
look that the Cats can have to have a lot

(47:35):
of length, to have a lot of defensive versatility and help,
you know, account for the fact that, hey, maybe Sam
Merril's playing at the two and we have Darius Garland
out there or Tie Jerome along with Garland or Mitchell,
and you know, you have some vulnerabilities there with the guards,
Like I just I'd like to see a little bit
more experimentation with that. And I just feel like, as

(47:57):
you said, he's basically replaced Niang as the backup power forward.
I was expecting just a little bit more small forward.

Speaker 1 (48:04):
Yeah, And I also think doing that will allow you
to give him some more run, right as a member
of the in March, he's averaging twenty four minutes a game,
Like that's not too far away from the Sam Merrill's
of the world. That's not too far. I mean George
Niang was averaging twenty point six, so like it's a

(48:26):
couple more minutes than the Yang. He's not playing a
tremendous amount more, you know, And like part of that
is like just no one plays that many minutes, Like
is that you know? Strus is at twenty five, Jared's
at twenty eight and a half, which is crazy. By
the way, I think he's down that low. He didn't
realize he was that far below thirty at this point.

(48:46):
So it's like part of this is like just what
it is to play for Kenny Atkinson. But I do
think there's some room to borrow some I mean some
of those if you borrow I don't know. Let's say
three to four Sam Merril minutes in the rotation where
Sam is playing at that functional three next to a

(49:10):
duo of Darius, Donovan and Tie. He's still three four
three three more of those minutes, and all of a sudden,
DeAndre is getting you know, maybe maybe still the majority
of his minutes are going to come at the four,
just because of how the team is kind of constructed,
but it's You're now getting more opportunities for reps at

(49:33):
the small forward, and I think that's something I'd like
to see.

Speaker 2 (49:36):
Yeah, And you know, I thought with Maxterius out against Detroit,
maybe that was an opportunity. Like I thought, oh yeah,
my brain just defaulted to DeAndre Hunter is going to
start in that spot. But then I was thinking, I
was like, there's no Ty Jerome coming in off the bench.
If you start DeAndre Hunter, you have like no real
scoring punch coming in off the bench. I thought that
was actually an understandable decision by Kenny Atkinson going with

(49:59):
Isaac o Core. That lineup's been really good as well,
and you need to have a little bit of that
scoring punch. Honestly, to me, it really doesn't come down
to the just starting. It's just let's try to prioritize
finding some time to get him a little more reps
at the three, where your position on the court is
going to be a little different when you're playing at
the small forward. So it'll be interesting to see if

(50:20):
that's something that we do do over the last seven
games here.

Speaker 1 (50:24):
Yeah, and you know, these are all quibbles, and these
are all things that it's like, on one hand, I
really wanted the Cavs, you know, to your point about
Okoro starting, Like, on one hand, I was grumpy that
Hunter didn't get the start because I wanted to see
more of those minutes. But then at the same time,
I also really wanted the Cavs to win a couple
of games. So can he feels like getting a win

(50:46):
is important, then he's going to try to balance his
rotation in a way that makes him play lineups that
he thinks are going to help him win, not just
the first quarter in the end of the game, but
you know, the middle of the first, the beginning of
the second. He's got to build a rotation that works
written large. So yeah, so that's my DeAndre DeAndre thoughts

(51:09):
in general in terms of how he's used and he
thoughts about his play last ten games, it's been a
little cooler. He's he's averaging thirteen points on twenty four
minutes a game, slashing forty eight percent from the field,
thirty six from three, and eighty five from the line,
getting the old line only two point six times a game,

(51:31):
the rebounding about where it's always been about three point six,
only one assist to one turnover, one steal. Feels like
the impact has been a little lower. That's been reflected
in the plus minus. Is this a little bit of
the well, this is the kind of you know, you know,
there's a reason they were able to get him for

(51:52):
the price they got him, and that he's been somewhat
of an inconsistent player. Like what do you think about
his last run of play. I've been mostly fine with it.

Speaker 2 (52:01):
Like I think it comes down to what percentage of
his threes is he hitting right? And particularly with him,
you know, still getting comfortable within the offense and the defense.
There's occasional the occasional miscommunication and things like that, But
in terms of like the on off numbers and things
like that, I think it's really Hey, you know, he's
not making as many threes, but I'm still feeling pretty

(52:24):
good about his minutes. I like some of the isolation
looks that he takes, the pull ups from mid range.
I think that that's something that.

Speaker 1 (52:31):
The Cavs pred we promised, Yeah, like that was something
that needed to be within their offensive portfolio, and I
just don't think that it was before. So I have
a little I have a one more note on the
small forward front. Another reason I like it more post
tup opportunities against smaller when teams are a little smaller

(52:53):
at the three and the four. Instead of playing you know,
a like sized four at six', eight you might be you,
know getting to post up a Bug Dan, Bogdanovic, Right
and like that's a good that's a good outcome for.
Us that's a good. Win that's a win for, us
especially late in the shot clock if your first couple
actions have been. DENIED i don't feel like him posting

(53:15):
up against power. Forwards it yields the same level of.

Speaker 2 (53:18):
Advantage, yeah and you, know when it comes to the,
playoffs particularly When i'm thinking about playing Against okay see
or playing Against, boston, Right like you're dealing with a
lot of length out, THERE i think WHO i want
to be, Playing like from an on paper, standpoint WHO
i want to be playing small? Forward it is De Andre,
Hunter It's Max, Druce It's Isaac. Okoro those are the

(53:41):
three main. Ones in the, past it probably would have
Said Dean. Wade but we have De Andre hunter, now
and Like i'm perfectly fine With dan plan could.

Speaker 1 (53:49):
BE i don't Think dean needs to play a second
at small forward the rest of the season if if everyone's.

Speaker 2 (53:55):
Healthy, No AND i think power forward has been his best,
position like the for or his own, impact for his own,
production like what he can do defensively on this for.

Speaker 1 (54:05):
Forever, yeah it's that's that's the best spot for For Dean.

Speaker 2 (54:09):
Wade so even if that's coming Alongside DeAndre, HUNTER i
think that that's a great look that they can. Give
and you, KNOW i think there's enough variety with what
each of these guys bring to the table that it
justifies giving them all all those, opportunities, Right LIKE i
think you saw, Tonight Max struce did not have a
great shooting. GAME i thought it was a great game

(54:31):
For Max. DREWS i thought the way he attacked the,
glass the connective playmaking just the smarts he plays, With
like he is exactly what you want from a role
player in terms of completing, lineups playing very HIGH iq,
style playing with an, edge you, know raising the team's collective.
Edge Max strews brings a lot to the Table Isaaca.

(54:53):
Korro he's getting better and better rolling to the basket
and finishing in those, situations making passes in those. SPOTS
i think the way he's attacking the glasses better than.
EVER i love tonight seeing oh the airball is first,
three the next one's and above the breakthree that he,
cashes and then he hits his next two three. Pointers,
LIKE i think the confidence in what he's doing out

(55:14):
there is higher than it's ever. BEEN i feel great about.
It And DeAndre, hunter, yeah there's going to be you,
know ebbs and flows in terms of his overall, efficiency
BUT i feel like the types of shots he's taking
and the role he plays within the team has been
really steady despite, That AND i think that's really really
important to know exactly what you're getting from a role,

(55:36):
player or at least you know what types of shots
he's going to be, taking make or, Miss like that's
that's the nature of the.

Speaker 1 (55:43):
Game that is what it. Is it's not Something i'm
going to stress. Over, yeah you are very right on
the short roll. Stuff, man he has been so so.
Good he is making the right decision nine times out of.
Ten you can tell the defense every. Time and like
that is one of those things that you do wonder
a little bit on the scout in a playoff series

(56:05):
like Where you've got because there's Ever i'm telling you right,
now every single role possession For isaac O corol and
the pick and roll was a surprise to the other. Team,
yeah sure so far this? Season what page on the
scout do you think that? Is?

Speaker 2 (56:23):
Though, like do You you're, Right you're right that they're
going to expect. It they're going to be, Like, Okay Isaacle,
corro he's been playing, more you, know his shooting, garden
small forward to use him as a screener in the,
spot mind the dunker spot and all. THAT i still
feel like they're going to live with him as the.

Speaker 1 (56:37):
Role, YEAH i get, that but they're at least gonna
be paying it like. That that's where the difference between
a playoff scout and a regular season scout like. Matters
like some film coordinator is going to be like in
In Jamal moseley's ear in the first, round being like
watch the Old coro short, Role like you know it's

(56:57):
gonna come. Up you just know, it because the Four
kid's gonna, watch you, know nine straight hours OF calvs
tape getting ready for this. Game you, know some some new,
hire some intern on the, staff Some Eric spolstra in
training is going to be keying in on this stuff
and mentioning. It so like that is the. Difference so we'll,

(57:18):
see if you, know one how much run he gets
in the. POSTSEASON i still if you, were you, know
to ask me right this, second WHO i thought would
be the odd man out in the rotation in the.
Postseason It's isaac Or dean Because sam has been consistently
getting the. Minutes So i'll be real surprised to See

(57:38):
sam just disappear or fall way off or at, MOST i,
think and he will run the exact same rotation he's been,
running at least in the first round until someone makes
him not because clearly he wants to play ten. Guys but,
yeah like, so but like those are the things you
really want to see to Help bowie his playoff minutes

(58:01):
where you're not just being, like, well hope he gets
a couple of easy ones in, transition or hope the
threes go. In, Yeah like that's the kind of stuff
where it's, Like, okay can you rely on that in
a more high leverage. ENVIRONMENT i don't.

Speaker 2 (58:14):
Know we'll, See, yeah we'll, see you, know if he's
able to hit the offensive glass and get some extra,
possessions you, know get kind of those disruptive, steals the
pick sixes and stuff like, that that makes a big, difference,
Right AND i do think if i'm you, know If
i'm a betting man, here What Kenny atkinson's going to
do in the. PLAYOFFS i do, think particularly in the

(58:35):
first half of, games particularly in the first, round we're
probably going to see a very very similar. Rotation AND
i think the question is going to be who earns
their second half minutes within that first, Half, LIKE i
think you're going to see a little less rigid lineups
in the second half of. Games but you're, right it's
hard to imagine a world where we just dramatically change

(58:58):
up how we're deploying this roster once we get to the.

Speaker 1 (59:01):
Postseason, yeah real, quick just folded Up Isaako korro is
one of the funniest basketball reference pages in the world
because it was a thing we were giggling about two years,
ago is that he had three straight years of ten
point seven points per thirty six and then last year
he bumps up to twelve point three and we're, like,

(59:22):
ah he finally he's moving. Up he's down to ten point.
Eight he hits so close to exactly the same for
thirty six points for four out of five. SEASONS i
can't imagine there's ever been a player in the history
of the sport that has been that close to the
same points per thirty. Six you know that four out

(59:44):
of five.

Speaker 2 (59:44):
Years the real shame, is you, know in his eleven
minutes and he had eleven. Points so that's going to
that's going to bump that up a little. Bit if you,
know if he missed another three or, two he might
have went down to that ten point seven. Again that's
that's truly one of the, coolest the weirdest.

Speaker 1 (01:00:00):
Ever what a.

Speaker 2 (01:00:01):
Guy and the other THING i really enjoy about, it
he's almost got a little bit That Jose caldern syndrome
where The Toronto raptors tried to Replace Jose calderon year after,
year whether you know It's Jared, Bayless Jared, jack all
these different guys they brought into to replace, him Even
Kyle laria at the, start And Jose, calderon whether it be,

(01:00:22):
injuries whether it be his own, play he would go
out there and he'd end up starting about half of the.
Games same thing happens For Isaac. Okorol you know when he.

Speaker 1 (01:00:31):
Starts to Think isaac has this, YEAR i guess like twenty,
five twenty one out of his forty eight. Games, yeah to, me,
laugh it's, Crazy and this year.

Speaker 2 (01:00:42):
He just finds ways into the starting, lineup and those
lineups always, Good like it's just one of those things, like.

Speaker 1 (01:00:50):
Man that's that's. Crazy you're, right it's about how, weird
what a weird Career isaac has said it really.

Speaker 2 (01:00:56):
Is But i'm happy he's. Here i'm happy he's doing lot. More,
Yeah i'm here for more minutes From isaac. Occorrel but you,
know there's seven games. Left as you, said the magic
numbers four for people that don't, know that means four more,
wins And, CARTER i can't believe you struggled with this.

Speaker 1 (01:01:14):
Math but seven games means four and. THREE i couldn't
remember how many games we have left because my brain was. Breaking,
well you know.

Speaker 2 (01:01:21):
We, seven, okay so four. Games no matter what happens
with The Boston, celtics if we win four more, games
we get the number one seed in The Eastern. Conference
it's important to note because they split the season, series
next tiebreaker for these two teams is the record versus
The Eastern. Conference right, now The cavs are thirty eight

(01:01:42):
and nine against The Eastern conference with five games. Left
boston is thirty five and, eleven so they have two
more losses against The. East so if you're going to
pick and choose which games you really want to, win
it's the ones against The Eastern. Conference The cavs play
the next, twice The pacers, twice and The. Bulls all
five of those games should be in interesting tests with
teams That knicks aren't playing particularly, well but The pacers

(01:02:04):
are playing great and The bulls have.

Speaker 1 (01:02:05):
Been playing really well.

Speaker 2 (01:02:06):
Lately so you, KNOW i wanted to, say if The
celtics ran the table against The Eastern, conference The cavs
would just have to win four of those five games
against The, east but it doesn't really matter that it's
the four against The east four because it's just four
wins no matter. What BUT i still thought it was
interesting for.

Speaker 1 (01:02:23):
People that it loses one of their games against The,
east the magic number becomes. Three so it just doesn't. Matter, yeah,
yeah it all just becomes the nice win here this
far into this, year and it's, like just win four, games.

Speaker 2 (01:02:34):
Guys, yeah it's it's a four and a half game
lead with seven games. LEFT i understand that people got,
anxious but function, like feel free to clip this.

Speaker 1 (01:02:45):
If i'm, wrong but they've got the number one seed locked. Up.
Stop it would be a phenomenal uh issue if they didn't.

Speaker 2 (01:02:53):
Lock it, up AND i would take one hundred. Responsibility
so you, guys clip. That feel feel free to throw
it back in my face If i'm. Wrong but you
know that we've been doing this for eight, Years. CARTER
i don't Think i've been wrong.

Speaker 1 (01:03:06):
Once not not a. Once every single win makes me
feel more, comfy you. Know and so a two days
off game against The knicks at home in the NEXT
i believe are also off the next two, Days no they.
Play oh they're on a back to, back, Baby there you,

(01:03:28):
go a road back to. Back that's. Great so, yeah
they better win On. Wednesday they.

Speaker 2 (01:03:33):
Should you, know comfy cozy is he still out part of?
Me brunson is still out, RIGHT i think so maybe
there's a chance he.

Speaker 1 (01:03:43):
Did not, play did not play.

Speaker 2 (01:03:44):
Tonight so, well you, know there's gonna be tests, that
there's gonna be. Opportunities as you, said cads are gonna
be nice and cozy at, home finally getting a little
bit of a. Rest we'll see if it bears some
fruit and they're able to build off what they did
against The, clippers BECAUSE i really did think that this
was a positive win coming off a very frustrating loss

(01:04:04):
against The Detroit.

Speaker 1 (01:04:05):
Pistons absolutely, WELL i actually are. YOU i wasn't frustrated at.
ALL i just felt like a schedule. Loss to, me
that was the most Frustrated i've been with the.

Speaker 2 (01:04:12):
Game AND i understood that was a schedule, loss but
there were too many times in that game WHERE i was, like,
Oh detroit's making us earn it at the, line and
the trip to the line did not. Come AND i
thought that The cavs got very frustrated and we lost
a little bit of our. Composure BUT i also was
losing my composure because that game drove me absolutely. Insane
but you, know they showed some toughness fighting back at the.

(01:04:33):
End but that was a very very frustrating game against
a very very physical.

Speaker 1 (01:04:39):
Team that's. FAIR i just WAS i kind of washed
my hands of that one at the. Beginning.

Speaker 2 (01:04:44):
Yeah, well you, know sometimes SOMETIMES i have a cooler.

Speaker 1 (01:04:48):
Head sometimes it's.

Speaker 2 (01:04:49):
You that was one of those instances WHERE i did
not handle that one well even.

Speaker 1 (01:04:53):
THOUGH i understood all the.

Speaker 2 (01:04:54):
Fact good, partners, Buddy hell, yeah, buddy Big thanks to
everyone that tuned in live on. YouTube we appreciate you.
Guys make sure you like and. Subscribe click that notification
bell so you know when we're going. Live if you're
listening via podcast and you want to support, us leave
us a, rating lear, review, subscribe unsubscribe to you subscribe
and help cook those books you want to be part
of The Chase downs exclusive discord. Chats screenshot the review
To chase down pot at gmail dot. Com however you

(01:05:14):
choose to support, us we really do appreciate. It make
sure you guys are staying safe out. There until next,
Time Go.

Speaker 1 (01:05:19):
Cavs