May 10, 2025 • 44 mins
Justin and Carter react to the Cavs blowout Game 3 win. As well as the return of Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and De'Andre Hunter to the lineup. Discussing how the Cavs were able to get the win, the performance of Donovan Mitchell, and how they can even up the series on Sunday.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This crowd rises to speaking what Carl slammed it out?
Carl left wing free ball.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Perfect, Darl.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Pop beg heleft block the shot at the rim pow
with the left hand and of fowl.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Welcome to the Chasedown Podcast, part of the Caves Media family.
I'm your host Justin Rowan. The Chasedown is presented by Fubo,
the official streaming partner of the Calves. Watch over three
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no commitment. Try for free at FuboTV dot com Slash Calves.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have handed the Indiana Pacers their first
(00:36):
ever home playoff loss. With Tyre's Halliburton playing, The Calves
won in blowout fashion as Evan Mobley, Darius Garland, and
DeAndre Hunter made their returns to the lineup, joining me
today making his return of this podcast my co host
Carter Rodriguez. Carter, how you doing, buddy?
Speaker 1 (00:53):
It's funny.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
I just feel like Pacers fans have to have just
the absolute worst relationship with the Cleveland Cals. Like every
time we're in that building, we're ripping hearts out. I
still remember the Calves Pacers game I went to where
the playoff game in Indy Pacers go up like thirty
(01:15):
in the first half and Lebron Channing, Kyle Korver, Darren
Williams come back and just rip their freaking hearts out.
Not quite as much a drama.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
In this one.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
I felt like the Cavs kind of had this one
and start to finish it.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Was so it just goes to show you, like.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
What the baseline talent level of these guys that were
missing add to the to what makes the team so dynamic.
You know, Darius doesn't have an eye popping stat line
by any means, nor does DeAndre, but game just feels
a little different.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
With them out there right away.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
And then it felt a lot different with Evan out there,
who was absolutely freaking phenomenal. Eighteen points, thirteen rebounds for assist,
three steals, three blocks, just completely you know, the head
of the snake of the three to two zone was phenomenal.
But then it just goes to show you don't need
to give Donovan Mitchell too much, like you don't need
(02:21):
to get him too much help other than a couple
catch and shoot opportunities here and there, and a couple
of possessions off where he gets to be on the
off the week side of the ball at another masterclass.
I actually think he was better in this game than
he was in Game two, even though this is my
favorite Game two.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
I would ever, I think this is my favorite Donovan
Mitchell playoff game as Cleveland Cavalier. I think he was
terrific on both ends of the floor. I felt like
the shots he were taking, he was taking were all
the right shots. I just felt like he was in
complete control of the game. And you know it once
again goes to show right like he's just put in
(02:59):
better context when this team is healthy, even Darius in
a limited form, what he's able to do to get
Indiana into rotation, to open up opportunities for other guys
with the Dribble Drive game, what Evan Mobley is able
to do to open up opportunities for other guys, Like
it was just a much healthier ecosystem. And you look
(03:20):
at that starting lineup, they outscored Indy forty six to nineteen,
Like that's nuts.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Felt like it.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Pivot Fade has them at a plus eighty three net
rating for this game. And here's here's really the wild thing.
You know, you're talking about how good they look and
how good this team is when they do have everybody available.
I think one of the most frustrating things about this
series beyond the fact that, as I said on the
(03:52):
last podcast, the last two minute report did come out
with the apology and oh, you know, you guys probably
should have won, but it didn't work out. That's frustrating.
But the other thing that's really frustrating is we've really
felt how big the margin for error is for this
Cavs team that's a really good Indiana Pacers team and
the Calves, despite missing Darius up until this point, despite
(04:16):
you know, Mobley and Hunter getting hurt in Game one,
despite the fact they haven't shot thirty percent from three
in a single game this series, They've had a chance
to win every single one of these games. They have
a nuts margin for error because this roster is so good.
And despite the fact that they haven't shot thirty percent
from three in a single game this series, they have
(04:38):
a one sixteen point seven offensive rating, so almost that
you know, one seventeen to one to eighteen rating that
you wanted to see, you know, coming into the playoffs, like,
this team went out, didn't shoot the well, they still
haven't had a good shooting game, and still blew out
Indy on their home court and as I said at
the top of this podcast, gave them their first ever
(05:00):
home playoff loss. With alburn Plaine like, I think it
just goes to show you how deep and how good
this team is, and how even though they are a
team that gets up a lot of threes and you know,
generates a lot of opportunities there, they are not solely
reliant on three point variants to be a good offensive team.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
Yeah, and a lot of that comes to what Donovan's
been doing. So and I do I do want to
I want to stick on Donovan for a minute, yep,
because not only do I think he's been you know,
masterful his ability to get to the line and these
are like real free throws he's earning I thought he was,
(05:40):
as his demeanor in the fourth quarter was as important
as the outcome.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Yep.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
He goes up for yet another ram attack. He gets
past Topping off the switch top and shoves him with
one hand and finishes the job with the in mid
air from behind. Another absolutely reckless play with no attempt
on the ball from topping, really really dangerous stuff in
(06:09):
a series where they've done these, They've made a lot
of these kinds of dangerous plays. And what does Donovan
do get does he writhe on the floor. No, he
stands right up, pops up, and walks to the free
throw line, freaking stone faced. Yep, it's his free throws,
(06:30):
and then proceeds for the next three or four possessions
to rip their freaking hearts out. He doesn't smile, he
doesn't scream, he doesn't do anything. Stone faced. You're not
going to get into my head. You're not going to
affect me in any way. I thought that was one
of the you know, We've had a couple of moments
with Donovan that have really like, you know, warmed our
(06:53):
hearts to him as a player. You know, I think
about him big enough Darius after the corner three against
the Orlando in Game seven, and like that level of
like like f you everyone else, I'm I'm like, that's
my point guard kind of energy. I feel like I'm
gonna remember his face more than the plays he made,
(07:15):
but his face straight up, Like Donovan is an expressive player,
he was clearly pissed that he had been pushed in
mid air, and he was like, I'm just gonna kill him. Yeah,
and I'm gonna, I'm gonna take their spirit. I'm gonna
I'm gonna stop this run. I'm gonna end this game
right here. And I just thought that was one of
the coolest moments of Donovan Mitchell's career with the Cavs
(07:37):
so far.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Yeah, And he's currently averaging forty one points per game
in this series. He would be the fifth player in
NBA history to average forty four a series in the
first since Michael Jordan. If this were to continue, I
just feel like that is the leadership, that is the composure,
that is exactly what you want from your best player.
And I think it illustrates basically what I think you
(08:01):
and I have felt this entire season, where we say, yeah,
like when you look at kind of you know, the
on off data, when you look at the team stats overall,
you know, Darius is probably the biggest driver for the offense,
Like he is the one that makes everyone better. He
seems to be that guy that has the most impact
for the overall team's offensive health. Mobley has the most
(08:22):
impact on the defensive end. But Donovan Mitchell is still
the best player because he is that guy that has
the composure, He has that leadership. He is the one
that sacrifices to let both of those guys you know, emerge.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
And have the seasons that they've had this season.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
I just feel like this is the type of leadership,
This is the type of composure that you've come to
expect from Donovan Mitchell, and you know, highlighting that Obi
play and highlighting all the other hits that he takes,
and his ability to just get back up to to
not lose his cool. I feel like for a team
(08:59):
that had lost they're cool a lot of times in
the past the last few years, Like if you were
playing this series against Indiana two years ago, I think
this team would be losing their minds because they're getting
shoved every single time they're in mid air. You know,
they are two hand shoves on screens, there are wind
ups on almost every single play that I think they
(09:20):
would lose their composure. I think you would see them
yelling at the refs. You would see them reacting to
what the Pacers are doing. And I think Mitchell is
leading by example and they're not complaining. You know, India
is the team that, despite being more physical, but despite
you know, really kind of playing on the margins, they're
(09:40):
the ones that are complaining and like they're.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
Straight up gooonery happening. I thought I was watching the
other winner sport. I thought I was watching some hockey
in this game.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
And what was while we're on that subject, what was
up with like ESPN almost like making fan about James
Johnson coming.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
And coming and hurt someone.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Yeah, Like it was.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Like there was bloodlust from the broadcast and what is
James Johnson going to do that Ben Matherin hasn't already
done six times in this game.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
And apparently put someone in a choke hold? I don't know, man, Like,
first off, someone that I've got my mentions on on
Twitter and mentioned James Johnson hasn't played in a game
since March tenth, like, and.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
I went and checked. I was like that's not true, yep.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
So, like, you know, putting him in with five minutes
while he also had Halliburton, nim Hard and I think
Mathron out there. I thought that was a real kind
of statement, But like, you know, I don't know what
the statement is because the Calves are the ones who
you know, not really you know, there was one play
where Max gave gave nim Hart a little shove and
(10:55):
got a retaliation elbow for his trouble and drew a foul.
Other than that, this has not been the Cavs seeking
out this kind of aggressive context. So like I feel like,
you know, like I remember when Kendrick Perkins came in
to set that hard foul on to Boston's Celtics, but
that was after that was a retaliation. I'm like, what
(11:16):
are you retaliating against? And you know, with all this
physicality uh from from Indy, the fact that they're that
they're complaining after every play. I mean, Nie Smith, who
I think has been a killer for Indy, has two
hands full of DeAndre Hunter's jersey as he pulls him
to the floor for and he gets caught and he's
(11:37):
throwing an absolute fit.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
I will give the SPN broadcast credit for that.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
About the complaining about that call where they say, well,
you know they do serve alcohol in the stands, it's.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
Nie Smith complaining that I've thrown off by And it's
just like.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
As we are currently doing right now.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
It's funny on this and I don't think we should
linger on this to long. Will I will say one
more thing before we move on. Yeah, I got one
more thing too, Okay, all right, then you proceed. I
have you know, part of you wonders anytime, like you're
feeling this way about like a series getting too physical,
(12:18):
you wonder if you're playing the result a little bit
in your brain, like would we really be as mad
about the physicality if Evan doesn't get undercut, if DeAndre
doesn't you know, hurt his thumb, And like, I do
feel like this game did feel like the tipping point
where like, no, this is just a lot of reckless plays.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Yeah, and like in game.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
One, I didn't feel like that was the case.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
I was like, okay, Like they did hit us in
mid air a couple times, but I think those are
those are playoff fouls, right, Like, Hey, some Jared Allen's
going up for a clean dunk. I'm going to try
to make him earn it the free throw line. Still
can't believe that wasn't called a foul. But you know,
it's now a consistent theme where there is wind ups
(13:08):
on all of these plays, and you know Matherin just
Dex Jarrett like right. And here's my thing. If you're
going to play that way, you don't, I would respect
it more if you don't flop on the other end.
And for you know, for shoves of players that are
defenseless in mid air to not get called and then
(13:28):
Matherin tie up Darius Garland, Garland push to free himself
and Matherin flops and they reward that. I can't believe
that if you're allowed to hit defenseless players, you've got
to at least let someone fight to separate it. And
you know, stuff like that just drives me nuts because
it just it goes away from what the game is.
(13:49):
I'm here for physicality. I like the fact that the
Caves have responded to the physicality of the series. I
like the fact that the Cavs physicality is related to basketball.
They are killing Indy on the boards, they are killing
them on the paint, they are killing them with second
chance opportunities. It's why they've managed to score so much
despite not shooting, you know, thirty percent from three like.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I like that. I think they are responding. I think
they are showing.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Composure and honestly, one of the things I love about
this game is I feel like I've learned something about
this team. I feel like, you know, Darius, Evan and
DeAndre going out there and playing hurt, the team responding
to losing Game two in the fashion that they did,
and coming out and playing well to start this game,
to not look rattled when Indy makes their runs. When
(14:39):
Indy cut it down to to eleven, I said in
our Discord game for a chat, I was like, you
know what, you just got to come out of this
time out respond with an eight to two run and
that's probably enough to put them away. It's exactly what
they did. This team showed a lot of toughness and love.
I love seeing it. I love seeing Darius playing through
the pain. I love seeing Evan. You know, he was
(15:00):
clearly laboring a little bit at times, but he was phenomenal.
DeAndre was struggling to grip the ball, but I thought
he made an impact off the bench. And then again
the composure of Donovan Mitchell and honestly the toughness of
Jared Allen as well. It's exactly what I wanted to see.
And you know, I think that's something you don't learn
about a group until you're in the spot. And I
(15:20):
and It just makes me think back to a couple
of years ago against the Knicks where we didn't like
how that series closed out. We thought that there wasn't
really that heart being shown. And this is why you
have some patience with a group, and this is why
you let teams go through the battles and mature and
get that experience, because how you respond to those moments
(15:42):
failure doesn't bother me. How you respond to failure and
how you grow from it is the most important thing.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
Yeah, and like even tactically, I think they really showed
up really ready for the physicality. Their press break was
phenomenal in this game. Andy was really especially in the
second half. I thought their press was getting more and
more violent, more and more physical. You know, more plays
(16:10):
where knee Smith was trying to ride Donovan the entire
way up the floor, a few possessions where they did
that to Max. I thought the Cavs did a great
job finding release valves for their guys and moving off
the ball quickly when a guy who wasn't a ball
handler served as that release valve, a guy who the
(16:31):
box score is not going to show they that he
was helpful in this game. Sam Merrill goes one to
five from three in his twenty minutes. I think I thought,
I thought against the press, against pressure, he presented so
many nice little shows into space to give Donovan a
(16:51):
target and then get off the ball and find the
next guy because I don't I think Sam knows he
doesn't want to be dribbling against Knee Smith or nim
Hard with them pressuring him in the full court. You know,
there was a couple of plays where he did get
the outlet, you know, looked off the pass, so they
they peeled off and then he was able to get
across half court. These are like the smart, unglorious plays
(17:13):
that like help you overcome that pressure, especially when you're
at a bit of a playmaking deficit. Just because Darius
is laboring, because Tye isn't having a you know, he's
having a nightmare series.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
He had another really rough game.
Speaker 4 (17:27):
Like if you're gonna be down one of your lead
point guards and your other one is not going to
be there, that's what they didn't do in game two.
It's not just about like be fast so you get open,
be fast and good at dribbling, like that's like that's
the lazy man's press breaker. Like the smart man's press
(17:47):
breaker is doing exactly what the Cavs did in this game,
which is flashing into empty space, making yourself an obvious
and clear target for the guy getting pressured or for
the inbounder, and then the gaps and sealing off guys
once the corner has turned. The Cavs got two or
three buckets in this game, just coast to coast layups.
(18:08):
I mean, Max got his dunk, Donovan got his three
as crazy, I cannot believe he maintained his balance when
he kind of threw the ball out in front of
him and had to sprint to go get it, and
then still got around the corner and got the wide
open layup. And I think that was near the end
of the third quarter. I just thought there, their composure
against that pressure was really really good. And I don't
(18:31):
know if that was a thing that they just drilled
or if it was just a thing they collectively agreed,
we're going to be the smart basketball players we've been
all season. But I was just I think tactically offensively,
that's what I was most pleased with.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Yeah, and I think some of it's also probably just
settling into the rhythms of a series, right like a
you start to know what the tendencies are. You know
what indeed's going to be throwing at you on every
single possession. And I'm really glad that you highlight Sam
because I thought of the bench players, I didn't mind
what DeAndre gave them. Obviously he was having some issues
(19:09):
gripping the ball, but I thought overall he was in
that positive. I thought Sam was a positive as well.
And Game one was a really tough game for him
on the defensive end. I feel like his defense has
been a lot better these last two games. I think
he's doing a good job there. And you know, you
talk about not shooting particularly well, going one of five
(19:30):
from the field, you're a makeaway from being a forty
three point shooter, right like. You know, that's that's the
margins in a situation like this. So I'm not going
to sit here and be like one mak or miss
is the difference between you having a good game and
a bad game, Right Like, I thought he played well.
He just didn't shoot particularly well, but I thought his
defense was really strong, did a good job. You know
(19:51):
in the midst of that three two zone that the
cast are out there, and I thought you know, the
going to the three two zone was in credibly interesting.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
You know, we've loved that and we haven't seen it
since Mobley's rookie year, but.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
We love that Lowry Markinen was a part of that
three too, and.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
I thought it was really really interesting that Kenny went
to it in multiple instances. One he went to you know,
obviously with Mobiley as the head of snake in the
three two zone, and then when it was just one big,
when it was just Evan Mobley out there and Jared
wasn't out there, he used DeAndre as the top of
it as well. I thought that that was a really
interesting wrinkle and I would expect them to go to
(20:33):
it a more in this series. Indy's probably going to
find some adjustments and they're going to have a plan
of attack on the zone. But that's that's a defensive
look that I feel pretty comfortable with. I think the
Cats can execute that pretty well. And having both MOBILEI
and DeAndre Hunter that you can use at the head
of it, depending on whether or not Jared's there for
the back line support. I really do like that as
(20:56):
something that they can do for this series.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
It really speaks to just how smart this team is
that they can do. They can run a zone they
have not run all season and just.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Be really good at it right away.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
I mean Andy was a really short circuiting Halliburton. You
ad a just a non existent game. I wouldn't even
say a bad game. It was like he wasn't even playing,
you know, eight attempts for only one three point attempt
for him, five assists, four points. You saw his decision
making short circuit several plays. And I think I've always
(21:33):
loved Mobilely at the top of that zone ever since.
It was kind of you know, called out early in
that and that is rookie year that that was what
the Wolves like to do with KG. I think the
Cavs positional size and smarts and having a Jarrett who
can be at the bottom of the zone is just
kind of a cheat code.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
I'll be interested to see how much they go back
to that and whether Indy has answers, because if there's
one thing, the three two zone does a really good
job of kind of cutting off those wings, those those
deep corners. That's a lot of ground to cover, you know,
And I'll be interesting to see if Andy tries to
find their way into the corner a little more, or
even just kind of tries to clear out with some
(22:14):
Pascal post ups. It's an easier zone to post up
a little bit than the two three, I think, And
Pascal really hasn't had like a game this series. If
you're looking for like a thing to be angsty about
for the calves, like he's been fine, you know, but
like I just loved they were able to I love
(22:36):
that they were able to break that out.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
I love what Mobley's.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Present at the top does to sight lines for the
point guard. Yeah, navigating, you know, if you set screens.
The nice thing about the three two is that you've
just got so many bodies near the top of the
near the top of that alli, Like I think I
think Caylen Cooper was kind of noting that, hey, let's see,
(23:03):
maybe they should test mobile screen navigation a little bit.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Says some screens.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
I'm like, well, you're just going to bring someone else
close by in that zone right into the action, right
and now you're trying to navigate tight tight space. Like
I'm not saying you can't do it. And there it's
not like it's an unattackable thing and the zone can
be beaten by disciplined, sharp offensive actions. But it does
feel like it did a great job of short circuiting
(23:29):
what Andy was trying to do.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
Yeah, it really did it.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
And I think one of the things that we've learned
about Kenny Atkinson in this postseason is he isn't as
rigid as what we saw in the regular season when
it comes to what the Cavs are going to do defensively,
what he does from a rotation standpoint, We've seen him,
you know, give guys short leashes. We've seen him, you know,
change up what they're going to do defensively. We're not
(23:54):
as switch heavy as we were in Game one at all.
We used a ton of zone in the regular season.
We've seen much less of it in the playoffs. And
we come into Game three and we bust out of
three to two, which we haven't seen all season long. Right,
I think we're getting a sense for, you know, what
he's going to do in a postseason environment versus the
(24:15):
regular season, and I think it's going to be instructive
for us even going into next year in the regular
season where hey, you know, the rotation, being the rotation
and playing you know, shell defense and just kind of
trusting it. We can kind of now more confidently say
this is a regular season thing, and the approach is
likely going to change in the playoffs. So I just
(24:36):
wanted to highlight that because I know, coming into the
playoffs that was one of the questions that we had
and one of the things that we wanted to keep
an eye on. And you know, through seven games so
far of the postseason, I think we're seeing that Kenny
is definitely a tinkerer.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Yeah, and I haven't.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
You know, sometimes you can be that way and it's
like putting on someone else's jacket. Yep, it's a little
uncom you know. Like I always use that analogy with
when JB would try to play ten. He'd be like, Hey,
I love that you're doing a JB, but I can
tell this these ain't your clothes. Yeah, you know, like
and like I that was one thing I was a
(25:14):
little worried about. Kidding, Uh, not worried, but you know,
if you're you're looking for something to be worried about,
it's like, Okay, this guy's pretty been pretty rigid with
his rotations and some of his philosophy stuff in the
regular season. If he goes away from that, is he
going to be flailing wildly for solutions. I do think
(25:36):
for the most part, when he's made tweaks and adjustments
to the rotation, be like, yeah, I get it, you know.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
I understand the intent. Like when it's a change up
to the defensive scheme, I'm like, Okay, that's a good
look to throw at them. Right when it's a change
up of the rotation, I'm sitting there and being like, yeah,
Tie is really struggling, and Sam's playing well, he should absolutely,
you know, lap him in the rotation for this game.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
It's all logical.
Speaker 4 (26:01):
Yeah, and even Wade taking o'coro's spot rotation though Wade's
jumper is unfortunately abandoning him again.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Yeah, And now, like from a gravity standpoint, it's looking
about the same where they're just not paying a lot
of attention to the Dean out there, which is unfortunate.
I think he's been playing really well defensively, and I
think the length and the second chance opportunities have been
there with Dean, Like I think that he's doing a
good job of battling it and playing hard. That the
(26:31):
jumper just isn't there right now.
Speaker 4 (26:33):
Yeah, But what I will say, because like one thing
I didn't really hit on this too hard on the
podcast just because, you know, it just didn't come up
as much, which was that the o'coro and Wade combined
for like six field goal attempts in fifty nine minutes
in game two, and it's really hard to have someone
eating up so much, you know, having players eat up
(26:56):
so much of your minute share while they're not really
like bending the defense at all, just by taking shots, yep,
and it's just.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
A lot ribble.
Speaker 4 (27:09):
Yeah, the dynamicism just gets really limited. I think that's
why Donovan was so fried at the end of a
thirty four minute game because of stuff like that. And
when you go down to just one player who's not
shooting a lot, it's just easier. Like you look at that,
you look at the attempts Mobley thirteen, Jared eleven, Darius eleven,
(27:29):
Donovan twenty nine, Struce twelve, Hunter six, Jerome eight, Merrill five,
like okay, like almost everyone's getting these shots up yep.
And then so the fact that, yeah, Dean's not hidden,
but you only needed to survive fourteen minutes with him
and his two field goal attempts don't feel as problematic
(27:50):
because you've got volume being soaked up all over the floor.
Like even with Ty having the nightmare series that he's having,
it's valuable to make.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
The defense think about you. Yeah, when you have the
ball in your hands.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Yeah, just having one player in that role is a
lot easier. It does make things a whole lot easier,
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Speaker 1 (28:24):
Can we talk about Mad Max?
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Oh, you just botch my transition. I was about to say,
speaking of people that make things easier, Darius Garland making
his return to the lineup. I really thought I want
to talk about Max. You know, Max is my favorite
KAS role player of all time. He's firmly there, He's
a lunatic.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
I love him.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
But I do want to talk about Darius because him
he was obviously laboring. I thought he looked physically better
at the start of the game. I was impressed by
how he moved offensively. I thought that he was moving
his feet really well, he was navigating screens. You know,
Indy tried to pick on him at times, and I
don't think it really bore any fruit. But what I
(29:04):
liked about this game, and this was something I know
you've brought up and I want to get your thoughts
on it.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
For that reason.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
We've talked about in the past, how when Darius is
playing through some stuff, sometimes when the shot is in falling,
it feels like is he making an impact on the game.
And I felt like he made a real impact on
this game despite the shot not falling. No, I mean
the box score is not good, and it just didn't
matter to me. Yeah, he was very clearly a net
(29:33):
positive out there. And you know, we've we've gotten some
more clarification, you know, reporters coming out and talking about
what he was, what he's been dealing with. Right, I
don't think we recognized really that this was something that
he was playing through, you know, the final weeks of
the season. I know that he had missed the one
game due to the toast brain.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
I remember privately being like, that's a funky injury designation.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
For resting someone at the end of the year.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Right, So like it was something that he was playing through,
And honestly, I thought he was actually playing pretty well
to close out the season. Like you look at the
last fifteen games, I think he was at you know,
forty nine percent from the field and thirty seven percent
from three. There was just a couple like really bad
outlier games in the other direction. But you know, it
(30:22):
was clearly something that he had been playing through. So
the fact that reaggravating it got to a point where
he couldn't play through it anymore kind of you know,
give some context to the whole thing, and you can
very clearly see that he was limited out there. But
I like the shots that he was taking. I thought
he did a good job of getting Indies defense into rotation.
(30:42):
I think he made life easier for Donovan Mitchell and
I think he makes life a lot easier for Max
Strus as well, because Max.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
Is a secondary playmaker.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Is something that's effective, right, Like those little side pick
and rolls he runs with the Bigs. He has great
chemistry in those spots. But him as you know, a
third playmaker. You know, when the defense is keying in
on Donovan, Darius is getting the defense into rotation and
then he swings it to Max. I feel like that
is the most optimized times for Max Strus, where you know,
(31:16):
you're paying so much attention to those two guards, and
he's really able to cook, whether it's as a playmaker
or as a score or even just crashing because so
much attention is being paid to the core and he's
getting offensive rebounds. I just feel like he put everybody
in their more natural position. And as Kenny Atkinson said
after the game, this is something he's going to have
(31:37):
to play through. If they can get fifteen to twenty
minutes from Darius, that's going to be enough to make
a real impact.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (31:45):
I mean, you you just need a little bit of
a release voul for Donovan. You need someone to start plays,
You need someone to feed Evan and Jarrett comfortable possessions.
And like I thought, you know, I thought, I thought
Ni Smith had a really hard time garden Darius. Yeah,
you know, Darius was consistently able to turn the corner,
(32:08):
keep Nee Smith penned on his back hip, get into
the defense, and maintain his dribble. I just thought he
was really really good in this game. Uh, and and
I think, well, actually, here's.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
What I'll say.
Speaker 4 (32:20):
I don't think he was really good in this game,
but what he brings is so valuable to this team
that it doesn't matter, Like, like, you know, this, what
he brought tonight added another layer of dynamicism to the
to the offense that makes it okay that he's not
moving that well and that he is taking some possessions
(32:45):
where he's just like I turned to my wife at
one point, I was like, Darius is just hanging in
the corner in this possession.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Ain't gonna be moving, you know.
Speaker 4 (32:53):
But like even then, you know, because he's such a
good shooter, you still have gravity even when you're not moving,
so like in you're and you're doing decoy possession. So
I think it's a testament to his uh, his understanding
of the sport, in his uh, in his you know,
the way that he's a savant that even as limited
(33:13):
as he was, he was still really really giving it as.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
All out there.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
And I don't think, you know, once again taking it
back to two years ago, I don't think if he
was in this physical condition two years ago, he could
have been as effective as he was tonight, Like I
thought he played better than he shot like. I like
the shots that he took. I didn't feel like he
was pressing. There was those two possessions in the third
quarter where he got mauled, you know, driving to the basket.
(33:39):
The one thing I'll say is, when you're in this state,
don't slow down in the lane to try to draw contact.
Just go up man, Like you know, Indy is looking
for every opportunity to deliver that contact. You gotta you
gotta change the decision making there. I understand you want
to play your game, but I thought he wasn't pressing
(34:01):
in ways that felt harmful. The shots he took were
the right shots, and I thought the playmaking opportunities he
generated were all meaningful. And if that's all we get,
that's really helpful. I will say. It's like, that's going
to be something that's nagging in my mind because I
think coming into the playoffs, our ultimate goal was to
(34:21):
contend for a championship and win a championship this season.
There is so much work to be done in this series.
You can't take anything for granted here. But if this
is going to be something that just lingers for the
rest of the playoffs, it is going to cap the
Cavs ceiling this year, and like, that's going to cap
my enthusiasm to some extent. But if this playoffs turns
into all right, let's find out how tough this team is.
(34:42):
Let's see if this team can come back from down
oh two after losing both games at home. Let's see
how they can win with a limited Darius and see
if hey Evan is going to step up and give
us eighteen points, thirteen rebounds forress, three steals, three blocks,
Donovan's going to play out of his mind. Like, let's
see that team problem solve and find out how tough
they are and how far that they can go even
(35:04):
with this team being banged up. If that's what this is,
that's at least a playoff run that I can be
proud of. And when I look at the effort that
the Cavs gave tonight, that's an effort I can be
proud of. This is a team I can be really
damn proud of. This is the team that I watched
all regular season wins sixty four games, that found ways
to problem solve. That's that's what I care about. I
am I frustrated that this is something that could potentially
(35:27):
cap this season. Yes, but I appreciate the effort. I
appreciate DeAndre, Darius and Evan all going out there and playing,
you know, hurt and playing limited.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
Let's see what this team can do. Let's let's go
win this other game in Indie.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
Yeah, I think I left this So going into this game,
I was really trying to keep my expectations a little flat.
Like I honestly I did that last uh pretty pretty well.
I kept it pretty pretty pretty. I kept it pretty
even for a least the first half. But one thing
(36:03):
that I was really kind of like guarding myself against
because I saw all all these Cavs fans correctly celebrating
that all three guys were gonna play, and my kind
of question was gonna be like, but can.
Speaker 3 (36:16):
They Yeah, I didn't know. I didn't know if it
was going to be positive.
Speaker 4 (36:20):
Yeah, are they gonna Are they doing this because they
have to and it's not gonna go well? Or are
they doing this because they're actually able to go? And
like a big thing I am really interested in this
game for and I think not to go Debbie Downer
a little bit.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
Here is how they respond.
Speaker 4 (36:38):
Yeah, there's a big difference between having a few days
off rehabbing in really low impact environments to get yourself
ready for you know, thirty five minutes of banging and
running and stopping and bumping and the pain that they
might be feeling right this second. You know, Donnie in
(37:00):
his post game availability that like they got to win
the recovery game.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (37:04):
I like that framing of like that's as big of
them as part of the competition as anything. And you know,
they're not on home turf to you know, they don't
have all those lovely Cleveland clinic facilities and all the
things that they're used to having in the comfort of
home to to try to win that rehab game and
(37:24):
that in that recovery game. But it's going to be
really really important because you know, Evan I think just said,
uh in his post game that he was wearing a
boot after game one and that's crazy. He was moving
that well. So you know, we'll see be such a
fast heeler's wild, Like we'll see after the adrenaline wears
(37:45):
off and we really get a good you know, look
at how these guys recover, how well they move. But
like I will say, especially the way Evan moved. Did
kind of build me back up a little bit in
terms of how I'm feeling, because he was just I
thought he was just utterly dominant in this game. He
(38:06):
had butter It's funny he got charged with no turnovers
because he had insane butter fingers to start.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
It was like rebounds that went out out of bounce.
Speaker 4 (38:16):
Had a pass too, I think, but either way, you know,
I just thought outside of that, like first two three
minutes of butterfingers, he was dominant. He was a big
reason why Indy only scored one hundred and four points
in this game, and if he's able to in I
thought his offensive game was really really strong as well.
(38:37):
His finishing, his rim attacks, his ability to draw fouls
all really really strong. The extra ball handling was so
noticeable for this team against the Indie pressure. I thought
he was just phenomenal on both ends. And that's a
really good box score eighteen thirteen four to three three.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
I think he played better than it.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
I think so too, And you know he's going to
be an All NBA player, which by virtue of that,
he's a top fifteen player, and I felt like he
was a top fifteen player tonight. I feel like he
has been a top fifteen player throughout these playoffs and
you know, as discouraging as it is to see Darius
not be himself and you know what that means for
(39:20):
the team, And I'm with you, like I'm worried about
what it's going to look like for Game four.
Speaker 3 (39:27):
The excitement of.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
Evan Mobley is just like that, that's booying me. And
I said, you know in our private chats, is like,
I don't think I'm going to get like all the
way fired up unless you know, they come back and
they make it to two in this series when they
were up like nineteen to five hours already all the
way in, Like I don't know who I was kidding.
I was lying to myself. I'm an excitable boy. I
(39:49):
always will be. But you know, like as I said,
if this playoffs turns into all right, what can Donovan
and Evan you know, do with a very good team
with very good supporting cast, with Jared Allen who you know, again,
we get so excited about everybody else. We don't talk
about Jared Allen getting nineteen and twelve like he was
awesome again tonight. What can this team do even if
(40:11):
it is you know, a limited Darius. You know, I
think you and I are both on the same page
that we hope that this team does get you know,
the as long of a window as it looks like
they may have, that this core continues to get chances
to grow together. You know, maybe there's going to be
future playoff series where Donovan's a little banged up and
Darius and Evan are going to be the ones that
(40:33):
need to step up like that. That is the ebbs
and flows of a team's lifespan together, you know it,
As I said, if if what we get out of
this is a performance that I can be proud of
that I feel like, hey, this team worked its ass off,
We got everything that everything that they had within them,
they left it out on the floor. They worked as
(40:54):
hard as they could to come back and make this
a series. That's ultimately enough for me. And you know,
I'm going to be frustrated because I look, you know,
at the other side of the bracket and I see
Boston lose both home games as well, and I'm sitting
here being like they are just as vulnerable as I
thought they were. This is exactly what I thought the
(41:16):
type of thing that could happen because that New York
team is not as good as the Sandiana team they like.
You know, if the first round series is called properly,
that could very easily be Detroit. But you know, I
have to put that aside and just look at Okay,
this is what the situation is. And for me right now,
(41:36):
I'm proud to be a Cash fan. I'm proud so
to watch the fight of this team, and I'm interested
to see what they do in game four.
Speaker 4 (41:42):
You just put a really excellent bow on this podcast.
But can I ask one more tactical question before we go?
Speaker 3 (41:48):
Sure?
Speaker 4 (41:49):
Sorry, ty Jerome. Another struggle Bus game doesn't really get
much run in the second half, and you know it,
it kind of felt like Kenny was down to eight
Dean DeAndre Sam do you start? Do you give Tie
his normal shift in the first half in game four?
Speaker 3 (42:09):
Yep, yep, I do too.
Speaker 4 (42:10):
I don't I think you need it because you're not
gonna don't.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Darius's toe isn't.
Speaker 4 (42:16):
Just gonna heal overnight, So you need Tye to find himself,
if not now then later, and I and I just
I'm not ready. I would do exactly what Kenny did
in this game. If it's not going well, pay it
down in the second half.
Speaker 3 (42:32):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
And you know, I think the same thing goes for Sam,
the same thing goes for Dean, right, Like you play
a deeper rotation in the first half and then you
figure out who your eight is for the second half.
I think it's just important. He's been too valuable of
a contributor to write off that as a possibility, particularly
when you are working through some stuff. You know, it's
(42:55):
very tough right now, but I don't think that this
is something that he can't overcome. I think there is
value in letting guys try to problem solve, to bounce
back from, you know, the these slumps. It's not like
he didn't have slumps throughout the season as well. You know,
just just let them work through it and see if
(43:16):
he can give you a lift, because we are still
due for a good shooting game, and when we have
good shooting games, Ty Jerome is usually a pretty.
Speaker 3 (43:24):
Big part of that.
Speaker 4 (43:25):
Absolutely, brother, Sorry, sorry, sorry to wrap up your wonderful
little bow. I want, I really wanted to get that
question before we say goodbye.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
It's fine, it's a good question and need to be
in the podcast, So thank thank you for doing that,
and a big thanks to our listeners for tuning in
live on YouTube. We appreciate you guys. Make sure you
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(43:56):
you choose to support us, we really do appreciate it.
Make sure you guys are staying safe out there, and
next time you calves
This crowd rises to speaking what Carl slammed it out?
Carl left wing free ball.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Perfect, Darl.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Pop beg heleft block the shot at the rim pow
with the left hand and of fowl.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Welcome to the Chasedown Podcast, part of the Caves Media family.
I'm your host Justin Rowan. The Chasedown 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 handed the Indiana Pacers their first
(00:36):
ever home playoff loss. With Tyre's Halliburton playing, The Calves
won in blowout fashion as Evan Mobley, Darius Garland, and
DeAndre Hunter made their returns to the lineup, joining me
today making his return of this podcast my co host
Carter Rodriguez. Carter, how you doing, buddy?
Speaker 1 (00:53):
It's funny.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
I just feel like Pacers fans have to have just
the absolute worst relationship with the Cleveland Cals. Like every
time we're in that building, we're ripping hearts out. I
still remember the Calves Pacers game I went to where
the playoff game in Indy Pacers go up like thirty
(01:15):
in the first half and Lebron Channing, Kyle Korver, Darren
Williams come back and just rip their freaking hearts out.
Not quite as much a drama.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
In this one.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
I felt like the Cavs kind of had this one
and start to finish it.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Was so it just goes to show you, like.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
What the baseline talent level of these guys that were
missing add to the to what makes the team so dynamic.
You know, Darius doesn't have an eye popping stat line
by any means, nor does DeAndre, but game just feels
a little different.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
With them out there right away.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
And then it felt a lot different with Evan out there,
who was absolutely freaking phenomenal. Eighteen points, thirteen rebounds for assist,
three steals, three blocks, just completely you know, the head
of the snake of the three to two zone was phenomenal.
But then it just goes to show you don't need
to give Donovan Mitchell too much, like you don't need
(02:21):
to get him too much help other than a couple
catch and shoot opportunities here and there, and a couple
of possessions off where he gets to be on the
off the week side of the ball at another masterclass.
I actually think he was better in this game than
he was in Game two, even though this is my
favorite Game two.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
I would ever, I think this is my favorite Donovan
Mitchell playoff game as Cleveland Cavalier. I think he was
terrific on both ends of the floor. I felt like
the shots he were taking, he was taking were all
the right shots. I just felt like he was in
complete control of the game. And you know it once
again goes to show right like he's just put in
(02:59):
better context when this team is healthy, even Darius in
a limited form, what he's able to do to get
Indiana into rotation, to open up opportunities for other guys
with the Dribble Drive game, what Evan Mobley is able
to do to open up opportunities for other guys, Like
it was just a much healthier ecosystem. And you look
(03:20):
at that starting lineup, they outscored Indy forty six to nineteen,
Like that's nuts.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Felt like it.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Pivot Fade has them at a plus eighty three net
rating for this game. And here's here's really the wild thing.
You know, you're talking about how good they look and
how good this team is when they do have everybody available.
I think one of the most frustrating things about this
series beyond the fact that, as I said on the
(03:52):
last podcast, the last two minute report did come out
with the apology and oh, you know, you guys probably
should have won, but it didn't work out. That's frustrating.
But the other thing that's really frustrating is we've really
felt how big the margin for error is for this
Cavs team that's a really good Indiana Pacers team and
the Calves, despite missing Darius up until this point, despite
(04:16):
you know, Mobley and Hunter getting hurt in Game one,
despite the fact they haven't shot thirty percent from three
in a single game this series, They've had a chance
to win every single one of these games. They have
a nuts margin for error because this roster is so good.
And despite the fact that they haven't shot thirty percent
from three in a single game this series, they have
(04:38):
a one sixteen point seven offensive rating, so almost that
you know, one seventeen to one to eighteen rating that
you wanted to see, you know, coming into the playoffs, like,
this team went out, didn't shoot the well, they still
haven't had a good shooting game, and still blew out
Indy on their home court and as I said at
the top of this podcast, gave them their first ever
(05:00):
home playoff loss. With alburn Plaine like, I think it
just goes to show you how deep and how good
this team is, and how even though they are a
team that gets up a lot of threes and you know,
generates a lot of opportunities there, they are not solely
reliant on three point variants to be a good offensive team.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
Yeah, and a lot of that comes to what Donovan's
been doing. So and I do I do want to
I want to stick on Donovan for a minute, yep,
because not only do I think he's been you know,
masterful his ability to get to the line and these
are like real free throws he's earning I thought he was,
(05:40):
as his demeanor in the fourth quarter was as important
as the outcome.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Yep.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
He goes up for yet another ram attack. He gets
past Topping off the switch top and shoves him with
one hand and finishes the job with the in mid
air from behind. Another absolutely reckless play with no attempt
on the ball from topping, really really dangerous stuff in
(06:09):
a series where they've done these, They've made a lot
of these kinds of dangerous plays. And what does Donovan
do get does he writhe on the floor. No, he
stands right up, pops up, and walks to the free
throw line, freaking stone faced. Yep, it's his free throws,
(06:30):
and then proceeds for the next three or four possessions
to rip their freaking hearts out. He doesn't smile, he
doesn't scream, he doesn't do anything. Stone faced. You're not
going to get into my head. You're not going to
affect me in any way. I thought that was one
of the you know, We've had a couple of moments
with Donovan that have really like, you know, warmed our
(06:53):
hearts to him as a player. You know, I think
about him big enough Darius after the corner three against
the Orlando in Game seven, and like that level of
like like f you everyone else, I'm I'm like, that's
my point guard kind of energy. I feel like I'm
gonna remember his face more than the plays he made,
(07:15):
but his face straight up, Like Donovan is an expressive player,
he was clearly pissed that he had been pushed in
mid air, and he was like, I'm just gonna kill him. Yeah,
and I'm gonna, I'm gonna take their spirit. I'm gonna
I'm gonna stop this run. I'm gonna end this game
right here. And I just thought that was one of
the coolest moments of Donovan Mitchell's career with the Cavs
(07:37):
so far.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Yeah, And he's currently averaging forty one points per game
in this series. He would be the fifth player in
NBA history to average forty four a series in the
first since Michael Jordan. If this were to continue, I
just feel like that is the leadership, that is the composure,
that is exactly what you want from your best player.
And I think it illustrates basically what I think you
(08:01):
and I have felt this entire season, where we say, yeah,
like when you look at kind of you know, the
on off data, when you look at the team stats overall,
you know, Darius is probably the biggest driver for the offense,
Like he is the one that makes everyone better. He
seems to be that guy that has the most impact
for the overall team's offensive health. Mobley has the most
(08:22):
impact on the defensive end. But Donovan Mitchell is still
the best player because he is that guy that has
the composure, He has that leadership. He is the one
that sacrifices to let both of those guys you know, emerge.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
And have the seasons that they've had this season.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
I just feel like this is the type of leadership,
This is the type of composure that you've come to
expect from Donovan Mitchell, and you know, highlighting that Obi
play and highlighting all the other hits that he takes,
and his ability to just get back up to to
not lose his cool. I feel like for a team
(08:59):
that had lost they're cool a lot of times in
the past the last few years, Like if you were
playing this series against Indiana two years ago, I think
this team would be losing their minds because they're getting
shoved every single time they're in mid air. You know,
they are two hand shoves on screens, there are wind
ups on almost every single play that I think they
(09:20):
would lose their composure. I think you would see them
yelling at the refs. You would see them reacting to
what the Pacers are doing. And I think Mitchell is
leading by example and they're not complaining. You know, India
is the team that, despite being more physical, but despite
you know, really kind of playing on the margins, they're
(09:40):
the ones that are complaining and like they're.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
Straight up gooonery happening. I thought I was watching the
other winner sport. I thought I was watching some hockey
in this game.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
And what was while we're on that subject, what was
up with like ESPN almost like making fan about James
Johnson coming.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
And coming and hurt someone.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Yeah, Like it was.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Like there was bloodlust from the broadcast and what is
James Johnson going to do that Ben Matherin hasn't already
done six times in this game.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
And apparently put someone in a choke hold? I don't know, man, Like,
first off, someone that I've got my mentions on on
Twitter and mentioned James Johnson hasn't played in a game
since March tenth, like, and.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
I went and checked. I was like that's not true, yep.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
So, like, you know, putting him in with five minutes
while he also had Halliburton, nim Hard and I think
Mathron out there. I thought that was a real kind
of statement, But like, you know, I don't know what
the statement is because the Calves are the ones who
you know, not really you know, there was one play
where Max gave gave nim Hart a little shove and
(10:55):
got a retaliation elbow for his trouble and drew a foul.
Other than that, this has not been the Cavs seeking
out this kind of aggressive context. So like I feel like,
you know, like I remember when Kendrick Perkins came in
to set that hard foul on to Boston's Celtics, but
that was after that was a retaliation. I'm like, what
(11:16):
are you retaliating against? And you know, with all this
physicality uh from from Indy, the fact that they're that
they're complaining after every play. I mean, Nie Smith, who
I think has been a killer for Indy, has two
hands full of DeAndre Hunter's jersey as he pulls him
to the floor for and he gets caught and he's
(11:37):
throwing an absolute fit.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
I will give the SPN broadcast credit for that.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
About the complaining about that call where they say, well,
you know they do serve alcohol in the stands, it's.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
Nie Smith complaining that I've thrown off by And it's
just like.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
As we are currently doing right now.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
It's funny on this and I don't think we should
linger on this to long. Will I will say one
more thing before we move on. Yeah, I got one
more thing too, Okay, all right, then you proceed. I
have you know, part of you wonders anytime, like you're
feeling this way about like a series getting too physical,
(12:18):
you wonder if you're playing the result a little bit
in your brain, like would we really be as mad
about the physicality if Evan doesn't get undercut, if DeAndre
doesn't you know, hurt his thumb, And like, I do
feel like this game did feel like the tipping point
where like, no, this is just a lot of reckless plays.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Yeah, and like in game.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
One, I didn't feel like that was the case.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
I was like, okay, Like they did hit us in
mid air a couple times, but I think those are
those are playoff fouls, right, Like, Hey, some Jared Allen's
going up for a clean dunk. I'm going to try
to make him earn it the free throw line. Still
can't believe that wasn't called a foul. But you know,
it's now a consistent theme where there is wind ups
(13:08):
on all of these plays, and you know Matherin just
Dex Jarrett like right. And here's my thing. If you're
going to play that way, you don't, I would respect
it more if you don't flop on the other end.
And for you know, for shoves of players that are
defenseless in mid air to not get called and then
(13:28):
Matherin tie up Darius Garland, Garland push to free himself
and Matherin flops and they reward that. I can't believe
that if you're allowed to hit defenseless players, you've got
to at least let someone fight to separate it. And
you know, stuff like that just drives me nuts because
it just it goes away from what the game is.
(13:49):
I'm here for physicality. I like the fact that the
Caves have responded to the physicality of the series. I
like the fact that the Cavs physicality is related to basketball.
They are killing Indy on the boards, they are killing
them on the paint, they are killing them with second
chance opportunities. It's why they've managed to score so much
despite not shooting, you know, thirty percent from three like.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I like that. I think they are responding. I think
they are showing.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Composure and honestly, one of the things I love about
this game is I feel like I've learned something about
this team. I feel like, you know, Darius, Evan and
DeAndre going out there and playing hurt, the team responding
to losing Game two in the fashion that they did,
and coming out and playing well to start this game,
to not look rattled when Indy makes their runs. When
(14:39):
Indy cut it down to to eleven, I said in
our Discord game for a chat, I was like, you
know what, you just got to come out of this
time out respond with an eight to two run and
that's probably enough to put them away. It's exactly what
they did. This team showed a lot of toughness and love.
I love seeing it. I love seeing Darius playing through
the pain. I love seeing Evan. You know, he was
(15:00):
clearly laboring a little bit at times, but he was phenomenal.
DeAndre was struggling to grip the ball, but I thought
he made an impact off the bench. And then again
the composure of Donovan Mitchell and honestly the toughness of
Jared Allen as well. It's exactly what I wanted to see.
And you know, I think that's something you don't learn
about a group until you're in the spot. And I
(15:20):
and It just makes me think back to a couple
of years ago against the Knicks where we didn't like
how that series closed out. We thought that there wasn't
really that heart being shown. And this is why you
have some patience with a group, and this is why
you let teams go through the battles and mature and
get that experience, because how you respond to those moments
(15:42):
failure doesn't bother me. How you respond to failure and
how you grow from it is the most important thing.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
Yeah, and like even tactically, I think they really showed
up really ready for the physicality. Their press break was
phenomenal in this game. Andy was really especially in the
second half. I thought their press was getting more and
more violent, more and more physical. You know, more plays
(16:10):
where knee Smith was trying to ride Donovan the entire
way up the floor, a few possessions where they did
that to Max. I thought the Cavs did a great
job finding release valves for their guys and moving off
the ball quickly when a guy who wasn't a ball
handler served as that release valve, a guy who the
(16:31):
box score is not going to show they that he
was helpful in this game. Sam Merrill goes one to
five from three in his twenty minutes. I think I thought,
I thought against the press, against pressure, he presented so
many nice little shows into space to give Donovan a
(16:51):
target and then get off the ball and find the
next guy because I don't I think Sam knows he
doesn't want to be dribbling against Knee Smith or nim
Hard with them pressuring him in the full court. You know,
there was a couple of plays where he did get
the outlet, you know, looked off the pass, so they
they peeled off and then he was able to get
across half court. These are like the smart, unglorious plays
(17:13):
that like help you overcome that pressure, especially when you're
at a bit of a playmaking deficit. Just because Darius
is laboring, because Tye isn't having a you know, he's
having a nightmare series.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
He had another really rough game.
Speaker 4 (17:27):
Like if you're gonna be down one of your lead
point guards and your other one is not going to
be there, that's what they didn't do in game two.
It's not just about like be fast so you get open,
be fast and good at dribbling, like that's like that's
the lazy man's press breaker. Like the smart man's press
(17:47):
breaker is doing exactly what the Cavs did in this game,
which is flashing into empty space, making yourself an obvious
and clear target for the guy getting pressured or for
the inbounder, and then the gaps and sealing off guys
once the corner has turned. The Cavs got two or
three buckets in this game, just coast to coast layups.
(18:08):
I mean, Max got his dunk, Donovan got his three
as crazy, I cannot believe he maintained his balance when
he kind of threw the ball out in front of
him and had to sprint to go get it, and
then still got around the corner and got the wide
open layup. And I think that was near the end
of the third quarter. I just thought there, their composure
against that pressure was really really good. And I don't
(18:31):
know if that was a thing that they just drilled
or if it was just a thing they collectively agreed,
we're going to be the smart basketball players we've been
all season. But I was just I think tactically offensively,
that's what I was most pleased with.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Yeah, and I think some of it's also probably just
settling into the rhythms of a series, right like a
you start to know what the tendencies are. You know
what indeed's going to be throwing at you on every
single possession. And I'm really glad that you highlight Sam
because I thought of the bench players, I didn't mind
what DeAndre gave them. Obviously he was having some issues
(19:09):
gripping the ball, but I thought overall he was in
that positive. I thought Sam was a positive as well.
And Game one was a really tough game for him
on the defensive end. I feel like his defense has
been a lot better these last two games. I think
he's doing a good job there. And you know, you
talk about not shooting particularly well, going one of five
(19:30):
from the field, you're a makeaway from being a forty
three point shooter, right like. You know, that's that's the
margins in a situation like this. So I'm not going
to sit here and be like one mak or miss
is the difference between you having a good game and
a bad game, Right Like, I thought he played well.
He just didn't shoot particularly well, but I thought his
defense was really strong, did a good job. You know
(19:51):
in the midst of that three two zone that the
cast are out there, and I thought you know, the
going to the three two zone was in credibly interesting.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
You know, we've loved that and we haven't seen it
since Mobley's rookie year, but.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
We love that Lowry Markinen was a part of that
three too, and.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
I thought it was really really interesting that Kenny went
to it in multiple instances. One he went to you know,
obviously with Mobiley as the head of snake in the
three two zone, and then when it was just one big,
when it was just Evan Mobley out there and Jared
wasn't out there, he used DeAndre as the top of
it as well. I thought that that was a really
interesting wrinkle and I would expect them to go to
(20:33):
it a more in this series. Indy's probably going to
find some adjustments and they're going to have a plan
of attack on the zone. But that's that's a defensive
look that I feel pretty comfortable with. I think the
Cats can execute that pretty well. And having both MOBILEI
and DeAndre Hunter that you can use at the head
of it, depending on whether or not Jared's there for
the back line support. I really do like that as
(20:56):
something that they can do for this series.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
It really speaks to just how smart this team is
that they can do. They can run a zone they
have not run all season and just.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Be really good at it right away.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
I mean Andy was a really short circuiting Halliburton. You
ad a just a non existent game. I wouldn't even
say a bad game. It was like he wasn't even playing,
you know, eight attempts for only one three point attempt
for him, five assists, four points. You saw his decision
making short circuit several plays. And I think I've always
(21:33):
loved Mobilely at the top of that zone ever since.
It was kind of you know, called out early in
that and that is rookie year that that was what
the Wolves like to do with KG. I think the
Cavs positional size and smarts and having a Jarrett who
can be at the bottom of the zone is just
kind of a cheat code.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
I'll be interested to see how much they go back
to that and whether Indy has answers, because if there's
one thing, the three two zone does a really good
job of kind of cutting off those wings, those those
deep corners. That's a lot of ground to cover, you know,
And I'll be interesting to see if Andy tries to
find their way into the corner a little more, or
even just kind of tries to clear out with some
(22:14):
Pascal post ups. It's an easier zone to post up
a little bit than the two three, I think, And
Pascal really hasn't had like a game this series. If
you're looking for like a thing to be angsty about
for the calves, like he's been fine, you know, but
like I just loved they were able to I love
(22:36):
that they were able to break that out.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
I love what Mobley's.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Present at the top does to sight lines for the
point guard. Yeah, navigating, you know, if you set screens.
The nice thing about the three two is that you've
just got so many bodies near the top of the
near the top of that alli, Like I think I
think Caylen Cooper was kind of noting that, hey, let's see,
(23:03):
maybe they should test mobile screen navigation a little bit.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Says some screens.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
I'm like, well, you're just going to bring someone else
close by in that zone right into the action, right
and now you're trying to navigate tight tight space. Like
I'm not saying you can't do it. And there it's
not like it's an unattackable thing and the zone can
be beaten by disciplined, sharp offensive actions. But it does
feel like it did a great job of short circuiting
(23:29):
what Andy was trying to do.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
Yeah, it really did it.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
And I think one of the things that we've learned
about Kenny Atkinson in this postseason is he isn't as
rigid as what we saw in the regular season when
it comes to what the Cavs are going to do defensively,
what he does from a rotation standpoint, We've seen him,
you know, give guys short leashes. We've seen him, you know,
change up what they're going to do defensively. We're not
(23:54):
as switch heavy as we were in Game one at all.
We used a ton of zone in the regular season.
We've seen much less of it in the playoffs. And
we come into Game three and we bust out of
three to two, which we haven't seen all season long. Right,
I think we're getting a sense for, you know, what
he's going to do in a postseason environment versus the
(24:15):
regular season, and I think it's going to be instructive
for us even going into next year in the regular
season where hey, you know, the rotation, being the rotation
and playing you know, shell defense and just kind of
trusting it. We can kind of now more confidently say
this is a regular season thing, and the approach is
likely going to change in the playoffs. So I just
(24:36):
wanted to highlight that because I know, coming into the
playoffs that was one of the questions that we had
and one of the things that we wanted to keep
an eye on. And you know, through seven games so
far of the postseason, I think we're seeing that Kenny
is definitely a tinkerer.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Yeah, and I haven't.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
You know, sometimes you can be that way and it's
like putting on someone else's jacket. Yep, it's a little
uncom you know. Like I always use that analogy with
when JB would try to play ten. He'd be like, Hey,
I love that you're doing a JB, but I can
tell this these ain't your clothes. Yeah, you know, like
and like I that was one thing I was a
(25:14):
little worried about. Kidding, Uh, not worried, but you know,
if you're you're looking for something to be worried about,
it's like, Okay, this guy's pretty been pretty rigid with
his rotations and some of his philosophy stuff in the
regular season. If he goes away from that, is he
going to be flailing wildly for solutions. I do think
(25:36):
for the most part, when he's made tweaks and adjustments
to the rotation, be like, yeah, I get it, you know.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
I understand the intent. Like when it's a change up
to the defensive scheme, I'm like, Okay, that's a good
look to throw at them. Right when it's a change
up of the rotation, I'm sitting there and being like, yeah,
Tie is really struggling, and Sam's playing well, he should absolutely,
you know, lap him in the rotation for this game.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
It's all logical.
Speaker 4 (26:01):
Yeah, and even Wade taking o'coro's spot rotation though Wade's
jumper is unfortunately abandoning him again.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Yeah, And now, like from a gravity standpoint, it's looking
about the same where they're just not paying a lot
of attention to the Dean out there, which is unfortunate.
I think he's been playing really well defensively, and I
think the length and the second chance opportunities have been
there with Dean, Like I think that he's doing a
good job of battling it and playing hard. That the
(26:31):
jumper just isn't there right now.
Speaker 4 (26:33):
Yeah, But what I will say, because like one thing
I didn't really hit on this too hard on the
podcast just because, you know, it just didn't come up
as much, which was that the o'coro and Wade combined
for like six field goal attempts in fifty nine minutes
in game two, and it's really hard to have someone
eating up so much, you know, having players eat up
(26:56):
so much of your minute share while they're not really
like bending the defense at all, just by taking shots, yep,
and it's just.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
A lot ribble.
Speaker 4 (27:09):
Yeah, the dynamicism just gets really limited. I think that's
why Donovan was so fried at the end of a
thirty four minute game because of stuff like that. And
when you go down to just one player who's not
shooting a lot, it's just easier. Like you look at that,
you look at the attempts Mobley thirteen, Jared eleven, Darius eleven,
(27:29):
Donovan twenty nine, Struce twelve, Hunter six, Jerome eight, Merrill five,
like okay, like almost everyone's getting these shots up yep.
And then so the fact that, yeah, Dean's not hidden,
but you only needed to survive fourteen minutes with him
and his two field goal attempts don't feel as problematic
(27:50):
because you've got volume being soaked up all over the floor.
Like even with Ty having the nightmare series that he's having,
it's valuable to make.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
The defense think about you. Yeah, when you have the
ball in your hands.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Yeah, just having one player in that role is a
lot easier. It does make things a whole lot easier,
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Speaker 1 (28:24):
Can we talk about Mad Max?
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Oh, you just botch my transition. I was about to say,
speaking of people that make things easier, Darius Garland making
his return to the lineup. I really thought I want
to talk about Max. You know, Max is my favorite
KAS role player of all time. He's firmly there, He's
a lunatic.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
I love him.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
But I do want to talk about Darius because him
he was obviously laboring. I thought he looked physically better
at the start of the game. I was impressed by
how he moved offensively. I thought that he was moving
his feet really well, he was navigating screens. You know,
Indy tried to pick on him at times, and I
don't think it really bore any fruit. But what I
(29:04):
liked about this game, and this was something I know
you've brought up and I want to get your thoughts
on it.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
For that reason.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
We've talked about in the past, how when Darius is
playing through some stuff, sometimes when the shot is in falling,
it feels like is he making an impact on the game.
And I felt like he made a real impact on
this game despite the shot not falling. No, I mean
the box score is not good, and it just didn't
matter to me. Yeah, he was very clearly a net
(29:33):
positive out there. And you know, we've we've gotten some
more clarification, you know, reporters coming out and talking about
what he was, what he's been dealing with. Right, I
don't think we recognized really that this was something that
he was playing through, you know, the final weeks of
the season. I know that he had missed the one
game due to the toast brain.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
I remember privately being like, that's a funky injury designation.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
For resting someone at the end of the year.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Right, So like it was something that he was playing through,
And honestly, I thought he was actually playing pretty well
to close out the season. Like you look at the
last fifteen games, I think he was at you know,
forty nine percent from the field and thirty seven percent
from three. There was just a couple like really bad
outlier games in the other direction. But you know, it
(30:22):
was clearly something that he had been playing through. So
the fact that reaggravating it got to a point where
he couldn't play through it anymore kind of you know,
give some context to the whole thing, and you can
very clearly see that he was limited out there. But
I like the shots that he was taking. I thought
he did a good job of getting Indies defense into rotation.
(30:42):
I think he made life easier for Donovan Mitchell and
I think he makes life a lot easier for Max
Strus as well, because Max.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
Is a secondary playmaker.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Is something that's effective, right, Like those little side pick
and rolls he runs with the Bigs. He has great
chemistry in those spots. But him as you know, a
third playmaker. You know, when the defense is keying in
on Donovan, Darius is getting the defense into rotation and
then he swings it to Max. I feel like that
is the most optimized times for Max Strus, where you know,
(31:16):
you're paying so much attention to those two guards, and
he's really able to cook, whether it's as a playmaker
or as a score or even just crashing because so
much attention is being paid to the core and he's
getting offensive rebounds. I just feel like he put everybody
in their more natural position. And as Kenny Atkinson said
after the game, this is something he's going to have
(31:37):
to play through. If they can get fifteen to twenty
minutes from Darius, that's going to be enough to make
a real impact.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (31:45):
I mean, you you just need a little bit of
a release voul for Donovan. You need someone to start plays,
You need someone to feed Evan and Jarrett comfortable possessions.
And like I thought, you know, I thought, I thought
Ni Smith had a really hard time garden Darius. Yeah,
you know, Darius was consistently able to turn the corner,
(32:08):
keep Nee Smith penned on his back hip, get into
the defense, and maintain his dribble. I just thought he
was really really good in this game. Uh, and and
I think, well, actually, here's.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
What I'll say.
Speaker 4 (32:20):
I don't think he was really good in this game,
but what he brings is so valuable to this team
that it doesn't matter, Like, like, you know, this, what
he brought tonight added another layer of dynamicism to the
to the offense that makes it okay that he's not
moving that well and that he is taking some possessions
(32:45):
where he's just like I turned to my wife at
one point, I was like, Darius is just hanging in
the corner in this possession.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Ain't gonna be moving, you know.
Speaker 4 (32:53):
But like even then, you know, because he's such a
good shooter, you still have gravity even when you're not moving,
so like in you're and you're doing decoy possession. So
I think it's a testament to his uh, his understanding
of the sport, in his uh, in his you know,
the way that he's a savant that even as limited
(33:13):
as he was, he was still really really giving it as.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
All out there.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
And I don't think, you know, once again taking it
back to two years ago, I don't think if he
was in this physical condition two years ago, he could
have been as effective as he was tonight, Like I
thought he played better than he shot like. I like
the shots that he took. I didn't feel like he
was pressing. There was those two possessions in the third
quarter where he got mauled, you know, driving to the basket.
(33:39):
The one thing I'll say is, when you're in this state,
don't slow down in the lane to try to draw contact.
Just go up man, Like you know, Indy is looking
for every opportunity to deliver that contact. You gotta you
gotta change the decision making there. I understand you want
to play your game, but I thought he wasn't pressing
(34:01):
in ways that felt harmful. The shots he took were
the right shots, and I thought the playmaking opportunities he
generated were all meaningful. And if that's all we get,
that's really helpful. I will say. It's like, that's going
to be something that's nagging in my mind because I
think coming into the playoffs, our ultimate goal was to
(34:21):
contend for a championship and win a championship this season.
There is so much work to be done in this series.
You can't take anything for granted here. But if this
is going to be something that just lingers for the
rest of the playoffs, it is going to cap the
Cavs ceiling this year, and like, that's going to cap
my enthusiasm to some extent. But if this playoffs turns
into all right, let's find out how tough this team is.
(34:42):
Let's see if this team can come back from down
oh two after losing both games at home. Let's see
how they can win with a limited Darius and see
if hey Evan is going to step up and give
us eighteen points, thirteen rebounds forress, three steals, three blocks,
Donovan's going to play out of his mind. Like, let's
see that team problem solve and find out how tough
they are and how far that they can go even
(35:04):
with this team being banged up. If that's what this is,
that's at least a playoff run that I can be
proud of. And when I look at the effort that
the Cavs gave tonight, that's an effort I can be
proud of. This is a team I can be really
damn proud of. This is the team that I watched
all regular season wins sixty four games, that found ways
to problem solve. That's that's what I care about. I
am I frustrated that this is something that could potentially
(35:27):
cap this season. Yes, but I appreciate the effort. I
appreciate DeAndre, Darius and Evan all going out there and playing,
you know, hurt and playing limited.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
Let's see what this team can do. Let's let's go
win this other game in Indie.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
Yeah, I think I left this So going into this game,
I was really trying to keep my expectations a little flat.
Like I honestly I did that last uh pretty pretty well.
I kept it pretty pretty pretty. I kept it pretty
even for a least the first half. But one thing
(36:03):
that I was really kind of like guarding myself against
because I saw all all these Cavs fans correctly celebrating
that all three guys were gonna play, and my kind
of question was gonna be like, but can.
Speaker 3 (36:16):
They Yeah, I didn't know. I didn't know if it
was going to be positive.
Speaker 4 (36:20):
Yeah, are they gonna Are they doing this because they
have to and it's not gonna go well? Or are
they doing this because they're actually able to go? And
like a big thing I am really interested in this
game for and I think not to go Debbie Downer
a little bit.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
Here is how they respond.
Speaker 4 (36:38):
Yeah, there's a big difference between having a few days
off rehabbing in really low impact environments to get yourself
ready for you know, thirty five minutes of banging and
running and stopping and bumping and the pain that they
might be feeling right this second. You know, Donnie in
(37:00):
his post game availability that like they got to win
the recovery game.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (37:04):
I like that framing of like that's as big of
them as part of the competition as anything. And you know,
they're not on home turf to you know, they don't
have all those lovely Cleveland clinic facilities and all the
things that they're used to having in the comfort of
home to to try to win that rehab game and
(37:24):
that in that recovery game. But it's going to be
really really important because you know, Evan I think just said,
uh in his post game that he was wearing a
boot after game one and that's crazy. He was moving
that well. So you know, we'll see be such a
fast heeler's wild, Like we'll see after the adrenaline wears
(37:45):
off and we really get a good you know, look
at how these guys recover, how well they move. But
like I will say, especially the way Evan moved. Did
kind of build me back up a little bit in
terms of how I'm feeling, because he was just I
thought he was just utterly dominant in this game. He
(38:06):
had butter It's funny he got charged with no turnovers
because he had insane butter fingers to start.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
It was like rebounds that went out out of bounce.
Speaker 4 (38:16):
Had a pass too, I think, but either way, you know,
I just thought outside of that, like first two three
minutes of butterfingers, he was dominant. He was a big
reason why Indy only scored one hundred and four points
in this game, and if he's able to in I
thought his offensive game was really really strong as well.
(38:37):
His finishing, his rim attacks, his ability to draw fouls
all really really strong. The extra ball handling was so
noticeable for this team against the Indie pressure. I thought
he was just phenomenal on both ends. And that's a
really good box score eighteen thirteen four to three three.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
I think he played better than it.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
I think so too, And you know he's going to
be an All NBA player, which by virtue of that,
he's a top fifteen player, and I felt like he
was a top fifteen player tonight. I feel like he
has been a top fifteen player throughout these playoffs and
you know, as discouraging as it is to see Darius
not be himself and you know what that means for
(39:20):
the team, And I'm with you, like I'm worried about
what it's going to look like for Game four.
Speaker 3 (39:27):
The excitement of.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
Evan Mobley is just like that, that's booying me. And
I said, you know in our private chats, is like,
I don't think I'm going to get like all the
way fired up unless you know, they come back and
they make it to two in this series when they
were up like nineteen to five hours already all the
way in, Like I don't know who I was kidding.
I was lying to myself. I'm an excitable boy. I
(39:49):
always will be. But you know, like as I said,
if this playoffs turns into all right, what can Donovan
and Evan you know, do with a very good team
with very good supporting cast, with Jared Allen who you know, again,
we get so excited about everybody else. We don't talk
about Jared Allen getting nineteen and twelve like he was
awesome again tonight. What can this team do even if
(40:11):
it is you know, a limited Darius. You know, I
think you and I are both on the same page
that we hope that this team does get you know,
the as long of a window as it looks like
they may have, that this core continues to get chances
to grow together. You know, maybe there's going to be
future playoff series where Donovan's a little banged up and
Darius and Evan are going to be the ones that
(40:33):
need to step up like that. That is the ebbs
and flows of a team's lifespan together, you know it,
As I said, if if what we get out of
this is a performance that I can be proud of
that I feel like, hey, this team worked its ass off,
We got everything that everything that they had within them,
they left it out on the floor. They worked as
(40:54):
hard as they could to come back and make this
a series. That's ultimately enough for me. And you know,
I'm going to be frustrated because I look, you know,
at the other side of the bracket and I see
Boston lose both home games as well, and I'm sitting
here being like they are just as vulnerable as I
thought they were. This is exactly what I thought the
(41:16):
type of thing that could happen because that New York
team is not as good as the Sandiana team they like.
You know, if the first round series is called properly,
that could very easily be Detroit. But you know, I
have to put that aside and just look at Okay,
this is what the situation is. And for me right now,
(41:36):
I'm proud to be a Cash fan. I'm proud so
to watch the fight of this team, and I'm interested
to see what they do in game four.
Speaker 4 (41:42):
You just put a really excellent bow on this podcast.
But can I ask one more tactical question before we go?
Speaker 3 (41:48):
Sure?
Speaker 4 (41:49):
Sorry, ty Jerome. Another struggle Bus game doesn't really get
much run in the second half, and you know it,
it kind of felt like Kenny was down to eight
Dean DeAndre Sam do you start? Do you give Tie
his normal shift in the first half in game four?
Speaker 3 (42:09):
Yep, yep, I do too.
Speaker 4 (42:10):
I don't I think you need it because you're not
gonna don't.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
Darius's toe isn't.
Speaker 4 (42:16):
Just gonna heal overnight, So you need Tye to find himself,
if not now then later, and I and I just
I'm not ready. I would do exactly what Kenny did
in this game. If it's not going well, pay it
down in the second half.
Speaker 3 (42:32):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
And you know, I think the same thing goes for Sam,
the same thing goes for Dean, right, Like you play
a deeper rotation in the first half and then you
figure out who your eight is for the second half.
I think it's just important. He's been too valuable of
a contributor to write off that as a possibility, particularly
when you are working through some stuff. You know, it's
(42:55):
very tough right now, but I don't think that this
is something that he can't overcome. I think there is
value in letting guys try to problem solve, to bounce
back from, you know, the these slumps. It's not like
he didn't have slumps throughout the season as well. You know,
just just let them work through it and see if
(43:16):
he can give you a lift, because we are still
due for a good shooting game, and when we have
good shooting games, Ty Jerome is usually a pretty.
Speaker 3 (43:24):
Big part of that.
Speaker 4 (43:25):
Absolutely, brother, Sorry, sorry, sorry to wrap up your wonderful
little bow. I want, I really wanted to get that
question before we say goodbye.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
It's fine, it's a good question and need to be
in the podcast, So thank thank you for doing that,
and a big thanks to our listeners for tuning 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, we review,
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(43:56):
you choose to support us, we really do appreciate it.
Make sure you guys are staying safe out there, and
next time you calves
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Carter Rodriguez
Justin Rowan
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