April 18, 2025 • 29 mins
Carter is joined by Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill and then Cavaliers Associate Head Coach Johnnie Bryant to preview the playoffs, discuss the record-setting season the team had, how the team is handling preparations, and much, much more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This crowd rises to uspeing what Carl slammed it? Oh
Carle left wing free ball perfectly? Podn helllipt block the
shot at the rim?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
How with the left hand head of fowl.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hello and welcome to the Chase Down Podcast. The Chase
Down is presented by Fubo, the official streaming partner of
the Calves. Watch over three hundred and fifty channels of
live sports and TV, including FanDuel Sports Network without cable.
There's no cost, there is no commitment. Try for free
at FuboTV dot com Slash Calves. We got a special
episode for you guys. No justin here today. It is
(00:37):
a playoff preview podcast dropping on a Friday.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
How about that.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
We never post on Fridays, but we had to for
a very special reason. I was able to sit down
with both Sam Merril and Johnny Bryant, Caves assistant Johnny Bryant,
Calves guard Sam Merril to kind of preview the playoffs,
talk about the season that was, and it was just
a it was a blast. We had about ten to
fifteen minutes with each of the guys, so figured we'd
(01:04):
drop a little surprise episode in your feed. So without
further ado enjoy. Sam Merrill. All right, I am joined
by Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill as we head into the postseason. Sam,
how you doing man?
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I'm doing great.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
How are you not too bad? Thank you for coming
back on. You're officially a friend of the Pod, which
I'm sure is quite the honor for you, probably going
right up on the mantle.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
We'll send you a plaque.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
But you know, first off, thank you and congrats on
an amazing season. I want to start with the really
important gritty stuff, which is all the practice shenanigans you
guys have had this year playing football, playing soccer. We
had Dean on earlier in the year and I asked, like,
who stands out and he mentioned your name as a
(01:49):
standout performer. Are you willing to say you're the best
multi sport athlete on the team.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Yeah, I don't think it's debatable. I mean I played
three sports in high school. I don't know how many
guys played even too. I know Max played baseball. I
will say a sneaky good because there's like there's athleticism
like jumping running, which obviously on NBA level is not
quite my strong shuit. And then there's athleticism of you know,
(02:21):
being able to pick up things and player the sports
and stuff. But it's a sneaky good athlete on our
team is Craig. He could pick up things pretty quickly
and he does a pretty good job as well. But yeah,
me Max Craig being a little bits. It's crazy. You
see some of these guys who are the best athletes
(02:42):
in the world try and play pick a ball or
swing a baseball bat or something like that, and it's
it's not pretty well.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Shouts to Craig, Shouts to you. Moving on.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Ty Jerome was just recently on doing a little bit
of an interview and he got asked you who the
biggest trash talker on the team was, and he threw
out your name as a sneaky like everyone thinks Sam
is this nice guy, but he's got he's got an
edge to him. Do you have any response to Tye
throwing you under the bus like that.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
No, I appreciate him noticing.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
I'm not a trash talk You'll never see me say
anything like sue another player on another team during a game.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
But yeah, I can see where he's coming from.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
I'll say some things on the bench to my teammates
about other players, or make jokes in practice or whatnot,
or in the locker room.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
So I do appreciate that he notices that I do
have a little edge to me.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Yeah, you know, we're all nice when we want to be.
But you know, when the competitive juices get blown, you
can't you can't help it deep down, even if you're
not externalizing it too much. I want to pivot to,
you know, the macro season. Obviously it's been an unbelievable year.
How much was the fact that this was basically a
(04:03):
roster runback? You know, obviously adding tie to the rotation
was a big change, and obviously DeAndre came in at
the deadline, but you know, for the most part, like
geames that like teams don't normally run back their top
eleven twelve guys in the rotation. How much did that
mean to this, to this roster coming in and and
(04:25):
and how much did that kind of precipitate this banana
season that you guys just had.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Yeah, I do think it's really important.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
It obviously speaks to the belief that the front office
and the new coaching staff had in this roster and
what the roster has been able to do up to
this point, Like you said, you know, Tie coming in
and having a great year.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Has been big for us. But then like it's we
live in such a you.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
Know, a twenty four hour news cycle world where everyone
wants to change something if it doesn't work right. But
like look at you look at the seasons that Darius
and Evan had, the improvements that they made. Darius, you know,
coming back from everything that he had to go through
last season, then Evan just getting better and better, Like
those are are big things. And then you know all
of us roll guys finding ways to get better and
(05:16):
finding ways to to help the team along with you know,
everything that the new staff brought.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
I think I think that all played a part in it.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Yeah, well, you know, I do want to dig a
little further on that because we also have seen the
other side of the coin. In NBA history, we've had
a team where hey, we're gonna run it back one
more year, and the vibes are just wrong, you know,
like things did not you know, you could tell that
a team had run its course, you know, after two
three years together. Why wasn't that the case here?
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Uh, we just we don't have any bad nudes on
our team, and that's seems pretty simple. But like there's
when your stars have no ego, but obviously listen, they're superstars,
like they got some alpha to them, right, But like
Donovan is a great leader, Darius has been a great
leader this year. You got Jay who's the most low
(06:12):
maintenance guy in the league probably, and then you got
Devin who's you know, trying to find his way obviously
as like as like a star, but he's also super
low key, super low maintenance, really quiet, Like that type
of stuff isn't as common as I think people would
would like. So I think that was a huge reason
(06:34):
why we were able to run it back and have
the success that we've had at this point.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Yeah, it's a it's another another like feather in the
cap for the front office, right that you know they've
built a team of genuinely pretty good dudes, and you know,
even from a very far away seat, it's pretty clear,
you know, uh, and to your point, like everyone's going
to have ego, like it's an occupational hazard, Like you
probably need some of it if you're going if you're
(06:59):
gonna make it in this league.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
But being.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Genuinely kind and and friendly goes a long long way
going from you know, the the mintal side to the
physical side. And I'm furiously knocking on wood all over
my office right now. The group's pretty darn healthy coming
into the playoffs. How much does that mean in terms of,
you know, not just the ability to play well in
(07:25):
round one, but you know, the ability to kind of
extend across the grind of a postseason, Like you know,
you've you've been all the way to the end, you know,
and and won a title with Milwaukee, Like how important
is it to have that starting point? B we're pretty healthy,
knowing that some physical battles are to come.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Yeah, it's it's it's so important.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
I remember at some point during the season because I'm
Won's sorry abou Kenny and the staff have done such
a good job of managing minutes and managing lows and
whatnot and trying to get to this point healthy. And
you know, Kenny, I think it might have been our
first game back after all Star break, was like was
asking us what's the biggest reason why teams don't win titles?
(08:12):
And we were trying to say all all different types
of things, and he just goes health like that's the
number one thing you have to have. You have to
be healthy. Like, if one of your best players gets hurt,
are in real trouble. But if a couple of your
rotation guys get hurt, you're in trouble.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
So, you know, I.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Think the fact that we're healthy right now is like
you said, it's a huge thing for us, and hopefully,
you know, starting with this first round, which is obviously
all we're worried about right now, we can continue to stay.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Healthy moving into that minut's discussion. You know how important
and like just kind of nice is it for you
as a role player to have a coach that is
so you know, I wouldn't say rigid, but like really
does believe in his rot in his rotational philosophy. Like
(09:02):
at one point early in the season, my coast like
was looking at the check in time for certain guys
in the first quarter and it's like six minute time out,
these guys are gonna come in. Like how nice is
it for you, especially as a shooter, to like know
the routine even all the way into the end of
the game rotationally.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
Yeah, it's it's really nice. You generally have a pretty
good idea of like you said, when you're gonna go
in so I can start to get my leg's moving
a little bit a couple of minutes before that, do
whatever you need to do, Like that's really important. Obviously,
playoffs all bits are off, like who knows how it's
gonna go or and whatnot. But you know, Kenny has
(09:45):
has a belief in this, in this whole roster. He's
he said it all year and he's backed it up
with the opportunities that he's given us. So and it's
he keeps saying like it's it's for moments like this.
You never know when you're gonna need someone uh to
step up and knocked out a shot or get a
rebound or make a player or whatever.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
How do you how do you kind of balance the
playoff mentality? Obviously this team won you know, mid sixties
games and we're really really great playing exactly the way
you played. How do you balance maintaining your identity as
a team versus the little tweaks that you do have
to make in a seven game series when teams are
(10:25):
scouting you a lot more thoroughly, they're making more active adjustments,
Like how do you tell that line as a player
and as a team and as an organization between here's
who we are and here's the things we are willing
to kind of adjust and change over the course of
a series or a playoffs.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
Yeah, like you said, obviously, scout reports are much more
in depth, and you know, the good teams will take
certain things away and you're gonna have to adjust to that.
And the game does slow down to an extent, but
I think it's you know, the teams that get themselves
in trouble are the teams that try and play just
(11:02):
playoff basketball right and walk the ball up the floor
the whole time, and just try and mismatch hunt the
whole game.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Like there are only a few guys in the.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
League that can really really do that for an entire
game and and get the right shots for their team.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
So like you look at I mean, the Warriors have
done it for years.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Like the game slows down a little bit, but they
can still play with their pace and they're cutting and
their screening. And we watched Indiana do it last year,
Like they didn't slow down. They kept going, kept playing fast,
kept playing with pace. So like you said, there's a
line of you know, laying games. You got to make
sure you're getting the right shots and getting the ball
to the right people and maybe going after certain people.
(11:47):
But at the same time, like, there's a reason we've
been so good, so let's play that way. Let's keep
sharing the ball, let's keep cutting, let's keep moving. I
think if you do that, and if you do that
with with pace obviously upping the level of physicality and
pace and whatnot, you're going to still get the shots
that you want.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
All right, last question, how is the team handling goal
setting heading into this? You know, is it a is
it a one game at a time kind of philosophy?
Are you guys saying we, you know, let's go win
a ring.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
It has to be a little of both, Like, sure,
we know exactly where we want to go, if that's
no secret, we believe we're capable of that, But you
can't get there if you don't win game one. We
don't even know who we're playing at this point, so
this this week's mostly just been about macro playoff ideas
and adjustments and just you know, practicing and competing and
(12:44):
getting after it. So, uh, you know, once we know
who we're playing, we'll scout them accordingly and try and
go win game one and then hopefully try and go
in Game two, but obviously with the idea that we
want to do something special awesome.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Well, thank you so much. Congratulations on my personal favorite
Cavs season as a fan. It was just an absolute
honor and joy to watch you. And you know, I
always say that this is our hobby, you know, and
you made our hobby super duper fun all year. So
thank you very much personally and from Cavs fans everywhere.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (13:25):
Man.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Hopefully we can make it fun for a couple more
months here.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
All right.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
That was Cleveland Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill doing his best work,
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(13:50):
thank you so much to Sam. But the party doesn't
stop here. We've got Calves assistant Johnny Bryant talking about
how his expectations changed over the course of the season,
his relationship with Donovan Mitchell, and much more without further ado.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Johnny Bryant.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Hello everyone, I am joined by Cavs assistant coach Johnny Bryant.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
How you doing, Johnny, I'm doing well. How about you?
Not too bad? I am.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
I'm Jonson. The playoffser here. It's like, it's my favorite
time of year. I'm just I'm just going to be
an absolute fiend watching hoops for the next several months
and there's nothing better in the world.
Speaker 5 (14:26):
Yeah, this is you know, which you do prepare for
in the summer during the season to get opportunity to
play postseason basketball, right, and you know, I've had experience
being here in the playoffs previously, and now to have
these fans rooting for us, I can't wait too experience it.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
So, you know, it's your first year with the Cavs, obviously,
I mean this is like kind of an obvious question,
but like, just how far did this season exceed your
expectations coming in?
Speaker 5 (14:55):
You know, as the staff, we joke about it collectively
a lot. Right then the preseason we go on for
we're in Chicago and you know, we're trying to get
everybody acclimated and we're like, okay, let's you know, we
want to win the game.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
So we try to win the game.
Speaker 5 (15:11):
We didn't do that and go to overtime, we lose,
and it was like okay, And then you start the
season win five, then you nine in a row. Now
Golden State comes to town, they're playing well, win ten
and you know, get to fifteen, lose the Boston. Then
you you know, you start putting these stretches together, double
figure wins, and now you're like you're sitting on the
(15:33):
bench and after games you're like, okay, are we really
that good? And then now you look up it's thirty
five games in and you know you're stealing single digits
as far as losses, and you know, you just continue
to ride the wave and you know, it's been a
year that I didn't expect. It's been great, it's been fun,
and you know that part of the season is over.
Now we're looking forward to the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
When did you know that, like, oh we might be
something like a different kind of special then like maybe
I've been.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
A part of.
Speaker 5 (16:05):
I wouldn't say it was a particular game, but you
we you know, collectively, like I said, as a staff, we'll.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Be on the bench like are we really that good?
Or you know, it was a couple of.
Speaker 5 (16:15):
Games we were down and we come back and win
the game, and you like, the ball just bounces our way,
a shot goes in or you know will come out.
It's supposed to be a big game, and then we
have a crazy blowout win. So you start putting those
things together and you're like, wow, Like there was one
stretch we didn't lose for five weeks, Like that's unheard of, right,
(16:36):
So when you're putting together those type of stretches throughout
the season, you look up and it's like, Okay, I
guess we are really good.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Did anything, you know, going all the way back to Sarasota,
did anything like really jump out at you, even at
the camp level where you were like, oh, I wasn't
expecting that to work the way it did, or I
wasn't expecting this guy to be as good as he was, Like,
did anything like really buck your expectations?
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Like at an individual level.
Speaker 5 (17:05):
You know, I was pretty familiar with the with the roster,
but when you when you look at a team, you know,
three four times a year, it's hard to really gauge
who can do what right, And we had different things
that we want to do from from previous years, and
you know Tid Jerome, you know, obviously he stood out.
(17:26):
I knew Darius was comfortable with Darius just watching on film,
but to realize how fast he is, right you know, Evan,
how talented he is, and you know how great Jaa
is on the defense end. So it's when you see
it every day, you're like, okay, this is different. So
I wouldn't say Sarasota was was was glaring and was like, hey,
(17:47):
you know, I got all that information, but it was
just day in and day out. You start seeing things,
and you start seeing things during the game, and it's like, okay,
this is a different group than I expected.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Absolutely, And you know, the one guy that you didn't
mentioned there because this guy you probably know the best
is Donovan, and your relationship with Donovan is like super
well reported that, Like you guys have just been like this,
you know, from from back in Utah. And did you
ever expect to coach him again after you at that
time together. I know it's a small world, but did
(18:20):
you ever expect to coach him again?
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Uh?
Speaker 5 (18:22):
No, you know, but our relationship, you know, I never
really stopped coaching him, to be honest, you know, I
just wasn't with him, you know, day to day. But
you know, we we built a great relationship as you
mentioned as well document it, and you know, if he
had any questions throughout our time away, I mean, some
(18:42):
things are bigger than basketball, right, So saying hey, like
what do you think here, he'll ask me and I'll
kind of tell him. So I wasn't with him day
to day, but you know, it was an opportunity where again,
it's not like I'm with New York and he's with
Cleveland and we can't talk like who's who's unity exactly exactly. So,
(19:03):
but to come back around and coach him again is
something special. And for us to put together a historic
year together, that's something that you know, at the end
of the day that we'll talk about for the rest
of our lives, not just this moment in time now,
but when he's retired, when I'm you know, later in
my coaching career, and we'll sit back and be like,
(19:24):
you know, we're able to accomplish some great things together.
And that's ultimately what it's about, is is creating those memories,
creating those bonds through the game of basketball.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
Was there anything you know, obviously you mentioned you never stopped,
you know, being in contact with them, talking to them,
talking through things. But getting back into the day to day.
Was there anything that jumped out at you, ors like, oh,
that this is different about him, whether it's approach the game,
the way he understood the game, leadership, maturity, whatever it is,
anything jump out at you.
Speaker 5 (19:55):
You know that this is being as transparent as possible. Well,
I told him probably a month and I was like,
I forgot how frustrating it is the coaching, you know,
and and I'm hard on him and he.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Knows that and he likes to be pushed that way.
Speaker 5 (20:13):
But it's sometimes like Donovan Night, you okay, this guy
is trapping you, Like why were you trying to split this?
Speaker 2 (20:20):
You know?
Speaker 5 (20:21):
So, but it's it's more and in fun, right, But
you know, just his growth, his his leadership, how vocal
he is. Clearly I seen it in Utah as he
continued to progress, he was very vocal with the group
and he found himself. He's very comfortable in who he is.
So to be honest, nothing really surprised me as far
(20:44):
as who he shows on a day to day basis.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
That that makes perfect sense. And you probably wouldn't have
a good relationship with him if you never got frustrated.
Like no coach ever doesn't get grumpy, especially with their
best player.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
That's yeah, but it's important.
Speaker 5 (20:59):
But the reality is like, even when I'm mad at him,
I'm not really mad at him. It's more like I'm
pushing his buttons just to get him to respond and
he you know, it's more of a mental part of
it than anything else. Like, you know, there's he told
the story about being in Washington, you know, a couple
(21:20):
of weeks ago, and that got out that you know,
I you know, had some choice words for him. But
literally before I did it, I told George Nang and
Tristan I said, watch this and.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
So so up exactly exactly.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
And then George is like, oh, t t watch this,
watch this, and then you know, but it caught everybody
by surprise just because of my personality. But you know,
he knows at the end of the day, I care
about him, you know. And then again, our relationship is
bigger than basketball, and he knows that I want the
best for him and I want to be successful in
every situation.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Yeah, the best relationships always have that, uh, that that
you have to be honest, you have to be able
to be transpared with some absolutely absolutely, so that makes
perfect sense. I wanted to take it kind of back
to the macro. You know, obviously you joined Kenny's staff
pretty much. I mean not a one turnover for the
(22:13):
coaching staff, but a lot of new faces this year,
but with a very very similar roster year over year.
There's a ton of continuity there. And something I've said
a lot about what I've appreciated the most about this
coaching staff from AFAR is that it really seems like
everyone in this staff wanted to coach the roster they
(22:33):
signed up to coach, like this was a roster that
you know, going into last summer, there was a lot
of like, oh it is the two big thing going
to work? Is the two guard thing going to work.
It does seem, at least from my seat, that this
staff really did believe in that group, in the way
this team was structured. Can you talk a little bit
about that about you know, believing in the core that
(22:55):
this team had already put together.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
You know, if you look at the group the last
few years playoff experience, you know, Kobe and his staff
has done an unbelievable job, you know, drafting and keeping
guys here, making trade. So the group that they put together,
you know, he believed in it. We believed in it, right,
And it's our job as coaches to figure out what
(23:20):
work what doesn't work. Hey, this was this was great previously,
this wasn't great previously. So how can we change it?
How can we manipulate space? And can we change lineups?
Can we change combinations? And you know we did that right.
You know, last year it was a lot of you know,
Ja and and Donovan together, you know that pairing exactly.
(23:43):
Then this year was like, hey, let's we know that's good,
but let's take a look at.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Evan and Donovan right. So now d G and J together, right.
Speaker 5 (23:51):
So, you know, it's our job to try to put
the pieces to the puzzle together, and once you have
an idea, you look at the end and see if
it supports it, and then that kind of drives the
process of development and growth as a group.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
And you know, we were able to put some things together.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
This is maybe a silly question, but something my co
hosts and I were talking about recently is it almost
hard to look at the analytics for your group right
now because you just don't have any lineups that don't work.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
Like no, like how do you figure out who to play?
Speaker 2 (24:24):
More of? It's good, it's not hard. You know. We
believe in analytics. We believe in what they show us.
Speaker 5 (24:32):
And sometimes we're sitting and coaching me and hey, what
about this and we look at it, Oh, that's not
a good idea. And sometimes you know, we'll make a
decision and like why didn't we get to this lineup?
Or we should have did this differently? And you know,
every game as a staff, who do you want to
finish with? You know, so you know we we have
finished different ways, whether too Bigs or Ja or Evan
(24:56):
or you know, Max Dean.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
It's dray.
Speaker 5 (25:01):
I like, it's one of those things where you know
you have the information, but then you also have to
go on field, right and we try to do the
best that we can. And this group has done a
great job sacrifice and coach he's done a great job
of hammering at home with the group. And you know,
I think it's a little easier to sacrifice when you
(25:22):
win sixty four games, right, so now it's gonna be
another you know, element and level of sacrifice on our
guys part in the playoffs because again, playoffs matchups that
dictate who plays and lineups, combinations, you know, all those things.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
So now it's like.
Speaker 5 (25:40):
We need everybody on board to achieve the common goal
that we have.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
All right, last question and I'll let you get out
of here. How do you balance as you head into
that postseason, the the push and pull of a long
playoff series, of multiple playoff series where the scouts are better,
the you know, the intensity is higher and you're gonna
(26:06):
you know, and figuring out how many adjustments to make
versus maintaining your core identity. You know, how do you
kind of toe that line between hey, we won sixty
four games, we're super good the way we are, and
we have to tweak X, Y and Z.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (26:23):
I mean it's funny you ask that question because we
literally just talked about that as a staff. You know,
you definitely want to double down on your habits, right,
but to your point, with the game planning and all
the adjustments you have to be able to adjust on
the fly. You're not going to be able to you know,
always call a timeout. So that's where the communication piece
(26:43):
comes in with the group. And then in the timeout
you make those adjustments. But you know, we've worked on
certain situations throughout the year, you know, whether it's in
game or in practice, to where we're prepared to make
any adjustments that we need. And again that that that's
one of those things where we do utilize analytics to
put together a game plan and be like, okay, like
(27:05):
this information is good for us, now we should do
this in this type of action. Right, and then once
we had that primary coverage in place, and it's like, okay,
that's what our adjustment will be, right, and then we
may have another adjustment. But you know, at the end
of the day, if we can go in with our
primary coverages and our primary offensive scheme and we can
(27:27):
win two three games without making a huge adjustment, why not. Right,
So we're just we're prepared for those situations.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
But at the end of the day, we have to
be who we are. We have to be a you know,
a competitive group.
Speaker 5 (27:40):
We got to play together and at the same time
understand that you know it's gonna be a little tougher.
But you know, we've had physical games before. You know,
we had games where we shot it well and won.
We had a games when we didn't shoot it well
in one. So we just got to go in and
understand each day is gonna be dif friend and find
a way to come out victorious in each each game
(28:03):
we play awesome.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Well, thank you so much, Johnny. You know I just
said this to Sam, but I just wanted to thank
you so much for the season. I mean, more than anything,
I'm a Cavaliers fan. I love this team and it's
it's my favorite hobby and you guys made my favorite
hobby super duper fun all year. And like you know,
it's definitely my favorite Cavs regular season of my life.
(28:26):
And so thank you for helping lead the team on
the way there because it was, uh, it was just
a dope, dope six months many.
Speaker 5 (28:35):
No thanks for having me, and you know it's this
is a special you know, fan base community, and you
know to to you know, I have been talking to
T T and and and everybody just kind of around
the city that I wait to see you experienced Cleveland
in the playoffs and and we're here now and I
can't wait to see uh the fans rooting and cheering
us on.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
I'll be one of those fans on Sunday. So can't
wait Johnny, thank you so much for coming on and
good luck.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
In the playfuts. Appreciate it. Thank you all right.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Thank you so much to both Caves assistant coach Johnny
Bryant and Cavs guard Samuel for joining the podcast and
give us a little glimpse into what it's been like
to be a part of this absolutely historic season for
the Cavaliers. Thank you so much for listening to the
Chasetown Podcast. If you're watching on YouTube, go ahead and
like to subscribe to the Cavaliers YouTube page. If you
(29:24):
are listening, subscribe, unsubscribe, or you subscribe, help cook those books.
Thank you so much for listening, and as always, go Cavs.
This crowd rises to uspeing what Carl slammed it? Oh
Carle left wing free ball perfectly? Podn helllipt block the
shot at the rim?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
How with the left hand head of fowl.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hello and welcome to the Chase Down Podcast. The Chase
Down is presented by Fubo, the official streaming partner of
the Calves. Watch over three hundred and fifty channels of
live sports and TV, including FanDuel Sports Network without cable.
There's no cost, there is no commitment. Try for free
at FuboTV dot com Slash Calves. We got a special
episode for you guys. No justin here today. It is
(00:37):
a playoff preview podcast dropping on a Friday.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
How about that.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
We never post on Fridays, but we had to for
a very special reason. I was able to sit down
with both Sam Merril and Johnny Bryant, Caves assistant Johnny Bryant,
Calves guard Sam Merril to kind of preview the playoffs,
talk about the season that was, and it was just
a it was a blast. We had about ten to
fifteen minutes with each of the guys, so figured we'd
(01:04):
drop a little surprise episode in your feed. So without
further ado enjoy. Sam Merrill. All right, I am joined
by Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill as we head into the postseason. Sam,
how you doing man?
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I'm doing great.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
How are you not too bad? Thank you for coming
back on. You're officially a friend of the Pod, which
I'm sure is quite the honor for you, probably going
right up on the mantle.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
We'll send you a plaque.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
But you know, first off, thank you and congrats on
an amazing season. I want to start with the really
important gritty stuff, which is all the practice shenanigans you
guys have had this year playing football, playing soccer. We
had Dean on earlier in the year and I asked, like,
who stands out and he mentioned your name as a
(01:49):
standout performer. Are you willing to say you're the best
multi sport athlete on the team.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Yeah, I don't think it's debatable. I mean I played
three sports in high school. I don't know how many
guys played even too. I know Max played baseball. I
will say a sneaky good because there's like there's athleticism
like jumping running, which obviously on NBA level is not
quite my strong shuit. And then there's athleticism of you know,
(02:21):
being able to pick up things and player the sports
and stuff. But it's a sneaky good athlete on our
team is Craig. He could pick up things pretty quickly
and he does a pretty good job as well. But yeah,
me Max Craig being a little bits. It's crazy. You
see some of these guys who are the best athletes
(02:42):
in the world try and play pick a ball or
swing a baseball bat or something like that, and it's
it's not pretty well.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Shouts to Craig, Shouts to you. Moving on.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Ty Jerome was just recently on doing a little bit
of an interview and he got asked you who the
biggest trash talker on the team was, and he threw
out your name as a sneaky like everyone thinks Sam
is this nice guy, but he's got he's got an
edge to him. Do you have any response to Tye
throwing you under the bus like that.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
No, I appreciate him noticing.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
I'm not a trash talk You'll never see me say
anything like sue another player on another team during a game.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
But yeah, I can see where he's coming from.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
I'll say some things on the bench to my teammates
about other players, or make jokes in practice or whatnot,
or in the locker room.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
So I do appreciate that he notices that I do
have a little edge to me.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Yeah, you know, we're all nice when we want to be.
But you know, when the competitive juices get blown, you
can't you can't help it deep down, even if you're
not externalizing it too much. I want to pivot to,
you know, the macro season. Obviously it's been an unbelievable year.
How much was the fact that this was basically a
(04:03):
roster runback? You know, obviously adding tie to the rotation
was a big change, and obviously DeAndre came in at
the deadline, but you know, for the most part, like
geames that like teams don't normally run back their top
eleven twelve guys in the rotation. How much did that
mean to this, to this roster coming in and and
(04:25):
and how much did that kind of precipitate this banana
season that you guys just had.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Yeah, I do think it's really important.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
It obviously speaks to the belief that the front office
and the new coaching staff had in this roster and
what the roster has been able to do up to
this point, Like you said, you know, Tie coming in
and having a great year.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Has been big for us. But then like it's we
live in such a you.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
Know, a twenty four hour news cycle world where everyone
wants to change something if it doesn't work right. But
like look at you look at the seasons that Darius
and Evan had, the improvements that they made. Darius, you know,
coming back from everything that he had to go through
last season, then Evan just getting better and better, Like
those are are big things. And then you know all
of us roll guys finding ways to get better and
(05:16):
finding ways to to help the team along with you know,
everything that the new staff brought.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
I think I think that all played a part in it.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Yeah, well, you know, I do want to dig a
little further on that because we also have seen the
other side of the coin. In NBA history, we've had
a team where hey, we're gonna run it back one
more year, and the vibes are just wrong, you know,
like things did not you know, you could tell that
a team had run its course, you know, after two
three years together. Why wasn't that the case here?
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Uh, we just we don't have any bad nudes on
our team, and that's seems pretty simple. But like there's
when your stars have no ego, but obviously listen, they're superstars,
like they got some alpha to them, right, But like
Donovan is a great leader, Darius has been a great
leader this year. You got Jay who's the most low
(06:12):
maintenance guy in the league probably, and then you got
Devin who's you know, trying to find his way obviously
as like as like a star, but he's also super
low key, super low maintenance, really quiet, Like that type
of stuff isn't as common as I think people would
would like. So I think that was a huge reason
(06:34):
why we were able to run it back and have
the success that we've had at this point.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Yeah, it's a it's another another like feather in the
cap for the front office, right that you know they've
built a team of genuinely pretty good dudes, and you know,
even from a very far away seat, it's pretty clear,
you know, uh, and to your point, like everyone's going
to have ego, like it's an occupational hazard, Like you
probably need some of it if you're going if you're
(06:59):
gonna make it in this league.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
But being.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Genuinely kind and and friendly goes a long long way
going from you know, the the mintal side to the
physical side. And I'm furiously knocking on wood all over
my office right now. The group's pretty darn healthy coming
into the playoffs. How much does that mean in terms of,
you know, not just the ability to play well in
(07:25):
round one, but you know, the ability to kind of
extend across the grind of a postseason, Like you know,
you've you've been all the way to the end, you know,
and and won a title with Milwaukee, Like how important
is it to have that starting point? B we're pretty healthy,
knowing that some physical battles are to come.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Yeah, it's it's it's so important.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
I remember at some point during the season because I'm
Won's sorry abou Kenny and the staff have done such
a good job of managing minutes and managing lows and
whatnot and trying to get to this point healthy. And
you know, Kenny, I think it might have been our
first game back after all Star break, was like was
asking us what's the biggest reason why teams don't win titles?
(08:12):
And we were trying to say all all different types
of things, and he just goes health like that's the
number one thing you have to have. You have to
be healthy. Like, if one of your best players gets hurt,
are in real trouble. But if a couple of your
rotation guys get hurt, you're in trouble.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
So, you know, I.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Think the fact that we're healthy right now is like
you said, it's a huge thing for us, and hopefully,
you know, starting with this first round, which is obviously
all we're worried about right now, we can continue to stay.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Healthy moving into that minut's discussion. You know how important
and like just kind of nice is it for you
as a role player to have a coach that is
so you know, I wouldn't say rigid, but like really
does believe in his rot in his rotational philosophy. Like
(09:02):
at one point early in the season, my coast like
was looking at the check in time for certain guys
in the first quarter and it's like six minute time out,
these guys are gonna come in. Like how nice is
it for you, especially as a shooter, to like know
the routine even all the way into the end of
the game rotationally.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
Yeah, it's it's really nice. You generally have a pretty
good idea of like you said, when you're gonna go
in so I can start to get my leg's moving
a little bit a couple of minutes before that, do
whatever you need to do, Like that's really important. Obviously,
playoffs all bits are off, like who knows how it's
gonna go or and whatnot. But you know, Kenny has
(09:45):
has a belief in this, in this whole roster. He's
he said it all year and he's backed it up
with the opportunities that he's given us. So and it's
he keeps saying like it's it's for moments like this.
You never know when you're gonna need someone uh to
step up and knocked out a shot or get a
rebound or make a player or whatever.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
How do you how do you kind of balance the
playoff mentality? Obviously this team won you know, mid sixties
games and we're really really great playing exactly the way
you played. How do you balance maintaining your identity as
a team versus the little tweaks that you do have
to make in a seven game series when teams are
(10:25):
scouting you a lot more thoroughly, they're making more active adjustments,
Like how do you tell that line as a player
and as a team and as an organization between here's
who we are and here's the things we are willing
to kind of adjust and change over the course of
a series or a playoffs.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
Yeah, like you said, obviously, scout reports are much more
in depth, and you know, the good teams will take
certain things away and you're gonna have to adjust to that.
And the game does slow down to an extent, but
I think it's you know, the teams that get themselves
in trouble are the teams that try and play just
(11:02):
playoff basketball right and walk the ball up the floor
the whole time, and just try and mismatch hunt the
whole game.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Like there are only a few guys in the.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
League that can really really do that for an entire
game and and get the right shots for their team.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
So like you look at I mean, the Warriors have
done it for years.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Like the game slows down a little bit, but they
can still play with their pace and they're cutting and
their screening. And we watched Indiana do it last year,
Like they didn't slow down. They kept going, kept playing fast,
kept playing with pace. So like you said, there's a
line of you know, laying games. You got to make
sure you're getting the right shots and getting the ball
to the right people and maybe going after certain people.
(11:47):
But at the same time, like, there's a reason we've
been so good, so let's play that way. Let's keep
sharing the ball, let's keep cutting, let's keep moving. I
think if you do that, and if you do that
with with pace obviously upping the level of physicality and
pace and whatnot, you're going to still get the shots
that you want.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
All right, last question, how is the team handling goal
setting heading into this? You know, is it a is
it a one game at a time kind of philosophy?
Are you guys saying we, you know, let's go win
a ring.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
It has to be a little of both, Like, sure,
we know exactly where we want to go, if that's
no secret, we believe we're capable of that, But you
can't get there if you don't win game one. We
don't even know who we're playing at this point, so
this this week's mostly just been about macro playoff ideas
and adjustments and just you know, practicing and competing and
(12:44):
getting after it. So, uh, you know, once we know
who we're playing, we'll scout them accordingly and try and
go win game one and then hopefully try and go
in Game two, but obviously with the idea that we
want to do something special awesome.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Well, thank you so much. Congratulations on my personal favorite
Cavs season as a fan. It was just an absolute
honor and joy to watch you. And you know, I
always say that this is our hobby, you know, and
you made our hobby super duper fun all year. So
thank you very much personally and from Cavs fans everywhere.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (13:25):
Man.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Hopefully we can make it fun for a couple more
months here.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
All right.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
That was Cleveland Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill doing his best work,
and only you can do your best work. Zoom aia
Companion can help you do the rest, like automatically taking notes,
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(13:50):
thank you so much to Sam. But the party doesn't
stop here. We've got Calves assistant Johnny Bryant talking about
how his expectations changed over the course of the season,
his relationship with Donovan Mitchell, and much more without further ado.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Johnny Bryant.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Hello everyone, I am joined by Cavs assistant coach Johnny Bryant.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
How you doing, Johnny, I'm doing well. How about you?
Not too bad? I am.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
I'm Jonson. The playoffser here. It's like, it's my favorite
time of year. I'm just I'm just going to be
an absolute fiend watching hoops for the next several months
and there's nothing better in the world.
Speaker 5 (14:26):
Yeah, this is you know, which you do prepare for
in the summer during the season to get opportunity to
play postseason basketball, right, and you know, I've had experience
being here in the playoffs previously, and now to have
these fans rooting for us, I can't wait too experience it.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
So, you know, it's your first year with the Cavs, obviously,
I mean this is like kind of an obvious question,
but like, just how far did this season exceed your
expectations coming in?
Speaker 5 (14:55):
You know, as the staff, we joke about it collectively
a lot. Right then the preseason we go on for
we're in Chicago and you know, we're trying to get
everybody acclimated and we're like, okay, let's you know, we
want to win the game.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
So we try to win the game.
Speaker 5 (15:11):
We didn't do that and go to overtime, we lose,
and it was like okay, And then you start the
season win five, then you nine in a row. Now
Golden State comes to town, they're playing well, win ten
and you know, get to fifteen, lose the Boston. Then
you you know, you start putting these stretches together, double
figure wins, and now you're like you're sitting on the
(15:33):
bench and after games you're like, okay, are we really
that good? And then now you look up it's thirty
five games in and you know you're stealing single digits
as far as losses, and you know, you just continue
to ride the wave and you know, it's been a
year that I didn't expect. It's been great, it's been fun,
and you know that part of the season is over.
Now we're looking forward to the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
When did you know that, like, oh we might be
something like a different kind of special then like maybe
I've been.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
A part of.
Speaker 5 (16:05):
I wouldn't say it was a particular game, but you
we you know, collectively, like I said, as a staff, we'll.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Be on the bench like are we really that good?
Or you know, it was a couple of.
Speaker 5 (16:15):
Games we were down and we come back and win
the game, and you like, the ball just bounces our way,
a shot goes in or you know will come out.
It's supposed to be a big game, and then we
have a crazy blowout win. So you start putting those
things together and you're like, wow, Like there was one
stretch we didn't lose for five weeks, Like that's unheard of, right,
(16:36):
So when you're putting together those type of stretches throughout
the season, you look up and it's like, Okay, I
guess we are really good.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Did anything, you know, going all the way back to Sarasota,
did anything like really jump out at you, even at
the camp level where you were like, oh, I wasn't
expecting that to work the way it did, or I
wasn't expecting this guy to be as good as he was, Like,
did anything like really buck your expectations?
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Like at an individual level.
Speaker 5 (17:05):
You know, I was pretty familiar with the with the roster,
but when you when you look at a team, you know,
three four times a year, it's hard to really gauge
who can do what right, And we had different things
that we want to do from from previous years, and
you know Tid Jerome, you know, obviously he stood out.
(17:26):
I knew Darius was comfortable with Darius just watching on film,
but to realize how fast he is, right you know, Evan,
how talented he is, and you know how great Jaa
is on the defense end. So it's when you see
it every day, you're like, okay, this is different. So
I wouldn't say Sarasota was was was glaring and was like, hey,
(17:47):
you know, I got all that information, but it was
just day in and day out. You start seeing things,
and you start seeing things during the game, and it's like, okay,
this is a different group than I expected.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Absolutely, And you know, the one guy that you didn't
mentioned there because this guy you probably know the best
is Donovan, and your relationship with Donovan is like super
well reported that, Like you guys have just been like this,
you know, from from back in Utah. And did you
ever expect to coach him again after you at that
time together. I know it's a small world, but did
(18:20):
you ever expect to coach him again?
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Uh?
Speaker 5 (18:22):
No, you know, but our relationship, you know, I never
really stopped coaching him, to be honest, you know, I
just wasn't with him, you know, day to day. But
you know, we we built a great relationship as you
mentioned as well document it, and you know, if he
had any questions throughout our time away, I mean, some
(18:42):
things are bigger than basketball, right, So saying hey, like
what do you think here, he'll ask me and I'll
kind of tell him. So I wasn't with him day
to day, but you know, it was an opportunity where again,
it's not like I'm with New York and he's with
Cleveland and we can't talk like who's who's unity exactly exactly. So,
(19:03):
but to come back around and coach him again is
something special. And for us to put together a historic
year together, that's something that you know, at the end
of the day that we'll talk about for the rest
of our lives, not just this moment in time now,
but when he's retired, when I'm you know, later in
my coaching career, and we'll sit back and be like,
(19:24):
you know, we're able to accomplish some great things together.
And that's ultimately what it's about, is is creating those memories,
creating those bonds through the game of basketball.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
Was there anything you know, obviously you mentioned you never stopped,
you know, being in contact with them, talking to them,
talking through things. But getting back into the day to day.
Was there anything that jumped out at you, ors like, oh,
that this is different about him, whether it's approach the game,
the way he understood the game, leadership, maturity, whatever it is,
anything jump out at you.
Speaker 5 (19:55):
You know that this is being as transparent as possible. Well,
I told him probably a month and I was like,
I forgot how frustrating it is the coaching, you know,
and and I'm hard on him and he.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Knows that and he likes to be pushed that way.
Speaker 5 (20:13):
But it's sometimes like Donovan Night, you okay, this guy
is trapping you, Like why were you trying to split this?
Speaker 2 (20:20):
You know?
Speaker 5 (20:21):
So, but it's it's more and in fun, right, But
you know, just his growth, his his leadership, how vocal
he is. Clearly I seen it in Utah as he
continued to progress, he was very vocal with the group
and he found himself. He's very comfortable in who he is.
So to be honest, nothing really surprised me as far
(20:44):
as who he shows on a day to day basis.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
That that makes perfect sense. And you probably wouldn't have
a good relationship with him if you never got frustrated.
Like no coach ever doesn't get grumpy, especially with their
best player.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
That's yeah, but it's important.
Speaker 5 (20:59):
But the reality is like, even when I'm mad at him,
I'm not really mad at him. It's more like I'm
pushing his buttons just to get him to respond and
he you know, it's more of a mental part of
it than anything else. Like, you know, there's he told
the story about being in Washington, you know, a couple
(21:20):
of weeks ago, and that got out that you know,
I you know, had some choice words for him. But
literally before I did it, I told George Nang and
Tristan I said, watch this and.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
So so up exactly exactly.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
And then George is like, oh, t t watch this,
watch this, and then you know, but it caught everybody
by surprise just because of my personality. But you know,
he knows at the end of the day, I care
about him, you know. And then again, our relationship is
bigger than basketball, and he knows that I want the
best for him and I want to be successful in
every situation.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Yeah, the best relationships always have that, uh, that that
you have to be honest, you have to be able
to be transpared with some absolutely absolutely, so that makes
perfect sense. I wanted to take it kind of back
to the macro. You know, obviously you joined Kenny's staff
pretty much. I mean not a one turnover for the
(22:13):
coaching staff, but a lot of new faces this year,
but with a very very similar roster year over year.
There's a ton of continuity there. And something I've said
a lot about what I've appreciated the most about this
coaching staff from AFAR is that it really seems like
everyone in this staff wanted to coach the roster they
(22:33):
signed up to coach, like this was a roster that
you know, going into last summer, there was a lot
of like, oh it is the two big thing going
to work? Is the two guard thing going to work.
It does seem, at least from my seat, that this
staff really did believe in that group, in the way
this team was structured. Can you talk a little bit
about that about you know, believing in the core that
(22:55):
this team had already put together.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
You know, if you look at the group the last
few years playoff experience, you know, Kobe and his staff
has done an unbelievable job, you know, drafting and keeping
guys here, making trade. So the group that they put together,
you know, he believed in it. We believed in it, right,
And it's our job as coaches to figure out what
(23:20):
work what doesn't work. Hey, this was this was great previously,
this wasn't great previously. So how can we change it?
How can we manipulate space? And can we change lineups?
Can we change combinations? And you know we did that right.
You know, last year it was a lot of you know,
Ja and and Donovan together, you know that pairing exactly.
(23:43):
Then this year was like, hey, let's we know that's good,
but let's take a look at.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Evan and Donovan right. So now d G and J together, right.
Speaker 5 (23:51):
So, you know, it's our job to try to put
the pieces to the puzzle together, and once you have
an idea, you look at the end and see if
it supports it, and then that kind of drives the
process of development and growth as a group.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
And you know, we were able to put some things together.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
This is maybe a silly question, but something my co
hosts and I were talking about recently is it almost
hard to look at the analytics for your group right
now because you just don't have any lineups that don't work.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
Like no, like how do you figure out who to play?
Speaker 2 (24:24):
More of? It's good, it's not hard. You know. We
believe in analytics. We believe in what they show us.
Speaker 5 (24:32):
And sometimes we're sitting and coaching me and hey, what
about this and we look at it, Oh, that's not
a good idea. And sometimes you know, we'll make a
decision and like why didn't we get to this lineup?
Or we should have did this differently? And you know,
every game as a staff, who do you want to
finish with? You know, so you know we we have
finished different ways, whether too Bigs or Ja or Evan
(24:56):
or you know, Max Dean.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
It's dray.
Speaker 5 (25:01):
I like, it's one of those things where you know
you have the information, but then you also have to
go on field, right and we try to do the
best that we can. And this group has done a
great job sacrifice and coach he's done a great job
of hammering at home with the group. And you know,
I think it's a little easier to sacrifice when you
(25:22):
win sixty four games, right, so now it's gonna be
another you know, element and level of sacrifice on our
guys part in the playoffs because again, playoffs matchups that
dictate who plays and lineups, combinations, you know, all those things.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
So now it's like.
Speaker 5 (25:40):
We need everybody on board to achieve the common goal
that we have.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
All right, last question and I'll let you get out
of here. How do you balance as you head into
that postseason, the the push and pull of a long
playoff series, of multiple playoff series where the scouts are better,
the you know, the intensity is higher and you're gonna
(26:06):
you know, and figuring out how many adjustments to make
versus maintaining your core identity. You know, how do you
kind of toe that line between hey, we won sixty
four games, we're super good the way we are, and
we have to tweak X, Y and Z.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (26:23):
I mean it's funny you ask that question because we
literally just talked about that as a staff. You know,
you definitely want to double down on your habits, right,
but to your point, with the game planning and all
the adjustments you have to be able to adjust on
the fly. You're not going to be able to you know,
always call a timeout. So that's where the communication piece
(26:43):
comes in with the group. And then in the timeout
you make those adjustments. But you know, we've worked on
certain situations throughout the year, you know, whether it's in
game or in practice, to where we're prepared to make
any adjustments that we need. And again that that that's
one of those things where we do utilize analytics to
put together a game plan and be like, okay, like
(27:05):
this information is good for us, now we should do
this in this type of action. Right, and then once
we had that primary coverage in place, and it's like, okay,
that's what our adjustment will be, right, and then we
may have another adjustment. But you know, at the end
of the day, if we can go in with our
primary coverages and our primary offensive scheme and we can
(27:27):
win two three games without making a huge adjustment, why not. Right,
So we're just we're prepared for those situations.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
But at the end of the day, we have to
be who we are. We have to be a you know,
a competitive group.
Speaker 5 (27:40):
We got to play together and at the same time
understand that you know it's gonna be a little tougher.
But you know, we've had physical games before. You know,
we had games where we shot it well and won.
We had a games when we didn't shoot it well
in one. So we just got to go in and
understand each day is gonna be dif friend and find
a way to come out victorious in each each game
(28:03):
we play awesome.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Well, thank you so much, Johnny. You know I just
said this to Sam, but I just wanted to thank
you so much for the season. I mean, more than anything,
I'm a Cavaliers fan. I love this team and it's
it's my favorite hobby and you guys made my favorite
hobby super duper fun all year. And like you know,
it's definitely my favorite Cavs regular season of my life.
(28:26):
And so thank you for helping lead the team on
the way there because it was, uh, it was just
a dope, dope six months many.
Speaker 5 (28:35):
No thanks for having me, and you know it's this
is a special you know, fan base community, and you
know to to you know, I have been talking to
T T and and and everybody just kind of around
the city that I wait to see you experienced Cleveland
in the playoffs and and we're here now and I
can't wait to see uh the fans rooting and cheering
us on.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
I'll be one of those fans on Sunday. So can't
wait Johnny, thank you so much for coming on and
good luck.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
In the playfuts. Appreciate it. Thank you all right.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Thank you so much to both Caves assistant coach Johnny
Bryant and Cavs guard Samuel for joining the podcast and
give us a little glimpse into what it's been like
to be a part of this absolutely historic season for
the Cavaliers. Thank you so much for listening to the
Chasetown Podcast. If you're watching on YouTube, go ahead and
like to subscribe to the Cavaliers YouTube page. If you
(29:24):
are listening, subscribe, unsubscribe, or you subscribe, help cook those books.
Thank you so much for listening, and as always, go Cavs.
Hosts And Creators
Carter Rodriguez
Justin Rowan
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