- 1 day ago
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00The wheel of possibilities that ran through this weekend, I did not at any point in the middle of
00:05yesterday think about who are we going to play in round one of the NBA playoffs because I just
00:10assumed that so many weird things had to happen for it not to be Atlanta. And I know it's like
00:16three things, but in my mind, that was a lot of things on a Sunday that I paid such little
00:21attention that when I finally did look down at the Boston score, I found myself mystified that
00:29we were on the precipice of getting a different round one than we expected. I can't be the only
00:33person that was like, oh, I guess I better pay attention to some Raptors real quick.
00:38Yeah, maybe. I don't know. It was weird because Boston was down to their backup guys, all the
00:43bench guys, and Orlando was at full strength trying really, really hard. And typically in
00:47the NBA, especially in the final game of the season, if one team's really trying hard and
00:51the other team's given the white flag, you kind of know where that one's going to go.
00:53Yeah, I kind of feel like the only thing Orlando's really trying hard at right now is getting
00:58Jamal Mosley out of there. Ever since Paolo Bancaro had that weird fight, that public skirmish
01:03that he had with Mosley, everybody kind of assumes he's dead man walking. If you don't
01:09even get out of the play in this year, and this was the moment that happened, yeah, come
01:12on now. I remember after that one Cavs game, people tried to tell us, I think you were one
01:18of the people trying to make the case that we had to be actually scared of the Cavs.
01:21I was scared of the magic, excuse me.
01:23Okay, just throwing your friend in front of the beer bottles there.
01:26No, we're just remembering. I'm remembering the convo. You were like very scared of Orlando
01:29for some reason.
01:30I'm still scared of Paolo Bancaro and Desmond Bain, but not now. Not after that.
01:34No, there's nothing to be scared of.
01:35Nobody's going to take you seriously. You better not just...
01:37Oh, Mack hated that answer, by the way. Mack was disgusted with that.
01:40With which part of the answer?
01:41I think the...
01:42You're being scared of Bancaro.
01:46I'm not even going to get into that right now, because the point is, we have landed on Toronto,
01:51and it's funny, like, I think today, obviously we'll talk about the regular season that was,
01:56we'll obviously talk about the pressure that's on the Cavs going forward, but it's funny,
02:01like, I am as confident as I think I can be in this Cavs team, and I also have very
02:07high
02:07expectations, and I really don't know how this is going to go.
02:11I think I know how round one's going to go.
02:13I don't.
02:13Oh, I'm about as confident in anything that round one is taken care of with Toronto.
02:19It should. It should be. This feels like a don't blow it up kind of thing, but the Cavs
02:25are in a weird spot. Not a weird spot. The Cavs are in an interesting spot where they still
02:29have some growing to do as a team. I know most of the guys are healthy, but Jarrett's
02:34not healthy, and what is this? Toronto does not shoot it well. They don't do a lot of things
02:38well, but the one thing they do well is something that can discombobulate you, which is get out
02:43and transition really well.
02:44Yeah, but again, you mentioned their lack of shooting, and that is the biggest part there.
02:47Their bottom 10 in three-point attempts, bottom 10 in three points made. They have some length.
02:53They have that going for themselves. I actually think it's a good lead-up to the Pistons, because
02:56they're kind of like the poor man's Pistons in many ways, and that they don't shoot the
03:00three-ball particularly well. They do have some size to themselves. They play a little street
03:05ball at times, but they're just not even close to the caliber of this Cavs team.
03:09I agree, but that's not really about it. So, okay, from the matchup perspective,
03:13those are the two things that are interesting about Toronto to me, but then it becomes just
03:17how ready for the postseason are the Cavs? Because again, this is, I'm trying to go in
03:22with fresh eyes. Everything, I will not, I have the, here's the goal, here's the expectation,
03:30but we're at prove it at every step of the level, because this is what three of the nine
03:34guys are going to play are new guys, and you didn't really have a whole second half like
03:40we hoped, the full 28 games to get to know each other.
03:42I can't sell this fight if that's the fight that people are going to try to want to sell.
03:45You should be pretty large favorites against Toronto, and I think it's going to be interesting
03:49to see how the Cavs come together, how this all works, but as far as like, it kind of sucks
03:54that you get a whole, you know, up until Saturday now, and just time off within play-end games
03:59and everything else before we get to see this start to cook, but this was about as favorable
04:03of a first-round matchup as you could find for the Cavs, in my opinion.
04:06So can I say that I have a high level of confidence in the Cavs, and also a high level
04:10of uncertainty
04:10on how the next month is going to go?
04:12Yeah, next month, because that extends out into round two, sure, like if you want to play
04:16it from that perspective, and I think that's very fair, by the way, if you are worried about
04:19how the first two rounds go after it seems like, listen, the Cavs got every break you
04:23could possibly want.
04:24You got the setups you want, you got the matchups you want, you're not really gonna, you shouldn't
04:28have to sweat until mid-second round at earliest, and really, if we're being truthful
04:34about it until the Eastern Conference Finals, like this is a very good setup for the Cavs.
04:38I thought it was funny that, you know, we had heard all the, you know, Kenny made the
04:42Cavs media wait until after the Raptors game was over so that we could, you know, he could
04:48really talk about who the Cavs were going to play in the first round, and then that was
04:53his analysis.
04:53Yeah, and that's what he gave you.
04:54It's like, oh, go back to games that happened in October with a completely different roster.
04:59Yeah, they, oh boy, they really did.
05:00They took it to us.
05:01How much work do you actually think they did on, like the advanced scouting work on
05:05Toronto?
05:06Other people outside of Kenny Atkinson probably did a lot.
05:08Yeah.
05:08Yeah.
05:09But you think he's read it?
05:10Maybe not.
05:11I don't know.
05:11I mean, how much advanced scouting did you do on Toronto at this point?
05:14None.
05:15Yeah.
05:15No, today, last night and today, I've done a nice cram session.
05:19Yeah, once you found out.
05:20Yeah.
05:20Once you found out.
05:22I mean, geez, we were thinking we were just gonna talk Hawks for a week.
05:25Yeah, and I was kind of looking forward to that matchup, just because I do think the
05:30Hawks are a little bit more dangerous of a team.
05:32Can I say, though, I think, I understand that there are a lot of machinations in the NBA
05:38playoffs, and that teams try to do a lot of things to get the desired result.
05:42I don't think the Hawks wanted the Knicks more than the Cavs.
05:46I just don't think the Hawks thought in a million years that the Maine Lobster Red Claws,
05:51or whatever the hell you call them, the final eight guys on the bench in Boston, would
05:57beat the starters for the Orlando Magic.
06:00Yeah, but Atlanta had their hand in this, too, though, because they rested everyone in
06:03the finale against the Heat.
06:04That was the tipping point to me.
06:06That was the respect.
06:07That was the, we're gonna try to avoid what the Cavs are, because when they rest everybody,
06:11that's them telling you, like, we're choosing the Knicks.
06:14Okay.
06:15It's like black and white.
06:16It's no other way to see it, I think.
06:17I feel like that's black and white.
06:19Okay.
06:20Or it's indifference.
06:21It might just be indifference.
06:23They might have just valued the rest in Game 82 over, because I'll be honest with you,
06:29if I'm the Hawks, I'd probably rather play the Cavs than, like, even if we had Rathbun
06:33on Friday there, and, I mean, he was even like, yeah, what do you guys think is going
06:39on with that team?
06:40I think with the Knicks, at least the Knicks have a...
06:44have at least proven they can get somewhere in the playoffs.
06:46I don't know.
06:47I just thought the Hawks matched up pretty poorly against the Cavs, and so, and it was
06:50just evident in what we saw last week, and so maybe that was staying with them.
06:53I don't know.
06:54I thought it was respect to the Cavs.
06:55Now, when we have all of this, I do think it's interesting that no matter which way
07:00you take this conversation, when it comes to teams with pressure on them in the postseason,
07:07the Cavs obviously have as much pressure as anyone, and you can even start to debate who
07:12has the most pressure in Cleveland from the head coach all the way to any one of their
07:16three or four best players.
07:17All right, well, who do you think has the most pressure from, because I agree with the
07:20idea that from a team perspective, the Cavs, I think, have, if not the most, they have,
07:25we can go through the teams if you want.
07:27Detroit's too young and too new to this.
07:30There's not really much pressure existing for them.
07:32The Knicks always have pressure, but they did just make the East Finals last year, so
07:35they got a little bit that they can play around with.
07:37Boston's got zero pressure because they thought this was a gap year.
07:40Like, yeah, the Cavs have a lot of pressure, but what's interesting is that I've already
07:43seen it, like Bill Simmons and Zach Lowe were talking about Donovan Mitchell.
07:48I saw that clip going around about like a half hour ago.
07:51Like, is it going to fall back on Donovan at the end of this?
07:53It's going to be interesting because I think nationally, yes, but I don't think it will
07:57locally.
07:58I think locally, it's going to fall on heaven, and I think that's what's so interesting
08:02about the concept of pressure of this series is that usually national and local pressure
08:08by the time you get to the postseason, it does line up really, really well.
08:12Honestly, I think there's even a weird amount of pressure on James Harden because all anyone
08:17will talk about on the lead up to this is, I'm not putting any money on Harden.
08:22Well, Harden's always got playoff pressure attached to him because that's what comes
08:25with James Harden, right?
08:26And if he just chokes, which I think is hard for him to do in the role that he's in,
08:30but
08:30if he absolutely chokes in the playoffs, then yeah, it's going to go back on him in some
08:34ways.
08:34But the Mobley thing is interesting because you know, we've low-key been setting up to blame
08:39Mobley the entire time.
08:40But Mobley has been, he's been playing really good basketball with Harden for like a month
08:45and a half now.
08:46And it can all get washed away with one bad series.
08:49I know, the sad part is he could look really good defensively, and then if he just does
08:53a nothing burger offensively, it's the only thing that's going to matter.
08:55Well, and, you know, he could dominate this Toronto series where Yaka Pirtle probably isn't
09:00going to be able to stop Evan or Jared if Jared's healthy enough to play every game,
09:04and it's not going to matter because it's going to happen.
09:07Well, what happened in the last series?
09:09Like Evan, honestly, with where we are with Evan, and when I say we, I mean Cavs fans.
09:13I think, again, the national media has just kind of forgotten about Evan to some degree.
09:17We haven't.
09:18But I think with where we are with Evan, he could have two holy crap type rounds just
09:25dominate the next two rounds, and if he goes out against Boston and just disappears
09:29offensively, you're going to see a lot of people that are just like, well, I guess that's
09:34the answer on Evan, sayonara, Evan.
09:36So that's also another layer to this, too, that kind of sucks.
09:38It's like last year in the Heat series, everyone came out and was guns a-blazing, and it's
09:41like, well, all right, we gave you credit, but we don't really care.
09:44Do it against the next series you have.
09:46And so there's always going to be another series that he just has to constantly prove throughout
09:49this whole entire thing.
09:51But I think it is split.
09:52I think Mobley will take some blame if he doesn't show up offensively.
09:56But this is falling on Donovan in a lot of ways that I find very interesting.
09:59So I want to hear what you have to say about that, but I think the interesting thing about
10:04Donovan, and I, like the Simmons clip that I, or no, it was Zach Lowe and Bill Simmons
10:10talking about this.
10:11I think Donovan might end up, if this thing doesn't go the way we want it to, I think you
10:17might hear an off-ramp route here for Donovan beyond the blame if this does turn up poorly.
10:24This was from the Bill Simmons podcast.
10:26He's made the playoffs every year of his career and has never made the conference finals.
10:31He's had some great series.
10:32He's had some clunkers.
10:33His teams, particularly in Utah, both Utah and Cleveland, have had some, like, pretty
10:37epic flame outs.
10:38He's been, at times, like, the only Cavalier you felt you could count on in the playoffs.
10:43But it's just, like, I kind of want to see him make a run longer than he's been because
10:48he's been such a consistently great player.
10:50And it's a crossroads pick for me also because if they disappoint in the playoffs again, they've
10:55already traded one of these guys.
10:56I just don't.
10:57He's not a flight risk anytime soon.
10:59I'm not saying that.
11:00I'm just saying, like, there just comes a point.
11:02If you just lose too many times too early in the playoffs for what your pedigree should
11:06be, it just starts to go sideways a little bit.
11:09And I think Cleveland is kind of nearing that point.
11:11And Donovan Mitchell, I want to see a deeper playoff run.
11:14That's all.
11:14I also think if it doesn't happen this year, I wouldn't be surprised if he's on another
11:17team next year.
11:18If something bad happens to this team in one of the first two rounds, I'm prepared for any
11:22outcome with any guy in that roster.
11:24I just think it's really interesting that if Donovan's feeling the heat NBA-wise, if
11:29this thing doesn't go right, I think what they laid down there is, hey, you can change
11:35the narrative by pushing yourself somewhere else.
11:39And that has been a fear that I've had about this.
11:41And it's been a thought, like, I think everybody's focused on Evan or just don't re-sign Harden
11:45or bring LeBron back home.
11:47I think the future of Donovan is very much in play over the next month, month and a half.
11:54And I do think a disappointing outcome, it could look to kind of diffuse some of the national
12:01angst that he gets where people start talking about, well, is it Donovan or is it the Cavs?
12:05I don't think you have too many more of those if you're Donovan.
12:07Well, I just spent so many times that he hasn't made it out of the second round.
12:10Even go back to some of those good Utah teams.
12:12He was a one seed in Utah.
12:14Like, he had opportunities to come out of the West and actually make real runs.
12:17And he ended up falling short.
12:19The Nuggets series, I'm thinking of in particular.
12:21And did he play great in those games?
12:22Yeah.
12:23No, he did.
12:24I think game seven, he had like 50 points or something insane in that series.
12:28Like, he's had all sorts of great playoff moments.
12:30That's kind of the hard part with this Donovan discussion is that, like, when we talk about
12:34Donovan in the playoffs, I've never thought to myself, oh, Donovan's the reason why
12:38the Cavs aren't doing this.
12:39Like, I've never once thought that.
12:41I've always thought, like, well, Donovan's doing his part.
12:43It's this person, this person, this person that isn't showing up.
12:46And that's where I think it just, it's a, you're at a weird crossroads if you're Donovan.
12:50He does his performance, but he, as a team, never gets it done.
12:55216-474-0092.
12:57Of the Cavs heading into the playoffs, who has the most pressure on them?
13:01It's funny, like, I do, I'll say it again.
13:03I do think nationally, Donovan has the most on it.
13:07It's just that weird.
13:08It seems like there's already a way to get around it kind of thing that Simmons and Lowe
13:13threw out.
13:14And then locally, like, I, is there any way at any point Harden can overtake Mobley here?
13:21Or is it just, because I feel like it for, like, since the trade deadline, and even before
13:25the trade deadline, this has been setting up as Evan as the fall guy, if the Cavs are going
13:30to use a player as a fall guy this year.
13:31Yeah, but it was setting it up, again, like, a month and a half ago when Evan hadn't really,
13:35I don't know, taken his game to another level.
13:37And so, like, now that he has, if he reverts back in a different way, yeah, we'll spotlight
13:41it for sure.
13:42We'll have to spotlight it.
13:43What do I think is more likely?
13:45Or what do you think is more likely?
13:48Donovan has a nothing burger in the postseason and comes, and just is, like, a rare postseason
13:53where he just doesn't show up at all, or Mobley reverts back to what he was two months ago?
13:58It's probably closer than people realize, but I don't know.
14:03So the reason why it's tough for me, and I can't give you a direct answer today, is Jared Allen.
14:07I actually think for Evan to be the best offensive version of himself, I think not having Jared
14:15there to complicate what they do offensively helps him tremendously.
14:18The problem is, that also takes away some of the effectiveness of Evan defensively if
14:24Jared isn't out there.
14:25Does that make sense?
14:26It makes sense.
14:26It's kind of been the weird puzzle that we've been playing with the entire time with those
14:30two.
14:30How about you?
14:31I mean, to me, it's pretty obvious.
14:33To me, Mobley not being the same offensive player he's been for the past month and a
14:36half is what you'd bet on.
14:37Like, that's the thing when I talk about Donovan.
14:39Like, he has maintained his ability in the postseason.
14:43He's taken it to another level in some instances.
14:45And so, the odd part about this, and why I think he doesn't take any flack locally, is
14:49that we see somebody that is just carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, and
14:53we can't even fault him for it.
14:54We can't even be like, you're obviously the reason why we don't make it past, because it
14:59wouldn't be a good faith argument.
15:00So, I know I kind of leapfrogged you there on the Donovan side of things with the clip
15:04there.
15:05In terms of Donovan's pressure and how this manifests it, what does that look like from
15:10your side of things?
15:10I mean, it just seems like the read that we have on it throughout this segment.
15:13Donovan, nationally, will take most of the blame.
15:16Locally, we'll be looking for somebody else, because we put so much, at least the Cavs
15:20have put so much on the idea that this was going to be Mobley taking a step forward, and
15:24this was going to be his year where he takes over from Donovan, and he becomes the best
15:28player on this team, and it hasn't happened yet.
15:31And so, I feel like, if you're being honest, if you're Kobe Altman, why you would blame the
15:37Cavs' shortcomings if it does go down that way this year?
15:40It'll be because Mobley never took that next level ascension.
15:42Yeah, it's interesting with the Mitchell stuff, because, again, we're kind of in agreement
15:47with it, but what's the fallout for Donovan?
15:52It'd be weird, right?
15:53If Donovan all of a sudden is like, oh, I can't win in Cleveland, it's like, you've got
15:57four top 25 players on your team.
15:59All right, you have three top 20 players on your team, and I don't know what Jared Allen
16:02is at this point.
16:02I don't know, but it's weird the rankings that people come up with him.
16:05I mean, I think Donovan still has the excuse of, this has been the most wonkily built NBA
16:09roster that's been a top four team consistently in the last four years.
16:13I still think he has that to fall back on.
16:16I just don't know that he's going to be able to be like, they haven't given me enough.
16:19They haven't given me a true chance, because I just don't believe that to be true.
16:22I mean, put it up against, have we, I guess you have given, no, have you given him a Carl
16:28Anthony Towns?
16:30I mean, yeah, I would say so, yeah.
16:34Based off of, and it's a combo, it's Harden and Mobley, but the combo of Harden and Mobley
16:39is better.
16:39If you're doing this for like the Brunson's cast versus what Donovan's cast is, I would
16:44give the, I would side with the Cavs cast.
16:46I, so I think it's how it's built.
16:49I think Donovan with that New York cast, with all those shooters, with all those three
16:54and D wings around him and an elite, elite big.
16:58I know it's, I know we can pick apart Kat, but he is, he just doesn't have the postseason
17:03bonafides.
17:03I think that's easier to win if you're Donovan than how the Cavs have been built the last
17:07four years.
17:08But you see how though, like part of that equation is the idea that the Mobley piece
17:12of this was supposed to be, he's supposed to be better than Kat right now.
17:15Like, like, I think that's part of the equation is them banking on the idea that as of right
17:18now, he's supposed to have leapfrogged Carl Anthony Towns and not even be really close.
17:22If he had taken the right ascent, if he played like he's been playing the
17:24past month and a half, it's not a discussion.
17:26I think Donovan never would have had to share the ball with another ball dominant guard,
17:29whether it's Darius or it's James.
17:31And how do you, how do you best support?
17:33I'm not trying to fall back on the Steph thing, but how do you best support an undersized combo
17:38guard that likes to have the ball in his hand?
17:40Well, you have a lot of size and a lot of shooting around him and maybe have a decent
17:44backup point guard or two, which the Knicks have most consistently done or have consistently
17:49done, even if it's not every single time.
17:51Here's the read on it.
17:52But if Donovan leaves the Cavs because they fall short and they just have this massive
17:57blow up, then it'd have to be with the understanding that it'd be like Kyrie and Dallas or how Kyrie
18:02and Brooklyn, like you're not, you're not the guy on the next team.
18:05You get to be the second guy.
18:07You're not, you're not the guy you're yours.
18:09You get to play second fiddle.
18:10If you want to go to an NBA championship, you'd be doing so in a role where you're not number
18:13one.
Comments