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Episode 158: Preseason Action
39 Plays5 days ago
Alex and Corey breakdown the Cavs first two preseason games against the Chicago Bulls. Despite losing both games there are still plenty of positive moments from both games that we call out along with what we would like to see improve. We also give our thoughts on new comer's performance so far such as Lonzo Ball, Tyrese Proctor, Thomas Bryant, & Larry Nance Jr!
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:08
Speaker
now
00:00:13
Speaker
Hey Cavs fans, welcome to another episode of the Cavs Pick and Roll podcast, the podcast for diehard fans by diehard fans. I'm Alex and I'm here with Corey. How's it going, Corey? Alex, it's hoodie weather.
00:00:27
Speaker
Cavs basketball is back. It's going great. How about you? What more can you ask for? ah Hopefully better audio this time. My audio was little jacked up last episode. So how do I sound?
00:00:41
Speaker
Sound pure and crisp this time, Alex. Good, drink good. Have to do as much leveling this time. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, yeah. weather Weather's been great. little chilly these past couple days. Supposed to be a little chilly the next few days.
Excitement for NBA Preseason and Cavaliers Basketball
00:00:54
Speaker
It is October. Halloween's approaching. and NBA season is kicking off here. We're in preseason. It's been it's been exciting. Yeah, definitely feels like forever since you got to watch some Cavs basketball. So, ah yeah, it's only preseason.
00:01:10
Speaker
But ah hey, gives us something to talk about, gives something for fans to get excited about. Guardians are done. Browns are the Browns, right? So Cavs are, once again, best team in town at this time of year. So another exciting season to look You had bring up all those other Cleveland sports, and now I'm like in a tailspin here. Yeah, Guardians got knocked out of the wild card. a little disappointing. Thought they'd go, was hoping they'd go a little farther.
00:01:38
Speaker
They went on a hell of an epic run the last bit of the season there. And the Browns, I went to the Browns Packers game where the Browns won in shocking fashion. yeah i think everybody was ah shocked. It was wild.
00:01:57
Speaker
Yeah, that's funny. Yeah. yeah So um preseason basketball, Alex, the Cavs are as we're recording this.
Expectations for Cavs vs. Bulls Preseason Games
00:02:07
Speaker
The second game is going on right now against Chicago in Chicago.
00:02:12
Speaker
It's approaching towards the end of the third quarter, I'd say. About five minutes left or so. um But Alex, to start off the preseason, the Cavs are playing back-to-back games against the Chicago Bulls.
00:02:24
Speaker
And that's where we're going to kind of break down on this episode. What do we like? What do we not like? What stuck out to us? What what else are we looking to see? um you know We have some new faces on this team, so we kind of got to give our our opinions on um on that so far.
00:02:38
Speaker
But with all that being said, Alex, it is only the preseason. Right. So no need to overreact or or get too crazy with things here. Right. If you're a cast fan watching this team right now. Right. Right. In that first preseason game, there was definitely some highs and some lows.
00:02:53
Speaker
ah Yeah. You know, the craziest thing to me is seeing Isaac Okoro in that Bulls jersey. I just don't know if I'll ever get over that.
00:03:03
Speaker
he was the cab He was the cab his entire career up until just now. that That red doesn't look too bad on him, though. It's a good color for him, I think. Imagine if he was out in Memphis or something, and he's rocking like a baby blue or like Denver. or You know what i mean? So like at least...
00:03:20
Speaker
yeah the The red's not too far off from the wine and gold, and you know but it is weird. and It's funny because i believe it was the first game he was shooting free throws. and It was at the Cavs end where the Cavs players are sitting. and i can so You could see him on camera kind of looking to his right, which is where the Cavs bench would be.
00:03:41
Speaker
and He's kind of chattting chitter chitter chatting, chitter-chatting and smiling. and kind of you know You could just tell there's probably some back and forth going on there. um It's kind of wild that they're both his and Lonzo Ball's first game is, you know, against their former teams in back to back scenarios.
00:03:56
Speaker
Yeah. The sideline reporter asked ah Coach Kenny, you know, about Isaac Okora and Coach Kenny was, you know, glowing about him. Like he's the type of player every coach, you know, wants and just how great he was when he was with the Cavs.
00:04:14
Speaker
But, you know, he's going that about anybody. He's going say, yeah, that's that's that's the political stuff. right Yeah, the political answer to say he's a well-seasoned coach. It is weird seeing him there, but hey, it is what it is at this point.
00:04:30
Speaker
So let's let's break down this the first game. You know, the Cavs did end up losing this game at the very end, which we'll we'll talk about. Again, it's preseason, though, so that that doesn't really matter. Yeah.
00:04:45
Speaker
What I want to talk about with you, Alex, is you know really when the actual core part of the roster that's going to be playing throughout the season you know is is in this game. and you know Any kind of initial reactions of how do you how you kind of think the starting group looked?
Tyson's Athletic Performance as a Starter
00:05:02
Speaker
and I guess the first thing I'll ask is you think about Tyson getting the starting job at shooting guard and in both these games, actually?
00:05:11
Speaker
ah Pretty, pretty interesting. I like Tyson a lot. I thought he fit in. He fits in well with that starting group because he brings a lot of athletics. He's really young.
00:05:24
Speaker
He brings a lot of athleticism. He's quick. He brings defense. um Yeah, he's very active. He was diving to the floor to to grab balls. He didn't shoot very well this game. He went 0 for 5.
00:05:38
Speaker
But first starting game in the NBA, I mean, i it it is what it is. he's probably I'm sure he had the jitters, right? So, yeah, two blocks, a steal, three assists.
00:05:49
Speaker
I mean, yeah, he's he's like filling in for Isaac Kikora there. Exactly. Yeah, so what i what I do like about Tyson is his his effort level.
00:06:01
Speaker
I think you know he's he's he's fortunate to be in a situation where he's on a championship contending club. Yeah. Which usually finds it makes it very hard for rookie to get minutes, which is why he didn't get a lot of minutes last year, at least not consistently. Right.
00:06:19
Speaker
um He has an opportunity this year, and I think he realizes that he's not going to be the first option. He's not gonna be the second option. He's the last option out there. And if if if he was in that starting group come, you know, real and NBA basketball games, but how he can make an impact and continue to stay in the rotation is by doing all those little things like diving on the floor, ah being a pest at whoever he's guarding, you know, who who might be a ball handler or whatever.
00:06:49
Speaker
um And then just doing the other dirty work and and every once in a while, you know making your open shots and making your cuts and and doing the things you're supposed to do, the fundamentals fundamentals of basketball. right And so far in preseason, he's he's done a good job of that um and is really what's going to allow him to to potentially carve out rotational minutes this year.
00:07:09
Speaker
i i guess I'm just surprised that they didn't start either Lonzo Ball or Craig Porter at point guard. and have Well, what I didn't like, I'm with you there.
00:07:23
Speaker
And we talked, I talked a lot about this last year and I'll do it again this year. If this is the way they're going to do it. Um, I do not like Donovan Mitchell at point guard. Um, and I get that, that Garland's out, right?
00:07:36
Speaker
Ty Jerome isn't here, which would have solved, you know, ah a lot of problems, right? But i I'm with you. I'm kind of surprised they didn't start either ball or or Porter Jr. And Donovan Mitchell is a hell of a player, but he's a player that needs to be playing off the ball, not trying to bring up the ball, run an offense, because it's just it's not ran the same as as if a actual point guard was running the offense. Right.
00:08:03
Speaker
So it is just preseason. You know, Kenny could just be kind of playing with the rotation a little bit, seeing what he's got in Tyson, seeing how he fits with this group, so on and so forth. We'll see what happens, you know, start of the real regular season. But I thought that was interesting, too.
00:08:21
Speaker
who ah was what what What standouts have there been for you so far? um Let's start there. We'll talk about standouts, like people you've been you know pretty impressed with, and and we'll talk about some people maybe you haven't been impressed with.
00:08:33
Speaker
but Let's start. Yeah.
Impressive Shooting by Proctor
00:08:35
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. there's there's There was a couple. There was a couple i was impressed with. ah Number one, I'm going to say Tyrese Proctor just because To me, came out of nowhere.
00:08:45
Speaker
you He shot five for six. He was five for five up until the very end of the game, they missed a shot at the end. yeah So it was pretty crazy. Went three for four ah from three-point and two assists, a steal.
00:09:03
Speaker
He was another energy guy, real quick, had great balance, turnaround jumpers, um Yeah, yeah. He just looked fluid out there, right? Just smooth and calm and controlled and, and you know, just was in the moment and and and just doing his thing.
00:09:22
Speaker
And I'm trying not to. It's only one game and we haven't seen him in this game, ah the second game against the Bulls here. But I am curious to see more of him, which I'm sure we will before the end of the preseason.
00:09:33
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know it was just ah like a one off performance. Yeah, exactly. Hot. He was hot. This this one game that he played 12 minutes in or if he really is the next like he was out there looking like LaMelo ball.
00:09:45
Speaker
Right. And was a walking bucket. I'm a sucker for point guards. Yeah. And we obviously need one because, you know, we'll we'll get into ball and all that and Garland's out. um But I'm trying not to get too too excited because, yeah, I don't know if it was a one and done or what.
00:10:00
Speaker
ah But man, how how huge would it be if if Proctor can at times as needed, which the beginning of the season could potentially be one of those times, come in for a five minute stint and and just hold the fort down. Right. and and And again, do the fundamental things and do the rookie things and and just show out when you're out there.
00:10:21
Speaker
He had a great showing and in that first game. Yeah. ah who else Who else stood out
Craig Porter Jr.'s Point Guard Skills
00:10:27
Speaker
to you, Alex? Number two, I would say Craig Porter Jr. He came ran point guard, looked like a pro. He looked like a veteran. he You could tell that all the experience that he got last season ah you know came together.
00:10:42
Speaker
put in some work this offseason, and you could just tell he he looked so much more comfortable out on the court. His handle seemed a lot better. He wasn't getting like caught up. as much in traffic. He was dribbling around guys. He was crossing guys over.
00:10:55
Speaker
he was making great passes, great bounce passes into the lane, setting guys up. like Craig Porter was who was out there lighting him up. you know His shot looked good, too. i mean he hit He hit, what, four or four threes in that game, and then he made his first three in this game before he missed a three-point attempt and in the preseason so far. so His shot's looking good, and and I agree. Craig Porter went five for five for from three in that game. Did he? thought went four for four, and then he made his first one in this game. but Yeah, he he he he he was on fire from three as well.
00:11:26
Speaker
And <unk> I'm rooting for him because it was two seasons ago where he kind of broke out, if you will, um where people started to notice him when when Garland was having whatever issues he was having. Then I don't remember if it was his jaw or what was going on at that point.
00:11:41
Speaker
And then last year, he kind of didn't get consistent minutes, I would say, because Ty Jerome shocked the world and and kind of stole, ah you know, a lot of that playing time to where this year he's back in a scenario, especially at the beginning of the season, where he can carve out an opportunity for him to be in this rotation.
00:12:01
Speaker
Because we already know Alonzo Ball is not going to play back-to-back games. We already know Garland's out for at least, I heard, the last the first 10 to 20 games of this season. So Craig Porter j has his opportunity right now.
00:12:14
Speaker
And and i'm rooting for him, and I hope he takes advantage of it. Jeez, man, I think we're going to be... Talking about missing Ty Jerome this whole season. Every episode, man. Every episode. Every episode.
00:12:25
Speaker
We're going to pour out a little liquor for Ty Jerome every episode. For real. We're going to go through a whole bottle this season, Alex, all right? Absolutely. That's we're going to do, all right? going to have a little puddle on my carpet here. Yeah.
00:12:37
Speaker
Your cat's just rolling in it.
00:12:42
Speaker
All right. So Proctor and Porter Jr., they were definitely on my list. Anybody else, Alex?
DeAndre Hunter's Versatile Playing Style
00:12:48
Speaker
I have a couple more on mine. Anybody You know what? Those are the top two for me. I want to also say Craig Porter Jr. in that first preseason game. He was also tied as the leading scorer along with DeAndre Hunter.
00:13:02
Speaker
who I think is my number three, DeAndre Hunter. Absolutely. Played great. Shot seven for nine. Yeah, seven rebounds, a steal, assists. He's all over the court. His game is... ah Man, the more I watch him, the more I'm just like... There's not a lot of players that that feel like they play like he does.
00:13:25
Speaker
And it almost feels like he plays... from like a different era of basketball because he has a mid-range game as well. and not a lot of players have that. He can shoot the three ball.
00:13:37
Speaker
He can back you down, turn around, fade away. You ain't blocking it. And he can also take your butt to the to the rim and dunk on you too, right? So he's just, man. And there's sometimes he throws up these shots hand right in his face and nothing but net. I'm just like, i don't know how they go in, but he's a stud.
00:13:54
Speaker
And, you know, one of the, one of the reports that, you know, kind of happened or or conversations that, that happened was his role on this roster. And, and basically the the gist of it is, is he told Kenny Atkinson, like, I want to be in the starting unit basically.
00:14:12
Speaker
Right. And So far, he's been in that starting unit. Max Struess is out, and it feels like he's going to be in that starting unit. And I would leave him there, to be honest with you. I think we talked about that last episode.
00:14:27
Speaker
um He's a great fit, great size. I mean, it's it's not quite the Markedon, Mobley, Allen lineup, but this is pretty close as far as the size, right? Because he's a little bit shorter than what Markedon was.
00:14:41
Speaker
But that's that's just great size. ah Yeah, he is. Small forward through center. Yeah, you you said it. He has great versatility. He's kind of a jack-of-all-trades player, master master of none, but but still phenomenal at everything that he does. and Yeah, he just fits with that starting unit.
00:14:57
Speaker
He brings the size. He brings defense. He brings shooting. Yeah, I i think that he'll the more minutes he'll get with this core and this team starting, so you know he'll be a force to be reckoned with as the season goes on.
00:15:13
Speaker
Yeah, and he's still under contract for, I believe, two more years this year and next at least. I don't know if there's a third year or not, but so, you know, there's there's no risk of him, you know, we're losing him this offseason or anything like that.
00:15:25
Speaker
And, you know, even when Max Struess does come back and assuming Hunter remains in the starting lineup, Max Struess will be a nice piece for you off the bench. you know So he'll be able to come in and do his thing as well. So I feel like it's ah it's a good move to to move him into the starting lineup and and leave him there.
00:15:44
Speaker
He's just so capable of doing so many things, and he's going to be able to match up with a lot of people on the other end as well from the defensive end. Yeah, defensive nightmare matchup. Yeah. The the other the other other kind of thing I'll call out is Evan Mobley looks great.
00:16:01
Speaker
And ah offensively and defensively, he's making tough shots. ah He's pulling up for three, you know, but he's also protecting the rim and Jared Allen's protecting the rim as well.
00:16:14
Speaker
Um, so it's nice to see them continuing to do what they do on on the defensive end. Um, and I wanted to call out, you know, both of them. It's, it's funny, Alex, you know, we really did.
00:16:27
Speaker
There were so many cast fans that we probably talked about too, at some point, like, could they really work together? Could the Allen and Mobley thing work together? And they do really work they do work well together, in my opinion, especially now that Mobley is developing his outside shot.
00:16:43
Speaker
The lane isn't isn't as clogged as what everybody assumed it would be with two seven-footers in your starting lineup. So I think they play well off each other, and um and they both have looked have looked great so far this preseason as well.
00:16:58
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, Mobley, well, they're two guys that, they're two centers that, You know, they can clog the paint, but they can also shoot the long ball. So one of them can. One of them can. Well, yeah. Well, I will say poison Mobley stroke to two out of four or three pointers in that first game. And it it looked very smooth.
00:17:19
Speaker
I will say on my negative list was Jared Allen shooting a three in this Bulls game early on. I think it was first quarter. yeah And he didn't even hit the net.
00:17:30
Speaker
It was an air ball. So I'm hoping Jared Allen hasn't been working on his shot in the offseason and thinking he can jack up some threes now. We don't you don't need you to do that, sir.
00:17:42
Speaker
But yeah, the Cavs, you know, you have your usual suspects and then yeah, Craig Porter Jr. and Proctor look solid. How about seeing Larry Nance again out there? I was just going to say that. just jersey alex I just want to. Yeah, i was just going to say shout out to Larry Nance Jr. on his return to the Cavaliers.
00:17:58
Speaker
It's exciting to have, ah you know. a Nance member of the family back on the team. Love it. Yeah. Yeah. He had a very, very rough shooting night that first game, but Hey, you know he'll settle in.
00:18:11
Speaker
He's still, he still did his thing and he had a couple of nice moments. Still finished with 11 points, played 18 minutes, grab some rebounds. And, uh, Maybe doesn't have the same bounce he did his first stint around, but still nice to see him in a Cavs jersey.
00:18:24
Speaker
And what I like about Nance is, you know, he's probably on the other side of his prime now, right? Like he's he's not his ceiling and stuff, but he's a he's a backup big that's going to actually be able to play rotational minutes for you.
00:18:41
Speaker
And although you're not expecting him to go out there and be a double-double machine on a nightly basis, I also feel like you can be confident in putting him out on the floor, unlike some other backup bigs we've had over the year. We all love TT, but TT wasn't really that guy, right? And and the Cavs have finally moved on from him.
00:19:02
Speaker
Robin Lopez, ah you know some other guys some other backup bigs, veteran bigs they've brought in over the years, haven't really been able to play rotational minutes for you to where I think Nance can still do that for you for this year. So that'll be nice. I think we'll be seeing a lot of him.
00:19:18
Speaker
So on, on the other side, Alex, is there any kind of dud moments or anything kind of not so great that you saw that you want to call out?
Challenges for Thomas Bryant
00:19:27
Speaker
Uh, yeah, there was a few, uh, do it.
00:19:31
Speaker
Just get it out of the way where to start. Um,
00:19:38
Speaker
Thomas Bryant, man. yeah that was like go and I was messaging you about this at work. I was like, oh this guy's killing me. like How's this guy, how's this tall dude get blocked so many times at the end of the game and turn it over? And I think he had three turnovers.
00:19:55
Speaker
you know so in the final stretch of the game there to totally blow it for us. So what? Maybe about a week ago, Cavs decide to fill their final roster spot with a big, ah formerly on the Indiana Pacers, Thomas Bryant.
00:20:13
Speaker
And I like the signing of Thomas Bryant because what I saw of him in the playoffs, not only against the Cavs, but you know the the other series and You know, what I saw of him is that he is a energy guy, high intensity Every second matters to him out there on the floor.
00:20:35
Speaker
And he also does some other dirty, you know, other things like protecting the rim and he can knock down a three every once in a while. He had two, by the way, in the first game. But yeah, kind of a rough first showing for him at the end of the game where basically he was the only NBA player on the floor for the Cavs at that point.
00:20:52
Speaker
put in a scenario to kind of have to try to put it, put the game on his shoulders and win the game. And, uh, yeah, it gets blocked twice pretty, pretty badly in both scenarios.
00:21:04
Speaker
turned it over right under the hoop. They had the inbound with 0.3 seconds. It was perfect. Perfect. Perfect. All he had to do was slam it in and he fumbled it bit.
00:21:17
Speaker
It's like, man, come on. I think he's going to grow on you. I'm determined to get Thomas Bryant to grow on Alex over the season. I'm sure he will. Yeah. I mean, it's preseason game one. It's fine.
00:21:30
Speaker
just Just like Larry Nance, again, you know you're not going to want to throw him out there for 30 minutes or anything like that. But this is the first time in a while where I feel like we have some backup bigs that we can actually play.
00:21:44
Speaker
right And if you still want to consider Dean Wade a backup big, now maybe Dean Wade doesn't have to be that that backup power forward. He could play the ah backup small forward with Struis and whoever else, and he can kind of bounce around. like I feel confident.
00:21:59
Speaker
in our backup bigs and putting them on the floor. um So we'll see with with Thomas Bryant. I thought it was a good move though. it's It's better than some veteran that was never going to see the floor or some young guy you never heard of that was never going to see the floor. I think we'll definitely see him, you know, in action this year. Yeah.
00:22:17
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I thought Tomlin, he was another Kind of backup big wing player played. Yeah, he's a young. I think he's on a two way contract again this year. he has some moments. I don't know if he's ready for NBA rotational minutes.
00:22:32
Speaker
ah Not unless there's a couple of bodies injured on this team and your and your your hand is kind of forced. I'm still playing Luke Travers, though, over Tomlin. It was nice to see Travers get a couple of minutes out there still looking crafty.
00:22:46
Speaker
I just don't know when he's going to get his opportunity on this team with with what they're trying to do right now. Still rocking that sweet mullet. Still rocking the mullet. Still rocking the mullet.
Lonzo Ball's Preseason Struggles
00:22:57
Speaker
ah But let's we got talk about Alex. We got talk about it. Let's talk about Lonzo Ball. Because we obviously didn't talk about him on our positives. And granted, it's one game and two games here.
00:23:08
Speaker
It's preseason. The dude hasn't played a full season in what? Four or five years now? Right? um So, what what what were your thoughts or oh man your reactions from Manso Plo? Yeah, for 4, field goal. 0 for 3, 3.1 assist.
00:23:31
Speaker
Turnover, a foul. All in 12 minutes. Time to get that glass out tiger Rusty, man. He's rusty. He just needs to shake off the rust. Yeah.
00:23:42
Speaker
Everything we've been hearing is is he's he's healthy. They're talking on the broadcast today that he hasn't missed a single drill since he's been here, like in in training camp and all that stuff.
00:23:54
Speaker
So you're hearing all those things, which is which is good and positive. But yeah, there's going to be some rust there. And I am. I'm rooting for him because Cavs obviously banked on that.
00:24:06
Speaker
Like if that doesn't work out, well, now you're relying on Craig Porter Jr. and and Proctor or whatever. And, you know, that's probably not the best scenario to be in either. Right. ah You know, for any kind of long amount of time.
00:24:19
Speaker
But I will say, Alex, that first game, every time he just moved, I was like, oh, God,
00:24:28
Speaker
Don't jump too high. Don't extend. yeah You know, it's just like I'm nervous every time I watch him. He's going to pull out Andrew Bogut. Yeah. And that's just. I don't know. It's going to take a while to feel confident in him out there.
00:24:43
Speaker
And the Cavs have already come out and say he's he's not going to play in back-to-back games. So I do worry about about the rotation and the gelling of the rotation. and you know it's He's a big question mark. He's a big question mark. But if he could somehow work out somehow, some way, ah man, it it'll be huge for for the team this year.
00:25:06
Speaker
Your boy ah Travers and Proctor just checked into the game. The second preseason game here. They got a pretty nice lineup of five guys out there with Proctor, Travers, ah Tyson, all the young guys.
00:25:22
Speaker
Those are the guys I want to see. Nance. Yeah. one old One old guy. Yeah. One old guy. So we we kind of talked about, and somebody just hit a three. What is that?
00:25:34
Speaker
Proctor. Proctor. And he got fouled. Another four-point play. He had won the first game, too. He got fouled on one of his games. that He's making case, man. is he Is he a two-way player? What's Proctor's deal?
00:25:48
Speaker
He might be. I don't know. Let's look that up. um But yeah, he looks he looks smooth. Good size, too. I'm liking what I'm seeing so far. So we we talked about some individual performances.
00:26:01
Speaker
um What do you think about you know the Cavs so far? I'll say this. It's the Chicago Bulls. It's preseason. Yeah. But I am kind of surprised at how evenly matched these games have have been. And now we're at a point, obviously, where where where both teams aren't playing their starting players, so it becomes a different game at that point.
00:26:23
Speaker
But from the Cavs' offense or the Cavs' defense, the way they're you know moving the ball in offense or the way they're defending Chicago, there's anything that's jumping out to you that you like or don't like there.
00:26:38
Speaker
I mean, haven't, I'm not seeing a whole lot of, uh, it doesn't seem very well organized. i don't see them like running plays or anything. They just seem to be kind of free flowing, trying to move the ball around and get it to different guys.
00:26:51
Speaker
Yeah. You know, just trying to, uh, looks like just trying to get people opportunities. Um, yeah, nothing's really jumping out to me as far as what's being done well, or think it's too early.
00:27:03
Speaker
i mean, it's a preseason game one and two. Yeah, i I will say i do feel like they're giving up more threes than I would like to see. Either that or Chicago is just hitting everything they throw up there.
00:27:17
Speaker
um So but but like I said earlier, I think Mobley and Allen specifically have been great at protecting the rim. um They're doing a great job there. And Porter Jr. and Tyson have have both been pesky um on the perimeter, you know, with whoever they're guarding or or just being in the passing lane. And Yeah, it it is preseason and the level of play will increase.
00:27:41
Speaker
um Donovan Mitchell still out there, you know, a wizard and just just doing his thing, um you know, ah scoring all sorts of different ways. His shot still looks great getting to the rim, um so on and so forth.
00:27:55
Speaker
I'm just excited to see, you know, when the season actually starts and, you know, they open up the season against the New York Knicks, Alex, which, you know, on paper and at least for the start of the season is probably your biggest ah opponent.
00:28:12
Speaker
right for kind of the the top of the East. we we knowve We've heard it all offseason. The East is wide open. right But we also know that nothing's guaranteed. There'll be some team that makes a leap. There'll be some team that goes down. There'll be some injury on some team that changes the direction of everything.
00:28:31
Speaker
But for that first night, game one against the Knicks, that'ss that's that's one one a and 1B in the East. And what I'm excited to look forward to is how are the Cavs going to look that night, they're going to get crushed in that moment.
00:28:45
Speaker
Are they going to, they're going to, they're going to do their thing and, and pull out a victory, you know, just, it'll be a good gut check and it's not something to flip out over whatever, but it's just, these games don't mean anything right here to where how the calves look in the moment, a big game against a a top contending team.
00:29:03
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And I mean, still two more preseason games. We got Boston on Sunday and then Detroit on Tuesday, which are two pretty good, exciting matchups. But yeah, like you said, ah it's preseason.
00:29:16
Speaker
You know, when the regular season really starts against New York, that's when we'll find out. I think if we still had Ty Jerome, I would say we would win. But without Ty Jerome, I just don't know. Without Ty Jerome, there's no point of watching any Cavs basketball. Yeah, there we go.
00:29:32
Speaker
No Ty Jerome, no Della Vidova. No, no, no. No Della Vidova, no Ricky Rubio. But you've been watching Della Vidova, haven't you? I've been watching a lot of ah Euro basketball lately and NBL National Basketball League basketball, which is on at like five in the morning or on at just random times and stuff. And that's how I've been kind of getting my basketball fix in up until the start of the Cavs season. So it's been fun watching that.
00:30:01
Speaker
I watched a game the other night, Alex, that had Javali McGee on it, former Cavalier. ah It's always fun when you when you put on a you you you find a game and there's a former ah former NBA player over there, and they they think he's like Shaq over there. Yeah. I read an article yesterday. i sent you an article yesterday where they're talking about superstar Matthew Della Vadova.
00:30:23
Speaker
Yeah. You know, and the game that he was playing in yesterday and stuff. Yeah. Yeah, and it had a it had how to watch this game and what time it and it said it was at 830. I was like, oh, it's going to be on at 830. I'll watch that. No, it was like 830, whatever their time. Australian time. I did the same thing. I went to go watch it and i was like, the game ended 12 hours ago.
00:30:42
Speaker
So it is a little tricky catching the games and stuff like that. But ah it's been fun kind of catching those guys. Yeah. What I was going to say, Alex, too, is, um you know, when we play the Knicks, it is going to be kind of rough seeing Jordan Clarkson rocking a Knicks jersey.
00:31:00
Speaker
I ah was watching some preseason basketball as well, and the Knicks were on the other night, and I was like, oh, my God, I forgot that they signed Jordan Clarkson. as well. And, you know, you mentioned the Pistons, the Pistons will be a tough team.
00:31:15
Speaker
They added Karis Levert. um they They made a great run last year, got a lot of experience, playoff experience, I would say. So, you know, the whole East is wide open thing. Sure, we could say that.
00:31:29
Speaker
but But again, it's going to be another year of every opposing team giving the Cavs their best effort because you want to knock off the supposedly you know, best team in the East, uh, just wait until, uh, just wait until Giannis gets to New York.
00:31:45
Speaker
That's the, that's the rumor. That's the latest. I've seen that. I've seen, yeah, supposedly his family and, uh, his wife and his kids are already, uh, back in Greece and living there full time and going to school there. And,
00:31:57
Speaker
The only airport in the country that flies back and forth to Greece is out of New York. You're drinking the Kool-Aid, aren't you? You're drinking the Kool-Aid. Just spreading the rumors from NBA radio.
00:32:08
Speaker
It's another is another NBA season is upon us. The rumors will fly ah LeBron James for the first time will miss the first part of the season. He's out on injuries.
00:32:20
Speaker
Did you hear the LeBron rumors that he's starting a league in Europe? <unk>ve I've seen something about that too. yeah It's just, hey, it's another NBA season, man.
00:32:31
Speaker
They've been saying he wants to buy a team. Why buy a team when you can own a league? Yeah. Wow. We'll see. We'll see. um Is there anything else, Alex, you could think of? This game is what's going on with this game. What's the score at?
00:32:46
Speaker
It's it's it's been pretty even. There's six and a half minutes left. The Bulls, man, and the Bulls really going to win both games. Get the Cavs here, Alex. They're down. What? Six right now. Cavs pull out this game, Alex.
00:33:00
Speaker
What do you think? Is that Brian out on the court? No, probably not. Your your stream must be like 10 seconds ahead of mine.
00:33:12
Speaker
I'm seeing 627 on the clock. Same here. Oh, okay. here. Maybe it's just my math is bad. Or is that Tomlin? I don't know.
00:33:24
Speaker
Yep. Yep. So they're down by six with six minutes and 27 seconds left. lot of time could go either way. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. Again, it's pretty young guys out on the court for the rest of the game. Definitely. I'm hoping, uh, Proctor plays the rest of the game.
00:33:40
Speaker
I'd love to catch a couple minutes of him. Um, So yeah, preseason basketball game one and two, um, you know, we'll, we'll kind of see what the Cavs do here. We'll probably, uh, do another episode after the next two preseason games and give our thoughts there, kind of do a wrap up of the preseason in general.
00:33:59
Speaker
um The last thing I was going to ask you, Alex, probably not, but are there any is there any fringe player ah that that kind of caught your eye? of some of these young guys that you don't typically hear those names every day. The Cavs sign killing Killian Hayes.
00:34:12
Speaker
You got Tomlin running around there, Travers. But is there anybody that kind of caught your eye that you're like, oh, who's this guy? He looks intriguing or not really. I mean, Tomlin a little bit just because he had that pretty good.
00:34:26
Speaker
A few minutes in that first game, but not not really. and You know, I think our roster is pretty much set as who's going to be starting and who's in the rotations. Yeah, going to tough. I really don't see any of the young guys that that we're seeing in these final minutes of this preseason game, you know, making the roster unless there's some significant injuries in the team. Yeah.
00:34:45
Speaker
Yeah, these guys are going to play for the charge again, but it's kind of, you know, with with Tomlin, you do see some potential there. He's still very young, still developing. I believe I heard he didn't even start playing basketball until his teenage years, if I remember correctly.
00:35:01
Speaker
Which is crazy, right? Can you imagine not even playing basketball until 15, 16 to being in the NBA at 21 or whatever he is? Must be nice, right?
00:35:12
Speaker
ah But he's he's in it he's a a good development piece to keep an eye on. um But I'm with you. It's going to be very hard to to crack this roster at this point. ah so But it also makes it fun at this time in the game to kind of watch some of these guys you don't get to see on much of a normal basis. So we'll see what the Cavs do.
00:35:33
Speaker
One other thing I wanted to bring up was that the you know it was released that you know with the Cavs classic jerseys are going to look like this season.
Return of the Classic Navy Blue Jerseys
00:35:42
Speaker
And it's the, you know, the navy blue with the gold and red and navy piping on them.
00:35:50
Speaker
Very popular. Everybody loved those jerseys. Those are the jerseys that LeBron and Zee and Mo Williams and Vergeau wore for several years. out So a lot of people excited those jerseys are coming back.
00:36:01
Speaker
But you are not, sir. No, it's not. It's not that I don't like those jerseys. Tell him, get off my lawn. Do it. It's too soon. like LeBron is still in the league, so how are you going to bring back that jersey? I don't know. It just seems like they wore those jerseys yesterday, and now you're bringing it back as a classic.
00:36:21
Speaker
I don't know. Yeah, that's the way I, you know, I have the red version of that jersey still hanging in my closet. So it's like I'm always a sucker. Why would I? It's weird buying a classic jersey when you have the original.
00:36:33
Speaker
I don't get too excited for jerseys, but I'm but I'm always a sucker for for the classic jerseys. Like, yeah, I'd rather wear a 90s jersey versus like today's jersey.
00:36:45
Speaker
Like. You know i mean? That's just the way I am. So, yeah. um And I think a lot people are like that. So I could see people being excited, but I get as well. Yeah, like the classic jerseys for sure. Yeah, definitely. Some throwback player. Yeah, those are the best.
00:36:59
Speaker
Yep. Kevin Love. Sean Kemp. Oh, man. Oh, it's scene 75 in Brunswick. Sean Kemp was there as a bouncer? Are you serious? No, no, no.
00:37:14
Speaker
They have an autographed Sean Kemp jersey as one of the prizes you can get with tickets. but How many tickets do you remember? 100,000 tickets.
00:37:25
Speaker
So I am saving up 100,000 tickets to get this Cavs autographed Sean Kemp jersey. And it is sweet looking. I'll to get a picture of it. That would be epic. I wonder how long...
00:37:36
Speaker
Man, it's been a while since I've been there. But how long do you think that would take and how much money would that take to get 100,000 tickets at scene 75? Both of my kids just cashed in their some of their tickets for some Funko Pops that were 3,000 tickets each. I don't know how many tickets they have, but...
00:37:54
Speaker
I might have to steal this some of their tickets. I was just going to say, you should have definitely said you're contributing towards your dad's dreams of taking 10%. Yeah. Yeah. Well, there you go. Kaz fans. If you want to Sean Kemp sign Jersey, go shoot.
00:38:09
Speaker
No, no, it's not there. Forget. I said anything. I don't want somebody else taking it. Yeah. All right, Alex. Good stuff as always. Always good checking in with you Cavs fans. want thank you as always for listening.
00:38:23
Speaker
And Alex, let them know where they can follow us and connect with us. Follow us on Twitter at Cavs Pick and Roll. Shoot us an email, CavsPickAndRoll at gmail.com. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook.
00:38:36
Speaker
Watch this episode on YouTube. Wherever you're listening, watching, click like, subscribe. Leave us a rating or review. We'd appreciate it All right, Cass fans, there it is. We'll talk again soon.
00:38:48
Speaker
Peace out, Cass fans.