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Episode 147: All-Star Weekend Recap
52 Plays4 months ago
Alex and Corey break down the NBA All-Star weekend giving their thoughts on the new formats and player performances. We also make several suggestion on how to tweak some of the events to make them more appealing. Then we talk about the impact De'Andre Hunter has had so far on the team and look ahead at the schedule as Cavs basketball returns. Finally we talk about the arena name change and the Cleveland Rockers returning in 2028.
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Transcript
Casual Introduction and All-Star Weekend Overview
00:00:06
Speaker
<unk> stop
00:00:19
Speaker
I'm Alex and I'm here with Corey. How's it going, Corey? I am doing fantastic. How about you, Alex? ah Doing good. Doing good. Awesome. We have a lot of fun stuff to talk about.
00:00:31
Speaker
um All-Star Weekend has come and passed. We got definitely talk about that. And then the Cavs are getting ready to get back to the second half of the season, making that home stretch for their playoff run, which is hopefully a long and lengthy one.
00:00:50
Speaker
to talk about some stuff there. Even a roster move the Cavs made just about an hour ago from when we're recording this episode. So lots of good stuff to get into, Alex, but we got to start with that All-Star Weekend.
Analyzing All-Star Weekend Format Changes
00:01:03
Speaker
yeah Yeah, it was ah it was interesting. it was ah you know A lot of people didn't like it. Trash. The changes. Garbage. Yeah. i I mean, I enjoyed it. I liked it.
00:01:18
Speaker
um The games... So there was four all-star teams, right? And each one of the commentators kind of... What would you say? They didn't coach the teams, but they...
00:01:32
Speaker
They picked the teams. Did they pick the teams? they Yeah, they picked the teams. That's right. Yeah, Shaq, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith. you know They basically got to draft their teams, um but didn't coach them.
00:01:46
Speaker
and But you know it kind of made it a little bit more ah a thing for them to trash talk a little bit during the broadcast. Yeah. And it's actually kind of weird because the teams were kind of strategically put together. It felt like because you had, you know, the OG squad with like the Steph Curry's and the Kevin Durant's and the, you know, Kyrie. Yeah, like the older era, you had the young team um and you had like a like ah but a team that had a bunch of, you know, foreign players on it. So it's very weird how it worked out.
00:02:19
Speaker
It was cool that that Mobley and Garland got paired up together. um But yeah, four teams. One thing i get why they did it, but one thing I kind of wish was a little bit different is instead of having the winner of the Rising Star game be the fourth team, I would just have four and NBA All-Star teams.
00:02:43
Speaker
And if they continue with this format, um maybe that gives them an opportunity to sneak in a couple more guys. You know, i don't know how many, you know, each team probably only needs seven or eight guys on it. Right.
00:02:56
Speaker
Right. Well, if you have four teams of just and NBA all-star players and not rising star players, you know, that allows for, you know, five to seven more players to be involved. Right. So that could potentially be a good change. I would think because, yeah,
00:03:13
Speaker
nobody's screaming about Zach Eddie, you know, in ah in an, in an
Competitiveness and Entertainment of All-Star Games
00:03:17
Speaker
all-star game. I'm just, that that's kind of weird. I actually liked it a lot. I liked how they had like the OGs with all the old school guys. And then they had couple of, you know, yeah. Like you said, international player team and then kind of just another team.
00:03:31
Speaker
And then the rising star team. I mean, it was cool. run for their money They hard. Oh yeah. Yeah. Well, nobody wanted to lose to the, the rooks. Right. Can you imagine if that would have happened for for there was a couple minutes during that game where I'm like, wow, what if the rising star team were to knock off an NBA all star team? Can you imagine the.
00:03:52
Speaker
the the firestorm that would be on social media, you know, after something like that happens. but Yeah. And, you know, the first to 40 points, you know, it made the other teams play defense, right? Like you couldn't just run the score up with whatever the time limit was.
00:04:09
Speaker
You had to be the first to 40. So you had to stop the other team from scoring. So it actually made it a somewhat competitive game. There was a lot less, goofiness. I don't know. I guess some people like lot of the goofiness. in you know There was still a lot of showboating. There was still a lot of taking threes from half court and alley-oops and just all kinds of craziness. If players are hitting threes, you can get to 40 points you know relatively quickly.
00:04:38
Speaker
And that's another thing I get. They had to have a target number and they wanted these games to be kind of, you know, quick. And like you said, kind of, it forces that competitiveness, which they did play harder. It did seem than in years past.
00:04:53
Speaker
um But another maybe minor change I would like if they continue with this format is maybe adjusting that target score to be a little bit higher.
00:05:04
Speaker
Yeah, because the game just it felt like it went by too quick. And in the sense of like rooting for your team's player that made it to the All-Star game.
00:05:15
Speaker
to go watch them play eight minutes in one of these games and then get knocked out and they're done. That's it. That's their first all-star game. They're done for, for, for, for the, for the weekend, basically.
00:05:26
Speaker
Yeah. That kind of sucks. Make it like, it did like 55, maybe. Yeah. Yeah. who was going to say like minimum 50 points, yeah maybe 60. yeah You know, Mobley was in the game for a very little time.
00:05:41
Speaker
Yeah. um Garland did set him up once for a donk and Mobley passed it. I don't know why Mobley was being so timid. He had the ball under the hoop twice, like back to back possessions and passed it out to the perimeter.
00:05:55
Speaker
It's like, oh you don't need to do that. This isn't a ah real game. Just slam it, Mobley. Maybe he was a little bit shy his first game. I mean, he's not he's not that flashy player.
00:06:06
Speaker
He definitely deserved to be at the All-Star game, but he's not going to be the most exciting guy at an All-Star game, if that makes sense. But It was also his first one, so maybe he had a little bit of jitters. But yeah, and that's a perfect example, though. It's like if it would have been a real, you know, like a normal game, might have seen 15 minutes to 20 minutes of Mobley playing.
00:06:29
Speaker
Instead, we got what we got, and and that's it You know i mean? You got to wait again until next year or so. That's one thing I didn't like the target score, which was a little bit higher.
00:06:39
Speaker
ah wasn't in love with the court either. ah just reminded me of all the in-tournament courts where it's just kind of glaring to look at, you know, but I get that they were trying to change a lot of things.
00:06:54
Speaker
And I got to ask you, what was your take when they when they When they put Draymond on and they ask him about the format and he's just like, it's trash.
00:07:07
Speaker
A lot of people were like, he ain't wrong. You know mean? But then Barkley came back and said, the reason why we have to do this format and try all these things because your generation ruined the all-star game. Yeah. Because you didn't play. You didn't play no defense and you scored 200 points or whatever. I can't stand Draymond Green, man. That dude. I know. I can't either. But when I saw that, I was like, oh, crap. Speaking trash.
00:07:30
Speaker
Dirty player. Yeah. Don't care. Don't care what he has to say. Yeah. I thought that was funny though. But yeah, the all-star format. We'll see if they stick with it or not. I mean, it is what it is. It was what it was.
00:07:45
Speaker
the The other thing too is there was a lot of kind of downtime in between to where like, again, and so I don't need, and don't need Kevin Hart and Mr. Beast and like a concert again, play, play to 60 points instead And
Saturday Events: Skills and Performances
00:08:03
Speaker
give me two hours. Give me give me an hour and a half, you know, or so of of actual basketball.
00:08:08
Speaker
I don't need a three, four hour long thing and an hour of basketball. ah You know, I thought the Mr. Beast thing was fun. The kids shooting to win. a It was one hundred thousand dollars, wasn't it?
00:08:21
Speaker
That was on to make a half court shot before Dame hit three of them. Like that was fun. That was entertaining. When, when Mr. Beast came out, I was like cringing and actually like turn it off for a minute. I'm like, I can't watch it.
00:08:34
Speaker
You know what i mean? And then i flipped it back on and I saw the kid win and then he goes crazy. The players are going crazy. Like, That's cool. That's fine. But it's just like it's too gimmicky. It's it's it's like w WWE style. Like thought it was just too much gimmick. Too much gimmick. Damon dammon hit two out of the three and the kid was still clunking them off the backboard on the right side like every shot. And it's like, dude, dude, just line it up. Take your time.
00:09:05
Speaker
Yep. and And then Steph is like tapping his wrist and pointing at Dame Lillard. It's like Dame time. Sink that third one. But then the kid hit it and won it. Yeah. And he climbed in his. That was a good moment.
00:09:17
Speaker
Yeah. His big cart of cash. He climbed right into it. Right. Right. So what about, so that was the game. That was Sunday, the game. um What about Saturday? You know, we had the three point contest. We had the dunk contest.
00:09:34
Speaker
We had the skills challenge. Yeah, the three-point contest, let's talk about that for a minute because Garland was in it, which was he was the the Cavalier that you were hoping was going to be in it for a while.
00:09:48
Speaker
yeah He did really well in the first round. I think he scored 24 points. oh yeah Yeah, I thought he was going to go far. I thought he had a really good chance. ah Did better than Mitchell.
00:10:00
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, he did a lot better than Mitchell. But he struggled in the second second round. He didn't even match his score of 24 that he had gotten in the first round. Yeah, yeah.
00:10:11
Speaker
I'm trying to remember who won it. It was a hero tyler ah Hero from the Heat. buddy It was Buddy Heald and Hero. oh you're right. garlan yeah garlan I was thinking Buddy. yeah Yeah, you're right. It was Tyler Hero.
00:10:26
Speaker
Sam Merrill would have killed them all. Like I'm being serious. Like I'm glad Garland went. It was cool when Mitchell went last year, but it's like you you need you need that three point specialist to represent you. And and I don't know if the Cavs will get another shot. surprised Curry didn't do it.
00:10:43
Speaker
Yeah. they They always hype him up. He's the best three point shooter in NBA history. yeah He wasn't in the three point contest. Yeah, well, it is what it is. He won. He won MVP of the All-Star game, um which isn't really that surprising based on where it was at. But no, um yeah, three point contest was fine, I thought.
00:11:03
Speaker
um Let's go to the skills challenge before we go to the dunk contest. This was pretty cool because Donovan Mitchell and Mobley were in it and they won it. They won the whole darn thing, which is pretty cool to see.
00:11:16
Speaker
thought it was cool. Yeah. ah Going back to Draymond, it was pretty funny watching him not being to the can't believe Draymond was really even in it. I don't know how they determined that. That was a bad pick by whoever decides that.
00:11:30
Speaker
But yeah. what do you what Do you like the skills challenge? what do you think about that? na I don't know. i think I think they need to change it up. It's too short, too quick.
00:11:41
Speaker
yeah It's a bounce pass, a chess pass, a layup, and shoot a few three-pointers. That doesn't matter if you make or not, really.
Slam Dunk Contest Highlights and Critiques
00:11:51
Speaker
Yeah. so Yeah, they need it they need to make it a little more, i don't know, like wipe out or something, you know, yeah that would be fun. Let's w WWE this.
00:12:02
Speaker
yeah i almost I don't know what you would do, but you can almost have two opposing players going at the same time. like with their dribbling or their passing and their shooting. So like they're actually going up against somebody.
00:12:16
Speaker
You're going up against the clock and the name of the game is basically finish the quickest. But I'd like to see like i think it'd be it it'd make it a little bit more intense if it was Mitchell going up against Curry, you know, side by side or whatever.
00:12:31
Speaker
And also You know, the second round of of the Cavs, you know, they made like they made like two shots or something like that.
00:12:42
Speaker
And I I would like to see like making baskets also have an impact as well, because I get that you're trying to finish as quick as possible. Well, that if you they do if you make them. if If you make the shot, you don't have to shoot anymore.
00:12:58
Speaker
Okay. So there's three balls and you got to shoot three of them But if you make the first one, they you don't got to shoot the second two. You can move on to the next rack. Oh, they missed a whole bunch that second round.
00:13:09
Speaker
But yeah, it's it's it's something that it's like, all right, it's been around for a little while, but yeah, maybe it needs maybe it needs a change as well. What about what the Spurs tried to do, Alex? like Oh, that was garbage.
00:13:22
Speaker
ah You know, I'm glad they got disqualified. And seeing Chris Paul like get disqualified was great because he was like arguing it and looking annoyed and pissed off the whole time. And it's like, you have no one to blame but yourself. You tried to you know skirt the rules. you didn't you know's What's crazy, though, is there's there's there was reports that came out that they cleared it with the NBA prior.
00:13:46
Speaker
that they were be they would be allowed to do that. Why? Kind of conflicting, I guess, because if that really did happen and then they told them you're disqualified, that'd be kind of messed I mean, that's not... There's no skill to that.
00:13:59
Speaker
No, there's not. Nobody to see you that way. It doesn't make sense to allow them to do that. No, it doesn't. And for anyone listening that didn't watch it and don't know what we're talking about, when... Chris Paul and Wemby were on a team and they got to the shooting portion of the skills challenge.
00:14:14
Speaker
Instead of shooting the balls, they just slapped them, knocked them, tossed them off the the rack. it I think it's like two, is there two shooting stations or three shooting stations? But they did it for every ball.
00:14:25
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And then just sprinted past it. Right. And then made their layup at the end or dunk, whatever. And then they didn't didn't even try to make a shot. No. Now, so, yeah, I'm glad I'm glad the NBA did the right thing, even if they told them, yeah, you're not breaking the rules. They, you know, good, good on them to, to you know, make the right decision because nobody wants to see somebody win that way. That's that'd be very lame.
00:14:53
Speaker
So pretty cool, though, that Mitchell and Mobley won that. Got to bring home some hardware. um And then finally, we had the slam dunk competition Saturday night. The dunk contest. Yes. you Used to be years ago, it was the highlight, right?
00:15:12
Speaker
Yeah. And now it's... always looking full Yeah, I don't know. It needs changed, i think. It's tough because you know you don't you don't see the the the you don't see the star players. you know Yeah, that's the thing. None of the big names do it.
00:15:28
Speaker
So what's the attraction really? Yeah, exactly. exactly so That's been the biggest complaint for years now. um But at the same time,
00:15:43
Speaker
Mack McClung going for a three-peat. Yeah. You know, a lot of people are saying has somewhat saved the dunk contest in a way. It was incredible. His dunks were incredible.
00:15:54
Speaker
Like, I couldn't believe it. And when my wife asked me, like, what was the best dunk of the dunk contest? And I described it to her. It was a guy spinning on a hoverboard, you know, and and he jumped over him and dunked two balls at once. She's like, couldn't believe it. Like, right. That's right that's crazy wild. Like you got to believe it.
00:16:15
Speaker
It's crazy because of how, you know, he's not a very big guy He's not even NBA player. Like he's had little stints, you know, with teams, but he's not, you know, he's a G League player.
00:16:29
Speaker
I looked it up right after he's he's played five games with the Orlando Magic. yeah Yeah, he's basically a G-leaguer. That was after he won it last year, basically. You know what i mean? So it's kind of crazy and also kind of sad at the same time that you're you' your winner of your dunk competition for the last three years, not only is it not an NBA superstar, you know like a LeBron James or whatever, it's not even NBA player.
00:16:56
Speaker
And that's where the haters just come out and they they feast on that. Like, you know, you don't even have an NBA player winning your dunk contest. This is trash. But cool story. Good for him. three pitted, which, you know, that's pretty amazing.
00:17:14
Speaker
I would be, I would hang it up. If I were him, I'd be done with it. Three P yeah go out on top for him. It's, it's a bigger deal because he's not really full fledged NBA player. So now which I can see him, you know, taking advantage of it and getting some of that limelight and still trying to yeah make his, his way into the NBA and maybe trying to use the dunk contest is stepping stone. But sure. I don't know. sure i don't know if that makes sense or not, but if like, and one street ball was still around, remember that?
00:17:43
Speaker
Oh, yeah. yeah Like, I feel like he'd be good in that. Where's the professor when you need him? Exactly. still watch his YouTube channel. They should have him in the celebrity game every year.
00:17:53
Speaker
That would just be so much fun. That would be. That would be. But yeah, I don't know what the path forward for him is, but it's a cool story. And um what about the dunk over the car?
00:18:05
Speaker
That was cool, too. I like that a lot. I know they've done dunks over cars in the past, but this one was it was really cool. This one. Yeah, it was was I'll argue because Blake Griffin did that first.
00:18:18
Speaker
um years ago. And I'll argue this was actually more impressive for several reasons. One, Blake Griffin's bigger than McClung.
00:18:29
Speaker
And Griffin jumped over the hood of the car. McClung jumped over the roof of the car. And grabbed the ball from a guy standing up through the sunroof. sun Through the sunroof.
00:18:45
Speaker
And if you if you watch that dunk... It very he almost he almost loses it as he's going to the rim and that ball could have easily popped out on top of it. He's doing a reverse dunk.
00:19:03
Speaker
Think about this. Imagine if he would ah would have miscalculated his jump just a little bit and would have clipped that car on the way down. That would have been a nasty thing. On the way down his left heel did clip the car, and that's why he basically almost landed on his butt.
00:19:21
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Well, yeah, and he did slide down when he did come down, but he just had he had more car to jump over than Griffin did. And he was any smaller and obviously less athletic than Griffin was because Griffin can jump out of the rim out of the gym.
00:19:37
Speaker
um You know, and the other thing, too, is is he makes his dunks. And that goes a long way as well because nobody wants to see a guy take four or five attempts at the same dunk and it doesn't go in. yeah that's the That was the problem with all the other contestants. yeah Like no one else could make a dunk.
00:19:56
Speaker
Yep. Like it took everyone four or five tries. One guy never got a dunk. The other guy dunked it like on the fifth try and it was just, he kind of like gave up trying to do anything flashy and just did a regular dunk and it was...
00:20:09
Speaker
That's what makes it more impressive, though, because it's it doesn't have the same effect. If it would have taken if it have taken them three attempts to to do that car dunk, it wouldn't have had the same effect as him landing it on the very first try.
00:20:24
Speaker
Just it doesn't. You know what i mean? So that's really the name of the game as well is is make your dunks. Um, that's going to go a long way. So I can't, you know, it was who the runner up was, but he did do really good. That last.
00:20:39
Speaker
Yeah. it's Just something was round. He had first one player last name Jackson. Yeah. I think Steven Jackson. It's not Deshaun Jackson, Sean Jackson. don't remember his name. He he had hops.
00:20:51
Speaker
He had a 50 point dunk at the end. There was a couple of people, 47 or 48. Also, there was a couple of people that were saying he should have won it. but the overall consensus was, you know, McClung won by a landslide. So, um, yeah. And then you had guys like John Moran come out and say, maybe I need to sign up next year. And, you know, that's, that's what they need. Like he was trying to get, somebody was trying to get Zach Levine to do it again. Like that's what you need though. You need the John Moran. So you need the Zach Levine's you need, you need those types of players to come back on to bring some excitement. Yeah. Zion would be good.
00:21:29
Speaker
won't do it. Power. power dunker yeah exactly yeah they got a dethrone uh mcclung here they can't let him run away with it every year if i was him i so i seriously i i that's what i'm saying he should just keep doing it yeah yeah i guess but man and then we in we haven't even talked about the uh the dunk that was the most calves related yet go ahead ah McClung jumping over Mobley.
00:21:55
Speaker
Mobley of all people. Yeah. Yeah. Holding the ball and above his head. And Mobley was even standing on a platform. Yep. So he was really, i mean, it was a heck of a dunk.
00:22:07
Speaker
And he jumped over Mobley, grabbed the ball from Mobley, kissed it on the front of the rim, and then dunked it. And then dunked it. Yep. Just to add that little extra beatup bit of flair there. as soon as he did it, he was making the doing the replay, finger twirl, you know play it back in slow-mo so everybody can see everything that he did, all the little detail he'd put into that dunk.
00:22:30
Speaker
He does a good job of working the crowd, too, and that that plays a part as well. um But yeah, I mean, impressive for, again, ah a non-NBA household player to to, you know, undersized white guy.
00:22:46
Speaker
know what I mean? Like to to to win it, you know, three years in a row now. so It's kind of crazy. um But that was fun to watch.
Reflections and Future All-Star Format Speculations
00:22:56
Speaker
um And then we had Friday night.
00:22:59
Speaker
I didn't watch a lot of I didn't watch Friday night, but that's the celebrity game and the rising star game. I didn't really think about it until it was kind of already going on. But I was like, huh, have been cool if Tyson would have gotten that game.
00:23:13
Speaker
But only got so many slots, I guess. Yeah, I mean, he should have. I don't know what other rookies are getting. A lot of minutes, but he gets minutes here and there.
00:23:25
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. So what one of my favorite things, though, Alex, about All-Star Weekend is just it's a good time of the year for just bringing up past All-Star Weekend highlight clips.
00:23:40
Speaker
of dunk contests winner, you know, so many Vince Carter, you know, clips that were up Jason Richardson, you know, of course, Michael Jordan. um and then, and then you see the clips of three point contest and past all-star games and, you know, you know, so on and so forth.
00:24:01
Speaker
And, uh, it's just like, it's just, you just kind of get, I do at least I get lost, you know, just watching that stuff and just being like, ah, yeah, the last time, you know, when, when, when Cleveland had the, uh, the all-star game and in 97 and, you know, the 50 greatest players and, and Glenn Rice won the MVP and Terrell Brandon's running around putting on a show and you know It's just fun going back and watching you know those those past All-Star weekends as well.
00:24:29
Speaker
very much different Very much different than what we've had the last couple of So it's kind of fun watching watching the old ones sometimes. I like that they had last All-Star game that they didn't have. This All-Star game was the three-point contest between one NBA player and one WNBA player. Yeah. ah Steph Curry versus, oh, I can't remember her name, Aneska.
00:24:52
Speaker
an nake Yeah, we were we were talking about that at work the other day, and I made this suggestion. don't know how many years they did it or if it was a one-and-done type of thing, but there was year, it was either late 90s or early 2000s, where they had an NBA player, WNBA player, and legend from the team all together as a team.
00:25:17
Speaker
So it was you know three. And I remember the Cavs, when the Rockers were around, They had Wesley Person, someone from the Rockers, and I forget who the third person was.
00:25:28
Speaker
But that'd be kind of cool, too, to do something like that. Instead of having NBA versus WNBA, pair them up together in this in the scenarios or in the cities where there's both an NBA and a WNBA team and have them go up against other teams in that setup. Or ah bring the legend in as well, you know mix things up as well. Do do current players versus legends or whatever.
00:25:50
Speaker
I don't know, something like that to to mix it up a little bit would would probably be cool to watch as well. That would be really cool. It'd be cool to see some of the legends come back. And, yeah you know, especially for, you know, if it's just like a shooting contest.
00:26:04
Speaker
Yeah. You could bring Reggie Miller back and do a shooting contest. You could bring Reggie Miller back. Mark Price would be awesome in that. You could even have just a Legends three-point contest.
00:26:15
Speaker
like i'll I'll gladly get rid of the skills challenge you know to watch you know Reggie Miller and mark you know Mark Price out there. As long as they still got it, right? You don't want throw up like 20 bricks. Sure, sure, sure, sure, sure.
00:26:29
Speaker
Yeah. So, yeah. All-Star Weekend in the books. Some people are going to hate on it no matter what. you know They're going continue to tweak. I did see, Alex, that there was already talks about doing one-on-one tournament next year with a $1 million dollar prize.
00:26:48
Speaker
They had me until the $1 million dollars prize. You know why? Because these bastards already make millions of dollars. I hope it goes to charity. Yeah, well, that's what I was just going to say. the win yeah if the winner if If that $1 million dollars goes to a charity of their choice, well, then I'll change my tune.
00:27:04
Speaker
but I get they're trying to put some sort of incentive around. like why it is Why would Kevin Durant want to play in a one-on-one tournament? Well, because you can win a million dollars. One-on-one, that's pretty... ah I don't know. I don't really see anybody signing up for that, yeah especially only for a million dollars. like what What do you have to win?
00:27:23
Speaker
ah then either i mean I guess you could win some bragging rights, but more than likely... You're just going to get trolled. Yeah. i lose Yeah.
00:27:33
Speaker
I don't know. Again, it might be like this for the next couple of years where they continue to tweak with new ideas to, to try to figure out what's going to get the ratings back to where they want them to be. Basically.
00:27:46
Speaker
i will say, you know, this new format does kind of mess with some historical stats a little bit. um So that's something kind of, you know, not in love with that either.
00:27:57
Speaker
you know Evan Mobley, 2025, All-Star, eight minutes played. You know what mean? Scored whatever. just like, eh.
00:28:08
Speaker
um But we'll see what actually sticks and what doesn't um you know in future years. I saw this little bit of Cavs All-Star history trivia, and you'll probably know this, but once upon a time...
00:28:25
Speaker
The Cavs had three players and a coach go to the All-Star game. Do you know what the three players and the coach, who it was? That has to be Mark Price, Brad Doherty, Larry Nance for the three players. and That's correct.
00:28:44
Speaker
The coach,
00:28:47
Speaker
Lenny? Lenny Wilkins. Wilkins. That's pretty good, Corey. you know what year? you know what year? ah eighty s It was either 88 or 89. 89. 89. Okay. All right. Pretty cool.
00:29:02
Speaker
i watched ah I watched a YouTube video today, actually, that the NBA put out of every MVP in the All-Star game since its existence, which went back to like 1955 something like that.
00:29:16
Speaker
And they would they would it would just be like each player would get like a 10 second, you know, clip. They put up the name, show him doing making one basket and on to the next guy. And Lenny Wilkins was actually ah the MVP of one of the all star games. I want to say it might have been like 73 or something like that.
00:29:34
Speaker
But I did know that the Cavs had, you know, three players go prior. I remember it being being those three. So but pretty cool. Pretty cool.
Cavs' Recent Games and Player Performance
00:29:44
Speaker
yeah We didn't talk about, too, the fact that Kenny Atkinson's team did win the All-Star game.
00:29:53
Speaker
That was his squad. I was trying to figure out which team he was coaching. I saw Kenny and the coaching staff on the bench during the all-star game, but I couldn't tell which team he was coaching.
00:30:04
Speaker
Yeah, he was coaching the the the team that won at the OG team or whatever. So who coached all the other teams? I don't know. I don't know. It was kind of hard because I just thought I saw like the cast staff at both ends. That's why I couldn't figure out who's coaching who.
00:30:18
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I think coaches kind of got, uh, Gantry or I saw him like coaching one of the teams that looked like. Yeah. Cavs assistant coach. Whatever, but pretty cool that Kenny, you know, got to coach the winning team, I guess.
00:30:35
Speaker
Probably didn't have to do a lot of coaching though, to be honest with you. Yeah. all right, Alex, let's, let's, uh, let's move on from all-star weekend. um
00:30:47
Speaker
Let's talk some Cavs basketball. Yeah. Right before All-Star weekend, we we had a game against the Raptors. kind of Was it a game? was it Or was it a bloodbath? I was just going to say, kind of a forgettable game besides the fact that our boy DeAndre Hunter played.
00:31:03
Speaker
Yes. Yes. Hunter dropped 18 points that game. Only the second game with the Cavs. He dropped 12 the game before. um So it's a small, you know, scope.
00:31:15
Speaker
But what do you think about Hunter so far? You liking what you're seeing? I thought he looked good. ah Very athletic, very long, very strong. ah Yeah, I think he brings a new element to the team.
00:31:28
Speaker
I think you'll he'll be a great fit. Yeah, I think he's going to fit in easily with this team. um You know, I think the... i guess we'll find out here soon.
00:31:40
Speaker
But the question moving forward is is, where does Kenny slot him in the lineup? You know, he started that first game because, you know, Struis was out and they they kind of just put him there.
00:31:52
Speaker
But it's what what is the path forward? You you going to keep him in the starting lineup? I personally would. Are you going to use him in that role he's been accustomed to, which is first man off the bench, six man role, give you some firepower off the bench?
Cavs' Season Analysis and Momentum
00:32:05
Speaker
I'm not going to be, you know, upset if that's what they decide to do But I will be curious to see. i don't know. I like him running around with that starting lineup because just, man, if you're the opposing team, that's you're you're doing a lot of this.
00:32:19
Speaker
yeah youre you're're You're looking all over the place. And now there's really you know not a weak link, if you will, in your in your starting lineup. That's a pretty lethal starting lineup.
00:32:31
Speaker
And the Cavs, they just torched Toronto right out of the gate. By the end of the first quarter, it was forty one to seventeen ah you John Michael and Austin Carr were just... like They kind of had lost almost lost interest in the game. They were just clowning around, goofing around, talking about whatever.
00:32:51
Speaker
um i think it was like right after a halftime. I don't know if you saw this, but ah john michael put like like Austin Carr put his hands and cu his hands out and put them out, and John Michael was squirting hand sanitizer into Austin Carr's hands.
00:33:05
Speaker
And Austin Carr did this. like the LeBron powder throw behind him and like showered all the people behind him with hand sanitizer. And it was, it was hilarious.
00:33:16
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's fair to say, i mean, it's it's it's wild to say it, but it's like, as a fan, you're like, I just want to get to the games that matter. Like, it's it's been and amazing season.
00:33:31
Speaker
Like, the Cavs have been in control the entire season of the East, basically. um And it's fun watching them manhandle teams, but at the same time, it's like, okay,
00:33:43
Speaker
I want to get to the games that are going to matter. Right. um So it is interesting. And and like and I'm sure it's the same way for ah the broadcasters, for the for the, you know, the radio hosts that have to cover this team. It's like even for us, yeah there was really no drama until that three game losing streak.
00:34:02
Speaker
That's been the biggest drama this year with this team. there's been There's been no major injuries. There's been no drama in the locker room. There's been no weeks-long stints of bad basketball. like You have nothing to complain about with this team.
00:34:19
Speaker
So it's also easy to to lose a little bit of interest, which is weird to say. um But yeah, we just want to get to the point of the season where where these games really matter and Toronto's not a good team.
00:34:32
Speaker
Although your boy, Abaji did drop 15 that game out, Alex, a former Cavs legend. Um, that child I mean, Toronto's so bad. He's getting, he's getting 25 minutes out there. So good for him. He can develop his game and all that, but.
00:34:46
Speaker
Not that' surprising, um but I'm most interested now as the Cavs gear up for basketball Thursday night um against the Brooklyn Nets, followed by the Knicks, is is again just more of of seeing Hunter, how he gets integrated into the lineup, and just you know making sure that the Cavs also don't lose interest and finish the season strong.
00:35:11
Speaker
um continue to put your your your your your your foot on the throats of whoever you're going up against any night, continue to show the league, continue to show the Celtics that you're the top dog, and and go into the playoffs strong, you know like you've been playing all year. that's That's what I want to see from this team.
00:35:27
Speaker
I hope so, because this is this is the time of the season last year where they kind of faltered a bit. They didn't come out of the All-Star break season, With any sense of urgency, it just kind of seemed like they were coasting. They started having injuries.
00:35:45
Speaker
and then Right. Yeah, I don't know. They just ah felt like they lost something that second half of the season last season. so Yeah, they definitely can. They maintain what they've been doing.
00:35:57
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. And on top of it, they now have another new player added to the roster, which was just, you know, this this transaction just happened a little bit before we started recording on on Wednesday night.
00:36:12
Speaker
The Cavs had 13 players on their roster after the trade, and the minimum you're allowed to have is 14. So they had a deadline of Thursday to sign somebody.
00:36:24
Speaker
So that's probably the result of this. But, you know, the buyout market is still alive and well and still happening. And not a household name by any name, by any, you know, um...
00:36:39
Speaker
you know Not a household name or whatever, but the Cavs did add some more depth to their team as Javante Green has been waived by the Pelicans and is signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers. What do we know about Javante, Alex?
00:36:57
Speaker
What do we know about Javante, Corey? He's 31 years old. Is he Jeff Green's brother? he Jeff Green's son? Uncle, Uncle, Uncle Jeff. nephew
00:37:10
Speaker
pays a small forward shooting guard six foot four um he's 31 years old he's been in the and nba for what do we say five seasons six seasons yeah um yeah i mean don't expect him to play a whole lot honestly but yeah it's insurance policy Yeah, it's an insurance policy.
00:37:34
Speaker
you know On one hand, you can look at this roster and be like, how many wings you know do you need? They still have an open roster spot. So I'm still hoping to bring another big into the mix as also an insurance policy.
00:37:50
Speaker
um But Javante Green, you know i just seeing people's reactions online from either who... We're fans of, of the you know, teams that he's played on prior, you know, a lot of positive feedback, like almost jealousy from other fans. Like they're like astonished that like we we were able to pick him up.
00:38:14
Speaker
You know what mean? or they are. I would see comments of like Cleveland's going to love his his his defense. They're going to love his just effort on a nightly basis, you know, when he plays and all that stuff.
00:38:25
Speaker
Or the Cavs got a steal, you know, um you know, so on. and Like, oh, the Cavs are stacked and they just added another one. You know, a lot of that kind of stuff. um And then I started watching some highlight clips on him.
00:38:37
Speaker
i sent you the one when he played in Chicago back in 22 for a couple seasons. He's not that big, but man, he can get to the rim. He could throw it down on you.
00:38:48
Speaker
He came from the Pelicans. The Pelicans bought him out. Yeah. And I don't know what we gave him. Yeah, I haven't seen the details yet, but I did see that we're still under the tax threshold, which is nice as well. And we still have an open roster spot.
00:39:04
Speaker
on top of it. But Green, you know, he's not, he's not going to be, you know, inserted into the lineup unless there's some sort of injury or two. He's an insurance policy.
00:39:15
Speaker
And the only thing that I wonder, Alex, is,
00:39:23
Speaker
How bad is that Okoro injury? Is this an insurance policy because you just lost Levert and maybe Okoro isn't coming back anytime soon? I feel like I haven't heard much on him lately.
00:39:34
Speaker
i have no idea what his timeline is, and I'm wondering if that's what this signing is really an insurance policy for. You lost Levert in the trade. If Okoro's not slated to come back yet for more than a couple weeks, you know maybe that's why. i don't know.
00:39:53
Speaker
Yeah, maybe. That could be.
Cavs' Roster Changes and Strategic Signings
00:39:57
Speaker
i think I, you know, I'd rather see like Tyson get some minutes and exactly Hunter get more minutes and Merrill get more minutes and Porter Jr. get more minutes and maybe even a little bit of Luke Travers, but.
00:40:09
Speaker
Yeah. There's a lot of players ahead of green. There is for sure. So we'll see, but Hey, the calves needed to make a roster move. They made a roster move at least from, you know, other fan bases. They, they seem to approve the signing, but we'll see, know, wonder how long it'll be before we even see any action out of green.
00:40:29
Speaker
um And the calves still one more roster spot, which they can wait a little while to do anything with, but we'll see what they do with that in the future as well. yeah Speaking of Levert, Alex, real quick, I wanted to bring this up.
00:40:43
Speaker
Levert was traded in the Hunter trade along with Niang. and What's kind of funny is is after Niang gets traded from the team, you discover that he actually does a podcast of his own.
00:40:55
Speaker
And... um Yeah. told me about it. We watched the episode and we and it was actually pretty interesting because... I don't even know how I stumbled across it. i don't even remember. i was on YouTube and I ah just saw somebody about George Nguyen. Probably recommended or something like that. Yeah, yeah. It just came up and and I started watching, i don't know, it was either episode six or episode seven, but it was just George Nguyen and he's with his buddy and they have a podcast together and The whole episode was about the trade, right?
00:41:25
Speaker
was George Niang talking about his experience, how he found out. He was actually at the Cavs facility getting a massage by a massage therapist, and he got the call from the GM saying...
00:41:38
Speaker
Thank you for everything you've done for the organization. We've decided to trade you. And the massage therapist that was giving him the massage heard, you know, the phone call.
00:41:49
Speaker
And she started crying while giving him the massage. Talk about a sad massage. But yeah, lots of. ah Yeah, it was it's really entertaining. Highly recommend you check it out.
00:42:04
Speaker
Yeah, that episode would be would be a good listen, because you typically don't get to hear very often the thoughts from an NBA player after they were traded.
00:42:15
Speaker
And he even called out in that episode, yeah he's telling you what he went through. And he's like, can you imagine what Luca was feeling or or went through like someone of that magnitude? Like, like, I think George, i think he was realistic enough, like, yeah, you know, I don't think it's going to happen. you know, our team's doing real good, but he he probably realizes that, you know, he's not on Luca's level. He's not untouchable, if you will.
00:42:40
Speaker
So it was kind of interesting listening to him talk about all the emotions, the you know, how things kind of played out when, when him and cares got to Atlanta and then he's like, yeah, it like messed up my whole life. Yeah. Can you imagine what it just did for Luca and what his mind's going through? So and he went through like a lot of detail of things. I guess you don't really think about, you know, you don't think about yeah the team, send somebody to pack up all his belongings and take, and, you know, move them to the Atlanta forum and,
00:43:08
Speaker
The car that came and picked up him and Levert and they sat in the car together for the ah car ride from the airport airport. And they were both like silent the whole time looking out the window. And ah yeah, yeah, there's just a lot of it's it was funny. It's it's really funny.
00:43:23
Speaker
It was a good watch. Like I wouldn't I probably wouldn't go back and rewatch all those episodes. That one was the most interesting. So I recommend that one. And then it was prerecorded, but episode seven just dropped for them.
00:43:36
Speaker
I think today actually, or it was yesterday, sometime this week. And they had Ty Jerome on as a guest, obviously before the trade, but it'd be kind of cool. I'll probably go watch that episode just to hear what Ty has to say. and I just watched it.
00:43:49
Speaker
It was, it was good. Yeah. it's it's really funny. You could tell that, uh, There's a lot of bickering and back and forth between Jerome and George. You could tell they got a longer world. And that was before the trade, right? They were still teammates?
00:44:05
Speaker
didn't I think so. ah couldn't really They didn't mention the trade at all, so I would assume yeah that it hadn't happened yet. So it must have been pre-recorded. But they talked about Ty Jerome in high school and then Ty Jerome in college and he was on the Virginia team that went to the championship and yeah ah People that he played with, he actually played ah u ball against ah Donovan Mitchell.
00:44:30
Speaker
ah and he you know he And he talked about playing... against Mitchell, ah you know, when they were like in fifth, sixth grade or whatever, and that Mitchell was doing, he was already an athletic freak and doing things that, you know, kids shouldn't be able to do on a basketball court. But he made a comment that he wasn't real skilled.
00:44:50
Speaker
said he was an athletic freak, but not real skilled. And then he was like apologizing to Donovan if he watches this. But he said, he said, yeah, he's like that, you know, Donovan just kind of blew up, like just became awesome later I'll have to go watch that episode. But yeah, yeah, you got to watch it. It's it's good. he He talks a lot about, you know, other Cavs players on the team and what they talk about sitting on the bench during games and.
00:45:14
Speaker
yeah They were talking about Carbone's Italian restaurant in Cleveland. I mean, yeah. Nice. So the podcast is called The Bench the bench Seat, I believe it was called. um It's on YouTube. i'm sure I'm sure they have it up on you know Spotify and all that other stuff too. I enjoy the intro.
00:45:32
Speaker
Yeah, the intro the intro is really well done. it's it's it's it's It's worth checking out at least for episode six about the trade. And if you want to see some Ty Jerome as well, that'd be cool to check out.
00:45:44
Speaker
He was talking about Ty Jerome getting hot and ah you know that span they had of games where it was like Ty Sanity where Ty was just coming off the bench and scoring nonstop.
00:45:57
Speaker
And George Nyang said something to him about, oh, you're on you're on a bit of a heater, aren't you? And and you know like throwing jabs at him that it's going to come to an end soon and he's going to go cold. And Ty Jerome's just like, they're open shots.
00:46:10
Speaker
They're open shots. Ty Jerome is easy to root for. I'm not going to miss. They're open shots. He's so easy to root for. He's been he's been my favorite one of my favorite players to watch this year. He just makes such a difference out there.
00:46:22
Speaker
um Man, I really hope the Cavs can find a way to keep him past this season. It's going be tough. um But man, what what a great addition. um He has been. And we clowned we clowned so much last year about like you know, Ty Jerome on a milk carton missing, you know, but I'm so glad the calf stuck with him because it's paid dividends this year. He talks a little bit about that, about trying to get minutes and then nagging injuries. And yeah, I mean, they, they go into everything.
00:46:52
Speaker
I mean, it's a, it's only like a 30 minute episode, but they cover a lot of ground. Awesome. Awesome.
WNBA Expansion and Cleveland Rockers' Return
00:46:58
Speaker
So the other thing, Alex, and we touched base on this on the last episode, but a little bit more has happened.
00:47:04
Speaker
Um, you know Not only will there be an NBA team in Cleveland, but sounds like Cleveland Rockers thing is happening, and they're going be picked as the next expansion team in the WNBA, and they're sticking with the Cleveland Rockers name. They won't be back for a couple years yet, 2028, which feels kind of far out, to be honest with you.
00:47:25
Speaker
Far other than I would, um I don't know, it's just it's just weird that they're announcing something that's three years away, but there's already an arena or they have options. So, and you already have a name, you know, you have the branding, i don't know, but you know, I know there's not a lot of people listening that are going to, Oh, I'm going to go watch some WNBA, but still pretty cool at the end of the day. You never know, right?
00:47:50
Speaker
Like this Caitlin Clark thing has just sparked a fever, you know, like literally in the NBA WNBA. And you never know, like baby they cat Maybe the little Rockers get the you know some some star athlete you know and they're in their in their comeback. know I was waiting for you to say the ah draft expansion draft.
00:48:13
Speaker
Yeah, bring expansion and draft. Caitlin Clark, bring her to Cleveland. There you go. They just trade their pick for her. Yeah. But that'll be cool.
00:48:24
Speaker
I like the Cleveland Rockers name, branding. i don't... I think they need to change the color scheme and maybe change the, I'm sure they'll update all that. Hopefully they'll modernize it somehow.
00:48:37
Speaker
They have to, but it's a cool story coming full circle. Um, you know, it won't be for everybody, but it's pretty cool. I think it'll be tough. I think it'll be tough to find a fan base when I think about like all the Cleveland sports teams, like obviously Browns and guard, it's a Browns and guardians town.
00:48:56
Speaker
yeah and the calves are, have always been kind of the third child, you know? yep And then you got the Lake Gary monsters that also play. um that that Get a good get a good audience. There's a good amount of fans, but you know not not great, right? They're not filling the arena.
00:49:14
Speaker
they yeah barely know They barely fill the bottom bowl, maybe 50%, 75%. So it'll be it'll be interesting to see how the Rockers do in Cleveland, if there's enough room for another professional sports team.
00:49:30
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, definitely. And speaking of arenas, Alex, i almost forgot. He just reminded me. The Cavs will no longer be playing in Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse Arena because the name's changing.
00:49:46
Speaker
Yeah. What do you think about the name? but a think they should call it the Coliseum. Gund Arena. ah Go back to the Gund.
00:49:57
Speaker
the yeah I always like the Gund. I like the Gund. The Gund's probably been my favorite. The Q's probably been my second favorite just because it's easy to say. Right? um But they are changing the name to Rocket Arena.
00:50:12
Speaker
Isn't that where the Houston Rockets play? Who knows what their... You should look up what their arena name is. I'm sure it's you know it's usually whoever's sponsoring company, yeah.
00:50:23
Speaker
it's It's always some company. And same thing for us. But the problem is is, when I hear a Rocket Arena, even though I know it's not the name of the Houston Rockets Arena, I immediately think of the Houston Rockets. I don't think of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
00:50:37
Speaker
And I wasn't in love with Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse either. That's a mouthful. but It's not a fieldhouse. it And it's not a fieldhouse. so I never really liked the name anyways.
00:50:51
Speaker
but the shorten it to rocket arena. just, what are we, so are we launching spaceships over here? Are we like, i don't know. It doesn't, it doesn't fit. I don't like that. They change the name of the arena. Every time Dan Gilbert decides to change the name of his company, like,
00:51:07
Speaker
yes Yeah. Stop it. Basically. pick ah And that's and that's why the name is changing that's why the name is changing because it's his company and it's his right to do it. It's just, yeah you know, I don't know. I don't know how much a name of an arena really matters, but I mean unless it's like Madison Square Garden, there's there's a handful, right?
00:51:28
Speaker
Yeah. But I don't know. Maybe Cleveland never really had a great name in the first place. And I gave you a homework assignment, Alex, to come up with a new name, but it sounds like you didn't do it. Yeah, I couldn't really think of anything.
00:51:41
Speaker
It's like, well, I mean, it would have to be the name of his company, right? Like by default. What else can you can you do? I don't know. Be selfish. be but Dream big, Alex.
00:51:51
Speaker
ah Dream big. I did. I saw the Coliseum.
00:51:56
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Bring back the Coliseum. Bring back the cow I always thought that was a cool name. That is a cool name. And the, ah you know, the the art for it was always cool that they had. Yeah.
00:52:08
Speaker
little before our time, but yeah, that was a cool name. I've never, I never went there. Were you ever at the Coliseum?
Cavs' Arena Name Change and Upcoming Games
00:52:15
Speaker
I was not. I just knew, I just know from other people talking that it was like out in a field outside of Cleveland somewhere.
00:52:21
Speaker
Yep. Kind of like where the Browns are moving to. Outside of Cleveland in some, in some suburbs somewhere, right? Brooke Park, right? Brook Park. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yep.
00:52:33
Speaker
So I think that's really it, Alex. I mean, a lot, right? I'll start a weekend calves getting back into basketball arena name changes, WNBA teams coming back to Cleveland.
00:52:44
Speaker
And most importantly, though, the start of the second half of the season and and making that final push and run. So um Like we said, they got the Brooklyn Nets, which, you know, that's, you know, another kind of bottom feeder team. But what's interesting after that, Alex, is they play they play some solid teams after that. They play the Knicks.
00:53:04
Speaker
That'll be interesting because it feels like it's been forever since we've seen the Knicks. And, you know, they're they're doing OK. You know, they're they're at where they're at in the East. There's obviously a gap between us and everybody else.
00:53:17
Speaker
So it's easy to go into that game with with confidence, which they should. it'll be a good heat check game. Yeah. Because the Knicks are going to bring it that game, right? They will. Oh, yeah. And the game's at home, which helps.
00:53:30
Speaker
But, you know, that's going to be a good heat check game for us. Then they play the Grizzlies, the Magic, and the Celtics again, which that Celtics game is the last time of playing the Celtics this year. Boston at the end of the month.
00:53:43
Speaker
At the end of the month on a Friday night, that'll be a fun one to watch. So Cavs basketball is back. Looking forward to it. But Alex, if you don't got anything else, let's say we wrap this one up.
00:53:56
Speaker
All right. All right. so Follow us on Twitter at Cavs Pick and Roll. Shoot us an email. CavsPickAndRoll at gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr. Watch this episode on YouTube.
00:54:08
Speaker
Wherever you're listening and watching, click like, subscribe. Leave us a rating or a review. We'd appreciate it. All right, Cavs fans. Thank you, as always, for tuning in and listening, and we will talk to you again soon. Peace out, Cavs fans.