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Episode 171: Playoff Preview: New York Knicks
40 Plays1 month ago
Alex and Corey react to the Cleveland Cavaliers advancing to the eastern conference finals after defeating the Pistons in game 7 of their series. We recap the Detroit series that was another battle tested experience for the Cavaliers. We recap the game 7 dominant win & the outstanding performances from Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen, and Sam Merrill. Then we look ahead and discuss what the Cavs need to do to continue to have success against a very good Knicks ball club. It's going to be a fun series, buckle up Cavs fans! #letemknow
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Transcript
Celebrating Cavs' Achievement
00:00:16
Speaker
Hey Cavs fans, welcome to another episode of the Cavs Pick Roll podcast, the podcast for diehard Cavs fans. And Alex, our Cleveland Cavaliers are back in the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2018, only the fourth time in Cavaliers franchise history.
00:00:35
Speaker
How pumped up are you, Alex? Let's go Cavs. Finally took down took down the Detroit Pistons. That wicked team from the state up north we don't talk about.
00:00:48
Speaker
Yeah, it was not an easy series. It did take seven games, once again, similar to the Toronto Raptors series. But the Cavs did prevail and um don't have much time, Alex, before they they they play their next opponent, the New York Knicks. We'll get into that.
00:01:06
Speaker
But let's talk a little bit about this
Cavs vs. Pistons Series Highlights
00:01:09
Speaker
Pistons series. I think i think the Cavs earned their stripes, man, a bit but by winning this series.
00:01:18
Speaker
We saw different variations of this team. We saw some very physical games by the Cleveland Cavaliers. We saw ah you know a a clunker in Game 6 right at home, but then we saw total domination by the Cleveland Cavaliers in in Game 7.
00:01:37
Speaker
And after starting out owen too and without the home court advantage and this team being not a great road team in the playoffs so far. absolutely. Confidence was not high by Cleveland Cavalier fans early on in this series.
00:01:52
Speaker
Right. Knowing that, you know, that it it felt very similar to that Toronto series, right? We played another team that was known for their defense being physical and we never got a road win.
00:02:06
Speaker
So going into this Detroit series, knowing that Detroit had home court advantage, that we were going to have to win on the road. And if we were going to win this series, Absolutely. And that first road win didn't come till till game five, Alex, of of this series, which is pretty crazy when you think about it.
00:02:26
Speaker
um But that was a huge win. That was an amazing game. um You know, again, they had an opportunity to close it out game six.
00:02:36
Speaker
They go down to 0-3, win three in a row. The Cavs had all the momentum. It would have been amazing if they would have closed it out at home. Boy, they almost blew that game five. They almost did. Kenny put the bench in, and it was an immediately two turnover through two turnovers and... you know Four points going the other way. i think we were up by 12, and suddenly we're only up by eight, and there were still 48 seconds left, something like that. It's like, oh, no.
00:03:02
Speaker
Right. They had to put the starters back in with under a minute left. no Embarrassing. To secure it. But they did they did get the win, and that was a critical win because that that shifted the momentum in Cleveland's favor.
Key Performances and Strategies
00:03:16
Speaker
um And although they didn't close it out at home in Game 6, Alex, that Game 7, Man, I didn't know what to expect going into it. I think a lot of Cavs fans didn't know what to expect, but that was just that was just fun Cavs basketball. if you're a Cavs fan, you man, best game of the playoffs so far this this this this run.
00:03:35
Speaker
It reminded me a little bit of the Game 7 against Toronto. But if you remember that game seven, it wasn't until the second half when the Cavs really took off and put the beat down. That was the Jared Allen game. right Jared Allen had a big game this game as well. The difference is the Cavs had a complete game.
00:03:55
Speaker
It wasn't just a half like it was against the Raptors. Donovan Mitchell comes out looking to attack, but was also creating for others. Getting to the rim at will, getting double teamed,
00:04:07
Speaker
throwing an alley-oop Evan Mobley, or making a dump down to Jared Allen. um Mitchell was phenomenal in this game. Stan Van Gundy kept complimenting Mitchell's performance, saying it was one of the most complete basketball performances he's seen out of Donovan Mitchell so far.
00:04:22
Speaker
it It was just a complete dominant performance. awesome experience to watch, Alex. They they finally played the way that we knew that they could play. Like this is how this team is supposed to work.
00:04:36
Speaker
um And they finally did what we've been saying this entire series, which was take advantage of the
Challenges and Officiating
00:04:43
Speaker
bit of your bigs. We have the the length, ah you know,
00:04:47
Speaker
All they have is Duren, really, in the center. And they bring in, what's his name? Paul Reed, Isaiah Stewart, who are both undersized. They're undersized bigs, though, is what they are. They're very good players, but they just can't match up against Mobley and Allen. If Mobley and Allen would take advantage of...
00:05:08
Speaker
They really have a ah size mismatch that they could have been exploiting this whole time, really. And it really showed in game seven. I mean, both of them really just offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, getting easy points in the paint.
00:05:23
Speaker
Like you said, Mitchell was feeding them. Harden was feeding them. It was a complete, complete game. Yeah, absolutely. And that version of Jared Allen came out again in Game 7. He started to get more aggressive. Detroit didn't know what to do with him, kept fouling him. Unfortunately, he didn't have, really the team was was kind of poor from the free throw line.
00:05:45
Speaker
um The difference, though, in the Toronto series, every time it got fouled, he basically knocked down every free throw. In this game, his free throws weren't the greatest, right? ah But neither was the team. But it didn't really matter because you're up by 30 at that point.
00:05:58
Speaker
what mattered was that version of Jared Allen, that beast mode, Jared Allen of just being an ultra, ultra aggressive and just throw in that version of Allen with Donovan Mitchell doing what he's doing. Evan Mobley is having a fantastic game. Sam Merrill. We're going talk about Sam. Like there's just, how how do you guard all that? And then all of a sudden you have Jared Allen just dunking in your face basically on top of it. So It was great. And I do want to give some love to Evan Mobley as well, because not only in this game, but I think overall in this series, he had a much better series than he did against Toronto, was more consistent and seemed to be more aggressive as well. And definitely was aggressive early on in this game as well, Alex.
00:06:43
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. um You know, one of the things going into this game I was concerned about was the officiating, because all series, ah it it felt very...
00:06:57
Speaker
It wasn't consistent at all. Like you never knew if they were going to be calling ticky tack fouls or if they were going to, you know, let players play murder, you know, in Detroit being such a physical team, they were really exploiting the officiating and all the no calls that were happening. yeah.
00:07:15
Speaker
Good Lord, I don't know if there was, you know, in some of those games, I don't know if there was a possession where Detroit wasn't getting called and they were grabbing jerseys and holding players and holding players' arm. Even on the jump ball, and I think it was game six, whoever Harden was jumping against, they were holding Harden's off arm down so he couldn't jump to tip the ball. It's like, how are you not going to call that? Right, right. I know, it was, it was ah yeah, i was I was thankful that the officiating you know, felt fair in game seven. Like there were some bad calls that I felt went both ways in that game.
00:07:50
Speaker
and Absolutely. wasn't perfectly officiated game by all means, but it felt more even. But, but it's like, it's like, it's like injuries. It's like, um, you know, the refs, there, there's certain things that you can't necessarily control, but you still need to find a way to play through because once that whistle is blown,
00:08:12
Speaker
that They don't get retracted,
Facing the Knicks: A New Challenge
00:08:14
Speaker
right? There's the whole challenge process, but you only get you know two of those a game. So um again, the Cavs, I think this playoff run so far have gained so much experience compared to years prior because they just went through two wars that went seven games where they They had the home court advantage. They didn't have the home court advantage. They got the whistles. They didn't get the whistles. They had to play more physical than they have in years past.
00:08:43
Speaker
um Their style of play has now changed with James Harden on this team. like All these things have happened during this playoff run that is only going to help them continue to to build this to build this um you know just this experience that this team now has. and The hope is is that they continue to carry that into the next series. They have some history with the Knicks. If you remember, it was a couple of years ago now, but early on in in in the Mitchell era, you know, um we faced the Knicks and we did a similar thing where we we we finished in a certain seed so that we would have our certain path.
00:09:20
Speaker
just similar to this year, and and the Knicks embarrassed the Cavs. um And they're finally getting their chance against them again. were really hampered injuries in that series. Absolutely. We're finally healthy.
00:09:30
Speaker
That's the best thing, though, Alex, is don't want to jinx it, but so far, after going through two seven-game series, the Cavs are still healthy. They're not even playing Jalen Tyson anymore. Keon Ellis not playing Thomas Bryant. Not like he has shrunken his roster.
00:09:47
Speaker
um And really this playoff. year in general, I don't really recall major injuries happening to really star players this year so far in this
Fan Support and Community Initiatives
00:09:59
Speaker
playoff run. So um we talked about how how how health and and and and a little bit of luck are just as big and and important as how well of basketball you are playing at the right time.
00:10:11
Speaker
That's one of the things Kenny talked about in his postgame was during that game seven, you know, the Cavs, they were on such a good run. And what he typically likes to do is find that player on the bench. That's going to be that spark plug to give him that.
00:10:27
Speaker
extra energy and that extra effort and that he had other players, you know, Jalen Tyson, Keon Ellis, you know, other players that he wanted to plug into that game, but they were on such a dominant run and ought in the players were on such a role. He just left them in and let them play.
00:10:43
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. In a situation like that, that that's the right call. um the Detroit never went on any kind of significant run the entire game.
00:10:56
Speaker
As a result, the Detroit fans really had no chance to get into this game. And, um you know, speaking of spark plugs, another spark plug for the Cavs was the 25 buses of Cavs fans that, you know, your owner, Dan Gilbert,
00:11:14
Speaker
um you know, got to the game, right? All expenses paid. And man, it got to a point to where you can clearly on the broadcast here, the let's go calves chance. oh Yeah.
00:11:27
Speaker
Podcast team talked about it several times. The cameras would go to them and the calves fans just, they did a great job. I thought, of just representing because every time the camera was on them, they weren't sitting, they weren't on their phone, like they were up, they were cheering, they were yelling, they were waving towels, they were they were wearing their calves gear. And like I said, you could hear that on the broadcast. And and that was huge, Alex. how many and How many other owners in the NBA are doing that?
00:11:54
Speaker
For sure. i mean, ah yeah it was cool. I was checking out some of the posts people were posting on, you know, Instagram and on X and you know, of them sitting in a Cavs lounge, getting ah free sandwiches, getting a bunch of Cav swag, getting on the bus to go to Detroit. Like Dan Gilbert, really.
00:12:13
Speaker
He it was all expenses. ah He didn't hold back. he He got the Cavs fans there. He turned Detroit into Cleveland for the Cavaliers to help give them just that little bit of of an advantage. And I mean, the Cavs took care of business that whole game, you know, midway through first quarter. The Cavs had control. Detroit fans didn't have much to cheer for.
00:12:36
Speaker
So Cavs fans were loud and rowdy. Like you said, you could hear the let's go Cavs chant. It was awesome. Little Caesars Arena. it was fantastic. It came right through the TV broadcast. It was awesome. And that's that's an owner that already is paying for the most expensive salary in the and NBA to go out of his way to also pay for those expenses for those 500 plus fans to show up.
00:13:00
Speaker
And like you said, I saw pictures of that too. Like it wasn't just, okay, he bought you a ticket and he's driving you there and there. No, he whined and dined you He rented out a part of the arena for you guys to basically pregame at.
00:13:13
Speaker
um That's that's that's pretty badass. that's And they got great seats like you ah of them like right behind the team, like yeah, it lowers like lower. Yeah, if you're going to if you're going to bust all those people there, don't put them up in their version of Loudville where you can't see or hear them. You want the other posing team to hear them. You want the camera, you know, the broadcast, like for them to be in that background shot. And man, that's just a great strategic move. And again, just a great gesture by by a great owner to do that.
00:13:47
Speaker
So we'll see if that continues. New York's a little bit farther away. We'll see if that continues, Alex. But yeah bet you youre ah i bet you wish you were still I bet you wish you were still a season ticket holder, Alex. That could have been you.
00:14:00
Speaker
Was it you know, I didn't I didn't hear like how how those people were selected if they you know, was it all Cleveland season ticket holders? I know if you like log into the Cavs app like daily, you get points and there's right now if you log into the Cavs app and. You can get the presale code for okay buying tickets to games three and four, but only if you have the login as the Cavs app as a Cavs reward member.
00:14:27
Speaker
And yeah if you log in there, there's all kinds of like ah promotional stuff. ah You know, if the Cavs score some eight points during a game, you can go get your free burrito or whatever it is. You know, typically that's only if you have a ticket and you're at the game.
00:14:44
Speaker
But through the Cavs reward app, you can also take advantage of that promotion.
Lineup Adjustments and Bench Contributions
00:14:48
Speaker
Very cool. Very cool. Yeah, i never i never saw like how he picked. I just assumed it was season ticket holders, but maybe that's not the case. Either way, it's still amazing. What an amazing experience. And the two games that he did that, your your team happened to win on top of it, cause right? Because Game 5 was the first one.
00:15:08
Speaker
um That was... like you said, a bit of a nail biter, but the Cavs did pull out the win there. And then just to see that domination game seven, what what an experience as a Cavs fan to be to be live in another team's opposing arena and just watch those fans walk out early on their team, basically, when that game is out of hand with still seven plus minutes left.
00:15:31
Speaker
And, you know, be to be a part of that is just amazing. Yeah, fantastic. So I do want to talk a couple other quick players real quick. um A couple other heroes in this game.
00:15:44
Speaker
um Sam Merrill, Alex. Sam Merrill came out firing, hit his first three threes, had a four-point play, um made a tough, you know, a couple other tough shots, and, man, just was huge in this game.
00:16:00
Speaker
And it's been a little while since we've had a Sammy game, right? Finished with 22 points. Yeah. I was just going to say that he he's been a little streaky. So yeah you never know if he's going to come out and hit a bunch of threes or clank a bunch of threes. But, you know, the one thing that you can count on with Sam Merrill is he's been playing some scrappy defense. He's making smart plays. He's moving the ball. He's moving without the ball. He's... a Yeah, he's sacrificing his body to take some of those brutal charges. Like, I think he got a tooth knocked loose taking a charge during this game. It was, man, he hit the the court so hard it looked like his head.
00:16:38
Speaker
It did. Yeah, it is. I was ah concerned. i'm i'm I'm amazed the fact that he stayed in that game. Uh, I'm looking and my, and my wife's like, that's like concussion ask the way that his head bounced back, hit the court.
00:16:55
Speaker
You know, that, that doesn't count what he also took in the face as well. Like you said, with the tooth. And then what's crazy is, is it wasn't instantaneously, but the next shot he took, he hit, yeah he made it, you know what i mean?
00:17:09
Speaker
And, um, Just, man, he was he was a big part of that first half and just getting the Cavs going. And, man, it's always awesome. It's always fun when Sam's out there lighting it up.
00:17:22
Speaker
And it's like Jared Allen. It's like when Jared Allen gets 20-plus points. It's hard to beat this Cavs team. same Same with Sam Merrill. If Sam's on, then it's it's very hard for the opposing team win. He had a good play, too, where he drew a foul.
00:17:37
Speaker
you know, when he comes around, when somebody sets a screen for him and he comes right around that screen and immediately pulls up for a three. Yep. They're fighting over that screen and it's a, Yeah, I think that was the four point play because it went in and he got knocked down and it was four point play. So, yeah, sam Sam Merrill, amazing game. Jared Allen, amazing game.
00:17:57
Speaker
Donovan Mitchell, complete dominance. What you think about um so they they changed up the starting lineup and started ah instead of Dean Wade starting, they started Max Struess. What do you think about that?
00:18:08
Speaker
Yeah, I liked it. dean Dean really hasn't been able to give you much offensively. And listen, at the end of the day, you you you win these basketball games by scoring more points than the opposing team, right? And and Max is a little bit more of a natural scorer than what Dean typically is. um And Max, I felt, and we talked about this last time in our last episode, um how we talked about how he took the challenge of of guarding Scotty Barnes, a bigger player than him, more athletic player.
00:18:37
Speaker
Um, Max Bruce had another tough assignment in, in guarding Cunningham a lot in this series. And, is he as, ah as good as the defenders Dean Wade? I don't know, but you weren't going to get necessarily a lesser effort from the defensive perspective of whoever was guarding Cunningham with Bruce out there.
00:18:56
Speaker
And he was the next guy I was in a call out. Um, no, he didn't put up great numbers offensively every night, but again, he's working both ends of the court just as hard and guarding, you know, again, the team's best player. So I didn't have a problem with it.
00:19:12
Speaker
It's funny enough. Dean Wade comes off the bench in that game and scores a quick five points. Yeah. i was just going to say that. It's like, oh okay, here's here's Dean. That's fine. to To your point, you know, Max being the better offensive player, I think that was my initial concern with the change because Max always comes off the bench and he is a little bit of that spark.
00:19:34
Speaker
He is, you know, he can be, he can be. Instead this time it was Dean Wade and it's like, okay, they're going to plug in Dean Wade. Dean Wade hasn't been doing anything offensively, but immediately gets a bucket, gets a three. It's like, this is great.
00:19:48
Speaker
Yeah, and and and Sam was was that spark off the bench in this game, right? And ah man, you know what we need is a game where both of them are just going nuts. How cool would that be if both of them hit you know five threes or something like that?
00:20:01
Speaker
Oh yeah, need the we need a Cavalanch. We need a Cavalanch, but I... I won't be surprised if Struis continues to be in the starting lineup because that's probably, ah up he's probably going to be on Brunson would be, would be my guess.
00:20:17
Speaker
Um, you know, that'll be his next assignment. Um, Dean Wade's, uh, you know, Brunson's a little bit too fast for Wade. I think, I think Struis have a better chance. It's going to be a hard matchup, but I won't be shocked if that change sticks.
00:20:33
Speaker
so I think they'll have Mitchell on Brunson. We'll see. We'll see. There'll be a lot of pick and rolls. There'll be a lot of switches. i mean, they're going to try to expose. They're going to try to get the matchup they want, which maybe it is Mitchell. Similar to the Cavs.
00:20:46
Speaker
It was like, man, do a pick and roll, so Dunley V. I'm not saying Dunleavy. I'm thinking of Mike Dunleavy. Mike Sr. Duncan Robinson. um i just see White. No, I'm not going to say that. no but Every time it was like, we'll get Robinson on Mitchell and you know what time
Strategic Critiques and Future Plans
00:21:04
Speaker
it is. right Even they did that a lot with Harden as well. Put put Robinson in ah in a pick and roll situation.
00:21:09
Speaker
New York will probably try to do a lot of that to get the matchup they want. maybe Maybe they'll try picking on Sam Merrill when he's out there. Or Donovan Mitchell. It'll be interesting to see. But the the other thing I wanted to call out, though, with with this Detroit series, um one thing that I didn't... the One trend that I'm not liking, okay?
00:21:31
Speaker
James Harden gets the ball. Everybody clears out. every so It's like nine out of ten times. It's an ISO clear out. You have Mitchell down in the corner just standing there, right? Because he knows what time it is.
00:21:46
Speaker
And you have everybody else on the opposite side, right? Mm-hmm. There's nobody coming to set a pick or not often at least. And it's a lot of dribbling and it's, it's hard and trying to create something.
00:21:58
Speaker
And lately he hasn't been able to create consistently in my opinion. And I think that's starting to hurt us. Um, When Harden first came to the Cavs, Alex, what i loved about him is how well he played with our bigs.
00:22:14
Speaker
pick and roll such Pick and roll every single time Harden has the ball. He will either create an opportunity, make a shot, or get fouled. But when you clear out and let him dribble for 10, 12 seconds and then try to draw a foul or, you know, a turnover happen, like it's just, it's, we're not seeing consistent good results.
00:22:36
Speaker
it It worked in the regular season. Yeah. It's not working. It doesn't work in playoff basketball when, you know You're playing against the you know such a ah physical team that you know is face guarding him and grabbing him and pushing him and slapping at his arms and trying to poke the ball away every second every time he dribbles it. you know He just couldn't get... you know and the whistles And the whistles don't blow like they do in the regular season. Right, Alex? Right. So i talk I've shared plenty times how I don't like the Mitchell point guard.
00:23:10
Speaker
i don't I don't love that. But what I like about Mitchell when he has the ball versus Harden is Mitchell is quicker to make a decision, right? He goes to the rim.
00:23:21
Speaker
he either finishes or he he makes that dump off pass when he gets double team for for a wide open Mobley dunk or Allen dunk, whatever it is. And, you know, Jared Allen or not Jared Allen, James, James Harden, you know, he he is getting up there in age and he's not always going to have that explosiveness.
00:23:40
Speaker
I just want to see more of what we saw in the regular season where one of the bigs are coming to set a pick for him and play a two man game and and work the offense that way. It's too much ISO. It's too much just stagnant dribbling.
00:23:53
Speaker
I think we'll be able to do that more against the Knicks. I think the Knicks not quite as scrappy. It's got a little more finesse, a little more, don't want to say skillful, but...
00:24:08
Speaker
Yeah, yeah yeah you'll you'll have some you'll have some players in that team that'll that'll run their mouth a bit. That'll bark a bit. Josh Hart, Mitchell Robinson, um you know, maybe another player to, you know, the playoffs bring out, you know, the more aggressive and in a lot of players.
00:24:26
Speaker
So the Cavs, although I do feel the Knicks will be the worst defensive team out of the three that they've played, that doesn't mean you necessarily have an off an easier matchup because they're the best offensive team that you're going to play so far in this playoff run as well. right So you've got to be prepared to put up points because the Knicks are going to score 120 points on you every night.
00:24:46
Speaker
So it'll be interesting. But if Harden's just sitting there dribbling at the top of the key and we see the same results, it's just, it's it's not going to go well. Right. Yeah. Harden was just killing me all, all series. He was averaging like eight turnovers a game. It's just yeah not taking care of the ball. No sense of urgency. Like you said, you get to the top of the key, clear it, and then,
00:25:11
Speaker
dribble and crossover and then try to do a step back three or but but a lot of times he's dribbling it off his foot or it was getting poked away. it was just creating, you know, fast break points for the Pistons. And that's what that's what they thrive on. That's what they run their offense on. They create offense. with Yeah, those are all great points. And what's crazy, Alex, is he logged the most amount of minutes along with Evan Mobley with 36 minutes in this game.
00:25:39
Speaker
Finishes with only nine points. um Grabbed a couple of rebounds, had at six assists, but still finished a plus 31 in this game, even though it wasn't a stellar performance. Only one turnover.
00:25:52
Speaker
but yeah, finished a plus 31. And yeah, just hoping we don't continue to see this version of James Harden. Yeah, they they didn't need to lean on him as much. I mean, he's 37 years old. He came to the team to be a, you know, that veteran, ah that second option. not Not the first option, right? Like, right we we can't rely on him to...
00:26:15
Speaker
you know, do as much as he's been doing. I think, you know, it's about time that Mitchell stepped up and about time that we started utilizing our bigs and help take some of a load off and not Harden doesn't need to force the ball.
00:26:29
Speaker
Which causes those turnovers. So definitely again, you saw more success when Donovan had the ball versus Harden. but They got to figure it out. Harden's Harden's still a great offensive weapon on this team. He's very capable of going off, knocking down shots, distributing the ball, not hating on him. I just, I just don't want to see the ISO ball. Everybody clears out with, with no action going. on I'm starting to see some reports, Alex, of of the Cavs are planning on, on you know, re re-signing Harden to a multi-year deal. What I've seen is two years makes sense considering his age. And and the reports were um no matter what happens in this series, because it was before the game seven happened.
00:27:14
Speaker
Thoughts on that? not Surprised by that? Not surprised by that? You know, I mean, it does surprise me. I think they had some sort of wink-wink deal, you know, when you trade away.
00:27:25
Speaker
Darius Garland, your young upcoming point guard for this battle-tested playoff veteran that helped get us over the hump, you know somebody that's been healthy. a Yeah, it it doesn't surprise me.
00:27:42
Speaker
I think that he probably will try to get maximize years over probably money. you know If it's two or three years, that's fine.
00:27:54
Speaker
Yeah, not surprised either. Again, you didn't trade away Darius Garland to rent James Harden for 20-something games in a playoff run, right? So the Cavs were always going to retain him, um especially now that this team is able to continue to make this run.
00:28:13
Speaker
I don't know if it'll be for max money. I don't no no no how how that would work, right? yeah like no no no It has to be a good deal. you know he wants the longevity of a of a lengthier contract. It's got to be for less money because Mitchell's up for, you know we can either extend him this offseason or um give him a new max contract in 2027. Mm hmm.
00:28:37
Speaker
Which I think I think I was reading we could offer him an extension that would be about 270, 280 million, something like that. But I saw that, too. If you wait till 2027, it would be, I think, a 350 million dollar deal. Absolutely. That's insane. Absolutely. That would be crazy. So, yeah, if it doesn't happen this offseason.
00:28:57
Speaker
Mobley's on a max deal. Yeah. He's taken up a huge chunk. Yeah. I still know how we're going to afford this payroll. And we've really got to get under the second apron for one of these seasons to kind of reset. Right.
00:29:12
Speaker
Right. So well we'llll we'll see what happens. The offseason will definitely be interesting, but we're not there yet. So we're not, you know, we'll worry about that when that time comes. Hopefully the Cavs can continue this playoff run. And man, quick turnaround time. That's the one disadvantage of going seven games. the The Knicks have been sitting around for what? Close to a week now, Alex, just waiting to see the winner of this series come.
00:29:40
Speaker
The Cavs get one day off and they they're right back at it. Tuesday night, first game, Madison Square Garden.
Knicks Series Analysis
00:29:49
Speaker
How are you feeling?
00:29:50
Speaker
Yeah. Are Cavs going to be tired or are they going to be feeling battle tested and ready for the physique, you know, to be the more physical team after playing Toronto and and Detroit, those physical teams and,
00:30:07
Speaker
You know, New York played Philadelphia, which isn't quite, you know, on the same level physically. So I think that, you know, maybe we can shock them. Maybe we can get in New York and surprise them.
00:30:22
Speaker
Absolutely. This will... this will Somewhat dictate what I was saying earlier a bit like, you know, are the Cavs learning?
00:30:33
Speaker
Are they remembering, you know, Donovan Mitchell said after the game last night, and one of the locker room clips like the team locker room clips. It's like. When our backs are against the wall, we're capable of doing anything, but we basically need to play like that all the time and not wait until our back is against the wall. I'm paraphrasing a bit. But basically he's saying is, this is how we always have to be. This is how we ah we always have to come out.
00:30:57
Speaker
And, you know, the Knicks have kind of been sitting around. They're feeling good about themselves. Everybody and anybody nationally is picking the Knicks in this series. The Cavs are definitely the underdog.
00:31:07
Speaker
So they might just be, you know, Unprepared as a result, there there there is some um realness around sitting around too long can potentially hurt you.
00:31:19
Speaker
Right. and the cas Right. What's that? could be It could go either way. It could go either way. it's go either way You know, yes. Maybe the main game planning for us this whole time, you know, they're sitting at home. Yeah.
00:31:29
Speaker
they're watching these games between the Cavs and Detroit. They're looking at, you know, it's like watching tape, you know, uh, geez, it could go either way. It could really go either way. Uh, but man, the Cavs have to find a way to, again, win on the road. Most importantly, you don't have home court advantage in this series either.
00:31:49
Speaker
And to get one of those first two, You really set yourself up to be in a great position. um The Knicks are a very good basketball team, Alex. We're not going to deny that and understand why they are picked as the favorites. Even though the Cavs won two road games, they still don't have an overall very great road game you know record.
00:32:11
Speaker
um So since the Cavs don't have home court advantage and the Knicks have been playing their best basketball, just dismantled the 76ers, um i get it why why the knicks are are favored in this series when you look at this roster alex what kind of the next roster what kind of jumps out to you from a concern standpoint like is it just jalen brunson is it is it is it carl towns anthony is it a combination of multiple players they have like what what do the calves need to most be focused on to try to slow down this new york offense
00:32:47
Speaker
You know, I think the X factor is going to be, you know, I think Brunson is definitely, you know, he's been hot, right? Like we're going to have to slow down Brunson.
00:32:58
Speaker
um cat, he's a, he's a, he's a beast. You know, we got Allen and Mobley that are going to have to make cat feel uncomfortable, uh, in the paint.
00:33:09
Speaker
Uh, we can't, we gotta make sure we're getting positioned, boxing them out, cleaning the glass, And we got to take care of the ball, right? We can't have Harden turning the ball over six, seven, eight times a game.
00:33:22
Speaker
It's just absolutely kills you. Absolutely kills them. Who would you put on cap? Would you put Mobley or Allen on them?
00:33:31
Speaker
Uh, Allen. I think Allen will be on cap most of the time. Yeah. I think that's a better matchup from a physical, physical style, you know, physical status. Um, and I think Jared Allen, I think either one of those guys can, should, should attack Carl Towns, Anthony kind get him in file trouble.
00:33:49
Speaker
Towns, Anthony is a little bit of a hothead. You can get kind of worked up. Sometimes you can get in his head a little bit. And if you can make him, um You know, a couple of these games in this series, get him into foul trouble earlier. So it also limits what he's able to do playing time out on the court.
00:34:06
Speaker
I think that could be huge. It opens up other doors for the for the bigs to be able to continue to expose Mitchell Robinson's another he's a big body, right? He's a he's a shot blocker. He's athletic.
00:34:17
Speaker
So it's not like the Cavs are playing undersized bigs. but I think that's key. And, uh, you know, Jared Allen, I think can help, you know, from ah ah from a defensive standpoint, hopefully try to contain cat a bit.
00:34:31
Speaker
We just got to hope that, uh, you know, we don't make one of their bench players ah star. yeah We've got to make sure we're, uh, keeping, uh, you know, OG and Anobi in check and Josh Hart and bridges and, you know, make sure those guys don't go off on us. Our, Cavs legend, Jordan Clarkson,
00:34:50
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We just cannot stop playing former Cavs players and coaches. and And now you're playing Mike Brown next after JB, Alex. like It was fun to see Karis LeVert.
00:35:01
Speaker
It was. He kind of torched us a little bit here and there, but it was good seeing Karis again. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, man, it's going to be a fun series.
00:35:12
Speaker
um I think Donovan Mitchell enjoys playing at Madison Square Garden. He understands, you know, just the the the allure of playing there. Right.
00:35:24
Speaker
And he usually likes to put on a big show. We'll see if he continues to do that in this series. If he does. That's going to be great. That's going to give the Cavs a great chance.
00:35:34
Speaker
And we just need other players to continue to step up. It can't just be Mitchell. It can't just be our bigs. We we we still need those Sam Merrill games. You still need those Max Drews games and and some other surprises as well.
00:35:46
Speaker
um I'm not going to be surprised, Alex, if this is another long series, even though a lot of people aren't picking it to be a long series. I wouldn't be shocked if it goes six, seven games.
Season Success and Future Outlook
00:35:58
Speaker
Yeah, this is Mitchell's from New York, right? Like this is his hometown, right?
00:36:05
Speaker
Yeah, it's going to be a great series. Really looking forward to it. Yeah. Yeah, it should be a fun one. um Man, it's crazy that.
00:36:18
Speaker
Think about this. Think about if the Cavs didn't make it out of that series against Detroit, we'd be having a completely different conversation right now. Right. And it's so refreshing that we don't have to have that conversation.
00:36:31
Speaker
Um, nationally, the cows aren't getting bashed today. Locally, we're not all, you know, jumping off clicks cliffs on our local broadcasts. And it just, it's so refreshing not to be talking about that.
00:36:43
Speaker
And, um You know, i I don't know what's going to happen, Alex, but I do feel like they finally got over a hump. Donovan Mitchell finally gets out of the second round in his in his career, right? This Cavs team finally makes it back to the Eastern Conference Finals.
00:37:00
Speaker
um No matter what happens from here, i think as Cavs fans, we could feel more confident about this roster. Right. um Instead of another kind of early exit, disappointing, you know, kind of kind of season for them. So it's fun times. It's great times right now, man. They're one of the last four teams in the and NBA, Alex. That's crazy to think about.
00:37:22
Speaker
That's crazy. Yeah. So. So that begs the question, you know, if if the Cavs do get eliminated by the Knicks, but do you consider the season a success?
00:37:33
Speaker
Yes, I do. I do. Because they started off rocky, right? They were like 500 ball, right, through the first 30 games. I think they were under 500 for a little bit, only by like a game or two.
00:37:46
Speaker
It was not a season like last year where it was fun. You're dominating. You're winning everybody. It's like Detroit and the Cavs switch places almost. It's like Detroit was that team this year in the regular season. 60 plus wins, number one seed. No one really ever had a chance to even catch them. That was the Cavs last year.
00:38:03
Speaker
right? The Cavs really didn't have a great regular season. They were inconsistent. They, they made a huge trade by bringing in, you know, James Harden and some other players and kind of just we're, we're, we're there.
00:38:17
Speaker
Right. And even though, again, these Cavs series playoff series have gone seven games, again, the experience that they're gaining, And the change that we are starting to see with this team to me is what makes this successful. And on top of it, they've made it to the Eastern conference finals.
00:38:34
Speaker
You know, if they get swept in this series, which I don't think will happen, that's going to hurt a bit. I'm not going to lie, right? You're going to have some people back on that cliff again, but Alex, Last time they made it this far was, you know, who is still here?
00:38:48
Speaker
And it feels like this team is finally ascending and they're doing at the right time. And again, they're still healthy, Alex. They're healthy. It's huge. You keep talking about that, Cliff. Oh, my Lord. After that game six loss, the Cavs fans were on it, man. The Reddit was... Absolutely. I couldn't hardly stand to scroll through it. Everybody was...
00:39:11
Speaker
blow it up, fire Kenny, yep get rid of Mitchell, start over, you know's trade everyone for picks. It's like, these people are insane. They are. They're not real Cavs fans. get out of here. Shut up and get out of here. But same thing. like Think about that Toronto series. That went seven games. Imagine a scenario where the Cavs don't make it out of that that series. right They don't make it out of this Detroit series.
00:39:34
Speaker
We'd be having a much different conversation. And that's what we've been doing the last couple of years, unfortunately. So it's refreshing that that's not the narrative that we need to have.
00:39:44
Speaker
And if they don't make it past the Knicks, I still don't think that's the narrative we need to have. Do they need to do some retooling? Do they think about swapping out one of their main players for somebody else and try to switch things up?
00:39:56
Speaker
Sure. but it's not it's not blow it up. It's not fire Kenny. It's not it's not all that kind of just end of the world kind of talk.
Listener Engagement and Social Media
00:40:06
Speaker
Armageddon. Cavs Armageddon.
00:40:08
Speaker
Armageddon. Yeah, So I'm excited, man. Cavs basketball is still still going on here. It's going be going on through the end of May, at least, with this series. And it's going to be a great a great matchup. And then out west, Alex, you got the Spurs and the Thunder battling.
00:40:23
Speaker
That'll be a fun series to keep an eye on. And yeah, man, who's who's your pick out west? I mean, I think OKC is going to repeat. I think they'll they'll get the Spurs, but I would much rather play the Spurs.
00:40:39
Speaker
We've matched up against them really well in the regular season. yeah But, yep, the Cavs are back to playing every other night. I'm seeing they're in New York. It's going to be on ESPN at 8 p.m.
00:40:52
Speaker
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Monday. It's a brutal schedule. it is brutal scott It's been every other night since since the Detroit series. right so Again, the Cavs not getting much rest, but hopefully that'll work out to their benefit.
00:41:09
Speaker
They're in a groove right now. They've got to be feeling good after that Game 7. and They're going into New York with some confidence, or at least they should be. right and Let's see if they can keep that momentum going and steal Game 1 victory.
00:41:24
Speaker
I lied. Oddly game three is on ABC. All the rest are on ESPN. That is very weird. Yeah. It's very weird. All right, Alex, let's wrap up this episode.
00:41:36
Speaker
Thank you, Cavs fans for tuning in and listening to this episode of the Cavs Pick and Roll podcast. And Alex, let them know they can follow us and connect with us. Follow us on X at Cavs Pick and Roll. Shoot us an email, CavsPickAndRoll at gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr.
00:41:52
Speaker
Watch this episode on you episode on YouTube. Wherever you're listening, watching, click like, subscribe. Leave us a rating or review. We'd appreciate it. right, Cavs fans, there it is. We'll talk you again soon.
00:42:04
Speaker
Peace out, Cavs fans.