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Episode 148: Comeback Cavs Keep on Winning!
44 Plays3 months ago
Alex and Corey discuss the Cavs winning their 15th game in a row for the second time this season. We give our thoughts on why this season has been so different and successful from previous seasons. Then we break down the most recent wins against the Nets, Bucks, Hornets, & Heat. We also give our reactions to Kevin Love's jersey getting retired by the Cleveland Cavaliers. We end the episode by discussing what else we been watching to get our basketball fix including NBA documentaries and 90's playoff games!
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Transcript
Cavaliers' Winning Streak and Player Management
00:00:14
Speaker
Hey, Cavs fans, welcome to another episode of the Cavs Pick and Roll podcast, the podcast for diehard Cavs fans. I am Corey. I'm here with Alex.
00:00:25
Speaker
Alex, Cavs just won their 15th game in a row for the second time this season, all with Donovan Mitchell eating popcorn on the bench.
00:00:37
Speaker
No Ty Jerome, no DeAndre Hunter. Wow. This season has been fun. It's awesome. ah I mean, what can you say at this point, right? Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. They just keep, they just keep rolling.
00:00:51
Speaker
Yeah, they just keep rolling. They decided to give a couple of players,
Playoff Preparation and Intensity
00:00:55
Speaker
you know, a night off. And they've kind of been doing that the last couple of games. It feels like given certain guys, you know, a night off, you know, that's just player management right there. Health management.
00:01:05
Speaker
It's it's crazy, Alex. We were talking about before we started record. There's only a month left in this season before we get to the playoffs. And, and you know, games that matter actually count. And what's impressed me the most this season, especially compared to like last year, last year was such a roller coaster because of injuries, because of inconsistent play and so on and so forth. And the calves have just have never let up this year, even post all star break. I was like, OK, some sort of slumps going to happen. Someone's going to be some losing streak or something that's going to happen. And that just it hasn't happened with this team. They just continue to dominate the league.
00:01:43
Speaker
I feel like they're in a little bit of a slump right now. ah kind of It kind of feels like, I know they're still winning. They're like winning every game, but at the same time, it feels like they're coasting. It's like they coast for three quarters and then they turn it Maybe have like, maybe they, you think like the players have like bets, like, Hey, like over unders, like, Hey, uh, let's get down by 15. Who, who thinks we can come back and win?
00:02:05
Speaker
And like the loser has to like buy the drinks that night or the dinner. i don't, I don't. it is It is kind of crazy. They've put themselves in some not great situations.
00:02:18
Speaker
These last you know couple games, last five games in a row, they've been down by considerable amounts. Situations to where they they probably shouldn't have won some of those games, but yet...
00:02:30
Speaker
They're finding ways to do it.
Playoff Expectations and Strategies
00:02:32
Speaker
And that's a great thing that they're they're continuing to learn how to win, but obviously not something you want to carry into the playoffs. Right, Alex? Right.
00:02:41
Speaker
I mean, playoffs are going to be, it's ah it's a whole different animal. And I think that they know that this this year. Like, you know, last year last year it was, you know, them them learning.
00:02:54
Speaker
And I think this year is the year. Yeah, I mean, this is year three of the core four being together in the playoffs. By now, they should know what to expect, what intensity they have to bring. You can't be complacent.
00:03:09
Speaker
um And you're going to get you're goingnna get ah a different level of effort from these teams because it's win or go home. So there's nothing to lose. So even though you're playing, ah you know, whoever Detroit in round one or whoever it's going to be, Orlando, you know, you're going to get a scrappy version of that team.
00:03:28
Speaker
So, you know, and there's going to be some back and forth. And that's again, they're they're they're learning that they're never out of a game. But what I want to see come playoff time is, you know, limit how often you're in these scenarios and just put your foot on their throat and and don't look back.
Cavaliers as Title Contenders
00:03:43
Speaker
Have you, ah speaking of that, have you kind of looked at the standings in in to see kind of where, you know, if the season ended today, who would we be playing in the playoffs? I know that's kind of impossible to know because of the whole play-in tournament, but at the same time, you've got to start thinking about positioning.
00:04:03
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, the Cavs, obviously they want to make remain the number one seed. They still have now, I don't know if Boston played tonight. Let's just assume, you know, they didn't, they had a seven and a half game lead going into this game tonight against the Nets. They win. They're now at eight.
00:04:20
Speaker
If Boston wins, they're back to seven and a half. So they have a nice cushion. You obviously don't, you you obviously want to secure that. Right. But I look at the standings almost daily, just i'm curious what other teams are doing.
00:04:32
Speaker
And if we just went the straight, you you know, who's in the eighth seat today, it actually would be the Orlando magic. who I haven't been really paying attention to them, obviously, but they've been sliding down um in the standings. i don't know if they have injuries or anything like that.
00:04:45
Speaker
Obviously, we played Orlando last year, um but it's ah it's a different it's a different... Both teams are in a different scenario now than a year ago. But still, they're a young team. You're going to get their best effort.
00:04:56
Speaker
And no matter who you play, you're going to have to come out with that intensity. And I'm just excited to get to that point, Alex.
Team Building and Player Contributions
00:05:03
Speaker
It feels like it's been so long since the playoffs last year. It's been a hell of a fun season to watch.
00:05:10
Speaker
um But now I'm just ready. yeah I'm just ready for real basketball to start. This last month is just, I want it to go by fast. Yeah, we actually just played the Magic, what, maybe mid last week.
00:05:21
Speaker
Yeah. We won we won by 40. Yeah. So I'm not too worried. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But it's it's funny, though. I mean, any team could, I mean, we almost just lost to the Nets tonight, and we'll get into the Nets game here. Yeah.
00:05:34
Speaker
I want to say that yeah Orlando Magic game was the game that sir Mitchell got the $2,000 fine for for flopping, which was ridiculous.
00:05:45
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Well, hey. $2,000. Come on. What is that? He doesn't care about that. No, no. That's that's chump change. right And I don't remember him flopping at all that game. So yeah, yeah, whatever.
00:05:59
Speaker
But Alex, I especially in the time of us doing this podcast, This is I think we've said this before. This is the most consistent I've seen this team play. No drama, no season impacting injuries.
00:06:15
Speaker
Fingers crossed, right? We're like, you know, one of the core four players are out for weeks at a time. or any significant pieces. And we continue to see, you know, other pieces of the team step up when their number is called.
00:06:28
Speaker
We were talking before we we started recording how Javante Green got his first, ah you you know, action as a Cavs player a couple games back. Who was that against again?
00:06:39
Speaker
Alex? Um, I missed it. well Yeah, I forget. I forget. I forget who it was against, but he came in late in the game and he just made an impact right away. We have 11 points, you know, and you basically just, you know, he got waved and you, you signed him, you got him for nothing, but it's just another piece. Sam Merrill's had games, you know, Ty Jerome is still playing out of his mind and should be a sixth man of the year candidate.
Championship Aspirations and Player Accolades
00:07:05
Speaker
Max Struess had a great game the other day against the bucks with 17 points. Like, you just It just it never stops. You're talking about Javante Green? Yeah, Javante Green.
00:07:16
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. he Man, i yeah, I remember watching that first game that he was on the bench, and he got to check in last two minutes of the game. um yeah i think that might have actually been that Orlando game.
00:07:31
Speaker
um I'm just looking at the box score. He got six minutes, scored four points, had three rebounds. I just remember him checking in and he impacted the first three ah you know possessions that he was in the game and scored two baskets.
00:07:51
Speaker
And yeah, he looked he looked great. And you could tell Kenny Atkinson was real excited about He had this Shit eating grin on his face the whole time. It's like, I just signed another guy for for nothing. That's going to be great. Yeah. yeah Yeah.
00:08:06
Speaker
And the Cavs, I feel like, are finally starting to get national recognition as far as being true title contenders.
00:08:18
Speaker
In the eyes of the national media, you've had guys, more local guys saying for a while that this is a championship contender, but now you're having the Charles Barkley's, the Stephen A. Smith's, you know, the national guys start to be like this Cavs team can win it all.
00:08:37
Speaker
Um, so that's, you know, awesome to be in the position again, none of us, none of us predicted the cabs having this magical season that they're having.
00:08:47
Speaker
And it, it, everybody has the same, you know, goal on their minds right now. It's, it's chip or bust.
Key Player Retention and Contract Management
00:08:54
Speaker
And that's exciting, you know, to to, to be in that scenario and under a decade of winning your last championship,
00:09:03
Speaker
that's That's a pretty fast turnaround. not lot Not a lot of ball teams can, ball clubs can do that. Let alone a small market team like Cleveland, where no free agents want to come here and nobody stays here and you know this and that and boo-hoo-hoo.
00:09:16
Speaker
So it's it's been a pretty fun ride to watch this Cavs team this year. Yeah, really. I mean, this team was built you know primarily through the draft and just trading for young, really, really young guys.
00:09:29
Speaker
um and just seeing the potential that was there and how they would put the fit together and, You know, hats off to the front office for building this team for, yeah you know, many years to come, hopefully.
00:09:45
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And and I'm going to be selfish as a Cavs fan. Of course, we want them to to win a championship. Not three, not four. yeah ah but Yeah. Only if they bring back Ty Jerome. Only if they bring back Ty Jerome. I hope so. I hope so. It's got to be number one.
00:10:07
Speaker
like I want Ty Jerome and Hunter to stay on this team also. and I just don't know what the the cap situation. Hunter's at least locked in for another year or so, maybe two.
00:10:18
Speaker
But Ty Jerome has to be like number one offseason priority this year for the Cavs.
Narrow Wins and Strong Performances
00:10:24
Speaker
But what I want to see is is not only a championship, I want to see Donovan Mitchell win the MVP, Atkinson, Coach of the Year.
00:10:33
Speaker
Give me Mobley for Defensive Player of the Year. And hell, throw in Ty Jerome for Sixth Man. Just give me a clean sweep of it all. Maybe Finals MVP.
00:10:43
Speaker
I don't think Mitchell has a shot it. You don't think so? NBA MVP. No, I mean, he's not even in the conversation. I don't i know. I mean, he should be. Yes, he's on the winningest team in the NBA. He's the leader of the team.
00:10:56
Speaker
Yeah, he should be ah in consideration. But no, it's the same old names. I listen to the the national radio every morning, and NBA radio and on Sirius XM, and they just talk about...
00:11:09
Speaker
It's the same old people. Jokic, SGA. SGA, probably. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'll take finals MVP, too. I'll be I'll be cool with that.
00:11:23
Speaker
So let's get into this. This game, the Cavs just ended just a little bit ago. i will say, Alex, Cavs eked out another win here that they probably shouldn't have. They had a very poor shooting night, especially early in this game. They could not hit a three pointer to save their life.
00:11:42
Speaker
um But luckily, we have two big men, Alex, that the Nets had no answer for. you look at the box score, Jared Allen and Evan Mobley, just they were eating good tonight.
00:11:55
Speaker
Jared Allen gave you 23 points 13 rebounds. Mobley gives you 21 points, nine rebounds, six assists, somewhat sniffing that triple-double range.
00:12:07
Speaker
um And then Darius Garland went off for, what, 18 points, I believe it was, in the fourth quarter. 30? Oh, 18 in the fourth in the fourth quarter. He took over, took the team on his back um because he was not doing well early in this game either.
00:12:24
Speaker
ah Again, Allen and Mobley were kind of keeping a somewhat in contention. We were down double digits at the half and then as down as big as 18. And the Cavs turned on their defensive effort in the third quarter, slowly clawed their way back in the game.
00:12:42
Speaker
And it's just if they would have hit a couple threes, there were so many moments where it's just like all they have do is hit like one or two of those threes and they would have, you know, got over the hump, blew that game open.
Defensive Strengths and Season Sweeps
00:12:53
Speaker
And instead it came down to the last, you know, a couple seconds of of the game really.
00:12:58
Speaker
Um, but Darius Garland was magnificent in the fourth quarter. Um, I thought that Isaac Akuro who got the start tonight, You know, didn't didn't score a bunch or anything like that.
00:13:11
Speaker
We came up with some big rebounds, played 33 minutes tonight, has some great defensive stops, you know, did a great job, you know, filling in for for Mitchell and Hunter being out.
00:13:22
Speaker
And then he had some other players chip in. Craig Porter Jr., you know, got got some minutes tonight. Max Drews, you know, 10 points, hit a couple shots. um it was It was a good all-around effort.
00:13:35
Speaker
It just took the Cavs a while to get going, which wasn't until the second half. That's what I was noticing looking at the box score. looks like all the points came from the starters.
00:13:46
Speaker
Not much bench scoring tonight. I see ah total of 19 points from the bench. Yeah, the Nets bench was actually outscoring us at halftime.
00:13:58
Speaker
they they they were out so They were out rebounding us, out shooting three-pointer. They actually made more three-pointers than we did 16 to our 10. um they They had more rebounds. They had more bench bench points than the Cavs did.
00:14:11
Speaker
um But the second half was was a different story, and they really clamped down on defense to where the last couple minutes of the game, it was hard for the Nets to really buy a bucket.
00:14:24
Speaker
And another thing that was huge in this game ah both happened with under two minutes left in the game. Atkinson won two coaches' challenges.
00:14:36
Speaker
Pivotal moments in the game because you know if you lose those challenges and the Nets score, you know now all of a sudden instead of the Cavs being up two, know, a tie ball game or, you know, whatever it is.
00:14:47
Speaker
um So that was awesome to see Atkinson win both those challenges and really helped us as well, you know, kind of be able to seal the deal and limit the possessions that the Nets had, you know, down the stretch.
00:15:02
Speaker
The Nets were scrappy this game, you know, they're kind of a hodgepodge of ah of a team, Cam Thomas, Cam Johnson, you know, that's probably about it as far as household names. But they were scrappy, and they just came off a win last night against the Lakers.
00:15:17
Speaker
So um they came to play, um but luckily the Cavs were able to to get it done, especially in the fourth quarter outscoring the Nets 31-18.
00:15:28
Speaker
Yeah, the three-point shooting. They only had 10 three-pointers tonight. That is very unlike them. Very unlike them. And it's not for lack of shooting the three, because I see a whole lot of misses.
00:15:42
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. They shot 0 for Merrill, 1 for 6. struce two for nine then on the bench merrill one for six Dean Wade, one for four. it was pretty atrocious.
00:15:56
Speaker
it It was bad. But again, there were so many like opportunities where like somebody's jacking up wide-open three, and it just it wasn't dropping. It wasn't dropping. um So the Cavs really had to to find another way to win, and and it was really with defense. And then again, Garland just...
00:16:15
Speaker
just taken over in the fourth quarter, which you love to see because that's what that's what he's supposed to do. when When your 1A option is sitting on the bench, taking a night off, you need 1B to step up.
00:16:27
Speaker
And he did it, and he did it at the right the right time in the game because he was struggling early on along with everybody else. That's what's great about this team is they can really hang their hat on their defense. And that's that's something that that you see from a championship-caliber team. Yeah.
00:16:43
Speaker
I love to see that. that That's awesome. Yeah, absolutely. And with the win against the Nets tonight, the
00:16:54
Speaker
season sweep of the Nets, but I also heard during during the game them saying that this is the 11th team that the Cavs have swept this season.
00:17:06
Speaker
Um, the bucks who they played prior to this, um, was another victim of that as we beat the bucks four times this year and the bucks aren't the same team as what they, you know, were, but in my mind, I still like, oh crap, it's the honest it's Lillard, you know, it it just, it's,
00:17:23
Speaker
wow, we beat them four times this year. Like it's just, it's just got a different feel this year. The Cavs just keep on beating up the NBA and let's move to that bucks game. Now, Alex, um,
00:17:38
Speaker
The Bucks had no answer either. And I thought Max Struess had an excellent game, 17 points, nine rebounds. And if you look across the box score, you had you had one, two, three, four, five players in double digits.
00:17:53
Speaker
Then if you look below that, You lot of guys contributing. Merrill had nine. Jerome had nine. Hunter had an off game with only six. Wade had nine. Akuro had five.
00:18:04
Speaker
Green gave you three. So you had some production off the bench as well, along with your starters all all getting in double digits. Just another well-rounded offensive effort by the Cavs.
00:18:17
Speaker
yeah Yeah, the Bucs. Yeah, I don't know what's up with the Bucs. It was a fun game to watch. you know It's always fun when you're up against Giannis and Lillard. and you They got Kuzma and Brooke Lopez. and um it was Kevin Porter Jr. good I was just going to say, good to see Kevin Porter Jr. again. He didn't do a whole lot, but now ah you know it's ah it's a familiar face on the other side. I wasn't sure if he's still even in the NBA with all the issues he's gone through.
00:18:46
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. No, it's it's just it was great to, again, just beat up on a team that it's like it's like we flip flopped. Right. Because a year or two ago, we're kind of where the bucks are at now. Like we're we're a solid team, you know, maybe a top four, top five team are still trying to figure it out.
00:19:05
Speaker
And it's like it's switched to where now we're the team elevating to the top of the East and they're starting, they're starting to decline a little bit, you know, to where they're probably going to, you know, if they have a disappointing playoff run here, start to question, you know, what direction to go in that team and, you know, to where the Cavs are, you know, we're locked together, at least with this core four and for the foreseeable future, we should continue to be a contender year over year for the next couple of years.
Future Success and Core Strengths
00:19:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:31
Speaker
you know, as long as, you know, things continue to swing our way health wise and, and so on and so forth. So it's just, it's just great to see, you know, beat up on a team like that.
00:19:44
Speaker
and The Bucks are in fourth place. They're kind of hanging in the middle of the pack. They're right. Yeah. Right. You know, within a half game of the Pistons and the Pacers. So we'll see if they can, you know, there'll be some jockeying of position there before the end of the season. I'm sure.
00:20:01
Speaker
Absolutely. And that's what's gonna be the most interesting to see. Like, obviously, you want to see the Cavs continue to to play consistent basketball. You know, they don't they're gonna lose they're going to lose ah you know a couple more games here, especially as they sit people and stuff.
00:20:16
Speaker
But it'll be interesting to see what happens below us. positioning wise, right? Like what happens with that, that four five seed matchup? Cause you know, so where you guys are thinking second round matchups and things like that.
00:20:32
Speaker
So it'll be interesting to see. And I still give credit man to the JB and the Pistons. To even be in that consideration of where they are right now, you know, with the potential of ah potentially getting up to the four seed.
00:20:46
Speaker
That's JB, man. JB, he can lead a team. Yeah. I mean, who's who's really on that team outside Cade Cunningham, you know? Malik Beasley.
00:20:58
Speaker
I don't know. Tim Hardaway Jr. Yeah. Ron Harper Jr. All the all the kids, man. And yeah, JB. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know what to say. he's he's He's a great coach. You know, will will he be able to get them over the hump?
00:21:12
Speaker
He definitely gets those young guys overachieve and buy in. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Then we go back to the Hornets game. And Alex, this one was was crazy because another situation where we're down late in this game.
00:21:29
Speaker
think it was nine. We were down nine with under five minutes to go. um and the Cavs find a way to claw back and win at 118 to 117.
Team Depth and Resilience
00:21:40
Speaker
Kind of came down to towards the the game of fouls and so on and so forth.
00:21:47
Speaker
um Miles Bridges goes off for 46 points, Alex. 46 points. like He basically kept them in this game. And I'll admit, I was thinking he was going to be the reason why the Hornets were going to win this game and and end the streak.
00:22:06
Speaker
But man, the Cavs found a way to win, claw back into it. And again, you know looking at the box score, you had well-balanced scoring you know across across five, six players in in double digits.
00:22:19
Speaker
yeah Yeah, it was a good game. I you know i i thought we were going to up giving this game away, like you said. i don't know. I was just worried about this one. because we yeah Going into halftime, we had a pretty solid lead. I can't remember. was at least a 10-point lead or so.
00:22:35
Speaker
and Then they kicked our butts in the third quarter. and Then the fourth quarter, like you said, it was a chess match. It was just back and forth, back and forth. I don't know how many lead changes there were, but it came down to the wire.
00:22:47
Speaker
Yeah, it really did. And mitchell Mitchell missed some free throws in this game um throughout the game. And he missed some at the very end there. And kind of luckily, Bridges, not not that they had a ton of time. I think they had three or four seconds left when they inbounded the ball.
00:23:04
Speaker
He kind of just heaved it up, you know, well behind half court with like a second and a half to go. He probably could have got a pass. up the court if somebody who was open and probably got a better yeah the other hornets players were kind of looking around like what why did what just happened nurkage was you could see nurkage running underneath the rim uh-huh he kind of just rolled his eyes like oh my god he just jacked up that shot Yeah.
00:23:31
Speaker
Yeah. and Bridges. I mean, he had, he had a heck of a game. I mean, 46 points. he He went off. we We did not have an answer for him, but I'm just glad kind of like the Nets game tonight.
00:23:44
Speaker
if we're going to lose a game. Okay. But it's like, you don't want it to be one of these bottom feeder teams. You know what Don't, don't let that be the case. um Yeah. The Cavs, you know, found a way to win that game.
00:23:56
Speaker
Six players in, in a double digits. Yeah. You know, that's the that's the thing about this Cavs team. You you don't got anybody scoring 46 points, but you got a pretty good even distribution of help from all the players. So, man, makes them a ah tough team to beat.
00:24:15
Speaker
Like, who do you single out? Who do you game for? any Any one of these players can go off. Yeah, this was a very well-built team. And I thought tonight going to be one of those nights.
00:24:27
Speaker
It wasn't. Porter obviously got some extra minutes against the Nets um with with Mitchell out. um He had some nice moments. he ah He had a nice half-court buzzer beater to end the third quarter off the off the glass at bat.
00:24:43
Speaker
But like even something like Craig Porter Jr. And I don't mean this in any kind of disrespectful way, but ah you know basically your third string point guard, second year in the NBA. Nobody's scouted him. Nobody knows who he is. We've seen nights where he comes in and just just kills you.
00:24:59
Speaker
You know what I meanre like, who's this guy? You know, um and the Cavs have so many players that are capable of doing that on on any given night. It makes it very tough to beat this team. And it's really why the Cavs have had the success that they have this year.
Kevin Love Tribute and Legacy
00:25:14
Speaker
It's a beautiful thing to watch. um Heat game, Alex. Got to see your boy. He a love. Yeah, yeah, that was a good one. That was a fun one to watch.
00:25:27
Speaker
did you see Did you see how him and Tristan Thompson kind of bum rushed Richard Jefferson? no Oh, yeah, yeah, I did see that. That that was pretty good. That was pretty good. and i think Jefferson said something like, I'm a professional now or something.
00:25:43
Speaker
But that was that was real cool to see going around the internet. um This was a game in Cleveland. The Cavs fans you know let Caleb hear it in a positive way when when he came out. They gave him a trip a nice tribute video.
00:25:58
Speaker
Excellent tribute video. Caleb kind of walked around and, and but you know held you know, held his hands up and was tapping on his finger about his about the ring. Yep. Yeah. yeah Yeah, that that that was really cool.
00:26:11
Speaker
um And then after the game, Caleb came out and basically said, you know, that he's been told that his number will be retired.
00:26:22
Speaker
in Cleveland. Wow. And that his Jersey will be hung next to Nick Gilbert's. Um, which is you know something we've talked about before you know on past podcast episodes, you know should Caleb's number be retired or not? And you know I didn't catch... you know yeah Obviously, Caleb isn't going to say this.
00:26:46
Speaker
Maybe the Cavs came out with something and I missed it. I haven't heard of timing of of when this will be. um But i don't think either one of us are surprised. um you know We both kind of talked about how we felt you know, his, his Jersey should be retired.
00:27:03
Speaker
Um, it took me a couple of years to come around on Caleb. You've, you've been Caleb, you, you've been on his sides from day one. Um, but pretty cool that there'll be another Cavs Jersey going up in the rafters, you know, somewhat in the near future.
00:27:22
Speaker
Yeah, that's pretty rad. i think it's well-deserved. Many years in Cleveland, a championship ring. he was He was the last one on the team to still be on the team for a few seasons yeah um during the rebuild.
00:27:35
Speaker
so um Another thing was that he released a statement on Twitter, Instagram about leaving Cleveland in his time here. And I have it here.
00:27:46
Speaker
I could read it. Yep, go ahead. so Kevin Love said, Cleveland, I never got a chance to say goodbye after my departure just over two seasons ago. It was too emotional for me coming to an end of a nine-year run that looking back was the most important and meaningful time of my life.
00:28:04
Speaker
The growth on the court and personally was not possible without hardship, struggle, and sacrifice, but it led to finding myself, creating a lifelong brotherhood with many, relationships with the fans and community of Northeast Ohio, and ultimately 2016 NBA championship.
00:28:22
Speaker
Thank you for the ovation last night and the continued support since becoming a Cavalier. In the summer of 2014, I will always have love and support for the organization and beyond. Respect and gratitude. 216.
00:28:33
Speaker
two on six Championship ring. Pretty hard to hate that guy now, huh? Yeah. Even his wife came out. i don't have it word for word, but I saw something about his wife putting something out on social media as well. Just like, you know, overwhelmed by the by the love that they received. And im going back to the arena, you know, sitting in her old seat that she sat in for so many years, brought back so many memories and and so on and so forth.
00:29:01
Speaker
And I'm not going to sit here and act like, you know, no other former Cleveland athlete has talked positively about about their time in Cleveland.
00:29:13
Speaker
But I'm having a hard time thinking of them. That list probably isn't too, too long. um And especially in a Cavs uniform. Right. So it's pretty cool. And it's almost like looking back at it you're like, wow, wow.
00:29:27
Speaker
That was eight years. Like he was here for that long. You know what i mean? Like it doesn't feel like it was that long sometimes, but just a cool moment. um You know, and he he did the right. You know, that's a great PR move by putting out that statement afterwards.
00:29:45
Speaker
um You know, awesome news about about the jersey being retired.
Significant Wins Against Top Teams
00:29:50
Speaker
you know There should be a couple more from from that championship team, um but it's pretty cool that that you know we we got confirmation or he got confirmation that his jersey will be hung up. and He even said that you know when i'm when I'm done with the NBA, he even said too, I think if if I go into the Hall of Fame, I want to go in as a Cleveland Cavalier.
00:30:11
Speaker
Which is pretty cool. So it it just, he keeps doubling down, you know, on Cleveland. Like it doesn't feel like it's just fluff or just saying it just to say it. Like it feels genuine. It feels real. And again,
00:30:25
Speaker
my list of people, my list of former Cleveland athletes that, you know, just continues to speak that highly. It's not very long. it Wasn't there a little bit of drama when he left?
00:30:36
Speaker
I'm trying to remember. i was thinking, yeah, Kevin Love, he left on good terms, but and there's there's a little bit i'm not exactly. We we can't forget about him with that inbounds play against the Toronto Raptors where he kind of just kicked it inbounds, didn't even look, was walking off the court as the Toronto player got it and scored. Didn't he throw the ball at ah at a ref or something?
00:31:02
Speaker
and He did something like that. There might have been a spat with the coach or teammate or something in the locker room, too. I mean, he wasn't playing good basketball. He threw a bowl of soup.
00:31:13
Speaker
No, no, that was J.R. I know. That was a joke. That was J.R. Smith. For the Cavs fans that remember. JR. Yeah, I was throwing bowls of soup at people. I wonder if it was, was it like cook soup? That should just be the way every player like quit on their team now. Was the soup still was it in a can still? It should be like a bowl of soup throw.
00:31:33
Speaker
Yeah. That's like the signal. Like, all right. Just wild though. Like, but we still all love JR. Yeah. Nobody gives a second thought about JR, you know, Smith. So, you know. That was just JR. That's that's just who he is.
00:31:46
Speaker
But Caleb, I mean, he wasn't playing great basketball, which is why he wasn't playing. He wasn't happy. And ultimately, the Cavs, you know, cut ties. But you can't let, you know...
00:31:59
Speaker
a half of a season dictate his entire career, which was, you know, almost a decade long here, you know? So, um, yeah, it's all good, man. And this game against the heat was a good one.
00:32:11
Speaker
um which again, the calves found a way to win, but usually it's Terry Rozier that likes to kill Cleveland, especially in Cleveland because he's from the area. Um, but man, bam, bam,
00:32:24
Speaker
Bam went off this game, 34 points, 12 rebounds. He kind of like Miles Bridges, kind of, you know, single handedly kept them in this game and was making me very nervous.
00:32:35
Speaker
Max Struis had a great defensive play at the end of the game. Actually, Bam kind of just lost it. um He was going up for like a jump shot 15 feet away. I don't know why he didn't back down Struis and try to bully ball his way to the rim.
00:32:50
Speaker
But yeah, just another great home win against a team that's kind of trying to figure things out, right? Post Jimmy Butler. Yeah, I mean, that's i was just going to bring that up. you know It's not the same team with Jimmy Butler not being there. um Man, there's still you know that's such a good team, though. There's a lot of talent on that team. There's a lot of great players. Tyler Hero, like you said, Bam Adebayo is a monster. He was...
00:33:16
Speaker
yeah killing teams in the, uh, the Olympics. Um, but Alec Burks is on that team. Cavs legend. Terry Rozier. terribles yes ah yeah You yeah got got some pieces there.
00:33:30
Speaker
they If they could figure out a way to bring in a third star over the summer, you know um they could be right back into the swing of things. It's too bad Jimmy gave up on that team. I don't understand why he forced his way out. like yeah That was a good team.
00:33:44
Speaker
like what yeah you yeah I don't know. Championship front office and coach there. Yeah, he's doing well out in Golden State, though. They're 12 and one with Jimmy Butler on the roster. So he's he's making an impact out there as well.
00:34:00
Speaker
um But hey, I just want to see the Cavs win. Good to see Caleb. We'll take the W, you know, as well. So, you know, I don't know farther you want to go back.
00:34:13
Speaker
I wish I wish the Boston game wasn't so long ago because that was a pretty cool win. coming back from 22 down and Jason Tatum talking smack and all that. and Yeah, good isn't that hes get the F out of here. i Get the F out of here. That's a classic picture now.
00:34:28
Speaker
yeah it's just totally. Donovan Mitchell in the background making the cute face. Yeah. yeah I guess the other thing, I guess I do want to talk about that just real quick because that was a huge pivotal win in my opinion because it's one thing to believe that you could beat anybody, including Boston, but to actually do it does something different mentally for you.
00:34:53
Speaker
Right. I have to think that mentally the Cavs needed that win. They split the series against Boston to two, too It's going to be a dogfight if and when the two teams meet up you know in the playoffs this year.
00:35:08
Speaker
um you know It feels almost like a 50-50 on which way that can go. But it makes a huge difference with the Cavs winning that game versus going 1-3 against them this year. And even though regular season doesn't necessarily pull over the playoffs, again, there's that whole mental game.
00:35:29
Speaker
um that like, no, we can hang toe to toe with you. we, we weve beaten you twice. You haven't even sniffed us in the standings since two weeks into the season.
00:35:41
Speaker
Like, no, we are, we are, we are the team to beat. You guys are no longer the top dogs. You know, you guys got to come get us now.
Playoff Excitement and Fan Engagement
00:35:48
Speaker
um So it's going to be interesting.
00:35:53
Speaker
So we've got a month left in the season, Alex. Still some games to be played. um The Cavs just need to continue you know winning winning games. But when there's not a Cavs game on, what have you been watching lately, Alex? Because you and I have both like, not that we're bored with the Cavs by any means, but it's like you know when the Cavs aren't on, it's like you know you're you're laying there in bed or whatever. It's like you know i want to watch something.
00:36:21
Speaker
And we kind of both been getting our basketball fixes outside of just current Cavs basketball as well.
Basketball Documentaries and Reflections
00:36:28
Speaker
Yeah. So, well, you've been watching more Cavs basketball.
00:36:33
Speaker
I kind of went down a documentary kick lately. I watched Court of Gold, which was on Netflix. And it's about the...
00:36:45
Speaker
Team USA basketball, um, the dream team, and then kind of starts out there and jumps to modern day with, um, us basically not being the top dog in the Olympics and getting silver.
00:37:03
Speaker
Her was a bronze. I can't remember. think it was bronze one, one year. i think so And then the year after that, ah You know, LeBron's like, all right, we're going back. We're going to win gold. He recruits, starts pulling together a team. KD, Steph Curry.
00:37:20
Speaker
i think Kobe might have still been on that team at that point. But, yeah, very good documentary. Court of Gold. It's on Netflix. And then I started watching We Beat the Dream Team, which was on Max.
00:37:34
Speaker
And it's about... um Back when they had the dream team, the very first dream team, it was after... Because previous before that, we had we always recruited college players to represent Team USA. and they started to struggle in the Olympics.
00:37:54
Speaker
And so Team USA Basketball decided, okay, we're going to start allowing NBA players. They got... um I'm trying to remember the coach.
00:38:06
Speaker
They got a really good who do you know? I think it was Chuck Daly. ah Yeah, i think you're right think it Chuck Daly. Yeah. So they got Chuck Daly to be the coach and they recruited, you know, Michael Jordan, you know, all the greats, right? Michael Jordan. great great is that Is that the greatest team in NBA history, Alex? A lot of people argue that that 92 dream team with Jordan Bird, Charles Barkley, Carmel Jones. Probably, probably, you know, a lot of them were, don't to say past their prime at that point, but they were a little farther along in their career.
00:38:41
Speaker
Yeah, they were. um But this documentary was of actually about the select team, which is the the group of guys that they picked to form a team for Team USA to practice against and to simulate playing an international European team.
00:38:57
Speaker
So they went and they got all these you yeah very young NBA players, you know, the rookies. And yeah. formed a team so that it was like Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill, Chris Weber, you know, all these guys and told them, you know, you're going to practice and train and play against the the dream team to help them prepare.
00:39:17
Speaker
And so they had them doing regular daily practices and then they brought them all to this gym and they got to sit and watch the dream team practice and they're, you know Sitting there like kind of freaking out Can't believe that you know they're going to have to play these guys. and They get down on the court and they just take it to them. They beat the Dream Team in the scrimmage.
00:39:39
Speaker
Are there actual clips of the scrimmage at all? Oh, there's video of it. Yes, there's one. They only allowed in one person to record footage. It was supposed to be a erased, to wiped.
00:39:52
Speaker
But did have clips of it. I thought I heard, i haven't watched the documentary yet. And that's the the, if I watch one first, that'll be the one. Cause Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill, like those were some of my favorite players growing up, you know outside of cows players.
00:40:07
Speaker
But I thought I heard that like, they weren't even allowed to tell anybody afterwards that they had won that scrimmage. Yeah. They weren't allowed to tell anybody and they super downplayed it.
00:40:19
Speaker
And even to this day, there's a lot of controversy about it. uh coach k who is the coach of the the select team you know even he says that that daily uh you know kind of set up set up the dream team to fail in that game the light a fire under their butts and yeah and show them that hey maybe you guys aren't the best team and you need to step it up and work harder and take this seriously So there's that angle that they play towards the end of the documentary. And Coach K's kind of sold on that. you know He's making comments that you know they didn't you didn't play Jordan the whole game and yeah this and that. but that's a good way to so That's a smart way to spin it, at least.
00:41:00
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. But then you got Grant Hill and Penny Hardaway. Like, oh, no, no, no. Those guys were going as hard as they could. Yeah, it's like, why would you? when you're He's like, you guys don't understand. When you're an NBA player,
00:41:13
Speaker
It's your pride on the line. You're not laying down for anybody. We don't care who is on the court. you know so yeah And in the clips they show, they show you know there's shows Jordan and everybody out there. It's it's awesome.
00:41:26
Speaker
It's a fantastic documentary. It was on Max. You've got to check it out. And then I followed that up with the Shaq documentary that just released. And it's all about Shaq's life growing up.
00:41:38
Speaker
ah Starts out with him in like you know middle school to high school, the couple of years in college. It's all about his his family, his dad, ah his brothers, sisters. you know it's It's his whole life.
00:41:52
Speaker
him going to the NBA, uh, gets drafted by the magic, um, Penny Hardaway, like reaches out to him and is talking to him constantly and say, Hey, get me on, on the magic and I'll feed you the ball. Every chance I can get you'll feast.
00:42:06
Speaker
And, uh, so Shaq, you know, makes a call, uh, to the magic ownership in the middle of night to get Penny Hardaway to be the number one pick. And, that that That draft is still ingrained in my mind, and that trade that went It was Chris Webber.
00:42:21
Speaker
They originally, Magic drafted Chris Webber. Shaq called Magic ownership and said, hey, you didn't listen to me. I wanted Penny. Get Penny tonight.
00:42:32
Speaker
And they made a trade, Chris Webber, for Penny to get Penny on that Magic team. And wasn't it also because Penny and Shaq, you know, worked together on and the movie Blue Chips, I believe.
00:42:45
Speaker
I think that is how they kind of... That's how they kind of first started to get to know each other a little bit, if I'm not mistaken. But yeah, that's that's that's very cool. That's three documentaries. there's There's a lot of basketball documentaries out there.
00:42:58
Speaker
Man, it goes into Shaq playing with, you know, the magic, the falling out. going to the lakers playing with kobe that falling out going to the heat winning a championship with uh wade you know i was so mad jets susan i was so mad at him when he left orlando because orlando was yeah was one of my favorite teams growing up dude that's like the saddest part of the documentary too is when penny's on there and he's talking about You know, he's watching the clip of Shaq and Kobe being like, that would that should have been us.
00:43:29
Speaker
That could have been us. it It would have been us. You know, Shaq and Penny, they would have had, you you know. ah Penny is just so sad. it's one of thes It's one of the big what ifs of the NBA and Penny penny Hardaway's career in general, Grant Hill as well.
00:43:45
Speaker
But it was a couple years ago now where it's on YouTube, I'm sure, because where I watched it. But Shaq and Penny did like an interview together and Shaq like formally apologizes and says he regrets leaving Orlando. Wish he would have stayed, you know, so on and so forth.
00:44:01
Speaker
That was on 30 for 30. Yeah. Yeah. And it seems like they, they, they, you know, they're connected today and all that. So that's, that's good at least, but yeah, it is kind of sad to see what could have happened there.
00:44:12
Speaker
But yeah, that's very cool. You know, documentaries are always, there's just a little bit of a different watch. Right. And yeah, I can see how it would be easy going down,
Nostalgia for 90s Playoff Basketball
00:44:21
Speaker
down that rabbit hole. Who doesn't want to see clips of, you know, the dream team running around and Shaq in his early days and all that stuff. So yeah.
00:44:29
Speaker
That's real cool. Do you have any other ones that you're eyeing to watch next? I don't. I don't. I'm on the lookout to see what's coming up next. There should be ah another season of that where they follow the players.
00:44:42
Speaker
I can't remember the name it. think talked about it last episode. Yeah, yeah. That should be coming out soon. Very quick. So what have you been watching? Yeah, yeah. So, you know, the playoffs are only a month away.
00:44:53
Speaker
And YouTube, once you watch one video, you just get fed more and more videos of the same. And, you know, i yeah we both grew up in the in the ninety s right?
00:45:05
Speaker
um So 90s playoff basketball ingrained in my mind, the intro, the just the whole feel of it, the teams at the time and so on and that. And i watched, um you know, I came across a recommended video for um a 1995 playoff series between the Magic and the Pacers.
00:45:26
Speaker
So you got Shaq and Penny and Reggie Miller. And this is the year where the Magic, you know, go to the finals and all that. I had a good time watching that, right? And I was like, okay, that was cool. And then I get recommended the next day, 1998 playoff series between the Indiana Pacers and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
00:45:47
Speaker
We're talking ah Rick Smits, Jalen Rose, Mark Jackson, Reggie Miller, Chris Mullen, yeah a tough Pacers team taking on a very young Cleveland Cavaliers team led by Sean Kemp.
00:46:00
Speaker
And four rookies. um Z, that was technically his rookie year. Derek Anderson, Brevin Knight, Cedric Henderson. um And that was a fun watch because it was the only game. It was game five, I want to say.
00:46:14
Speaker
um it was the only game of the series that they actually won. um And I sent you the video, the link to it. And I sent other buddies of mine too. And you're like, wow, the game was so much different back then.
00:46:29
Speaker
Yeah. um The Pacers also had the Antonio Davis and Dale Davis. If you remember those guys just jacked dudes that just dominated. Right.
00:46:41
Speaker
And it was crazy to watch because you watch today's NBA where the Cavs jacked up, you know, 42 threes. against against the Nets, and there might have been 10 jacked up by the Cavs in that game. It was just so much different, a lot more mid-range, and a lot of feeding the ball you know you know down to the post, basically.
00:47:03
Speaker
What was funny about that was that was before Andre Miller was on the team. They didn't get Andre Miller for the next year. And sitting on the bench was not a great point guard, you know, to really help out Brevin Knight. Brevin Knight's undersized. Mark Jackson's just giving him the business. He got Scotty Brooks, Bob Sura, you know, sitting on the bench is like your backup point guard options.
00:47:26
Speaker
I had forgotten how small Brevin Knight was. He was only five ten He looks like such a little guy running around out there and got in foul trouble real early yeah they interviewed his parents during that game it was yeah it was really cool it was cool though because the game was at gundarena gundarena just out of all the arenas that's the one again that at just those blue seats watching that going to those games growing up as a kid yeah it's probably one of my favorite eras of calves basketball not a very good turnout Not a very, yeah, it wasn't a very good turnout for the game.
00:47:59
Speaker
um And they even, the broadcasters even said that like, this is kind of a disappointing turnout considering it's their first playoff game and, you know, whatever it was, how many years at that point. um But the Cavs won. Rick Smith was on fire. he had like 28 points, kind of gave Z the business.
00:48:17
Speaker
ah But the cast found a way to win. And that was that was real fun. And then another video got recommended. Several videos did. um But the other one that I watched because i was like, well, want to watch another Cavs one by the same YouTube channel.
00:48:32
Speaker
um I believe the name of the channel is MDBball. So shout out to them because they've been putting up a lot of 90s playoff videos, full games, no commercials, limited ads, you know, good quality considering the timing of of when those games occurred 30 years ago now.
00:48:51
Speaker
um But then I watched a game against the 1993 playoffs, Cavs versus the Nets. We're talking Petrovich, Derek Coleman, ah Chris Morris, guys like that in the Nets.
00:49:06
Speaker
And this was kind of the last hurrah with like the Mark Price, Brad Doherty, you know, Hot Rod Williams, Larry Nance, um you know, team. Because believe the next year is when, you know, injuries started to creep up and and so on and so forth.
00:49:23
Speaker
But that was fun because Terrell Brandon was the backup point guard to Mark Price, who got in some foul trouble and and Brandon came in and and played pretty well. um The other crazy thing, I'm reading the comments on these videos and for the for the Nets one, supposedly that was Petrovic's last NBA game played.
00:49:49
Speaker
Um, or that series was, um, because the calves won that series, the calves beat the nets back to back years, eliminated them. Um, and Petrovich, you know, unfortunately, you know, got in a car accident shortly after that, when he went, uh, somewhere else over in the world, I forget where it was Germany or somewhere over there.
00:50:09
Speaker
So a lot of people were saying, wow, like if, if the nets win this series, you know, he could still potentially be alive today and all that stuff. So that was kind of crazy. And then I went down a rabbit hole of reading all the comments and you know all that kind of stuff.
00:50:23
Speaker
And then it was 4 a.m. And then it was 4 a.m. You had to get up to work in two hours. so Yeah, exactly. Exactly. It was a rough day. But ah that was even more different than the 98 series because you're talking like a five-year gap.
00:50:37
Speaker
um You know, just look at the jerseys, look at the court, you know, still at the Coliseum at that point. um Just the broadcast style, just, man... I don't know if you got a chance to watch any of that or not. No, did you send me the link to that one? I sent you a link to that one too. All right.
00:50:53
Speaker
have to look for it. You got to check it that out. watch it tomorrow. um You got Gerald Wilkins coming off the bench, Terrell Brandon coming off the bench. Like, holy crap. That team was stacked. um Lose to the Bulls in the next series though. I even want to. Yeah.
00:51:09
Speaker
Yeah. So. But yeah, I've been going down the rabbit hole of watching 90s playoff basketball games. I'll probably continue to do that.
Upcoming Schedule and Challenges
00:51:19
Speaker
Just getting amped up for for the playoffs to start this year, which I'm excited for and just ready to get to that point of the year.
00:51:26
Speaker
We're almost there. We're almost there. So real quick, before we kind of wrap this one up, Alex, let's take a quick look.
00:51:37
Speaker
What's ahead for the Cavs? The Cavs. ah Friday night basketball. It's always fun against the Memphis Grizzlies out in Memphis. Then the Cavs play a matinee game at home in Cleveland against the Orlando Magic. That's probably the last time we're playing the Magic. Yep.
00:51:58
Speaker
The rest of this year. Then they got the Clippers, the Kings, the Suns. Looks like we go on a West Coast trip. um Jazz Blazers out there. So A couple home games here and then ah then a West Coast trip.
00:52:15
Speaker
And then you're almost at April. So, yup crazy.
00:52:21
Speaker
So with that, Alex, let's go ahead and wrap up this episode of the Cass Pick and Roll podcast. want to thank you, Cass fans, as always, for tuning in and listening. And Alex, you want to let them know where they can follow us and connect with us.
00:52:34
Speaker
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. Click like, subscribe. Leave us a rating or a review. We'd appreciate it right, Cavs fans. There it is. We'll talk to you again soon.
00:52:50
Speaker
Peace out, Cavs fans.