Evan Mobley is BACK! Cavs vs Bucks Recap and MORE! Cleveland Cavaliers Podcast (The Junkyard Pod)

Evan Mobley is BACK! Cavs vs Bucks Recap and MORE! Cleveland Cavaliers Podcast (The Junkyard Pod)

Mitchell has his head up Tak get that weu out of Here welcome to the junkyard pod hosted by Tony pesta and Jackson Flickinger you can find all of our work for Fear the Sword and write down uid in the description below today joining us to discuss the Cavs bucks miniseries as well as the imminent return of Evan

Mobley we are joined by special guest Jason Richardson of Northeast Ohio Sports Insider Jason how are you doing what’s going on fellas how you guys doing thank you for having me on the uh illustrious show you know I I have been pushing for this for months and you know

Jason’s just been ducking us the whole time so glad that he finally made time for us that’s wild that’s really wild opening up the show with some slander specialty I just didn’t know which way it was coming but I knew it was coming well you knew you knew it was

Coming from him but yeah yeah you know let’s just just get started right away with some rapid fire takeaways from the two games in Milwaukee Cleveland split their road trip which all things considered I would say is a win uh Jason how did you feel about the Cavs in

Milwaukee it would about as expected um it’s very hard to beat a team by 40 and then play them the next week and think that they were going to win that game if they had won that game it would have been crazy um but I kind of expected

Them to lose the first one and I expected the second one to be a lot more competitive and they ended up winning so I I think that this group is is really locked in um and I’m very happy about what I’ve seen from them very happy yeah

I feel the same way beating a team by 40 and then having to play them just about a week later not only once but two more times like you really never know what’s going to happen so I was really impressed with the way they played I think it’s kind of impressive how well

They played on wnes Wednesday considering that Donovan Mitchell had one of his tougher nights uh from the field I think compared to what we’ve seen throughout this month and a half stretch without Garland and Moy he really struggled to find his range and he settled for I think some bad shots uh

Two only only two of his 24 Shots came in a restricted area which isn’t what you want to see in the first game right yeah yeah yeah so that’s not really what you want to see from someone like Mitchell who’s done a lot of his damage by getting downhill and then kicking out

To Shooters so I think being in that game as much as they were is kind of impressive um and then you kind of saw what a good version of a Mitchell game looks like in that second game and and they won yeah I think I think the first game they got down early

The Bucks jumped on him and then he tried to go back and play herob ball right like I think it was like all right well let me revert back um we’re going to need a superstar in this game and it just that wasn’t the case then you know

Tony’s favorite player Isaac aoro got hit with the two early fouls but then also you have the the Bucks team and Damian lard specifically hearing how he got shut down by Isaac aoro for a week you know it probably got to him like this guy you know and I think it just it

Was it was boun happen you know it was just one of those gam was bound to happen I think overall real quick I just wanted to say push my aoro agenda he held Damen Lillard he’s holding Damen Lillard to nine of 34 shooting on the season so hey take your Victory lap he’s

I got to yeah yeah I mean not all of us can take real Victory laps you can take just Min ones you know your Victory laps Going Global with with the samal agenda but me and Ice we’ll get there sure um yeah but I do think it’s a I do think

Okoro does deserve credit for how he guarded Dame I think I think it’s dumb to blame calls going against you uh in games but I think that okoro really did a good job in that first game against Dame and a lot of his damage was getting

To the rim and I think I think the C were just a step late and how they were helping and I think that caused a lot of those problems as opposed to like Isaac okoro kind of not being up to the challenge so I think it was a good game

From him and then you saw on Friday again like oh this is what it looks like when the Cavs are kind of locked in and the Bucks play is fired you know what was that Wednesday you know they just fired their coach they hear that they’re

Gonna get Doc Rivers like it was like a perfect storm of just look that was it was a winnable game like you said Jackson like they were in the game you know it wasn’t it wasn’t ever a time where you were like uh they can’t win

This one like until the final score like but like they were in the game um personally I think they played fine the Bucks were just better on that night Friday was more indicative I think of like a real game between the two teams um and show like it’s the reason why

Cass fans should be kind of excited you know going forward because like Friday night you got the Bucks best effort you got the Cavs best effort and the Cavs came on the top I think it’s kind of interesting that the Cavs and Bucks have played four times during this like

Transition period for both teams because like you know the the first game they played it was right after the the injuries to Garland and Moy and I think that was like they missed all those threes remember they were like Sam Marill got hurt in the game yeah Max

Went one for 10 from three and Mitchell went missed a lot of open shots yeah yeah so they missed so they like outplayed them but then they kind of they they lost because they missed a million their process was better but they didn’t execute basically right but

Even that game was a close game though if I’m not mistaken yeah they well they were they were winning in the third quarter and then they had a chance to win and then it was just kind of like well if Max dreu makes two of 10 from

Three I think they win this game but he went one for 10 so that’s that’s kind of how that game was and it was like they were getting good looks so it wasn’t like they were just getting bad looks but that was kind of in the the middle

Of like the Bucks kind of like Tail Spin because I think everything went wrong for them after the in season tournament where they were like this guy is not the guy and to Jason’s credit uh I mean everyone said that Adrian Griffin was going to be fired but Jason left the

Press Room before the game and said this guy doesn’t know anything about what he’s doing it was amazing because you know and I I hate that it happened you know and it sucks that it happened to a guy who’s at the time they were 30 and

13 like that sucks right but like the night before or two nights before the game before we had sat there and listened to Billy Donovan give like amazing answers to every question like thought out answers 10 minute thought out answers and it was like wow that’s a

Head coach right there right like he was explaining things then you listen to Adrian different and you’re like wait what like that’s huh like he was openly saying like yeah I had a defer and I did this and I changed because they said I’m

Just like wait no no no no no no no no no no no that’s not how it’s supposed to go so yeah that it wasn’t surprising but it was surprising because there still 13 He said spacing because I counted he said spacing nine times during like a

Like a f minute interview and it felt like every time he was kind of like like oh this is a buzzword that like people talk about so I’m just GNA be like yeah dude we just need more spacing like Yannis provid so much spacing and it’s like felt like you were scrolling

Through Cav switter kind of yes he he felt more it felt more like a fan talking about the Bucks than than the head coach you know yeah yeah I think the the Cavs bucks their their four match ups this year have been really interesting especially you know when

They when the Cavs destroyed them by 40 that team just did not look like they had their heart in it obviously Giannis didn’t play the energy was different these last two games felt more like what you would expect to see in a matchup between them um and I think it’s notable

That the Cavs even though they lost that first game in Milwaukee they were right in it they fell down by I think 21 and they fought back just over and over again they wouldn’t go away um I felt like they did their best to attack the

Drop in that game and a lot of shots didn’t fall I also think as as Jackson hit on early on and the episode that Mitchell kind of settled for jumpers when he needed to attack um and and as Jason mentioned too there was also a little bit of that herob ball mode where

Maybe he should have worked to get Allen more involved or the rest of his teammates uh game two was just one of Mitchell’s best games of the season it’s one of the Cavs best wins of the season so I want to know uh from either one of

You what adjustments did you see from the first game to the second one one of the things that I saw was I they helped on Giannis both games where they tried to make him finish over multiple Defenders or make him kick out to Shooters um but the second game I

Thought they did a really good job of doing it before yanis started his Drive instead of like after and that’s what led to his six turnovers and his three like offensive fouls was instead of Dean Wade starting to help when Yannis put the ball on the floor Dean Wade was

Already in that position so Giannis had to kind of like overcompensate and that’s where he had like that one hook on on Wade where there was already help there and the one time he had a lot of hooks yeah and then like the one time he um he ran

Over he um ran over Jared Allen when Jared Allen had good position but it was you know Max streu was in the lane Dean Wade was already shading over it was if he didn’t run through Allen like he did he would have had a hard time to kind of

Navigate everything so I think that’s what the Cavs did a better job where it’s not really a big like schematic change but more so a attention to detail like they were more locked into what they needed to do yeah I think so I mean

I think I think it was just look I think it was a a very good indicator of like a playoff series you know it’s a two game it’s two games obviously but like we’re in the same city we’re gonna we’re gonna play this team back to back a day in

Between like you make adjustments you know what I’m saying like Okay what didn’t work in the first game okay well we can this is how that can work like you know in the first game Dean Wade was on Brook Lopez you know like but Dean Wade is a decent Defender he’s not a

Superstar Cav Cav’s Twitter do not do not get on me he’s not a superstar but he’s a good Defender he’s a decent Defender and they had him on Giannis and you know throwing different bodies and things like that like it was just different little adjustments um the biggest adjustment was Mitchell played

Like he’s been playing previously outside of Wednesday that was the biggest adjustment yeah that’s a great point the first game in Milwaukee Mitchell shot two of 11 from Deep uh so when the are playing that drop coverage just wasn’t able to make them pay game

Two he shot six of 12 from deep and I mean that’s how you get the Bucks out of their drop coverage another adjustment that I liked uh I tried to highlight as best I could on Twitter is that rather than just continuing to run a traditional pick and roll and attack the

Drop that way they started to give Allen the ball and run some off off ball actions and try and get him more spaced out horizontally if that makes sense that that drop Defender really has to make a choice between am I picking up the ball or am I staying on Allen they

Didn’t score many points off of that there was a lot of lob passes that just were too high or Allen couldn’t guide at home but it was you know it’s as simple as getting Brook Lopez to have to move a little bit rather than just sitting in

That tank down there uh the Cavs also I think one of the biggest things is just their defense when they get stops offense is a whole lot easier because now you’re not attacking that setup Milwaukee defense and that’s when you know the Cavs are at their best they’re

Able to turn defense into offense and the thing is like for for Milwaukee their biggest weakness is one of the Cav strengths guard play like you know especially when Donovan is playing like an an All-Star player an all NBA player like they can’t guard that like Malik

Beasley is not a good Defender Damen Lillard is not a good Defender you know Pat conon is not a good Defender like they don’t have they tried to throw Jay Crowder on him that was long he’s not a good Defender you know like they don’t have anybody who

Can check a guard you know and that’s that’s the campaign is not a good def like we can go down the list you know so when you’re on like as a guard and you’re a top you know 20 25 player in the NBA you’re gonna have success

Against them and that’ll keep you in games like that so one of the things that I think was interesting is that when Donovan didn’t have it like they did a good job like he did settle some but he also they also did a good job of keeping him out of the restricted area

With Brook Lopez kind of standing there and one of the things is that they were like loading up on him and there wasn’t another guard to throw it to to like hey you break down the defense you find the open guy you do something um and if they

Had Darius Garland in that game I think it goes very differently um just because you know Darius Scarlet can break down a defense especially when the defense is loaded up on the other side so I think I like one of my main takeaways from that game was like yeah this is

Why like this team ceiling is always going to be with bble and Garland and I think one of the issues that we’ve seen at the beginning of the season was that they weren’t optimized to like play well together now it’s whether they can play well because you know their style of

Play they have the guys to be a good team adding these guys into what they have could make them a great team if they come back and they are like they’ve seen like we have the success of how this team is playing if they come back and can fall in and still

Do the things that they do well but like fall in line just move the ball it’ll come back to you maybe you don’t average you know maybe Darius doesn’t average 20 but he averages 15 and eight assists and you know less turnovers Jackson like if

Like if if if if that’s the best version of this team that’s not not a bad thing like if the ball is still moving and the ball is still you know moving around if same thing with Moy like you know he doesn’t have to start shooting you know

Five threes a game six threes a game but like if he can be still be a Flo floor spacer in some aspect a cutter anything like that you know this team can be dangerous I’m interested to see how they use Jared Allen because they’ve used Jared Allen a bunch above the free throw

Line and they weren’t really doing that before or at least not in a way that was this noticeable so can they keep doing that how does that affect Moy can Mo because still if Mo’s just hanging out in the in the dunker spot it doesn’t really help all that much but if you’re

Able to kind of get him screening moving with like setting screens for streu it would be great if you set a screen for Garland off Ball but that would require him moving um so like if they’re able to do those things it’s like wow this all makes sense cuz it

Kind of felt like in the beginning it felt like they were just playing like they were last year except for like we have Max stru but that helps because you know someone’s guarding Max stru as opposed to uh the guy the other guy um that’s what he talking Coro Jetty

Pick pick your poison Lamar Stevens whoa who okay sorry John um so but it’s like that’s wasn’t like obviously it really hurt when you have three guys standing in the paint but two guys standing in the paint still hurts things especially when you have like you

Know Garland who’s not like a paint Rim finisher and stuff like that so it it’s still Muddy’s thing so I want to see if they can kind of adapt this new Jared Allen play with Evan Moy so so who knew that Jared Allen was going to be the

Floor spacer that they needed and it’s not Evan Moy maybe you know like I mean like like like J Jared Allen has been working on that that free throw line jump shot you know that elbow jump shot and like we see him doing it in pregame and like he’s confident when he shoots

It it’s interesting and then you know Jackson you’ve written about this a couple times I know you say I don’t write read your stories but I do you’ve written about you’ve written about um the big man to big man um assist the Jared Allen assist to to Evan Moy it’s usually that

Way um but like they start and they do that and use that if Jared Allen can consistently knock down that 15 to 18 footer and like Evan Mobley he was leading the lead in dunks before he went down like if he can stay in that dunk he

Can still stay in that dunker spot the offense just changes a little bit to what we thought Evan Moy was gonna be but if Jared Allen’s the guy who spreads the floor then okay we’ll take it yeah that that’s a fantastic point I’m I’m really glad you brought that up because

Just to set up the segment Evan MO return is coming probably by the time this episode’s out uh we’re recording on Sunday he’s expected to play on Monday against the Clippers he’ll be on a minute’s restriction but the one thing that I’m so excited about and I’ve been

Talking about is that everything you just said if Jared Allen has just shown that he can play above the break a little bit handle the ball and do what we were maybe expecting Moy to do like that’s a win a lot of people are worried about what happens when you add Moy back

Into this lineup and it’s like well everything we just learned hopefully will translate Moy is great in the paint if we’re going to say hey maybe he’s not ready to be that floor spacer have as much ball handling responsibilities as we wanted to well great we can stick him

In the paint let Jared Allen do his thing is the spacing going to be perfect no but you have Moy hovering down there and Allen’s able to keep doing what he’s been doing that’s a pretty good Duo to have and it’s something that not many teams can do against the drop coverage

So uh I’m really excited to see this and there there’s something to be said about having two really good defenders in the back there’s something to be about that and I mean yeah tomorrow it may not it may look funky um you know the Clippers with re acclimating you know Evan getting

Back into it and you know but he’ll take the Tristan Thompson minutes like you know that eight minutes that eight minutes that you know you know so somebody else doesn’t have to play you know what I’m saying so like it’s okay you know this is the perfect time

Actually so I’m happy hopefully Evan learned how to a screen for Sam Merill okay because well his brother can do it hopefully that hopefully that rubs off Isaiah does it great you would not believe it’s it’s phenomenal Jackson Jackson Jackson um he OV exaggerates a lot but Isaiah M’s screens for Sam mirl

Thing of perfection the one thing that Jackson’s 100% not exaggerating on he got that I didn’t exaggerate any of Sam Merl’s no no right I also I also want to point out you know on a side um like Jackson has been the most vocal about it

But everybody saw that Sam mirl was like really good anybody who watched him could see it listen I nobody else nobody else was jumping out in front of this I was so Jason you had a chance to jump out in front of this you didn’t I I’ve written several stories talking about

How good Sam Mill is right but not like last like not like last year they all came last year whatever whatever I don’t and over well we know that and over the summer like like he showed all of this in all honesty he showed all of this in

Summer league like he’s he’s he’s really you know and I I A Part no that’s a different conversation never mind go for it go for it no I mean a part of me wonders like did we really have to pay Max dreu that money when we have a guy

You know now Max juu is is a lot more than a shooter I will I will say that he’s been a pleasant surprise coming from Miami so I don’t want to like rag on Max Drew because I think Max Drew is needed he’s played every game um this

Year he hasn’t missed a game play through injury I really like matx ju he’s been very good but Sam Merill is really good as well yeah and he’s a lot cheaper and he’s not four years 64 million and he can shoot it better than yeah he’s he’s better at the max stru

Specialty than Max stru is what I will go ahead what I will say is that Max stru so the Cavs currently have like every team when you watch the Thunder play everybody can pass shoot and dribble on the court that gets the ball like the Cavs had three guys before Max

Stru and like Carris lever Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland adding maxu is just another guy who can actually do all three of those things in a way that like even you can run a pick and roll with them right like Sam Merill can do those things but kind of like Sam Merrill’s

Ability like he he finished over Giannis well not over Giannis but like he like finished a layup with Giannis there and it was because now we’re exaggerating I meant he finished with Giannis there because like Giannis was like more concerned about him like pulling out and going to like the

Three-point line so like saml uses his shooting to like create these angles but like Max streu is just kind of like a basketball player who does basketball player things so I think they really need that and I wouldn’t I wouldn’t advocate for like more Merl minutes over

Streu but I think it’s interesting that like they had the movement shooter that they really needed especially for the bench unit there because I think like when we when it was kind of sold to us like the max Drew signing it was like this is the movement shooter we need and

It’s were like no this is like the high volume shooter and the basketball player that can do multiple things that this team needs and but I don’t think we knew that like coming for because like in Miami he was just a shooter like he was he didn’t display all he flashed a

Little bit of it but flash it wasn’t like consistent he’s this guy you know here at Cleveland he’s been that guy like he’s been well he’s been good defensively he rebounds well he passes well like he’s been really good um in Cleveland I I think when when when he

Was signed everybody said okay the Cavs need shooting they went and got shooting right you know like but samiro was already on the roster like they you know yeah so like I want Jackson to take a Victory lap but like Sam Miro has been this guy I I you know we we’ve seen

Enough just Evan needs to set screens for him that’s the whole thing we just need Evan to screens and he need to make contact on those screens and I hope him and him and Isa have talked about it um because yeah they they were so good that’s true the last point I wanted

To make about shu is that all the great stuff he’s doing outside of shooting you kind of just hope that he has shown in the past that when he’s hot he really is that level of a shooter he just hasn’t been very consistent this year and really throughout his career he’s been a

Bit inconsistent but with a player like that you just hope like man if he gets a he goes on a a burner in the playoffs like that could get you through an entire round so uh happy with the way sh has played and very happy with Merrill’s Resurgence but or arrival but let’s

Bring this back to moy and focus on him a little bit here for this segment uh that is what is written on the bottom so I guess we do have to talk about that listen this is my fault for not having a saml topic because I I knew Jason

Brought it up just so just so the record it was inevitable it’s worth bringing up but I did bring Jason really talked about I talked about Isaiah and Evan it’s true to uh wrap up the to really get the moob league conversation started and then

Wrap it up the main thing I want to know is what does his return mean for the team and and primarily what’s going to be the biggest adjustment I think you may have already mentioned it but uh Jason you can take it away I think I think right now the biggest thing is

Just re acclimating and getting back into the flow like you know it’s really hard for a guy to go out you know and then see the team success and you know they’re wanting to be a part of that like no I I can add to it I

Can add to it because the pressure is on like him and Garland when they come back if this thing falls off the rails again like people are going to be looking at we’re going to hear all of the hey you gotta get these one of those guys has to

Go and with the way that jar played people will start saying foolish things like trade mob trade you know like like that’s foolish right but so there’s pressure there um but just take it time like it’s going to take time I think the one of the good things is he’s going to

Be on a minut restriction so you can you can um stagger him and Allan so you don’t have to change a lot of what you’ve been doing especially like from now until you know for about a month or so like he’s GNA be on that restriction so you know staggering him and Allen

Still having one big on on the floor and like that and letting them play Spot minutes together but like as long as you long as there’s just one big on the floor it’s going to be fine because you don’t have to change much I think it’s I think it’s interesting

Defensively both of them together I think that’s going to be interesting because the Cavs have been incredible defensively over these this last nine 10 game stretch where I don’t know like they’ve changed how they’re playing in the sense that they’re like not helping as much and

Kind of trusting everyone more so on an island to like defend their guy and I think you’ve really seen that with Donovan Mitchell he’s really played I think he’s played his best defense of his career uh I kind of touched on this last episode where like before this kind

Of stretch here throughout his whole career it’s like you’re playing with goar just kind of do your thing on offense and goar will clean it up on defense and the same thing last year with Allen and Mobly behind him whereas during the stretch you’re saying oh he

Has a sex he has a 610 wingspan and he can actually use it and he can actually be a not a traffic cone but even like a good Defender um so that’s where it’s like I’m kind of wonder if they’re going to rely Less on Evan Mobley and Jared

Allen kind of overh helping uh because the because the defensive rebounding has been great and that’s something that they’ve struggled with and it’s not because like Dean Wade’s a better rebounder than Evan Moy it’s because they’re staying more in their positions they’re not overh helping their not like

Breaking the defense just because Jaylen Brunson dribbles the ball on the floor um so that’s that’s kind of what I’m almost more interested in because if you can keep up this defense while adding what many people think is like one of the three best defenders in the league

To it that’s that should be great right well yeah I mean I mean I think so I honestly don’t worry about his defense like he’s an all World defensive because one thing that him and his brother I I like we like to give Isaiah shout outs anytime we can but one thing

About them like they’re extremely smart players and like while Isaiah might not be the athlete that Evan is they’re always in the right position right offensively and defensively so like I don’t think that Evan is all of a sudden going to now not be able to to um to

Defend yeah I mean yeah he’s not going out there chasing point guards or anything like that but like that may take time to come back but being in the right spot and being seven feet that doesn’t change I think it’s more so how the team philosophy is in terms of how

They’re kind of instructing them to overh help because I don’t think like Jared Allen was just like short circuiting every time he saw Jaylen Brunson drive and he like ran to the free throw line to help I think it was more so this is what the team’s

Philosophy was and I think that’s what’s really changed over this time is that they’re not overh helping they’re staying more connected to three-point Shooters and like you’re not getting those games where it’s like oh man this team just happens to hit 50% of their threes against the Cavs again and it’s

Like yeah that happens because like Kevin herder got off nine threes like you can’t let Kevin herder get off nine threes and expect him not to hit any of them so it’s like that’s that’s what I think has been really the mo like really impressive during this stretch and it’s

Not that oh Evan is coming back and they’re going to like he’s going to mess that up it’s more so like is the team philosophy going to revert back to what it was at the beginning of the season and last season where you allowed that

To happen more yeah I think I think I think last season and early this season before the injuries they were trying to funnel everything to their all World Defenders right just send it all there and what they found out during the stretch is hey we can keep Jared Allen

Fresh and out of fou trouble if we just stick our right and now you’re adding another all World Defender who can stick his man so I don’t that’s the area that I don’t think you know um should change much now the challenge is Garland who’s not a

Great defender um because now with with with Mitchell playing point guard essentially um you know and him being committed to defense it looks a little better because they they’re putting a more traditional lineup out there you know with Mitchell at the one and stru

At the two and then Wade you know it’s a it’s a more traditional lineup with Garland you go back to what your your strength is but it’s not traditional um so but but but as long as as long as they are still committed then they should be fine I agree with uh

Everything that you guys said here it it’s going to be an adjustment period um fortunately the schedule is pretty easy here coming up I mean they play the Clippers but then after that they have the Pistons a Spurs game a Wizards game I think the minutes restriction is going

To help ease the whatever adjustments there’s going to be you’re going to have an opportunity to stagger and in a way I’m not sure when Garland will be back but even just having Moy come back first and then reintroducing Garland later hopefully the Cavs will have an

Opportunity to really uh figure all this out and get the awkwardness out of the way uh again with Allen hopefully being able to operate above the break that opens a lot of fun stuff for Moy and I’d like to see if he maybe attacks the offensive glass a little bit if he’s

Going to be down there more often but let’s transition now and I do like that you talk about the rebounding since since since Moy went out uh they’re they’re fourth in the league in offensive rebounding and second and a defensive rebounding that’s something that they weren’t good at either of

Those beforehand and they really improved in both I think in their last 10 games they’re first in both so it’s like can they supplement both sides of the court with that because that’s one of the things where it’s like the offense it’s so much easier to play

Offense when you have oh here’s another chance at it where like last year it was like what’s the point of having two bigs if you’re not reaping the benefits of having those two bigs I think part of that was and you know it sucks but I think part of that was Tristan Thompson

Playing more like he went from playing like three spot minutes you know five minutes here and there to to actually being relied on and I’m not saying he was getting all of the rebounds but like a lot of that help boost your numbers I think it’s obviously Tristan helps but I

Think it’s also important like Jared Allen was I don’t have numbers in front of me but he’s he’s gotten a ton of offensive rebounding during that stretch too and that’s where that’s where I’m more interested to see if that like keeps going it’s like they bought into like the Tristan Thompson philosophy of

Like hey if I’m bigger than these guys and the ball goes up I can I can punish these teams yeah I mean I guess I guess in that Washington game he had like nine and like seven of them came in the third quarter like he well that’s not like an

NBA team so that doesn’t true true but like you know was like oh wow like it’s like he figured it out like hey I can people are scared to rebound against me or whatever like like I can get these and that’s why you know he’s got this

Streak going yeah and a big part of it too is the fact that the Cavs are shooting so many threes I think that makes getting offensive rebounds easier those long ones are a lot easier to get especially with Allen operating a little higher up also when it’s that spaced out

And Donovan is getting downhill Jared Allen’s guy has to come over so when your guy comes over no one’s boxing out Allan I got the rebound you know so like to be on the other side of that for right so and and when you have

Evan there too kind of in that way you don’t have those like this guy is completely open and if the ball comes near him he’s just G to grab it so that’s where it’s like how does that adjust uh when Evan’s back it’s going to be interesting but

Over the last month and a half really the Cavs have had defensive Resurgence they were the best defense in the NBA last year started off a little shaky this year but since then read off a couple stats here they’re giving they’re allowing the fewest points in the NBA

The fewest Second Chance points in the NBA third fewest points in the paint and the fourth fewest three-point makes on the fifth worst three-point percentage the Cavs have been absolutely clamping down on teams I think there’s a bunch of different reasons for it I think Allen being a monster defens rebounder has

Helped a lot uh they’re really limiting teams getting extra opportunities to score uh with Garland out you have more of a rangy switchable team from aoro and Dean Wade being really good point of attack Defenders and better point of attack means Allen isn’t being stretch this thin and he’s able to be that

Defensive anchor and get those rebounds uh and finally Mitchell’s commitment to playing defense he’s been genuinely a positive Defender uh he’s breaking up plays he’s been really disruptive in passing Lanes and he’s turning those into points for the Cavs too he’s in the 88th 88th percentile in transition and

He’s top five in both fast break points and points off turnovers this year so I think it’s really just a perfect storm for the Cavs uh what do you guys think has been the key to their Resurgence on defense I think it’s just kind of I kind

Of talked about it just kind of being able to stay out on Shooters I think has been really big um people talk about opponent shooting luck and they say that it’s more luck based and I I don’t really believe that I believe if you are making Shooters feel your presence

They’re not going to make as many shots as they do when they don’t and obviously there’s games where like someone gets hot and there’s nothing you can do about it but I think that’s what the Cavs have really done well like since the beginning of the new year opponents are

Shooting 34% from three which is really good and they’re also limiting three-point looks the Cavs are I believe they’re eighth in the league in three-point frequency allowed during that stretch and I think that’s something that gets really overlooked when you talk about the like the Cavs defense especially when they’re

Able to pair it with like how good they’re still protecting the rim so they’re still first in the league in a rim uh shooting percentage from opponent so it’s like that’s a deadly combination when you can both protect the rim and the three-point line and last year they

Were doing one but not the other yeah I I think they’re forcing the most mid-range shots in the NBA during the stretch I feel like I saw tweet saying that so don’t quote me but with the stats you just said it’s got to be close they also play some pretty

Terrible shooting teams yeah that helps know like I’m not I’m not trying to downplay what they’ve done because they’ve been at a disadvantage that you don’t lose two starters two All-Star caliber players and just and just think like you’re supposed to go what uh 14

And four 14 and four you know like you don’t think that right so I don’t want to downplay that but they they got the Wizards twice they got Detroit Spurs one thing I will say is we were at that that Portland game in the beginning of the year where they were

Just like oh we’re just not going to get out onto Shooters in the second half and it was like Portland just made like every three and it was like oh this is an outlier shooting night and it’s like no no one’s covering these guys that’s why they’re making all these threes so

It’s like that’s where that’s where I’m impressed even though like in the like in the aggregate it’s like it’s not really impressive of beating the Pistons and Spurs but they’re not getting those stupid like shooting performances against them which just happened all the time they did it to Orlando and

Milwaukee too in that stretch which well Orlando Orlando can’t Orlando doesn’t shoot yeah can’t shoot just just all around locked them down right yeah yeah no and I like and I think it’s something to be said like I don’t want to say like they were using NBA games as scrimmages

You know what I’m saying like testing things out but like in a way kind of what happened like they said okay look what we were doing at the beginning of the year was not working let’s try something new and we have the talent to win these games anyway and we have the

Excuse of if these games go bad we don’t have two guys like we’re we’re missing two guys so like but the but what happened was they found something it worked and now we have the hottest team in the NBA yeah one thing I think is interesting is that like it’s when you

Look back at this run you’re like oh the Cavs played great defense that’s why they’re still winning and it’s like the first two weeks of their run they played pretty horrid defense it’s only since like January since like the new year it was like that’s when things flipped

Especially after that Toronto game I think that’s where things like really changed and that’s where it’s like I feel like that’s where the team has found something more than like oh let’s shoot threes because it’s like in the beginning of the year that’s all JB bersoff was saying like let’s shoot

Threes let’s shoot thre let’s shoot threes preon he was saying that right and he wasn’t saying like hey let’s like let’s guard the three-point line better or let’s have more Integrity when like in how we handle drives so like that’s that’s the thing that I’m really most

Interested to see if that sticks because it’s like they’ve always wanted Garland to shoot more threes it wasn’t like they were like yes Garland we’re very happy you’re taking four threes a game this is phenomenal please keep it up you know oh yes we love that you’re turning it over

Every two plays like that’s great you know so like they didn’t they didn’t want that but they all but like the defensive philosophy is what’s actually changed during the stretch yeah I mean like like I you you you kind of had to you know one thing

One thing about it like you know you look at this team and outside of Jared Allen and Evan Mobley and maybe Tristan Thompson like these guys like Dean Wade is decent Isaac Koro is making a lot of people apologize you know because if you do not need to apologize I will say

His offense is actually like kind of worse than it was last year he’s shooting worse at the rim and worse from three and but they’re not as riant on him is the key right so it doesn’t it doesn’t hurt as much yeah but if if they played him in a

Playoff series you still have these guard him you don’t have to like it’s still a problem but right now he being masked and and he’s that’s what I’m saying it was massed in the regular season last so like my concern no no my concern is they didn’t have any

Backups they didn’t have a samrow or you know they did have Sam they just didn’t play him I told them to they tried to play Danny Green that’s how desperate they were do that too that’s um but like you so like right now it seems like it’s going to be Cavs and

Nicks again it seems like that’s the most likely outcome who do you want on Jaylen Brunson the whole time you want Isaac aoro well who do you but it’s not gonna be possible for the for the right and that’s because the offense because his offensive progression is still he’s

Pretty much the same guy on offense I think he’s he’s playmaking more he’s playmaking more which is really cool but he’s not like he’s not developed his game where he’s like handling the ball above the break or like doing anything besides like I’m gonna attack in transition if I don’t get it in

Transition I’m just going to leak out to the corner and then we’re just going to like kind of go from there and that’s where I’m still concerned about this team because it’s like well if they were able to trust Isaac aoro on Jaylen Brunson last year they

Probably don’t have any of these issues that they had but they couldn’t because the Knicks just ignored him so I also think that him returning from injury and he also just happened to miss like his first four shots in that Series so I don’t want to I don’t want to start the

Whole Coro discussion we’re already 45 minutes in I’m just say it’s the same ISS little better I think he’s looking a little more confident he has been used in slightly different ways and the most important thing to me is just that they don’t need him to be a for spacer

Anywhere near as badly as they did last year last year he was that third guy where like if he’s not gonna hit that corner three it’s over you can’t play him now it’s like we can put stru in and AO is gonna be a guy coming off the

Bench playing spot minutes being 10 12 minutes a night and he’s gonna be in there for one is a coral the guy coming off the bench so like so Dean okay oh uh well when they’re fully healthy it would be stru yeah and then I would have a cororo

I’ve always said you you haven’t heard this comparison yet I’ve always said aoro to me is like boneless Andre Iguodala on the Warriors you bring him in maybe you can play small ball lineups with him you have him play defense run in transition and hopefully by the time

He reaches his prime he’ll be able to playmake a little more again I’m not saying andreala that’s the RO I said boneless for a reason that’s the role that you would want him to play he like hey complimenting everyone around I’ve said this before listen not to me part of the

Yes I have part of the Resurgence I’ll say this part of the Resurgence is they’re getting steals which is what Isaac aoro is good at like so he can run run in transition um it’s the half court offense that is to Jackson’s Point very concerning now I will say in the

Beginning of the year I would always lean over to Jackson and I would say why is a coral literally going to the one one side of the floor and he would not move here L he would just stand there for the entire possession and it was it

Was killing me and that’s when I started I hate a coral however I never went that far I did I did at that time recently though um you’ve seen him move you’ve seen him cut you’ve seen him make make B like what I uh Jackson used to always

Say he just needs to make a basketball play he would he’s making those plays now so if he’s going to do that you can’t ignore him because he’s still good enough to get to the rim make things happen so you know but if they’re gonna if they’re gonna get steals if Donovan

Mitchell is gonna lead lead the east in steals you know things like that if that’s gonna hold up then auro will be fine I think the problem is they still need like the best version of this team is like oh you have Jaylen Brenson sweet we have Isaac okoro oh you have Damen

Lillard sweet we have Isaac okoro and if you can’t put if you can’t match Jaylen Brunson and Isaac OK coro’s minutes which obviously I don’t think you want to play like Isaac ooro 41 minutes but if you’re not if you’re not like starting and ending games with Isaac

Okoro you’re still in the same spot you were in before because what good does maxu is shooting do if he’s on the bench because it’s not like you’re gonna be like oh Darius sorry you’re not playing we have Max dreu now so and that’s that’s where I’m like the problem is

Still the same even though like it looks better during the stretch because obviously Dean Wade is out there and not Evan Moy so it feels like there’s more room for Isaac to do those cuts because and that’s where maybe Jared Allen handling the ball more that alleviates

Some of these issues but I think kind of some of the still the still like the higher level issues are still kind of there and maybe it’s just you maybe it’s just hey we trust Donovan to play better defense yeah I me look they’re they’re not they’re not a fixed team they’re still

Flawed right they’re still they still have flaws they still have things that you’re like uh yeah if they could get a a legitimate three and D guy um that is a starter level player I think they would explore that um but if this is the Rost if this is the guys that they’re

Going to go go with if this is the group there’s ways to get around it JB’s GNA have to just play with the lineups a little more you know yeah and that’s that’s but I think aoro has gotten better throughout the year but he’s not where to Jackson point he’s not

Where Cavs need yeah he’s still not where I wouldn’t start him as I said uh I do think he’s been better than last year I think he’s still a developing player had up from last year true yeah and and really even if it’s just a result of having a little extra spacing

Around him with Wade out there that’s why I think if he’s coming off the bench hopefully you’re staggering The Bigs and you’ll still be putting him in the best position for him to be able to handle the ball a little bit but the good thing the Cavs have other options now they

Don’t have to play Danny Green they don’t have to say Jetty we know you were mostly riding the bench most of the season but now you’re gonna play playoff minutes hopefully now have to ride the bench the whole season that’s true I I do agree with that but there there was

Reason we don’t need to open up another Jetty discussion too now it we’ll be here all day there they do have more more options but I still like Isaac okor was so good on defense and I think it’s sucks that you can’t keep him out there right this stretch

Highlights how good he is on defense and I think that’s what’s you’re just like every night you’re just like man like he’s really good on defense when he’s kind of given the ability to do that and then you don’t notice him on offense like whereas before you definitely

Noticed him and not in a good way so I think that’s where like the biggest difference is and that’s where it’s that’s where I’m kind of like man like I just wish you could just put them out there and say Hey you know Jaylen Brunson have

Fun yeah I’m right there with you uh we’ll definitely have to talk more about a quo and that hold themma because I think it’s gonna be as we get closer to the playoffs that’s going to be a big X Factor for this Cavs team but that’s

Gonna do it for this episode of the junkyard pod thank you Jason for coming on it was great talking some Cavs thank you to everyone who watches and listens please consider subscribing and go Cavs I agree go Cavs thank you Brian

Evan Mobley is set to make his return Monday night against the LA Clippers. On this episode of The Junkyard Pod, we discuss Mobley’s return, recap the Cavs mini-series with Milwaukee and the keys to their defensive resurgence.

– Recap Cavs/Bucks series
– Mobley’s Return (15:20)
– Defensive Resurgence (34:20)

The Junkyard Pod is hosted by Tony Pesta and Jackson Flickinger. Our special guest, Jayson Richardson, can be found writing for North East Ohio Sports Insiders! Follow him on Twitter:
Tweets by TheJayRichShow_

Please subscribe to The Junkyard Pod wherever you get your podcasts!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3u861R7…
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id…

Follow us on Twitter!
Tony – https://twitter.com/Tony_Pesta
Jackson – https://twitter.com/Akron_Jackson
Corey – https://twitter.com/Common_Cor

Fear The Sword:
https://www.fearthesword.com/

Right Down Euclid:

Home

#CAVS #nba #CLEVELAND #Basketball #Sports #Cavaliers #ClevelandCavaliers #CavsNews

Cleveland Cavaliers. Cavs News. NBA News. Cleveland. Cleveland Cavaliers news. Jimmy Butler. Miami Heat. Bam Adebayo. Damian Lillard trade rumors. Damian Lillard news. Miami Heat trades. NBA trades. Tyler Herro. Max Strus. NBA Finals. NBA Playoffs. NBA Tiers. NBA Rankings. NBA ranks. Philadelphia 76ers. James Harden. James Harden trades. Joel Embiid. MVP. Embiid. 76ers news. Heat news. Bucks news. Boston Celtics. Celtics news. Evan Mobley. Darius Garland. Donovan Mitchell. Jarrett Allen. Donovan Mitchell news. Donovan Mitchell contract. Basketball. ESPN. ESPN Cleveland. CLE. NBA. Jrue Holiday trade. Emoni Bates. Isaac Okoro. The Chasedown Podcast. Locked On Cavs. Across Cavaliers. It’s Cavalier Podcast. Cavaliers Podcast. Cavs Podcast. Cavs Pod.