Chase Down Podcast Live, presented by fubo: Big Returns in Clips Win

Chase Down Podcast Live, presented by fubo: Big Returns in Clips Win

Rises to its feet Theo slammed it home garlet left wing free ball perfect gar of the lane lock the Bly Po and Allen blocked the shot at The Rim Pow with the left hand and a foul welcome to chase down podcast part of the Cavs media family I’m your host

Justin Rowan the chase down is presented by fubo the official streaming partner of the Cavs watch over 350 channels of live sports and TV including balet Sports Ohio without cable there’s no cost and no commitment try for free at fubotv.com Cavs the Cleveland Cavaliers are on a three-game winning streak with

Back-to-back wins over the Milwaukee Bucks and the LA Clippers Evan Moy has returned to the Cavs I have returned to the podcast my singing has been added to the YouTube channel before we went live and joining me and joining me today is my co-host Carter Rodriguez Carter how

You doing buddy listen you know when when I had to run everything while you were gone I you know and you’re back so I’m like oh I get take my foot off the gas and I forgot to mute us uh for the entire intro so if you’re uh if you’re

Watching on YouTube enjoy also um you’re not game she you’re not in game sheep shape either because uh we are in a two game winning streak Oh I thought there was a third ah dang you know what I these are the bums these are the bumps and bruises

When you try to reintegrate a major piece Carter I got to say you did a phenomenal job uh filling in for me I really enjoyed listening those podcasts I don’t think people re realize how difficult it is to do a solo podcast um you you were just bang on on the money

Really enjoyed it Serena uh M Tai everyone that filled in really really appreciated it and I got to say it is great it to see the Cavs play this well it’s great to see Evan Moy play uh be back in the lineup and I can’t help it

When I go away and good things happen as a superstitious person I can’t help but blame myself for it so for the cows to get wins over Milwaukee and the Clippers with me back in Winnipeg here I I just feel better I it it helps my mental

Health a little bit well and I’m glad it does buddy um you know uh because uh our boy Bob Schmidt was ready to to have you taken out uh if uh If This Were to I want a proper apology from him I want a proper apology after this one because

That honestly out it’s between that Clippers win or the win in Philly uh with the inseason tournament uh without Donovan Mitchell those are the two best wins in my opinion that the Cavs have had this season so that one in particular I think is so much fun and

Doesn’t it seem like every year we have a city Edition signature win at home like I feel like the Cavs always play well in whatever their City Edition jerseys are uh I think they’ve had a couple bucks wins in them it just seems like every time they go to one of these

Alternates the Cavs play some of their best basketball the season well if the Cavs would stop creating such a banger looks you know like the guys can’t help themselves uh yeah I mean ultimately unbelievably fun I I think you could comfortably say the these are the best

Two wins of the Season beating Milwaukee at full strength and the Clippers at full strength it was third and four nights for the clippers but the easy side of it where they did have a day off yesterday um so you know compared to most three and four nights that’s a

That’s that’s a comparably more you know palatable one uh I just think they’re playing unbelievably resilient ball again I don’t really think anyone’s having bad games um they’re getting help in all sorts of ways playing all sorts of styles you know you go uh to Milwaukee uh after really getting St out

Star powerered in that first game uh and then you just execute the crap out of that game you put the clamps on on uh Giannis and Dame in the second half uh and and kill their drop coverage and then you go to the play the Clippers who

Are just switching you to death and that’s a culture shock change and the fact that the Cavs are able to put up aund 120 offensive rating um getting up 43s despite the fact that you know for all the hand ringing about Evan Moy coming back and by the way Sam Marl only

Plays seven minutes it’s clearly like a rough match up for him right out of the gate he doesn’t end up coming back and you know doesn’t get up a single three-point attempt still gets up the team still gets up 43s uh and has a really really nice offensive outing

Against one of the best teams in the NBA right now uh that’s playing as well as anyone just blew the breaks off of Boston in their last game so you can’t help but just feel like everything’s coming together we looked at this upcoming schedule and I I posted on

Twitter you this seven game strateg I was like man if they go through three and four I’ll be happy if they finish above 500 I’ll be thrilled they go six and one I just I I just don’t even know I don’t even know where to start because I’m just I’m just so

Geeked well I mean it’s incredibly impressive like you look at where the Cavs are at this point you got 38 games left if you basically like break it down into 10 game sections cuz that’s how I like to look at the NBA season if you just go like seven and three through

Each of those stretches you’re going to win like 55 games you’re going to have a chance at being like the two or three seed and when you look at how difficult their schedule was for the first half of the Season you can’t help but feel that

This is a real opportunity now you can’t count your chickens before they’re hatched uh we got Detroit coming up here and and they just blew the brakes off of OKC like there is no gimme games in the NBA and it’s going to take maintaining Focus but if you’re going to talk about

Reintegrating Moy who’s going to be on a minute restriction for a while reintegrating Darius Garland who’s going I assume is going to be on a minutes restriction and it’s going to take him some time to find his form being able to do that against a lighter portion of your schedule is

Certainly advantageous and to me the thing that jumps out about this Clippers game is this is possibly the worst team to reintroduce EV mobia Games especially in a game without Darius Garland like when you’re out with with Donovan Mitchell Max dreu Isaac okoro mobl and Allen you

Would think okay this is a very switch heavy team it’s a team that features big wings in a lot of length the type of matchup that we have questions against uh both def defensively how can we do against big wings and also how can our offense get going against the switching

Defense against the team with this kind of length and for the Cavs you know there were times where it looked a little uneven to start but at the end of the day like they I think they they passed with with flying marks like they were still committed to the system they were

Not allowing themselves to get bogged down and they didn’t I think what really jumped out was they didn’t hold on to the ball too long the the ball had momentum throughout the night and I think that’s why you saw it be so hard for a stout tyo defense to to slow this

Offense down yeah I think the other I mean I think in the macro this is why the this wind felt so good is I that the Clippers played an awesome game like Kawai was playing Superstar Kawai basketball um there are not a lot of players who can take uh Isaac cororo in

Isolation walk them to a spot and hit a fade away over them you know like in in out muscle um you know I I thought they I thought Norm Powell had an awesome game Off the Bench Amir coffee was awesome Russ gave them really really good minutes and and yet I think the

Cavs just took their their best punch and and withstood it and you know and then some you know obviously they they did way more than withstand it they they won I mean that third you know the first half I thought was kind of ugly and and

And kind of slow beat him up basketball but you look at the third quarter you it was a 2932 quarter and I I mean that was a uh that was just like watching one of those old fights from like the Rocky movies where like you they’re just Landing like 40 Haymakers

Around like they were going back and forth and back and forth and the Cavs just kept having answers they ended up winning that quarter by three and I thought that’s really where they won the game um obviously it was close the whole way um you know it’s not a double

Digigit win that that looks like a double digit win that’s going to juice your point differential and all that fun stuff like that was not an easy win by any means at any point and I just I was just so proud of the result zilian of

The of the of the group yeah I made an ill time joke in in our Discord uh during the game threads where um you know we we had that game against Milwaukee where the Bucks got it I believe within seven at multiple stretches in the fourth quarter and I

Was like it’s too bad this doesn’t count as a clutch win because it never got within five and I made the same joke this time around and of course the Clippers had to actually cut it down to five and and I think they got it down to

Within four so was a clutch win for the Cavs and um you know Jared Allen jumps off the page Donovan Mitchell was phenomenal tonight and I actually want to start with Mitchell because I I think too frequently uh we can kind of take for granted what he’s bringing to the

Table I just really feel like this is the best version of Donovan Mitchell that I’ve seen uh throughout this stretch his ability to play on and off ball and one of the possessions that really stood out to me was late in the game I I forget how many points the Cs

Were up I think it was within two possessions but they had maxu bringing up the ball the ball got to Caris and Donovan was setting the ball screen for Carris I think earlier in the year that’s a situation where Donovan’s absolutely bringing up the ball and you might not

Get other people involved uh I think that was actually the one that ended up resulting in a defense of 3 seconds uh in the key for the Clippers um but I I just like that more players are getting involved even though he you know comes out with this big scoring performance he

Has the 12 assist I don’t feel like the ball is sticking in his hands and that’s what gives me so much confidence that this is a style that’s going to be able to continue to work when Darius is back when when you’re using Moy as a hub at times like

I I just think the ball having the momentum that it does is so important he was unbelievable in this one I mean uh 12 assists to two turnovers um the famous mediocre lob thrower uh hits Moy on to get his I believe it was moy’s first bucket maybe it was his second of

Of the game on a on a gorgeous uh dime in semi transition his playmaking has just been off the charts you know uh he is really in control again this is the Clippers are playing a defense that should kind of have been designed to muck it up especially when they went centerless

Down the stretch yeah and he was just very patient tonight I thought I thought his patience in reading of the game was really really at a high level um you know he found the right spots to attack he found the right spots he didn’t just attack he didn’t just try to find the

Worst Defender you know like I feel like there’s a version of Donnie that just calls for a James Harden switch over and over and over again right and and you know dribbles into mid-rangers I don’t think he did that um you know for I I saw some hand ringing about the Cavs

Going to a prevent offense I thought the Clippers were playing amazing defense down the stretch um and it’s really really hard to generate buckets when uh a team that big and switchy is being big and switchy you know uh you know i’ I’ve talked a lot about how I kind of feel

Like the Warriors have forgotten what made them so special like they were this team that was yeah they played small in the front court but in the back court they were enormous you know they no Steph was the smallest player then was just a a parade of 67 68 you know Wings

Siiz guys who could switch and now they’re just chalk full of 61 guards who aren’t even that athletic um the Clippers right now can kind of play that you know that 16 warrior style where they can just you you can run a really great set like the Cavs at one point in

The third quarter ran a set that took like eight nine seconds and the result of the set was a pin down for Donnie that got Kawai switched on to Donnie it was like ah and Donnie got the ball to the top of the arc was like a crap and

They just ended up switching it back like they burned so much clock just to get a worse outcome than attacking straight on and like it’s really hard to attack a set defense you know so even if you get get you know ADV advantageous switches it’s really hard so the fact that the Cavs

Scored 30 against a centerless Clippers when they also downshifted and moved okoro at the four like I thought that was really really impressive I thought they were figuring out how to slip they were figuring out they really had to they had to think through this win they

Had to Think Through executing on their way to a victory they couldn’t just like run their pet stuff and Achieve positive results like this is I still think the defensive structure that they have the hardest time with because they don’t have those Mashers in the post who can

Just beat you up especially with Evan on a on a minutes restriction so I was just really proud of their execution and I think that all starts with Donovan because if Donovan wants to be a guy who just dribbles into mid-range ERS or you know dribbles into three guys as the

Team as the defense collapses he has that right to do that and he has that kind of equity within the offense so the fact that they didn’t do that and scored 30 points and closed out the Clippers uh I’m just really proud of them yeah and I

Agree like I I think this is probably right now the type of defense that I’m most interested to see the C play and I mean the unfortunate thing is not a lot of teams have the Personnel to do this uh so you’re not going to get a lot of

Examples of that but like we’ve had questions about how the Cavs will attack drop um especially you know when when you take away the passing options and and I just feel like that hasn’t been as much of a thing this year like I think they’ve done a good job whether that’s

You know Jarett being willing to take those shots whether that’s uh just the benefit of having more spacing and movements and the dribble handoffs and actions that the Cavs are able to create but it’s this kind of switching defense that I’m really interested to see because this is probably going to be a

The I think the team that is most capable of doing this is Boston and that’s probably the Cav’s tou toughest matchup in the Eastern Conference this year um I’ve liked how Cavs have matched up with Boston in the past I no longer have that kind of level of confidence

Because I just think that right now is clearly the best team in the East um but I I don’t know if I would I I think I agree with your analysis where I don’t think it was prevent defense from or offense from the Cavs late in the game

Like I think they were going earlier in the shot clock and you just had a lot of actions blown up whereas in the past I think the Cavs would have waited until there’s like 8 n seconds in the shot clock to run their first action and then

Something gets blown up and you just have an isolation attempt the other thing that I really liked was that they did push in transition late in games even knowing that hey like the clock is our friend right now when they had an opportunity to you know headman the ball

And get out and generate opportunities in those ways they went for it because they understand that attacking a a set defense is hard in the best of times forget when it’s one like the Clippers and you know some of them just didn’t work out where like Isaac had the the

Shovel to to ja and he just missed the layup uh Donovan had a a couple uh you know threes that kind of rimmed in and out so like I I felt like there was just you know those little things that could have gone their way but I I thought

Overall they they had the right approach when it came to the fourth quarter yeah uh by the way I I and you know Isaac gets credit for that he scores 17 in the first half doesn’t score a point in the second half I I guess he showed him

Everything he need to show him uh but uh you know I really liked his transition push um that didn’t yield results and by the way James Hardon was definitely trying to take a take foul on that on that transition attack that Isaac ended up um I thought he got fouled like three

Times on that attack so um really really liked um really really liked the way they were attacking and uh I got to give JB some flowers here I was not so sure about the offense defense Subs those always angst me a little you know it’s just like such a weird Rhythm thing to

Go from like I’m in I’m out I’m in I’m out um and uh George Yang I thought IC the game with with his with his drive from the corner and then pass to Jarrett for the and one now Jared didn’t make the free throw but um I just I I thought George played

Is going to this is going to be a weird qualifier so so bear with me buddy okay I thought George played his best game of the year that where he didn’t shoot well he goes he goes three of 10 from the field two of seven from three you know

Only has two boards and one assist but I thought he made like 10 winning plays on on the floor uh got ised against Kawai twice kawhai thought he had he had food in front of him did not score on either possession um I thought he helped at the right times I thought

He Outlet at the right times I thought he pushed at the right times I just think George played a really good game and uh obviously you know it it’s one of those quiet box score games that like are not going to is not going to draw a ton of attention

You know 10 two and one but I was really really pleased with his effort and uh I think there’s a reason he was plus 12 I feel like normally if George is three of 10 in 20 minutes he is not plus 12 yeah yeah that’s a good point and I agree

Like he was definitely getting under guy skin too which was kind of amusing to watch there was one point I think it was in the second quarter where uh JB put weight in for him because I was I I think he had cross the line from like chirping getting under the opponent skin

To I need a second to cool down so I can continue being effective in playing Team Basketball cuz I’m so like caught up in this situation uh but like uh George also had that that play that you know it didn’t go his way where he uh broke it

Up in transition and went off uh the LA players lap basically and they didn’t call possession Cavs but you know it was still a great effort in this scenario I thought there was multiple times where you could tell like whether it’s James Harden or Paul George they’re like I

Have George Nang in space I’m going to try to get something going and I thought he he did a good job holding his own and I thought the Cavs can I say this real real quick you know in all the ways it’s not a great match up for Sam Marl it’s

Kind of a good matchup for George you know kawhai would rather bully James Harden would RA in space would rather bully um you know Paul George is not a StraightLine Drive kind of player like it was kind of a weirdly good matchup for him and um on the defensive end and

It’s not like and I’m sure if you were in a seven game series they would find ways to to attack him on that Flor but like this one I thought he kind of pushed all the right buttons yeah and it’s funny because by the way we’re talking about George

Nang’s defense before we talked about Isaac o coro’s defense I I I want to talk about the team’s defense overall though because these are the type of matchups that are question marks right when you’re you’re playing big wings when you’re playing a against guys that are able to

Potentially take advantage of the caka size on the perimeter or theor ically you know the defense of Evan Mobley against big wings right like that that’s something that we’ve talked about as hey is this something that the Cavs are going to be able to do when they play

Against Jason Tatum at power forward or or you know off of a switch if Boston’s going bigger and I thought Mo even though he was Rusty at times I thought he did a terrific job in space staying with those guys and and not fouling I thought George did a good job in space

And not fouling um and then obviously Isaac okoro well no matter who he was matched up on I thought he did just a tremendous job uh throughout this game I thought his defense on James Harden in the first half was phenomenal uh there was instances where he you know he

Matched up on Kawhi Leonard and and forced him into tough shots where you know maybe you’d like to see a little more help defense coming but um in terms of you know straight up and sticking to your base that was about as good as you

Can get um but I just think it it’s funny he’s just turned 23 years old happy birthday to both him and Darius Garland and I think you’re seeing basically what we had hoped to see from Isaac Coral which is the defense has always been there it continues to get better in you

Know subtle ways but that was always just such a a high floor for him where you knew he was going to make an impact you knew he was going to be a great point of attack Defender and now you’re seeing the impact kind of round out

Overall where he came skying in for some rebounds he took confident three-pointers in this game and what I love from him is his ability to keep his head up when he’s driving like I I think that’s so important like he had a Defender actually leave their feet and

Jump out closing out on him and and appropriately attacked and dro the ball off for for an assist like he’s doing all the connector type stuff that you really want to see because in the past when it was okay he’s the third best shooter in the starting lineup the

Conversation got so boiled down to just whether or not he’s taking shots whether he’s making shots is it enough shots that he’s taking now that he’s hitting a good percentage when you have volume guys and players that are confident to take threes at every other positions he can

Take two to four three-point attempts and it doesn’t really matter because he’s impacting game in so many different ways and the more Talent that’s around him the better he looks my my prophecy of small for Tristan Thompson is coming to fruition where the more Talent is

There the better his game is and the more that those nuances matter yeah I mean I just think he’s playing the best ball of his career at large um and even more importantly the best defense of his career like you know it’s funny in all of the times we’ve talked about Isaac

And all the ways we’ve prognosticated the ways his game might grow the things he needs to work on one thing that we’ve never ever discussed is that the defense would get better you know like we’ve always kind of just assumed at least maybe maybe I’m speaking for you a

Little bit but I’ve always assumed some degree of like he’s already so good there’s not that much room to grow I I mean he had he had zero personal fouls tonight as James Harden’s primary Defender and when he wasn’t guarding James he was guarding kaai when he wasn’t guarding kawhai he was guard

Guarding Paul George when he wasn’t guarding Paul George he was guarding Norm pal like the the matchup line yeah the the matchups were exclusively super duper hard and super duper good at getting the line and the fact that he’s just playing lock down defense I mean he’s he’s meaningfully affecting the other team’s

Chances of competing you know when your engine cannot get Buckets you know this is part of the reason why the Knicks have been playing so well since they trade over OG is when you get a 99th percentile Defender everything just gets better everything gets everything just gets so

Much gunier and the fact that I think Isaac is a big reason the team was at the top of the defensive charts while Evan was gone and you know we’ve spent a lot of time Dean yes yeah absolutely and Dean by the way man I I actually I’m

Probably G to go uh hunting uh after this to find some clips that it was a help defense Clinic from Dean Wade just digging at all the right times but you know I we’ve spent a lot of time talking about how Sam Merill has to has

To has to stay in the rotation you know over and over and over again we’ve just we’ve H we’ve obsessed about that and you know we probably need to say the same thing about Isaac okoro in a different way in so far as like he needs to

Be he needs to be like a 25 minute a game player because he just bring something the rest of the team doesn’t have yeah yeah I I think and when you talk about like closing lineups I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s going to be times where Isaac’s closing at at

Small forward right like even though you know I think Max stru has been phenomenal in the clutch this season like on both ends of the floor um like I think there’s going to be instances especially when you’re protecting a lead that Isaac can just go out there and

Make that kind of impact and I think you know we talked about how the Cav went from one of the worst defensive teams in the league uh for for a few years there throughout the the rebuild to you draft Evan Mobly and all of a sudden you’re a top five defense and

Then you’re the best defense in the League last year and once again you’re you’re right up there this year but Isaac’s role doesn’t get talked about a ton within that and you know I I think so often with defense just because we don’t have as much of an

Understanding where guys are supposed to be on every single position we don’t understand the nuances of it we typically look at whether the opponent made or missed their shot and just kind of work our way backwards from there like I I think too often we talk about

It as just like a check mark of okay do you do defense or do you not do defense and and there’s so much more to it where Isaac was always someone that could stay with his guy really well uh screen navigation I think he’s one of the best

In the league at that um but now he’s doing a better job of making guys uncomfortable without fouling and so much of that is studying the film anticipating where guys are going to be beating them to those spots without reaching um like I I just think he’s

Getting to all of those spots just a half second quicker than he was before and that is probably the biggest factor in terms of him not getting called for those fouls versus oh you know he’s building a reputation or whatever like there were times where it was

Legitimately a 50/50 call and he’s not going to get those he’s making it very clear by getting there so early that I have established my position as a Defender and I I think he’s being rewarded for that so I I I completely agree like I I don’t think this Cav’s

Defense is what it is with without what Isaac hore brings yeah uh he’s just been really cool man it’s been really cool I feel like well you know we angst from time to time uh as Cavs fans and like one thing I’ve always anged a little bit

About is like okay like we’re pretty sure he’s a great defender but like like how Elite is he cuz it he has to be really really really Elite you know with some of the limitations he has and like it feels like he is moving this season into that like into that 99th percentile

Especially on guys you know six seven or smaller like it just kind of feels like their water’s going to get shut off and like I I feel like no matter what the spacing of the lineups are like you just need guys like that at the highest level

Um yeah and I I really want to I want to see him continue to get run we haven’t talked about Evan yet oh my goodness I mean we we talked a little bit about him but you know what what Isaac is able to do at the point of attack like it’s just

So much better when you have that backline protection when you have that support of a guy like evm just like this podcast is better with the support we get from Zoom support for this podcast and the following message comes from Zoom half a million businesses Connect using Zoom a single platform for phone

Chat workspaces events apps and video Zoom enables real-time collaboration for teams around the globe Zoom how the world connects Carter I did not want to jump into an Evan M segment because I I knew once we we get going it’s going to go too long I wasn’t

Going to be able to get the zoom read but here’s a funny thing a Cav team that’s playing well did not get worse by adding a great player to it in fact when you add great talent to an already great team that’s playing really really good basketball you know what you get

Gter what do you get uhoh the Cavs are playing playoff basketball yeah we’re back baby I I could not be more excited about Evan Moy being back JB bicker staff hinted at Darius Garland not being far away uh as well I I just think that this is a

Perfect time to to bring them in and you know even though Mooby at times looked at you know a halfstep slow on some of the rotations there were times where he just wasn’t in the best position like that kind of i1 Mo where you expect him

To be position and it just didn’t matter because he’s such a freak athlete he’s able to get that second jump uh at you know that 99 percentile level which I I think his ability to jump like a pogo stick is of his best attributes and his ability to cover ground with with his

Arms and impact trajectory of shots like right off the bat you had that possession where Jared Allen went flying out at Kawhi Leonard uh bit on a pump fake and Moy was right there to get up into kawhai space didn’t leave his feet and get suckered into the foul kawhai

Throws up a floater the trajectory is completely altered by Moy being there and then Allen comes flying in to clean up the defensive rebound like that’s that kind of Defense of synergy and the partnership that makes this cast defense so special and um you know you could

Tell Moy started get a little more confident as the game went on I love seeing him immediately bringing up the ball on on possessions where he gets those defensive rebounds I I I want that to continue to be a feature of this Cav’s offense and it’s just so much fun

To see him because you just know that it’s going to get better from here like he’s shaking off the Russ and already making an impact yeah we’re up to we’re back to 48 minutes of elite defense uh or Elite Rim protection on the floor at

All times um I like that he snagged a couple deep seals and just finished um when when he when he caught the ball in in that position I thought that you’re right there were there was some Rust stuff like flying at Daniel Ty on a close out it’s like buddy you you can

Chop your feet a little bit on that one um you know so there a few times got out of position but again I thought he did did a really really nice job uh even his Rim attacks that ended up in travels I was like okay that’s fine you’re playing

With it uh you’re you’re figuring things out and like that’s all you can ask for in the end um yeah just really really awesome to have him back it’s only going to get better um and again they they got up 43 so you know any any hand ringing

About style of play uh kind of goes out the window in yet another uh really dominant defensive rebounding game he p and Jarrett combined for 26 defensive rebounds uh uh I’m sorry that’s not true 21 defensive rebounds which is still quite good uh the the Clifford had 31 uh

Combined as a team um and I still feel like that is no you’re right oh 26 total rebound defensive rebounds is what I’m looking at um I just you kind of look at the fact that this is a team that was dead last in defensive rebound right

After the All-Star break and boy did it look like it then they go and play the Knicks they get you know they get rebounded uh you know it it’s the only thing that saves the Knicks offensive rating is how horrible the rebound rate is and they come back with pretty much the

Same Personnel uh up front you know well actually frankly worse Personnel they swap out you know a Kevin Love and a lot of Dean Wade minutes for a lot of George Nang minutes and uh and and you know some Max drewman who’s not a famously good rebounder and they’re back up in

The near the top of the league in defensive rebound rate so you know it just goes to show you some of this stuff is maybe some of it scheme some of us just want to and will and realizing that like hey we suck at this we’re not good

Enough at this with our base personnel and like we can’t rely on a Bruiser to come in and save our rebound rate we just got to get better and like some of that’s just them getting stronger but like man Jarrett was high pointing defensive boards in this game game uh I

Think Mobly one-handed High pointed and and squeezing the orange as well like the Clippers are not an enormous team up front but they do play a lot of 68 dudes with crazy long arms uh and like they were batting at the ball and if you did

Not come down with it hard with with with both hands you know very strong around the ball it was going to come loose and I thought Jarrett was just awesome on the boards I thought Evan who is a by the way like yeah they’re going to miss Tristan’s offensive rebounding

Evan is a much better defensive rebounder than Tristan right now and that showed as well uh La only had six offensive boards in this game yeah and and you look at it I I think the team effort on the defensive glass really matters like uh obviously Jared Allen

And Evan Moy I think they both have improved uh for Allen his defensive rebound rate is up to the 92nd percentile up from the 90th Mo’s up up to 91 from 88 so you know those subtle little improvements that that can make a big difference in the aggregate uh but

Then you got Dean Wade 73rd percentile like him being healthy makes a real big difference George nang’s up to the 70th like he’s contributing Max stru is right there you know the 50th percentile but that was a guy that was kind of in in the bottom when when you look last year

In Miami so all of these guys are contributing in those ways Isaac a Coral’s crashing the glass Donovan Mitchell is crashing the glass like that all makes a big difference because as much as we talk about where teams rank within the league when it comes to these

Stats the margins are often so damn thin like we talked about that with like three-pointers attempted and made even though the Cavs were near the bottom it really didn’t take a lot to get them up to the top 10 um when you look at defensive rebounds per game it’s a six

Rebound difference when when you look at like the top of the league and the 30th team just being like that much better in the margins can make such a big difference because the parody that we see in the NBA means you have to you can’t have those weak spots like the the

Slightest little difference can be the difference between you know a very talented team that just has that one fatal flaw that that gets exposed and a team that looks much better positioned to to make a deep playoff run assuming that they can kind of Jael and make the

Most of these last 38 games man it really is feeling like they’re they’re ready to make the most of it you know um as I mentioned on one of the more recent pods that this upcoming stretch is a different test of culture as the team gets healthy as guys start losing

Minutes you know a guy like Sam Marell has to keep his head up after only getting seven minutes like it didn’t matter what the matchup was two weeks ago Sam merell was going to get us 20 yeah and all of a sudden it just it’s going to change it’s going to get harder

It’s going to be tighter guys who have earned time or not going to get that time um and they’re going up against a stretch of pretty rough opponents you know they’re they’re these are all you know they they shouldn’t I don’t think they’ll be a underdog in a game for a

Minute and if they are it’ll be like a one or a two-point Underdog yeah and you know this is a team that really had their ups and downs I think back to that Portland loss and that really ugly Detroit win like they are not above rough play against teams they should

Beat I want to see them just keep it keep the good times rolling because the reality is they are in a dog fight at the top of the East right now they they are they are 15 and four in their last 19 games and they’re the five seed right

Now because New York is scorching hot uh however with that said they are only one loss behind uh or two losses behind Milwaukee for the two seed right now yeah and one back of Philly right like even though New York is ahead of the Cavs Cavs still are up a game in the

Loss column which that matters more because you can’t make up losses but you can make up wins um and like there’s a real opportunity here like the next kind of toughest game on the schedule is basically the the Kings game uh and I believe Sacramento is playing third and

Four in that situation as well or it’s like the seventh game of their road trip uh something unfun like that so uh but that’s still a team that tests the Cavs defensively they give the Cavs problems and they have for two years now yeah the Cavs have had more issues against that

Team defensively than I think anyone in the league because sabonis is so physical and able to really test the Cav bigs there’s so much motion there there’s so much passing that’s going to be a really really interesting test but you look at these 38 games 29 of the

Cavs remaining 38 games are teams below below the Cavs and the standings and 18 of them are coming against teams with a losing record like that’s a real real opportunity here for the Cavs to to make some noise in the standings and then you’re still going to get kind of those

Litus Test games whether it’s the Sacramento one whether it’s the three games we have left against Philadelphia that’s going to be really important you have a a Boston game left you have a New York game left like you’re going to get those opportunities but the C have to

Make the most of these games where you are playing teams below you in the standings to get Garland and Moy comfortable to make sure that hey we’re understanding that when we have our starting lineup up out there where where Moy and Allen are both there we need to

Play with a pace especially in the half court the ball can’t stick and we have to have our three volume three-point Shooters be volume three-point Shooters so that that lineup can be as effective as it can be offensively because because if they’re playing you know 18 19 20

Minutes the other 28 are simple you’re playing with one guard and one big on the floor you’re playing with Shooters all around them we can do that but making sure that the chemistry in that starting lineup is as good as possible and that they’re able to to generate a

Good shot that’s going to be really important we know they can work really well offensively but it’s going to come down to them to to kind of iron out uh kind of those rough edges there yeah I mean this off this starting lineup has to be a killer um as much as

We talk about the fact that there’s 48 minutes that you know that you know we’ve talked we’ve we’ve argued with plenty of folks about how if you know if you’re worried about the double bigs they were only playing about 16 minutes to came together you know but like the

Reality is if you want to be where this team is trying to go your best has to be able to beat the other team’s best because you’re just not always going to have the luxury of having your bench units outplay the other team’s bench units uh you’re not that sometimes

You’re going to have a bad game sometimes you’re going to have a role player with a tough matchup your best five need to consistently kick the snot out of other teams yeah um and I think the Cavs starting lineup last year was able to do that that’s one of the reasons they won

51 games and this this year they just haven’t had enough time you know they’re they’re still you know in the low hundreds uh for for minutes together and I want to say they were like 135 when Jared and uh or when Evan and Darius went out um and I I’m just I’m really

Eager to see because this team has discovered a lot but some of the stuff they’ve discovered has been different you know if there’s one thing that I can say I’m angsty about is if you if you’re playing that starting five heavy minutes together you had a lot of point a big

Reason that this team is killing teams right now is their point of attack defense how’s that look when it’s Darius Max and Donovan you know they still have stuff to solve uh and I’m really excited to see how they solve it but but my macro concerns about this team are all

Gone I think this team can put together 48 good minutes against any team in the league right now like there is no team that I’m like we’re just not going to win tonight we can’t beat them and that is a really fun place to be it’s a great

Place to to be like I I gained so much respect for the guys over the stretch uh talked about how ad Donovan’s playing in my opinion the best basketball like if the Cavs are going to be a team that contends for a championship this is the style of basketball that Donovan has to

Play um in order to win with this kind of current team build and I I think people sometimes because of how the season started they forget the cause like I I think some people weren’t even tuned into it in the moment it wasn’t that they weren’t playing well together

It’s that they weren’t playing together like the starting lineup got 11 games together um you had Jared on a minute restriction you had hamstring injuries for for Garland and Mitchell you had the the hand thing with with Darius like there were just so many things that weren’t going well and when you look

Last year Garland Mitchell Moy and Allen when you take out their minutes that they played with Lamar Stevens so every other combination they were at the 98th percenti out of every lineup in the league in net rating they were the 95th in offensive rating they were the 95th

In defensive rating with with okoro you know it was great ironically the defense wasn’t as strong with that lineup last year with Doro but they had a plus eight net rating with Caris LeVert who I think is an equivalent Defender to Max dreu they had a plus 16 net rating this

Should be a lineup that crushes on the offensive end we know it’s can work defensively as well and the funny thing that that kind of came to me in this game Carter and I’d love your thoughts on it is watching Moy come back after missing six weeks being a little bit

Rusty but you know working his way back against a tough matchup it made me think back to Isaac in the playoffs against the Knicks where he missed a month after hitting that shot in Brooklyn missed over a month wasn’t himself was questionable for game one got banged up

Again in game one and didn’t really play just how difficult that would be kind of reintegrating him in such a high pressure situation where you didn’t have other levers to pull and it’s just so nice that the Cavs now have the depth to bring Mo along gradually it’s not happening in such a

High pressure moment and when you talk about why the cows came up short in the playoffs like we’ve extensively covered every single one of those individual things but the fact that okoro wasn’t him self and he certainly wasn’t as good as he is now like that is is something

That I I think gets overlooked a little bit like it just threw absolutely everything out of whack for a team that didn’t have a lot of Health Dean Wade wasn’t himself like he he wasn’t confident shooting the basketball uh wasn’t moving around the same he’s a totally different player now like I I

Just feel so much more confident with the support and cast and I I think what they’ve done over this stretch obviously has helped reinforce that yeah I mean I I don’t have much to say other than yeah uh it’s better to be healthy than not

You know yeah um Dean I I thought you know again Dean doesn’t even shoot particularly well in this game and he gets up eight threes you know um he has clearly gotten the memo uh was playing Amazing defense by the way in in his minutes tonight uh kawhai got the best

Of him a couple times but really only had one personal foul himself so was just really really pleased with how he played man it’s just so fun it just feels like I I cannot lean in enough to how much I’ve appreciated what this team is doing yeah

Um because the beginning of the year was this high pressure expectations filled like I wanted to see them come out of the gate just punch teams in the mouth and and show that the playoffs were a fluke and you know they start I think 6 and8 4-

Six whatever it was mhm it just doesn’t feel good even in the winds it doesn’t feel good they were and really through what 15 20 games they were they were kind of one of those teams that like okay there are a few games over 500 but their point differential is minus three minus

Two um and the fact that they’ve done this and that they’ve continued it with Evan coming back and you know look to continue with Darius coming back it just kind of feels like the it feels like I’m getting the catharsis I was hunting for at the beginning of the year that we

Didn’t quite get it was just a little bit delayed you know yeah but I’m going into every game being like man this is going to be so fun tonight and even if they win or lose I I go in feeling that way um even when the game was tight and

The Clippers were you know up four to six points I still felt like man these guys are playing really good together basketball against a team that is making them give every bit of you know give it all and and and and execute at an unbelievably high level to win so the it

It’s a cherry on top that they did execute well enough to win but every game is fun right now and like I’m I’m just very grateful for that I I think it’s a really good reminder to just enjoy the ride when it comes to an 82

Game season like you know know I I think some people like to take pride in now like not being fans of a team or I’m you know either a fan of the player or I’m a fan of the league and all right like let’s just get to the result let’s get

To the playoffs because that’s the only thing that’s going to matter for my favorite player’s Legacy or or whatever the case may be but when you’re a fan of the team and you’re invested in them problem solving in in them overcoming adversity in you know someone like Jared

Allen who uh a couple years ago when we briefly talked him my media days like I’m not really a vocal guy on defense uh you know he he kind of was comfortable with what he was as a player and has grown so much from what happened last

Year in the playoffs where he he’s attacking drop coverages because that was something that the the Cav struggled with he’s passing the mid-range jumpers there he’s attacking the glm more you hear him miked up uh tonight against the Clippers calling out coverages asking the coaching staff hey how can I better

Funnel guys like becoming that vocal guy without losing who he is as a person uh someone like Donovan who established as a really really damn good player an all NBA caliber player that comes into a situation and fully Embraces the city he he’s going out there he he’s at high

School games he’s adjusted his style of play even though he’s had so much success in the past he’s adjusted his style of play to play a style that’s more conducive to team basketball Evan Moy continue to improve the the Cavs going through the the stretches where they’re down guys like that’s what it’s

All about and we don’t know how long any of it’s going to last we don’t know when you’re going to have a a tough break and you know whether it’s injury luck whether it’s you know a heartbreaking playoff loss whatever the case may be like you just got to really enjoy the

Ride and you got to enjoy the process because it it’s so much fun seeing like these guys putting in the level of work that they have and it paying dividends I know over these 38 games and it’s it’s crazy that you know if garland does come

Back next game or or even you know the the following whatever the case may be that it’s going to be like 38 games that we might see with with this full Squad like God NBA seasons are knock on some wood buddy yeah like NBA seasons are ridiculously long like there’s going to

Be losses over that stretch that are going to make us pull our hair out where where they you know lose to a Portland type team or or um whe hey it could happen this week Memphis like somehow with through all their injuries they’re playing decent basketball it’s a

Back-to-back traveling like uh I I could see them not having the focus there coming off the these big emotional wins that’s going to happen but you you just hope that there’s the ones on the other side where you know it’s games where you don’t really expect them to win like

Tonight and they come out strong or that they they learn from it that they go through those Growing Pains like to me that’s what makes it so fascinating um being a fan of the team and that’s why I like to highlight things that aren’t going well because if you’re pretending

Everything’s going well you’re going to miss the growth if you’re only dwelling on the negative you’re going to miss the growth until the growth becomes so obvious like it has with with someone like Isaac okoro we just G to kind of shut up and accept that he’s a really

Damn good player yeah um it is it is definitely a Marathon Man and we’re we would all do well like you know uh again people were saying Lost season um and boy is the season not lost man it if and if it was lost it’s been found um the team

Is unbelievably hot I think every I think they have become a team nobody in the East wants to play certainly not in the first round uh I think it’s I think all the way way up to the Milwaukee Bucks they’re checking the standings every night now and you’re going man is

Cleveland going to catch us because you look they’ve got the 30 easiest schedule left uh in in the entire NBA and they just knocked out one of their one of their seven hardest games left tonight and it’s just going like if they take care of business which they have

Done at a very high level over the last month then man I mean sky’s the limit uh and in a Eastern Conference like this you better try to reach for the sky buddy damn right damn right we are reaching for this guy here I’m going to

Put you on the spot I want your power rankings of the the top like the top eight in East right now standing or just standings or quality of basketball team going into the playoffs level of confidence um yeah let’s do standings for the regular season let’s do it that

Way where are you at uh I I mean Boston’s going to be the number one seed I they have the easiest schedule left in the league uh and they are 36 and 11 they’re probably going to win you know 60 plus games uh and may even hit the mid-60s

Like the true Elite of the elite teams uh even when they’re missing guys it doesn’t matter uh from there in terms of how I think the conference is going to shake out I’m going to give the benefit of the doubt to the Milwaukee Bucks and put

Them in there at number two ah um but I think the Cavs are the three seed um interesting uh but it’s going to be one of those very close things with Milwaukee where it might be a game in either direction um Philly I think Philly is right for the taking I think

You can pass them uh and you look at their schedule it’s not crazy hard but it’s not easy either the Knicks are unbelievably hot I I don’t know what to make of the Knicks i’ I’d actually like to ask your opinion there because on one hand I don’t think

They’re this but like the OG trade snapped in their top end at a very high level yeah and you know I think I wouldn’t put more than a 20% degree of confidence on anything but I think I would go Celtics bucks Cavs Sixers Nicks um but that’ll be one of the best

Five seeds in the history the Eastern Conference yeah whoever it is yeah uh so the thing with the Nick to to answer your question there like I am a believer in them like I when we were doing our our previews I feel like the Knicks are going to be a team with more

Stain power than basically anyone in the East like Boston’s going to be there uh but I I think Cleveland New York and Boston are going to be fighting it out for for years to come like I just think they are built for sustainable success they have Avenues to improve even

Further right now like I I know their record’s been very good since the OG trade but it hasn’t been a lot through a lot of great teams like I know they beat Denver but Denver isn’t good on the road and that was a long road trip for them

And just like they’re 10 and 17 against teams with a winning record like that’s at least something that I’m keeping an eye on and they’re 20 and0 against teams with a losing record I think right now power ranking Boston’s number one I have Philly number two I actually have more

Confidence in Philly I think they’re playing great basketball that that’s why I I have that win in Philly as my like that or tonight as the best win of the season for the Cavs um and then I have Cleveland three I I think Cleveland can

Get up to two um but I I I feel pretty good about our ability to get into that two3 matchup and I I think you get there it’d be really funny if that was Philly round two uh I think that would take years off of my life uh but if you can

Force Milwaukee and and New York into that 45 that would be a lot of fun so um I think the you want to get to three you need to get to three because that 4 five will be the most brutal four five and like there is just such a precipitous

Drop off right now I know Indy’s better uh after trading for pascow but like you want to play indie or Orlando or Miami or whoever I agree with you by the way I would love to play Miami like I I I know that’s blasphemous I I think we just

Match up well with them in a way I don’t really think we match up well with the Knicks I don’t think we match a little old I think Jimmy’s gone a little old losing Tru Josh Richardson hasn’t panned out for them Terry Rosier is a tough fit yeah they’re small we historically

Have played really well against them like I know people say oh well playoffs are a different thing the cast struggle against the Knicks in the regular season last year they didn’t have those same struggles against Miami um or obviously Orlando would be nice but like Indiana honestly concerns me just from like a

Variant standpoint like that offense can get so hot I’m such a big Halburn fan I I think the expectation should still be that the Cs win around um but you point is you don’t want to play Philly or New York or Milwaukee in the first round no

Matter who you’re playing that is a nightmare if if the win like 54 games and then their reward is is Giannis and Dame and Chris Middleton in the first round I will I will be a sad man I think they can win that series don’t get me

Wrong but like it would be really tough sledding and I would like them to give themselves as easy of a road as possible and like they’re built to do it right now like I think they’re you know if you play out the rest of the season 100

Times I think the Cavs are the two seat like 30 to 40 of those times yeah like I think you’re right and if you’re the two seed then wow you’re really cooking with gas you could be looking at the Chicago bows in the first round man I’m probably but you get what

I’m saying I’m I’m so happy that we’re back here my uh 55 wins is back on track my 60 is in rough shape but uh yeah your 60 is in shambles I I’m sorry sorry to admit it but you know what we learned some things along the way we we have

Grown as people they have grown as a team I think it it has been very benef official so uh we will be back later this week uh we’ll be going live after the Memphis game big thanks to everyone that tuned in live it is so nice to be

Back talking Cavs so nice to be podcasting after a win thank you to everyone that tuned in Live on YouTube make sure you like And subscribe click notification Bell so you know when we’re going live if you’re listening via podcast and you want to support us leave us rating a review subscribe unsubscribe

Resubscribe and help cook those books you want to be part of Chas Down’s exclusive Discord chat send a screenshot of review to Chas down gmail.com however you just support us we really do appreciate it make sure you guys are staying safe out there until next time go CS

The Cavaliers have taken down the red-hot Clippers off a decisive win against the Milwaukee Bucks on the road. Evan Mobley has returned to the lineup and Justin Rowan has returned to the pod. Good vibes abound, and the guys break down all the action for the red-hot Cavaliers!

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