Chase Down Podcast Live, presented by fubo: Win in the Land of Grit and Grind

Chase Down Podcast Live, presented by fubo: Win in the Land of Grit and Grind

This crowd Rises to its feet the SL at home garlet left wing free ball perfect gar of the lane lock the boldly 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 chaos media family I’m your host

Justin ran 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 found a way to win ugly in Memphis

Despite no Evan Moy and no Jared Allen for the majority of the second half the Memphis Grizzlies they had some injuries of their own joining me today it is still a full Squad here at the chase down podcast my co-host Carter Rodriguez Carter how you doing buddy doing good

Buddy I’m I’m All potted out you know we we we’ve been guest poting like crazy you you were on Dan uh Dan Devine’s podcast I went on hardwood Knox I went on volume uh people are hyped about the Cavaliers my friend we we have uh people are interested and when people are

Interested we get calls so uh just wanted to start off because you know of often time on this podcast we we are kind of doing postgame reactions things like that going a little wider uh on those podcasts highly recommend you check them out and great work on Mr

Divine’s pod my friend thank you so much that’s honestly one of my favorite uh podcasts the divine intervention on the baldone lia feed uh Dan fali uh obviously he’s been on our podcast one of my favorite people to talk Hoops with I thought you did a tremendous job still

Haven’t caught up to the volume on I’m sorry I had a busy day at work I was listening to a little bit more music than podcast but I will get there uh but we’re not here to talk about what what we’ve been doing I’m not potted out

Carter I got stamina I’m I’m I’m guesting all over the place I’m never shutting up and I I thought you know we talked about on the last podcast that hey this is you know this stretch where you have a light part of your schedule where you’re rein grading both Darius

Garland and Evan Mobley uh both on minute restrictions there is a real possibility that a let down could occur there we we even theorized hey it could be this game against Memphis and there were certainly opportunities for both Detroit and Memphis to upset the Cavs and deal them a tough tough loss in

Either of these games um I think I think it’s fair to say that the effort wasn’t up to the Cav standards in either of these games um taking the opponents a little bit lightly which on the one hand it’s human nature on the other hand I’m

Sitting here looking trying to enjoy a a basketball game so you selfishly you know you wish that sitting in this armchair sitting behind a podcast Mike uh that they were treating these games with the seriousness that they treated the Clippers games um but if we’re going to start with this game tonight against

Memphis I thought that the chaos came out in the second half and had a much much better effort defensively and ultimately that was what helped ensure that they got the win tonight yeah they put on the clamps you know I I don’t feel like they ever really did that

Against Detroit I feel like they just kind of got more buckets down the stretch uh in this one they held Memphis to 43 points in the second half and like kudos to that Memphis team Man Taylor Jenkins must be a heck of a coach because they are playing I mean they’re

Playing John Kar at the two uh like they’re playing they’re starting Scotty pi and Jor like and they just fought and fought and fought I I think I saw they went like 8 and seven in the month of January or something like that and like they haven’t been a whole lot healthier

Than this uh just to give a frame of reference so really really impressed by Memphis first and foremost but uh yeah I mean I think they just kind of they kind of decided that they were going to meet the Grizzlies physicality and once they started doing that you know there the

The talent differential started to bear itself out over time they win the second half by fast math 14 points uh and it felt like it yeah 57 to 43 in the second half um obviously Jared Allen uh had a very unfortunate situation in this game

Where uh he had a double double in the first half leag takes away a rebound and then uh rolls his ankle didn’t appear to be too serious but we’re going to knock on wood here because you know not coming back as scary and talk about uh you know

Um when it rains it poor you’re so sick that you can only eat like a sandwich on game day yesterday and then you you tough it out you get you earn your team a win you come back you’re toughing this one out and you turn your ankle it’s like come on man

It’s funny that’s usually how it goes like when you’re not feeling 100% like that’s always the day where you like stub your toe on a table or you just manage to roll your ankle uh like getting the groceries or something like that like that’s that’s just how it

Works when you’re not feeling 100% you you seem to be more susceptible to this and it’s funny because obviously you know reintegrating Garland and Moy um is going to change the rotations I think you saw some of those growing pains in both of these games as well uh

Especially JB seems to be prioritizing getting the starters minutes together allowing them to get comfortable with one another understanding that that’s important for the long run but if you’re doing that it is going to lead to some funky bench lineups and I think we’ve seen some of that in both of these games

But the other thing that was very noticeable in both of these games is with Jared Allen being under the weather um it looked like he was a step slope um J Jaylen durren is a hell of a player like Duren Ivy and Cade I’m still big

Believers in all three of those guys I think Detroit actually has some pieces there um but you could tell that that Jarrett was a half step slow against Detroit um there were times where you know just missing a layup here or there uh things that he’s been finishing throughout this entire stretch

Uh just that little bit of touch wasn’t there so um I I think that definitely had an impact on both of these games and uh at least Jared had an excuse for looking lethargic at times whereas you know as much as I joke around about you know not taking these teams seriously

It’s it’s something that we see time and time again obviously we have the Golden State loss that’s going to haunt us from last season um recently you know Joel embiid being out uh along with Tyrese Maxi and Tobias Harris against Denver and that game goes down to the wire um

The Lakers just beat Boston in Boston without LeBron and Anthony Davis like there’s endless examples of this happening where when you get you as a professional athlete you’re getting hyped up because of who’s across from you and when you basically have the the Memphis hustle out there it can be a

Little easy to take them uh a little more lightly than you would when you’re in a star matchup against Russell Westbrook James Harden kawhai Paul George and everyone else on the Clippers yeah in front of the Pod Matt Moore kind of was saying like hey if you’re new to

The NBA uh watch out cuz some of the ugliest basketball happens the week before the All-Star break you know everyone’s kind of ready to chill um uh and uh and it’s just kind of that weird uh kind of Lial space where you’re not really like you know you’re just kind of

You’re just kind of surviving and getting out there so um I I do think it’s important to remind myself and Cavs fans that like yeah January was super fun but like if you if if great teams beat every bad team by 40 um the league would not be what we

Know it is like it’s just not how it works um and you know think about how bad the Cavs were you know just four five years ago and some of the wins they stole um so like you know getting the win does matter um especially on the

Road especially on a third and four nights doesn’t really matter who you’re playing against cuz a lot cuz how many times have we seen the Cavs lose in that spot or seen other teams losing that spot um and that’s what’s really interesting about this stretch is you

Know you you are kind of the resident schedule Maven uh of the two of us but you know you looked at that really tough seven game stretch and I was like man if they go three and four that’ll be great and you kind of were like hey look at

The the opposing team schedules what they’re what they’re playing against and you know it looks a lot more winnable you look at this stretch for the Cavs where you go verse Detroit at Memphis at San Antonio versus Sacramento at Washington at Brooklyn at Toronto you go

Oh man we’re never going to lose again you’re licking your chops well you got a three and four you survive all three of those with uh with three wins uh but then next week you got five and seven yeah so uh you know it’s one of

Those things where uh you have to really pay attention to those schedule beats cuz these are humans and like you know where the Cavs benefited from it just a couple weeks ago um you know a week and a half ago or so they’re they might not benefit from it up coming up against

Teams that you know on paper looks like they should win every single time so uh I’m not going to Discount these wins especially given that you know they’re playing significant stretches without a single big man on the floor due to Jarrett being ill and Evan being on a

Min restriction and not suiting up tonight um and with Tristan Thompson suspension and you know you can you can only ask so much of Damen Jones minutes which who I thought quitted himself pretty well especially in the second half uh today uh but like you know I I

Don’t I just don’t think they should be in the business of apologizing for wins even if they didn’t play their best ball yeah you look at it the C areach you going and play eight games in a row in a different city like even though some of

These games are at home you’re traveling between every single one of these games you have multiple backto backs as you mentioned like you can’t take any of this for granted and you understanding that there is going to be an adjustment period uh integrating Mo in in Garland

It’s so much better to have it in a stretch like this where hey you can take a little bit of a step back you can even you know maybe not have your your A+ effort in a certain game and still come away with the win still be able to turn

And flip that switch defensively and put the clamps on and and get a win when it’s winning time that’s really really important because you wouldn’t want this to be integrating them at a time where you know you have one of those Orlando Boston Boston stretches Orlando Milwaukee Milwaukee like we’ve had in

The past those are really really important games for the standings and the Cavs most of those are coming after the All-Star break there there’s the Philly game which obviously we got to keep an eye on um the there reports out there about Joel embiid it sounds like there’s still more test and evaluations

There but uh there there’s a real opportunity ahead of the Cavs right now who are a game out of the second seed in the Eastern Conference tied in the Lost column um you look at uh where they were at this point last year when they got to

Their 30th win they had 20 losses not the the 16 that they currently have like it’s really really impressive the way that they have fought through this stretch the way that uh you know part of the marathon of the Season isn’t just the parody across the league and and you

Know how good every single team is it’s also fighting against yourselves especially on nights L tonight where where it’s really easy to to kind of fold up and you know Jarrett’s out Mo’s not playing because it’s a backtack um I I think that playing Super physical like

They that that’s a big feisty team despite the talent level being where it is and and actually before we pivot because I I really want to get into our first impressions of of gar uh CU obviously he’s had his first games since we last podcasted Mo because we

Got another game of him I do want to talk a little bit about jiren Jackson Jr um because I’m really impressed watching him I haven’t watched a ton of Memphis games but I I feel like his self-creation has gone so much better than the last time I watched him I’ve

I’ve seen him attack a destabilized defense like after the ball rotates him uh attacking in space in the past but I feel like his self-creation his footwork uh his his touch around the basket and whatnot he seems really improved and it seems like an area of growth for him and

Um you know if we were in the same shoes as Memphis and you know continue to knock on wood that you’re never that injured cuz that’s just awful and I wouldn’t wish that on anybody uh but if you’re in that kind of situation that’s the type of stuff that you would be

Looking for is okay our remaining core guys what are they adding to their game what can be brought forward just like we were looking at the chemistry of U Mitchell and Allen uh when the guys are out finding guys like Max stru finding these Diamonds in the Rough I feel like

Jiren Jackson’s growth as an individual score is something that’s really going to help them out in the long run yeah I mean I there were times where the Cavs didn’t have a ton of answers for him they had to bring over help and he was

Not a kind of guy who scored on good defenders in isolation at any point of his career and he had 25 on 23 five assists to five turnovers it’s not like he was like an insane killer in this game but he was good enough um

To to keep them in this thing um you know he he really went at Jared Allen quite a bit which is no easy task either um yeah he was he was really fun I I again I was super impressed by this Memphis team like um it’s funny again I

I sound like such an excuse maker for like some less than inspiring wins but like Detroit’s also been playing a lot better and you know you see the vision for each of these teams you know and how they’re going to be competitive the rest of the year in these last two games CU

Like I thought both of them both teams as well and Detroit just you know shot the cover off the ball which never hurts but like I just think like you start you like like I think both those teams were actually pretty good tests for the Cavs in weird ways like obviously the talent

Level isn’t there but like they made the Cavs go beat them in both both uh instances and I think that’s a good thing like yeah I I won’t go that far because I I think the Cavs also put themselves in that situation in both of these games but you’re right and Detroit was

One of those funny nights where you know they they go eight of 15 on open threes and the Cavs go four of 13 right like if the Cavs shoot a new normal percentage on on wide open looks like even if you hit two of two more of those shots all

Of a sudden that’s six points on a seven-point win it’s 13 or you know you take one off of Detroit like those are the margins in the NBA so for the Cavs to to win a game like that where you know you you take more threes but you

Don’t hit them at the same clip um that that was certainly encouraging but let’s get to Garland and MOB let’s let’s get to First Impressions where do you want to start Carter uh I think we’ll probably start with uh with Darius just we have you know we haven’t talked about

Him yet um uh Ben first off really nice to see him back uh I think he was obviously much better uh on offense against Detroit than he was against Memphis um really like that came out of the gate just launching from three goes two of six in just 20 minutes um uh you

Know had three assists seven potential assist I mean I think he kind of got burned by you know a couple Biff open shots that he created that were you know otherwise quite good uh the the entire Cavaliers team was not defending in those minutes um and like also like you

Know I saw some folks like fretting about the plus minus for him uh in that game against Detroit which is like first off guys just don’t do that like he’s been the plus minus King for the Cavs the last two years he been the number one predictor to them being uh a

Positive on the floor um at least you know among their high high minute guys but you know he he’s also JB’s playing he’s exploring you know he played a a Darius Sam Merill Caris LT George Nang Evan Moy lineup and let me tell you what they did not defend very well uh you

Know like it it was just like like JB has to kind of figure out what what his groupings and pairings are going to be um long term so I think he’s going to have to do some playing around especially if he’s going to it seems like he wants to keep Sam in the

Rotation which means once the team is fully healthy and God I hope Jarrett does not actually miss time and he’s fine and it just was a bad ankle and he was already not feeling well so they just pulled the plug um but like it seems like he wants to

Run 10 Deep and running 10 Deep is a freaking hard thing to do to build a rotation to get guys long enough shifts that they feel like they’re contributing but also um you know like spreading out the minutes to 10 to 10 guys so and JB’s

Never done it so it’s not like he has a lot of practice at it so I think yeah this is a spot where you’re going to want to give him a little time to mess around and make some mistakes because I just think like you know when he’s when a coach is being

Asked to do something out of outside of his comfort zone like that’s hard work and like they also just have to see how lineups play even if you’re pretty sure you don’t like a lineup like how many lineups have the Cavs run that I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to like that

Ended up being very good for them so like you have to give those things the low at small forward comes to mind yep so like you got to give them a chance to kind of figure some of the stuff out but yeah I thought Darius was awesome in

That first game um despite the fact that you know he had got a couple open threes that didn’t go in thought he had a couple more tonight um you know was a little will little worse as a shooter night but had the seven assists by the way like three seven assists to three

Turnovers I don’t mind at all like I’ve saw I saw some people online you know immediately complaining about the turnovers being back and like you had one or two bad ones but like yeah 7 to three is a perfectly fine ratio as far as I’m concerned and like you know so

10 to four in the two games right like he’s he’s coming back he’s getting back into shape um there’s a couple times what I liked about the Detroit game was I felt Darius Moy no matter who was on the court I don’t feel like the ball ever stuck in someone’s hands for too

Long I felt the movement was really really good offensively in that game it seemed like that was their focus in that game sorry to cut you off but it feels like they were like okay we’re going to like you could tell that was almost their mentality they were devoting

90% of their mental energy to working together on offense yeah and I really like the sets I really like the movement um I I just thought that they flowed very well offensively uh particularly with that starting group um missed open shots um but you know what if you’re

Generating open shots I’m always going to be a process over results guy especially when you’re talking about someone that hasn’t played in in six weeks getting his legs back I will definitely take process over results and when you talk about area Focus I felt like with Memphis I’m actually surprised

The Cavs got up 35 threes because I felt like Memphis was running them off the line I don’t feel like Darius was passing up a lot of Threes I don’t feel like the Cavs as a team were passing up a lot of Threes I thought Memphis their

Scouting Report was hey this is a team that’s been shooting the cover off the ball they like to get those attempts up uh no no M on the inside let’s let’s force them off the line let’s try to force them into mid-range or to jiren Jackson Jr who’s of the best defenders

In the league and he’s going to clean up everything yeah right like that that is the right philosophy because they are at a talent deficit so they can’t be out there losing the math problem we have to cause chaos we have to run them off the three-point line uh so I thought that

That was memphis’s Defensive philosophy um so I I felt good with the CH show out profile in this game um but yeah Darius I I I I got some of the the turnovers because he had one where where in the first quarter I believe where he picked

Up the ball too soon and tried to throw it over a long Defender and basically it was kind of one of those mental things where I think the turnover was actually allowing himself to be trapped and you know because he had turnover issues earlier in the year I think people are

Going to hyperfocus on that um I don’t think that that like that hasn’t been who he’s been as a player and he had already kind of cleaned that up prior to him having the jaw inre so it’s not something I’m super concerned about um but yeah I I thought I I’ve liked what

I’ve seen overall from him um I like that he’s still being active defensively um few times where he’ll get caught on a screen or whatnot but for the most part he seems to be anticipating and navigating them relatively well um but I feel like one of the reasons both

Detroit and Memphis stayed in these games were those bench lineups were the lineups in particular with um DG Merill Levert Nang and either uh Dean Wade or Damen Jones at Center you’re just asking a lot when you don’t have one of those big men on the court and like I I think

This is going to be a temporary headache because I think when Moy and Garland are off of their minute restriction you’re going to have one of the guards and you’re going to have one of the centers on the court at all times and when you have that backline Defender it makes

Those lineups work a whole lot more but the in between the the shooting guard through power forward that’s very much going to be a work in process it’s going to be interesting to see who JB plays around with Who develops the best chemistry it’s going to take some time

To figure that out because you know who The Playmakers are going to be Donan Mitchell continues to do a great job darus Garland’s going to do a great job as he always has you know that you’ve got Jared Allen back there you got Evan Moy both of those guys provide Elite

Support the kind of elite 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 realtime collaboration for teams around the globe Zoom how the world

Connects yeah I I I definitely think there is just a little bit of that figuring out to be done you know in in the end like the I I’m interested to see kind of how uh you know whether JB looks to put a guy like ice more with darus

Just to be like hey like if we’re going to be a little smaller if we’re going to play him and like Merill together then we’re at least going to be throwing our best guy at their best guy and not letting them get like Advantage just

Right off the rip one thing I will say though that I want to give the team credit for is at the beginning of the fourth quarter they’re playing you know they’re playing no no Center and they’re playing and they even go down I think they downshifted even further and

Neither Dean or Nang was on the floor um it was it was four perimeter players at one point at least I’m pretty sure well I’m sorry no Dean was playing five but then they were yeah Dean was there but they had like okoro at the four uh like

Stru was at the three they they were small and uh I just thought they just decided to lean into the fact like Hey we’re small so we have to be rugged as hell like they I thought they guarded their tails off uh Dean you know taking on the challenge of guarding jiren

Jackson really locking him down in that fourth quarter um you know I I really like the idea that I feel like sometimes when the team gets small they just get switchy and like in a way that’s like not passive but certainly not like particularly assertive I thought they

Got into memphis’s chest and were like Hey we’re going to get underneath you and if if you try to kill us off the dribble we’re going we’re going to cut you off and I really really appreciated how gritty they closed that game out yeah no not to speak for you but I’m

Pretty sure we’re on the same page neither of us are really fan of Saw switching right no never like in general as a concept yeah like and the Cavs do a good job particularly off ball of not switching when they don’t need to uh on Ball and especially when you get the

Bigs on there and it’s a wing uh you’ll selectively have like moob or Allen go out on those guys but I I like the way that they competed and I thought it was really important like when you’re playing your third game in four nights um to have Garland Merill lever Nang

Wade out there as he mentioned you know Coro and stru also really competing Coro was massive in that third quarter yes he was before I get back to to my thought because I’m all over the place when he got that charge on jiren Jackson Jr to

Give him four and then hit the three on the other end to give the cast the lead that was so important because the Jared minutes really were when Memphis was the most productive so okoro I thought he really brought a lot of effort and they helped turn the tide in that third

Quarter uh and really set the tone for the defense that the Cavs played in the second half that got them back in the game so big shout out to him but for that lineup in the fourth quarter to you know come into the game with a one-point

Lead uh DG gets going uh hits a three hits the layup they’re competing on defense uh they Memphis makes a little bit of a run but the Cavs answer and go out and end up giving the Cavs a a five-point lead with five minutes left giving Donovan and those other starters

That much time to rest and close out the game is incredibly important because you know DG even though he’s on a minute restriction he didn’t play that third game uh three nights ago right like the these are guys uh that are deeper in the rotation that aren’t playing as heavy

Minutes and um I I thought it was really really important particularly in a game where you don’t have Evan and you don’t have Jarrett I thought they did a tremendous job uh keeping the Cavs in that game and then extending the lead yeah and you mentioned the minutes um

You know this is one of the benefits of running 10 Deep and actually giving minutes to all 10 guys uh Damen Jones was 10th on the team in minutes at 15 uh Donovan led the team in minutes at 33 you look at the starters it’s a it’s you

Know obviously jarro getting hurt and Darius being on a minut restriction kind of colors the numbers but Dean played 28 Jared played 21 Darius played 24 Donovan only played 33 Max played 29 Nang 22 okoro 21 Damen 15 Caris 29 Sam 18 that is not the normal minute spread for a

Game that was contested pretty much start to finish you know um like JB did kind of have to go deeper into the bag to to find guys whether it was due to injury Menace restrictions Etc um but kind of everyone played their part um which was I which I thought was really

Cool um I I also just saw something visualized perfectly I I just retweeted it the real Cavs fan account posted this where it’s the Cav shot profile in the first half versus the second half uh first half you see a fair number of you know mid-range jumpers or a little

Deeper floater second half it is pure Mor ball they were getting to the rim and they were taking threes and I I really I I it felt that way but you can tell that the point of emphasis at halftime was we are locking the H in defensively we are getting to the rim

And we are going to generate three-point attempts as a result of that and it actually reminds me of one of the things I really liked about Darius tonight and even in the Detroit game as well I feel like he’s been spraying it out to the three-point line a whole lot more like I

I feel like a lot of the Cavs three-pointers that were made or a lot of his assists tonight were on three-pointers I’ll need to to look up the the data tomorrow and check those assists but I don’t believe he even really had a lot of those dump off

Passes to the big men or uh to the dunker spot or or Cutters down below what big men fair fair but you know the Detroit game’s part of the sample too um but but I feel like he’s been keeping his head out and spraying it out to the

Three-point line um I remember looking at the the tracking data and whatnot last year that was something that he did a fair bit of and it didn’t feel like he was doing as much this year so if the Cavs are going to have this movement offense when you’re going to have that

Those weak side actions and the type of movement um that has made them so successful in the stretch having you know your most cerebral playmaker out there keeping his head up and finding those guys that’s going to be really important if you’re talking about elevating this offense to

Yet another level yeah I I think that’s 100% Fair um and I thought he did a nice job of that too it was kind of fun um because obviously his minutes with Merill into the Detroit game were kind of a blood bath so those were not crazy fun um but in this one

It was fun because you really got to see him start hunting for Sam for the first time and we just haven’t really got to see those two play together all year because Sam’s Ascension has happened while Darius has been out of the lineup so I thought he did a nice job finding I

Actually really like that pairing together um actually well I would like to pose this to you who do you like Sam playing with more Darius or Donovan because I I see cases for both I think I like it more with Donovan um I think I agree but so my my thinking

Like if you’re talking about Kind of Perfect fiveman lineups I like Donovan out there with Sam Levert as well as Allen because Levert and Allen have such great chemistry as uh as a pick and roll Duo and I think you want that extra little bit of playmaking juice um with

Donovan uh because obviously you know that’s a point guardless lineup and I feel like Sam slots been so well there they have such good chemistry with one another Max stru his shooting numbers have been so much better with Darius and I feel like when when you have Darius when you have Moy

Like I I I feel like you can slot Isaac in there pretty well and have Isaac be that shooting guard that’s you know screening for Garland or cutting off of Moy being the high post Hub I just feel like that balances those lineups so much more and then it just becomes the

Decision of who you put Dean and and yang with um but I feel like there’s enough offense defense balance in both of those lineups so I really do like that both Merill and stru are strong screeners uh for for movement Shooters like those are guys that will actually you know put

Their body into people and uh pop out and you can run a lot of those same actions and have lineup continuity but I I think I like Merill just a little bit more with Donovan I think Merill helps Donovan lean into his better instincts if they if if maybe

Elaborate on that like I feel like when Donovan is playing with like a not crazy space Court when he’s playing with guys who are more stand still Shooters like he can be he can lean into more ISO ball um I feel like he seems to take special joy in playing with Sam uh

And running those guard guard actions um and finding him in semi semi transition semi transition that’s a that’s a it was a Freudian slip wasn’t even oh my God wasn’t even making a joke um uh but uh but yeah I mean I think like I I think

For that reason I really like Sam with Donovan because I just think Donovan’s play in a lot of ways you know I think he’s been playing his best basketball uh since one of the stats I pulled for one of my PO appearances yesterday was that since you know December 15th the Cavs

Are second in the league in passes per game um like and you just would have never expected that from a team with first unit point guard led by Donovan Mitchell and second unit point guard led by Caris LeVert like you might have found their way to a good offense you

Wouldn’t have expected a passes per game leader and SEC actually I think they were first and passes per game second and potential assists so um I think Sam has really helped unlock that part of Donovan’s game not to say that it’s not a you know all the credit goes to

Donovan for making those plays and making those reads but I think Sam is functionally kind of an offense unto himself and since Donovan is not a pure point guard like Sam’s movement just kind of gets things UNG gunked and I really like putting him with Donovan for

That reason yeah I think that makes a lot of sense and it is going to be interesting to see how JB experiments with these lineups I do like going 10 Deep but you know I I think the smartest thing that that you forced me to do and I know you’ve encouraged the listeners

To do it is like take 48 minutes at each position and try to figure out okay how how are we going to allocate these minutes to 10 players who who’s going to get short changed here and um I mean the real answer is going to be you know

Certain guys are going to be competing on a night to night basis on on in terms of what lineups are working who’s playing best Sam played Seven against the Clippers and about 20 tonight yeah and I believe he got uh around that against the Detroit as well like a lot

Of matchups I I think Sam’s going to be someone that you can play and um I I liked his effort I I thought you know when you talk about the Cavs in the fourth quarter mudding the game up I thought he was hitting the the floor a

Lot I I thought he was being very active defensively and was a big part of that so I like what he brings to the table it’s just going to be you know it’s going to be figuring out the timing um I I forget who the coach interview was

With with Serena in the Detroit game but one of the things he mentioned was hey guys are going to have to get used to playing with Darius because he sees the game and he plays at a quicker Pace than anybody else uh which you know of all

The the things that haven’t gone as good for Darius this year that has been one thing I’ve enjoyed is he’s actually played at a pace quicker than they even played when he was out um but he does see the game so quickly and it’s going to take time it’s going to take guys

Time to to get used to playing with one another because what worked so well in that stretch was for the first time this season the Cavs actually had continuity they had a lineup that played together for an extended period of time they got to practice with one another they got

Comfortable with one another and we just haven’t had extended stretches of continuity and when you have continuity that’s when you get your best basketball like I do like the passing metric but passes per game or assist per game as a team isn’t always indicative of the best

Possible offense I think it it it’s a good sign and it’s something that I’d like to see but I believe the Spurs are the league leader and and there’re they’re far from beautiful I’m not saying I’m not I’m not really doing any correlating of quality I’m just saying

It’s it’s it’s a different profile than you would expect yeah I’m just saying that it’s something that I enjoy but it’s not something that I’m going to monitor as closely as like the Cavs three point attempt rate as they get healthy because you know even thinking

Back to the LeBron Kyrie C like they ran their actions to generate isolation opportunities to generate uh advantages with the defense and whatnot and there wasn’t always assist opportunities generated from that but there was still beautiful offense being run so I think you can have a nice mix of that uh we

Haven’t talked a whole lot about Evan um I actually really like this game against Detroit I I thought there was more signs of him you know continuing to to get a little bit more comfortable the touch still isn’t 100% there but um it it’s

Just so nice to see him out there on the court and I could not be more excited you know this was a schedule rest game they don’t want to play back toback because you know Dar Darius it’s about getting in shape MBL it’s coming back from the knee operation I’m very excited

That we actually get to see evm against wanyama I cannot wait I didn’t even consider that yeah yeah the KA let’s let’s see what’s going on man I’m I’m so I’m AB for that yeah I think Evans look good uh you know I don’t I I’ve LED with

Darius because I do think his games have just been louder and more interesting um you know plus like obviously he you know he didn’t play tonight um I thought Evan was really good in both games um uh and man it’s just I’m eager to see these guys off those minutes restrictions

Because like JB mentioned it tonight about Darius that you know Darius is so used to having like big chunks of time to figure out how he wants to attack attack a game and you know when you’re on a 20 24 minute minute restriction you’re playing you know shifts of four

To five to six minutes and that’s definitely hard for a rhythm player and you know I kind of feel the same way about Evan um you know like something I talked about you know because every time we talk to anyone outside of the C sphere it’s the first question is going

To be why did they play so well what was what went so right for them when everyone had written them off for dead and kind of the answer I keep giving is they had very simplified structure everyone knew their job in that starting lineup that had that continuity you know Dean Wade knew

That if he was open in the corner he had to take the freaking shot or he was in trouble cuz you know they they needed him to take that shot um you know like Jarrett couldn’t just throw didn’t have to think about whether he need needed to

Find Evan in the dunker spot he knew he just needed to attack in the short rle and be decisive and like by adding this Talent back in they are a little bit I do think a little bit cursed by options again like they have more decisions to make and they have

More time to decide whether uh perfect can be the enemy of good offensively and like that’s what I really want to see them get a little more time and I feel like the restrictions kind of do that a disservice you know obviously you need to do it because you need to make sure

These guys are not going to get reinjured but like it does make it very hard to evaluate how the offense and defense are going to look long term because these guys are just not getting the the windows that they’re going to get to like settle into games and to

Settle into like how they how they’re going to play yeah basketball I think is probably one of the toughest Sports to come back from injury uh especially when you miss an extended period of time because it’s such a rhythm game right like there aren’t a lot of stop starts it’s not

Like football where okay you’re a receiver that’s Miss some time you you get in shape you run your routes and you know you’re you’re still figuring out timing but it’s it’s easier right it’s just your timing you got to figure out you don’t got to figure out anyone

Else’s right right and everybody plays off of one another like it basketball it’s an ecosystem it’s Jazz right like it’s it it’s so hard to come back from and I didn’t make this point effectively in the last podcast I don’t feel but like watching you know Moy and Garland

Come back um from these extended periods of time being on minutes restriction trying to you know figure things out it just gives me more kind of empathy for what okoro went through you know missing a month uh and then coming back and oh my first time playing in a very long

Time and you know playing through an injury is in the most pressure filled moments of our career while everybody else is as stressed as possible we’re all you know struggling individually it’s not a good time like I I just I I just have so much more understanding for

Kind of what went on in that Nick series and you know what to his credit like he played well in the minutes he had but it was just so hard because it it’s Sink or Swim time when you get to the playoffs and it’s just so much better to be in

This situation this is the right time to get healthy going up against a soft comparative schedule uh heading into the All-Star break we getting another week off yeah and and you know what even in this game like I I think you get an example of that with Damen Jones who I

Thought like his first shift was not good it was rough but you know when he came out there in the third quarter I thought he gave them a really good minutes and you know it’s about getting all three of his blocks in the third quarter I think he might have I I

Believe so God it might have been on the same possession um but like he he was out there like actually making an impact and you know I think it does give me another level of appreciation and I think credit needs to go to guys like de

Way and Sam Marill who have had extended stretches where they weren’t in the rotation and they just come in ready and and they find ways to make instant impact and some of that might be what their responsibilities are relative to guys that are like Central to Cav’s

Offense in defense and whatnot um but I think anytime you see a pro whether there it’s on the Cavs or another team that comes in and does that a lot of credit needs to go to them so uh big shout out to all the guys that stepped

Up in this game thank goodness the Cav’s got a win uh it’s fun to do continue doing these standings watches uh looks like there’s a real real opportunity here for the cast to to get as high as two I think I think avoiding the 4 five

Needs to be the goal just like last year we we slid our expectations from hey let’s avoid the play to let’s go get home court I I think avoiding the four five matchup should be the goal for the remainder of this season yeah I mean

Whoever is in that four five is going to be absolutely miserable that they’re there cuz you’re either going to cuz it’s going to be one of Milwaukee New York Cleveland or Philly and maybe Indie if they get really really hot though I’m dubious and and any of those teams uh

Milwaukee New York Cleveland Philly like none of those teams should expect to lose in the first round no and someone’s gonna and it’s going to be brutal and I don’t want to be I don’t even want to have to to to you know to talk about it

I’d so be thrilled to get to the second you know be in the two3 have a much easier first round matchup and then you know uh you know if you take care of business having that harder matchup in the second round um but the top of the

East is just bananas man the Knicks are winners of nine straight uh they have a few Marquee wins uh to to their name now and and they didn’t have OG or Grimes or Randall tonight and they still beat Indy um uh so it’s kind of fun I I I kind of

Love it that they’re winning cuz I feel like I feel like especially with you know you know Philly’s lost four in a row they’re up on Utah right now but like with if embiid is going to miss sometime maybe the Cavs can kick their feet up a little bit more but like they

Can’t they have to just keep winning and as a fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers I really like it when they win I’m I’m a big fan of winning as well um you know if embiid misses some time like yeah that helps out on the one hand

But on the other hand it could turn Philly into Miami where they fall down the standings as a result of injuries and all of a sudden hey that’s your first round matchup like you know it the East is terrified like and I think that’s why you have to really focus on

Your own development uh you know continuing to be the best version of yourselves because I think the cows can give anybody a series like I I I feel very good about what the ceiling of this team can be and it’ll be interesting to see how long does this adjustment period

Have I think it’s very very helpful that even if they go through some bumps like you talk about like that Sacramento um Toronto Brooklyn whatever that trip is there those three games you could very easily be one and two there that would not surprise me in the least um if that

Stretch goes a little sideways for the Cav but they’re going to have that reset of the All-Star break and then I think the hope would be that you’re hitting the ground running you’re full steam ahead uh from that point on and then we can see where this goes obviously you

Know if embiid’s missing time that can open open up opportunity for All-Star replacement for Jared Allen I think he’d be very deserving we bury the lead there Don Mitchell congratulations for being a five-time Allstar I think it was such a foregone conclusion we didn’t need to

Lead with it we we didn’t need to lead with it but uh I think he’s been absolutely out of this world I think he deserves to be an MVP conversation he’s you know a five-time All-Star but I think he should be a firsttime first team all NBA this year for sure uh he

He’s just been out of this world good so uh we will continue to update that situation and uh I guess the next podcast is going to be after the Kings game on Monday that that should be a fun one hell yeah brother uh the Kings have

Uh bothered us uh in years past uh that that is not you know they’re not quite as good as they were last year they yeah they’re eight games over 500 but they’re only plus7 on the point differential so they are they are pretty wildly outperforming uh their wi differ or their point

Differential but like I think it’s a tough matchup man uh and you know uh they scare me and I’m excited I’m but I’m excited that’s one of those measuring sick games to me yeah it is a measuring sck game uh they will be on a

As the schedule man they will be on a long road trip three and four all that good stuff um but that is one of the toughest matchups uh that I think exists for the Cavs uh you really got to hope that Jared Allen’s healthy for that one

Because sa bonus is a handful even with Jared Allen uh so we will be going live after that game big thanks to everyone that tuned in live today 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 leave a review subscribe unsubscribe resubscribe and help cook those books if you want to be part of chased Down’s exclusive Discord chat send a screenshot the review to chased downod gmail.com however you choose to support us we really do appreciate it make sure you

Guys are staying safe out there until next time go Cavs and

The Cavaliers have now won 12 of their past 13 games after beating the Memphis Grizzlies and Detroit Pistons on a back-to-back. Justin and Carter react to how Darius Garland and Evan Mobley have looked in their respective returns, discuss rotational choices and more!

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Please Note: The opinions expressed by The Chase Down podcast are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of the Cleveland Cavaliers or its Basketball Operations staff, parent company, or partners.