This crowd rises to its being.
What Carl slam it?
Oh, Carl left wing free ball, perfect.
Dar pop the hell block, the shot at the rim, pow in the left hand and of fowl.
Welcome to the Chase Down Podcast, part of the Caves Media family. I'm your host Justin Rohan. The Chase Down is presented by Fubo, the official streaming partner of the Calves. Watch over three hundred and fifty channels of live sports and TV, including FanDuel Sports Network without cable. There's no cost and no commitment. Try for free at footballtv dot Com Slash Calves. The Clived Cavaliers came away with not one but two signature wins over the weekend at three
and oho starts since the All Star Breaks. Since we last recorded, Uh dominant went over the New York Knicks and in oppressive win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Joining me today to discuss it all is my co host Carter Rodriguez. Carter, how you doing, buddy?
It's kind of nice to get, you know, two flavors of win.
Uh.
You know, you have the absolute ass kicking against the Knicks on Friday and then you get where you kind of just show your class, and then you show your culture on Sunday in a game against the Grizzlies when you're down your point guard and you can't hit the broadside of a barn with your jump shots and you still put up one twenty nine and just process your way to a win. So, you know, I think like you kind of just get whatever you wanted to learn
about the Calves, you know, in these two games. I do feel like you did kind of get to learn it.
Yeah.
Oh, I totally agree with that. And I think the important thing is I believe both of these games were flexed into the national TV kind of spotlight, right Like, with how well the Calves have been playing, they are getting more and more of these showcase games in the second half of the season, in this closing stretch, and for people that may have not been following as closely that maybe the last time that they tuned into a Calvs game was the lost in OKC, or just checking
out the NBA post All Star break for the first time, which you know a lot of casual fans do. This was like a showcase opportunity for them to show what they're made of. Maybe people have still been dealing with some of the scars of that playoff series two years ago with the Knicks. I thought it was really interesting that Donovan talked about that and how you know they
almost appreciate that experience and benefited from it. But I think for the Calves to come out and show how good they've been all season against you know, the second best team in the Eastern Conference, or the second best team in the Western Conference and the third best team in the Eastern Conference, I thought it was really really impressive.
I thought the Caves showed a lot of toughness. I thought there were elements within each of these games where the team of yesteryear probably would have lost some composure and maybe let go of a rope to some extent. I just think you're seeing more and more of the maturity of this team as the season has progressed.
Yeah, they're just kind of the most reliable thing in sports right now. At the end of the day, you know, I mean they're forty seven and ten, Oh my gosh. If you're on a franchise win record tracker, as I am, pretty much every game right now. The eighth nine Cavaliers were forty five and twelve at the fifty seven game mark, so the Cavs are now two losses ahead of that pace right now. And man, yeah, it's just again We've said it all year, but you just never know where
it's going to come from. And this game, I think that Grizzlies game was kind of the best example of at least two of your stars are going to show up in an insane way, Mobley and Donovan, and at least one of your role players is going to have a killer game. In this case, it was Tied Jerome, who went bananas justin I mean, what do you have? Six fifteen, sixteen points in the fourth quarter, completely took
over the game. Allowed Donovan to sit the first five to six minutes of the fourth quarter, which was important because he's still played thirty five last night, you know, and he would have if Ty wasn't going nuts and Kenny had to break rotations and get him back in early, then there would have been a world where he plays forty minutes for one of the only times that they've done that all year on a three and four night stretch.
So I just thought it was really important for Ty to kind of go nuts the way he did, and he continues to be I think probably the most pleasant surprise maybe of my Calves fandom, Like, has there been a season from any Calves player that has been this good, this out of nowhere in your fandom?
No, And there's been players that have been excited about that in and missed their first year, right, Like I think back to Dylan Windler, I think back to, you know, going all the way back to like guys like Sergei Carrasev who didn't miss his first year, but you know, had a lot of injuries. But I was excited. You know,
it's a shooter for a team that needs shooting. Like I've talked myself into so many of these moves on the margins, and if he did this last year, it would be one of the most surprising things that I can recall within my cast fandom, even though we were both very high on him. But I think what makes it even more unique is the fact that he missed
last season. Usually when something goes off the rails, it stays that way, Like there isn't the bounce back, there isn't the recovery, especially when you're talking about these little moves on the margins. So for Ti Jerome to step up and play as well as he has all season. I think has been, you know, one of the most
pleasant surprises. But I think the most surprising aspect of this is not only is he, you know, on a night in, night out basis giving them consistent bents, you know, really stepping up and in essence replacing what we had in Karris Lavert. You know since his departure here, not only is he doing that, but if Donovan or Darius are out all of a sudden, we get this next gear. We give him every time.
It's not like it's not like you get it every blue moon when those guys are Every single time one of those guards is out, he scores like twenty five points.
It's nuts, dude.
He's like that golden like fantasy handcuff backup running back that you know, as soon as one of them the starters out, you put him in. You don't even think about it because he's going to deliver in all those spots. And you know, I've done that in fantasy basketball a few times this year because I of course have Darius and Donovan on my team because I am that way, and you know, as soon as one of them's out, I pick him up off waivers. He's always sitting there.
I pick him up and I throw him into my lineup, and you know, that saved me sometimes, but it's also helped save the calves. And he's he's been terrific. I think the confidence that he plays with, the edge that he plays with. That guy talks as much as anybody on the team. I think it's him and Max that probably lead the team in talking, especially now that George Niang.
Isn't here anymore.
I've just been so enamored with how he's played all season. And you know, we talked about it when it came to team building, when we talked about the core being expensive and all the kind of fine line that they have to walk as a front office, they needed to hit some home runs on the margins and Ty Jerome has absolutely been one of those home runs.
Brother.
We went into this year wondering if he could be the backup point guard on a team that might not play a backup point guard. That was where we were at the beginning of the years, like he might beat Craig out and he still might not get to be in the rotation. Like that's where we were, and he has I think been unquestionably their best non core four
player this year. He is averaging twenty two, six five and two steals for thirty six while basically just about splashing a fifty to forty ninety from an efficiency perspective. And you know, Donovan, I think said it where it's like at the end of the year, you're kind of waiting for there to be the drop off, but it's like, this is just kind of who he's going to be, at least for this season, you know. And I think I'd be more surprised if he fell off than if
he maintained this play at this point. And I think you hit the nail on the head. And part of what makes the DeAndre Hunter trade as good as it is is really what you traded was Carris and Niang for DeAndre Hunter and guaranteed rotational minutes for ty Jerome yep.
And that's part of the depth play of the team where you like it was just going to be because Carris is a good ball handler and he is a good creator, he's a good positional defender, and he was going to earn minutes he deserved minutes, and naturally those two were just gonna be kind of at odds with each other in the rotation and kind of inherently be stealing minutes because, as we've said, a lot minutes is a zero sum game at the end of the day.
And it's just cleared the.
Runway, and it is such a game changer for this team.
Dude, Like when you look at it, DeAndre Hunter is currently playing three minutes a game more than George Niang did when he was with the Cavs. Like, that's functionally what it's been. It's been tied Jerome that has replaced the charisl Avert role, right, and you know we've absorbed some of that too. I think you know Max is getting some minutes, or Kor is getting minutes, particularly now that we're fully healthy. Dean Wade is getting some time.
So obviously George's minutes were inflated a bit because of availability. But it it just leaves you with this really rock solid rotation. Like even on a night where Darius was out of the lineup, you felt really good about the depth that the Cavs had, Right, You had Max Struz contributing, you had DeAndre Hunter stepping up, ty Jerome was stepping up. I thought Isaac Okorro gave them good minutes. Sam Marril and Dean Wade weren't shooting well, but they contributed in
other ways. Dean had some fantastic defensive possessions, Like it's a rock solid deep rotation even after that trade. And I think when you can do a consolidation trade and don't lose any depth, and not lose any depth because you trust the guys that you've developed internally to step up, I think that's so so important.
And I think it was important when we.
Talked about, you know, the ability to move on from Karris Lavert after everything that he gave them and how important he was, particularly when the guards would go down. But I think part of that calculus was still, Hey, Craig Porter juniors looking really good, Like those minutes he played against the Nick That jump shot is coming along.
He's looking better and better, and that's you know, that's one of those swing skill sets, right Like I think Craig in a lot of ways reminds me of what we love about Luke Travers, where, oh my god, the rebounding, like, the athleticism, the feel for the game, the intelligence, the maturity. He plays with just needs that three point shot to come along in order for it to all kind of get unlocked once again.
It looks like one of.
Those success stories where he's knocking those shots down with more consistency. So I think the confidence that they have in their player development has really empowered them. And you know, to bring it back to Tie.
Yeah, what he's said, I'm not done talking about Tie. It's so good and I think he needs like the first ten twelve minutes of this podcast, I won't.
Go that far because I got someone I want to rant about on this podcast, so.
We will get there. We had a lot to cover.
But I do think an important thing has also been availability. That hasn't been a consistent thing with him throughout his career. If you look at the stats, what he's doing this season is not dis similar to his first year in Oklahoma City. The biggest difference is his efficiency on you know those two point shots, the little floaters that you know he is just absolutely mastered. But he was shooting just as well from three on. In fact, higher volume,
he was scoring just as many points per game. I'm sure there weren't the same high watermarks. Forgive me, I don't remember a lot about Okac in that weird after the bubble season, but like he's done this before, but for him to do it now over fifty three games instead of the thirty three he played that year, for him to have these, you know, for him to be as reliable as he has been when they really need him to step up, it's just been an incredibly impressive
season from them. Yeah, you mentioned the health, and he
mentions the health like he got it. It's so funny because people want to kind of like tease out like the reason why, and he was He's been like so stead passed and be like I just didn't get to play this way and I wasn't healthy, Like I didn't get wasn't unlocked to play this kind of basketball, Like this isn't a dude who just needed someone to tell him he was great, and now he gets to be like he's just like, yeah, I was great the whole time, and my body wasn't cooperative and I was playing as
a role player on some teams. I pulled up the numbers because he mentioned that he's already hit his career high for games played in the season in his post game availability last night. I pulled up he's played three seven hundred and sixty three minutes in his six year career, Oney, fifteen of those are just this year. So like he's just you know, and he's earning his way into the
court obviously, but also his body's just been cooperative. And when you have that combination and you've got the size and you've got the complimentary skill set where he can run point guard for this team and he can play the two guard next to Darius, or he can play the one next to Donovan, or he can be the only ball hander on the floor.
Like his positional.
Versatility and ability to play in any lineup can he plays him in has just been so crucial and like you just can't help a root for the guy. I mean again, I really don't think I've been this floored by by, you know, in this This taken aback by a player like this just doesn't happen. Guys who are journeyman role players like this, who you know, are not like because's not like he was considered like this, this unpolished project coming out of the draft, like he was
an old rookie. You know, he's a three four year player at Virginia and U and you know, was supposed to be a guy who's just a high floor role guy at best, Like he is raising the ceiling of this team on a game to game basis, and you just got to be so appreciative that, you know, one of Tie for doing the work, also of Kobe Altman in the front office for for finding the guy and locking him in, and also just we got to think our lucky stars that it's playing out this way.
Brother.
Yeah, it's not often that as two self admitted calvs homers are high on a player coming in and then blown away by what they actually produce, right, Like, that doesn't happen too too often. And he's just been phenomenal.
I think one of the biggest things too, and one of the advantages of having him play at such a high level is we have seen over the last couple of years, even when you're playing lineups that are a spacing challenge right where you're playing too bigs and let's say back when you had Icycle Corra when he was in as established as a shooter or Lamar Stevens playing minutes there, you are able to still get a lot of functional offense off of the strength of having two
dynamic guards that you had to account for. Now you have it so that when one of Darius or Donovan comes off the court, Ty Jerome comes in, he's a dynamic guard. And not only that, now you have two way wings. Now you have guys that can space the floor that are threats that have to be accounted for. Now you have more mature big men in both Evan Mobley and Jared Allen who are are really expanded their games as playmakers, their understanding of the game, their feel
as playmakers. So when you have two guards that you have to account for on that level, it's going to lead to these breakdowns that drive opposing fan bases nuts. Like when you look at Nick Twitter during the last like that that game on Friday, They're losing their minds
at what Tige Rome's doing. And when the Knicks try to scramble to account for them, open opportunity for Donovan, open dunks, right you cheat on the guards, and all of a sudden, Max Struce is running an incredibly effective side pick and roll with Evan Mobley or Jared Allen and hitting them on the numbers, right Like, there is just so much more dynamic play from this team, and I just they needed to hit on a lot of these role guys, and it seems like here, here's the
most important thing. Let's let's summarize it all with this going into the playoffs, I feel one confident that we have enough to properly evaluate how the core is going to play in that setting. Supporting cast is not going to be an issue. They are going to be taken as far as Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Donovan Mitchell, and Jared Allen take them. And I think that that's the most important thing. And that's been something that we haven't confidently been able to say the last couple of years.
Yeah, I think that's absolutely fair. And you know, I think after that, and we haven't talked about Javonte Green yet because he wasn't officially signed, so I think we'll have to sneak that in somewhere.
And they very dim't not all like that.
It wasn't even it wasn't even out there when we did the last mail Bag.
Podcast, and uh, you know, but like I think after they after that went, you know, got reported. I think you said in either in a discord, a group chat or something like that, you were like, well, COVID did his job, Like they've got what they need, and I think you're one hundred percent right the the They've got high volume role players, they've got role players who can mesh, They've got role playlayers who can defend. They've got role players who can play in multiple styles. Like the roster
just up and down is really really dynamic. And like when you, by the way, when you were talking about you know what Tie unlocks against in that Knicks matchup, I was thinking that, you know, the whole premise of this team is that you always have one you know, dynamic elite ball handler on the floor with one elite rim running you know, uh rim protecting big on the
floor at all times. What Tie has really done at the end of the day, because he's made it so you have two dynamic ball handlers on the floor at all times, because you're always going to be playing with with a with a Darius, a Donovan or a Tie and most of the time you're gonna have at least two of those guys on the floor. You know, least got a step further, of course, because now we I think I'm comfortable saying that we have two dynamic front court players on the court at all times because you're
likely playing. When you're staggering those bigs, you likely have DeAndre Hunter out there as well. And that's someone that was average nineteen points per game this season on great efficiency. This team is dope. Yeah, Like they are so good.
You cannot ask more. You could not have asked more from the front office, like showing patients. But then not only do they get to, you know, kind of strut their stuff, probably like around All Star weekend. I don't know if Kobe even attended, but if he's walking around other general managers and whatnot, I think he can puff out his chest.
A little bit.
Like, not only was I right about being patient and keeping the core together through the summer, I didn't get complacent with that. I didn't rest on my laurels of oh, you know, my gamble paid off, we're the best team in the league, or we had the best record in the league, not being complacent with that, but still going out being aggressive, going and getting DeAndre Hunter and then having Tied Jerome step up in this way.
I just think it's exactly what you need.
It's exactly what you need going into this postseason, and I I just do not feel like that's going to be the storyline like this goes beyond pumpkin insurance, like this is yes, I don't know what you want to use for that analogy, but they've got the depth they need.
Yeah, it's just at the end of the day, like the sandbox is there for these guys to play, and it's built. You've got all all the toys, all the tools, and uh, it's so encouraging to see. I think this front office just needs endless, endless credit because the balance between self confidence and humorous kind of sits at a razor's edge.
And my ears are burning continue.
And and sorry I wasn't ready for that one. And you know there were times where you worried almost where like okay this you know, this front office really really believes in what they've built, and they've had some some real hits to that on the journey. You know, that Knick series is a big hit. You know, the entirety of last regular season was the kind of was was a hit where things weren't meshing, things worth the some
of their parts. So when you're that confident and then you start getting the good results in the wake of that, Yeah, it's unbelievable that they didn't just go well, I was right last time, so why would I Why would I change it now?
You know?
So like that ability to to to hang out on that knife sets, which is where the best executives and the best organizations live, uh, is such a testament. It's something I didn't know if we would ever have because most organizations don't get to have this. And uh again, you just have to give Kobe, Mike Gansey that front
office their flowers. Clearly, it's it's a it's a it's an environment where an opinion matters, having a real point of view matters, but where that point of view can get challenged and you can and you can say, and you can really see how that filters all the way down to the coaching staff, the kind of team that Kenny's running, where he's where he's telling stories about how he didn't want to start Jalen Tyson and Damari Carroll goes and talks him into it.
Like all these little.
Pieces of evidence that show, hey, we believe in something, but we're not getting getting too high on our own opinions. We are ready to be challenged and we in everything that we believe has to be deeply defended and deeply validated or or or it's not going to work. And like again, just what a masterclass on the road to building a team.
This good?
Yeah, I think it's so important and it really goes to show, right, Like we see what we see in forty eight minutes, right, what's on the court, What the kind of relationships are, the body chemistry, all that kind of stuff that's a parent Like we can see that on a consistent basis.
But I think those types.
Of relationships, right, having your finger on the pulse with the locker room, knowing what types of shake ups the locker room can handle, what shakeups are going to be a positive for the locker room, right, Like when you look back at the coaching change, JB did a great job, but it was clearly time to make an adjustment there.
Caros LeVert had really contributed, had really brought a lot to the locker room, but it was the right time and they had the trust in the locker room to be able to kind of step up and address that. I think, and you know that did Mark Carroll example. I think that's another great example. Like it's all these kind of relationships and things you don't see that aren't a parent that are working in the background, always providing support, just like zoom Ai Companion. Because only you can do
your best work harder. Zoom Ai Companion can help you do the rest, like automatically taking notes, answering meeting questions, and helping you respond to your coworker. Available at no additional costs with eligible paid plans. Were happy with Zoomy I can Carter. You took me on a Ti Jerome ride here. I think he absolutely deserved it. I am enamored with Ti Jerome. But I want to talk about Evan Mobley because that man looked like one of the
best players on the planet these last two games. He put up twenty five thirteen and eight versus Memphis with three blocks, twenty one, eight and four versus New York, which is impressive, more impressive when you realize he did in twenty four minutes. This guy is one of the best two way players in basketball. Is off the dribble game has expanded. He is looking so confident he was taking it too. One of the best defenders on the
planet in Jaron Jackson Junior. And I think when you we talk about the differences between two years ago against the Knicks and where the team is at now. Mentioning the changes in the supporting cast, coaching, all that kind of stuff is so important. I think the b a swing factor, which we said at the time was going to be the growth of Evan Mobley and is no. This is no longer what we saw post All Star break of that season where he was more productive. He
was getting around eighteen and ten. This is someone that can bend defenses that people panic because he is so dominant on both ends of the court.
Holy hell, it was fun to watch he is.
He is really I feel like even taking another leap as a creator midseason from what he was at the beginning of the year. I mean, we talk about how at the front end of the year he's taken it to the Charlottes of the world and you know, the Washingtons of the world, and you wait to see like, Okay, that's good, I'm glad to see it, but like he can't turtle up against the best defenses in the league
when he goes up against other elite personnel. At the end of the day, that's what elite offense is is when you can beat elite defense with it, and you know he has that first possession against Jaron where they're down Darius, So he's gonna need to initiate That's just the way, especially with that starting lineup with Okuoro in there, You're gonna need mobilely to initiate offense. So it's just not the Donovan Mitchell show, which by the way, it was,
but just the Donovan Mitchell show. So you need it. And he gets ripped on that first possession, and you go and I won't lie. I go, this could be a hard game, you know, this could be a hard game to get easy buckets, and then he just proceeds
to decimate him the rest of the game. I mean, the the euro step, the inverted pick and rolls, the Duccans right when he needs them, so much self created offense, so much playmaking for others where he is getting he's beating Jaren to the point, like the whole feast of Jaron Jackson Junior for the Grizzlies is they don't have to help when he's guarding someone. Yeah, so if the fact that Evan is just spraying passes out, I know you have an unbelievable stat I wouldn't dare take from
you from this one with regardless of his playming. But the fact that he's able to destabilize Memphis defense with you know, the current odds front runner for Defensive Player of the Year guarding him, hopefully not for long, is really special.
It is really special.
And that's that you're referring to fifteen assist opportunities created by Mobile in that game. Second on the team was Donovan with eight, So you know, he is not only generating for himself against one of the best defenders in the league. He is generating for others. He was creating opportunities all over the board.
And I think I'm.
Really happy that you pointed out that turnover because I didn't get to watch that game live. I had to watch it after, and I knew that he had a great game, and I smiled when I saw that turnover because I'm like, this is great because I already knew what his box score was. I watched the fourth quarter live. I was like, this is awesome. He is going to stick with it. And I think you even saw within this game he took a lot of open threes. One
of them he had his foot on the line. Unfortunately he missed a bunch of them, but he didn't let that determ. He's not being polite where oh you know, excuse me, I'm going to try to expand my game here for a possession or two. Let me, let me experiment with a dribble, let me experiment with a three. He's confident with what he's doing on the court, and he believes in the process. He is sticking to it and he is playing his game. And I think we
still need to see it against Boston. I want to see him have one of these games against Kristaps Porzingis and now Horford. We saw it against Horford in the playoffs. Porzingis has given him trouble, but I think it's encouraging that since he struggled there. We've seen him do it against I, Rudy Gobert, We've seen him do it against Jaron Jackson Jr. Who Christaph Porzingis is a phenomenal defender. He is not as good as those two guys, Like I'm sorry, he's maybe a little larger, but he is
not a better defender than those two guys. Whether he can get that to translate, whether he can keep himself, keep maintain that composure, attack and assert his will on the game, that's going to be really really important to see. But what did we say. We only have one game left against Boston, but we do have a lot of these matchups where you're playing very very good defensive teams
and very very good defensive players at that position. So for Evan Mobiley to excel and to not just have a solid game against a good defender, but have an argument for being the best player on the court with his performance, I think is significant. Yeah, and I think I think you mentioning the three point volume, I'll just actually take it a step further and say the field
goal it's him volume. He took twenty shots, and how many times in the last two years would the Cavs be like down one of their core guys, especially one of their guards. And then you look at the end of the night and Evan has sixteen seventeen points on nine or ten field goal attempts, and it's like, Okay, that's cool that you were efficient, But like brother, we need we need to take shots. We need you to
have high attempt, high volume. We need to feel you in the offense on especially on nights like this where Darius is out and you know, the engine to your offense isn't playing. You need to self create offense, And like what is better self creation for a seven foot power forward than you know, twenty field goal attempts, eight assists, fifteen potential assists and like an eight three point attempts, Like that is self creation in a way that I just don't know we would have seen a year or
two ago. It's what needs to happen for this offense to be playoff proof, because we have talked about this time and time again. You need to have counters for when teams hedge blitz and put pressure on your guards. You need to have that frontcourt creation and Evan Mobley stepping up in that way is important. I think having DeAndre Hunter is important. He is able to generate offense. I've been really impressed with his touchoff of drives, some of the self created buckets, the way he's able to
rise up over defenders, and abounding game for him. By the way, I know it is that what we're talking about, But no, I see it's You're absolutely correct.
Like I thought.
You know, he stepped up in a big, big way and was a star in his role, and that's exactly what you need. So I just feel more confident about the ability of this offense to translate.
To the playoffs.
But man Evan Mobley, especially in a showcase game National TV against Jaron Jackson Junior, who is going to be competing with for Defensive Player of the Year, I thought it was really, really significant. And I made this argument two years ago when I personally thought Evan Mobley should have won Defensive Player of the Year.
But I think when you look at.
These two games from over the weekend where Evan Mobley, you know, massive performance in twenty four minutes against the Knicks, Jaron Jackson Junior twenty two points in his twenty five minutes against the Cavs, very similar production. Know what the difference is. Carter Jaren played twenty five minutes because he had five fouls. Evan played twenty four minutes because they blew the Micks out. This is the thing Evan Mobley's minutes like when you look at their per thirty six stats.
Jaren really expanded his offensive game last year, did him a lot of good. He is an improved player, He's a phenomenal player. But Evan Mobley can scale up his minutes and actually achieve those per thirty six stats. Because he's not picking up fouls all the time. Not only that, when they have very similar kind of impact on opponents
shooting when it comes to what they do defensively. Know what Evan does better ending those possessions after the shot has gone up because he is a dramatically better rebounder than Jaron Jackson Jr. The Grizzlies are one of the worst rebounding teams in the league, and his rebound rate is not that dissimilar to someone like DeAndre Hunter, who we've talked about is rebounding at the small forward position. Like I just think that Evan Moley is a more
complete defensive player. I think the ability to defend without fouling is so important, particularly when you're talking about can the success of the regular season translate to the playoffs where we need our best players to potentially play thirty six thirty eight minutes a game. If you can't play that many minutes because you are taking yourself off the court with those fouls, that to me has to work
against you. If you cannot end those possessions and the Cavs outrebound you by ten, that has to count in these Defensive Player of the Year conversations. I think Jaron Jackson has as I said, I think he's taken a step forward. I think he's a phenomenal player. I think he is a much much more dynamic offensive player than what we saw two years ago. I think Evan Mobley is just a flat out better player at this point.
He is.
And I think there is a little bit of of JJJ getting credit for his growth as a player as in this like it's and you see that happen the other way too, you know, Like I was listening to the Dunker spots, I was hanging out in their playback room and someone asked about BAM. Why why he's not in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation, and you know, and you know, and Nikai has kind of mentioned like, I mean, he's been good there, but also like he's
just having a bad year overall. And it does drag you down narratively, it just does. And like so even though most of bam struggles this year have been on offense, like, it does just kind of change the perception of you a little bit. And I do feel like that's happening with JJJ in the opposite way. By the way, just pulled up ban duel, just a just a check, and guess who is now tied for the best odds for defensive Player of the Year, Your boy, Evan Mobley. They're
both plus one twenty five. And by the way, I'm going to use this as aside to say, this is why taking advantage of getting put on national TV really matters. You've got four national or sorry, five straight national TV games, six out of seven and like, and a lot of those were flexed games where you know, the leagues saw how good the Caves are playing and put them in
the spot. That's why it matters. And you cannot tell me that if that, if that was, if that Memphis game is only on the regional networks, that that line shifts that fast.
You know.
But when you when you put when you when these guys are getting in this national showcase and showing out the way they have been these last couple of games, it just starts to push these narratives in their favor. Yeah, and you know, I thought that this was a big weekend for changing narratives overall for the Caves. I thought what they did against the Knicks was significant. It would be a huge week by Friday.
Absolutely, and you know Bullet's dodge.
You know, I will confess I panicked when I saw Darius land on his face, when I saw you know, Jared Allen going for an MRI. All of that freaked me out because it brought me right back to after All Star break. In the past, like people have always talked about, oh, you know, the cass fall off after the All Star break, like that, the play has fallen off.
It has always been injuries. Like when we were coming off the All Star Game in Cleveland, we lost Darius, we lost Caris, we lost Lowry, we lost Jared, we lost Evan, we lost Dean. All those guys were out and that's why the tail spin happened. For Jared Allen to you know, bang his finger on the rim and then miss the rest of the regular season and be impacted in the play in game. Like, all of that
was fresh in my memory. So for Jared to come back to not have it be anything too serious, I think he saw maybe a little bit with his free throw shooting, but I thought he had a big impact on the game.
I thought he.
Played really really well for Varius. You know, well, we'll see how long he's out. If he's not one hundred percent for Boston. I'm going to find that interesting because you're likely going to be banged up in the playoffs. You're going to need to find ways to be productive in those spots. I think that we have more than enough to win. I think we've seen that in past games against Boston where someone's had a really, really bad game.
We just might need a like a It's funny to say this against the team as good as Boston, but you know, we might just need a be game from Darius if we get a strong Evan and Darius or and Donnie and Hunter steps up right, Like.
Is Donovan in a good form right now? Oh my, it's been phenomenal.
So I'm I'm I'm really you know, I'm hopeful that he doesn't miss too much time. I know the Caves have been very cautious with how they've managed injuries and made sure that that guys were one hundred percent. It was nice to see him on the bench having some fun in the last game. I like the track suit look, but yeah, hopefully it's available for Boston. It's nice to get two days off prior to that as well. But you know, the Cavs did a phenomenal job managing you know,
a three and four as well. Sure, those last two games were at home, but I think, particularly coming off some time off, I'm not surprised that they shot twenty seven percent from three and had some tire legs. I'm not surprised that Isaac o Coro and Dean Wade are are a little tired, particularly old Cora who played all those games. You're going to have some tired legs in
those spots. But to go up against one of the best offensive teams in the league in Memphis and a very good defensive team as well, and to still put up that many points when you shoot twenty seven percent from three and sixty eight percent from the free throw line. If you're Memphis, you can't feel too good about what the Cavs did to your defense.
No, absolutely not, man, And like, what's so nice again, And We've talked about it a lot, but Donovan Mitchell just being the break the like the best break glass in case of emergency option in the league, that a team that rarely has to break that glass, like he was so crucial in this game. Like they don't score sixty plus in the first half shooting the way they shot. If Donovan isn't just carrying the offense and playing like a super duper star, yeah, he has just been on
a tear dude. I mean the explosion has been top notched. Yet another monster dunk. The jumper looks really really pure. His catch and shoot just it just feels like he never misses when he gets to catch and shoot. At this point, the connectiveness has been really really great, not just the passes leading to assists, but the hockey assists, the hit aheads. You know, man, that lobb to Mobili against the Knicks in the first quarter, Oh my god,
that was beautiful. Like for a guy who says he's not that good at throwing lobs, that's one of the best trap lobs I've seen in a long time.
That was remind me because I can't remember if we've discussed this on the podcast. I've done a lot of damage from my brain over the years. Have we talked about kind of the variety of his playmaking this season, because I really feel like, even though last year was you know, that big kind of playmaking leap from him. I feel like his understanding of what the Cavs are running offensively and the Tights and the variety of passes
that he's making are at the highest level. And I just think we are seeing the absolute best version of Donovan Mitchell, even if it's not readily apparent when you look at his season long stats.
I think he's passing guys open. I think he is finding and he's making passes I didn't see, you know, so much of what I thought last year was kind of a brute force thing where, you know, kind of like Westbrook playmaking, if I could find finding the open man, yeah, yeah, being a little reductive where he you know, had would have,
you know, intense gravitational pull. Everyone would just kind of suck in towards basket and he would be able to kick it or make an interior pass that was there with an angle that he could see.
You know.
He is making passes this year where I'm like, I didn't know you were gonna throw it there, and and that is really really special, and you're right, it is not you know, And we did talk about this a little bit, how it's not gonna It hasn't really shown up in the Playmatrix playmaking metrics, but I just don't
really care. And it's part of why I think the Cabs have just been so freaking elite with him and Evan on the floor because both of their playmaking has been so good all year that those, you know, those lineups are just kind of impossible at the end of the day. I mean, in the month of February, justin he's averaging thirty points, five rebounds, six assists per thirty six, I mean, and on very good efficiency forty nine from the field, thirty eight from three on ten to three
point attempts per thirty six as well. Like the he is playing like a super duper star.
And I think what stands out to me too is I feel like he has good chemistry with everybody on the roster, whereas in the past I felt like sometimes there was almost like a learning curve for playing with guys, and some of that's probably a result of continuity, but I also just think everyone's being put in really good positions, like I honestly think Isaac Okorral since coming back. I know he's two of eight from three, but I felt
his impact in these games. I'm really enjoying the minutes of him role attacks really you know, generating some assist opportunities there. He's been attacking the glass at the type of rate that we want to see. The rebound percentages up three percent since he's come back from the injury. I thought he had some really really impactful defensive possessions and possessions where he didn't get the rebound but he's
tipping at it and generates a second chance opportunity. The block he had on Desmond Baine and I thought was phenomenal. I believe that was with his left hand, Like he's just looked really good out there. And it's it's funny because I think in how he was used in the past, when you're sitting in the corner, you whether or not you are playing well is based solely on whether or
not you hit those shots. And I just feel like he's being used in more ways and he's impacting the game and it's not just about Okay, did the shots go down? And there were so many possessions where you know, little dribble handoffs with him and Donovan where he's setting just these incredible screens that are really blowing guys up.
And just he had that great two man game in the corner with Mobley last night where he ends up helping them force a switch, Mobley gets it, is able to attack Jaw on that switch and feeds Jared who's cutting baseline, Like he's part of these connected plays to.
Your point, Yeah, and you know for him to come back into the lineup. And I think it really illustrates.
Just how high level the feel.
Is for Donovan right now. But like him and Isaaca Coral have an effective two man game against a top ten defense and one of the best teams in the league in Memphis. Like I just think you're seeing it up and down the lineup where he has a perfect feel for where Dean wants the ball. He has immediately has great chemistry with DeAndre Hunter, like you've had really nice possessions with those two. His chemistry with Mobley is great. His chemistry with Jared Allen has been so much better
than it was in the past. Like I just or actually the other way around, the chemistry with Mobley's better
than it was in the past. Like I just think that up and down the lineup, he just has such a high level understanding of where he needs to be when he can be aggressive, of how to get guys open, how guys are going to cut, how they're going to move, and I think this is what This is what I was hoping for earlier in the season, where we were talking about, hey, there's a few possessions where Donovan is
very clearly saying it's my turn. Where the feel wasn't necessarily there, like it felt like everybody else was flown, and then sometimes like Donovan was playing such unselfish team basketball, He's like, I gotta get mine here. I got to get it once or twice. The reason why I felt it was so important to point out is because what we have seen from Donovan throughout his cast tenure is that he has grown, he has improved, he has done all the things to become a better team player.
Like Tony Stark, he's always learning justin.
And I just had that high level of confidence that was going to come at some point. And not that we wouldn't have pointed it out if we didn't think it was going to turn around, but I think pointing out where there's opportunity for growth is so so important, particularly when you're talking about a team who's path to a championship is largely going to be coming through internal development, or at least it has been to this point.
Yeah, and like your star player who's you know, in his late twenties at this point, like is the guy who you want, like who you're not counting on at development from comparatively, and the fact that you're still getting that growth again just speaks to what I love so much about the game of basketball that you know, it's
not about the bag, It's just not. It's about how you how you read the flow of the game, and how uh and how you connect with your teammates and when you decide to take over, when you decide to get your guys going, when you decide to uh, you know, to to muster the strength, that extra burst on the rim, attack that you know, on a night where your legs maybe don't all the way have it. Like, that's all the stuff I think Donovan's just getting better and better at. And you know, there were.
I would like to see him attack the rim a little bit more that That's my one critique is sometimes I feel like in some of these matchups and there's just so many good things that happen when he attacks the rim, I'd like to see it just a little bit more. But he's been so damn good.
And you know, here's the thing I trust that he'll do it in the playoffs because I do too. I like that Boston series before he got hurt. I mean, it was just a parade to the rim. Yeah, and I really do trust that he is going to muster the energy to get there, especially when they're closed out hard on that jumper. He's just been He's been phenomenal man,
an absolute tone setter. And you know the fact that I'm not sure who's been better between him and Evan in this month kind of tells you what kind of month the Cavs have had.
Yeah, they've been really, really damn good. And you know, his growth and his continuous improvement even into kind of his late twenties here, it just gets me excited about what twenty three year old Evan Mobley and newly twenty five year old Darrius Garland are going to do. Is they continue to get better and.
Fan me off.
Can I just a little brief rant about some of the cap dorcs here that are worried about all the accolades that Evan Mobley is going to get one. We've always said we are rooting for it, guys to get those accolades. We trust the front office to be creative we've also put the team together. I'm very content with this team staying together. But when it comes to you know, Evan Mobley potentially getting all NBA those kind of kickers
in the contract and all that kind of stuff. We have two guys twenty five and under that are probably deserving of all NBA spots, and the fact that only one of them has a chance to get that designative rookie Max, We're already probably ahead of the game there. I'm very, very much rooting for Evan Mobley to get all the accolades he deserves. And I love that he's speaking out for himself too, Like he's he's puffing out
his chest a little bit. He's talking, you know, saying, Hey, who do I think is going to be the best player in five years?
Me or Wemby?
Like I love that from him. I love the asserted ritually.
Not for Wendy, by the way, what a horrible or Wemby, Sorry not Wendy. Yeah yeah, what a terrible uh thing and scary thing. And hope for the best for him because that was a that was a real gut punch as a hoops fan.
Yeah, you were one of the first people I thought about because the last podcast we had done was you saying, Yeah, the matchup I'm most looking forward to is the two against Wemby, and then that immediately came out. I felt for you, and I also felt for that guy.
That tweeted out an hour before that.
He had just put ten thousand on to win Defensive Player of the Year just an hour before that news broke, so shouts out to him. But yeah, Evan Mobley taking the step forward that he has, I think is the most important thing. And No, it was really really fun to see Knicks fans kind of reacting to, oh, this is Evan Mobley now, because I think that that, more than anything, is the biggest difference when you talk about what they're going to be able to do in a
playoff series. Well, I should say, at least from a cast perspective, I think the biggest difference in that matchup is they took all their identity and traded away into Michale Bridges and Karl Anthony Townsend. I just don't think as good as Josh Hart is and he's been having the best season of his career, and as good as Mitchell Robinson can be, I don't think that they alone can carry kind of that physicality mantle for the Knicks. Like,
my goodness, man, Like that felt great. That was so much fun because I messaged you before the game where I'm like, I really feel like the Cavs should get this one. I feel like this should be a comfortable win. Even though the Knicks are really good, they haven't been good against the best teams of the league. They haven't
been good against winning teams. And I really felt like if they went out and struggled, you know, to score against a defense anchored by Kat, I was gonna say it was a mental hurdle that they have to come over overcome rather than a roster issue.
So for them to.
Just be as surgical as they were, that just felt great.
It was It was really rewarding, and it was really fun. Hate listening to a bunch of Knicks podcasts after words, and you know, you can.
Play a fun game.
What what is your favorite comment that you heard from a Knicks podcast.
After the game?
My favorite one was one It was I was listening to the next film school Q and a Okay, it's going to come from that too, And they asked if they asked him who was better Hunter or Michel Bridges, it took mine.
That was like, and he had to.
Earnestly be like, you know, it's close, like they gave up five first roup.
Picks, yeah versus three seconds. Yeah.
The comment of probably closer than we are comfortable admitting.
Was just that was yeah. I mean, you know I said it. Uh, you know, I whatever, We're fifty five minutes and we can do a Knicks Uh. We can make fun of the Knicks for a minute, you know.
I we love it. We love Next Film School. They do great work. Yeah.
Shout shouts shouts Claudio and John McCray.
Uh.
I remember when they made that cat trade. I text my buddy and I was like, that looks like the team I make in two K when I get bored and do five consecutive suggested trades and then then I like load up.
I'm like, what am I supposed to do with this?
You know, like like you just like you kind of like accidentally just like nuke the identity of whatever team you were looking to play with in the first place, and you just kind.
Of have like you trade for a bunch of guys.
Oh, there's a three D guy who'd be great, and then you just have like a bunch of guys who just don't play with a tremendous amount of force. Uh, And I mean Josh Hart is the second best playmaker on that team, like by a lot.
It doesn't have to work so hard like that.
That was one that was honestly one of the main things that jumped out, Like I expected us to be able to feast at the rim, and I expected our offense to be good. I was very impressed with how we played defensively. I thought the Cavs had a terrific
effort on that end of the floor. And man like when the Knicks kept a close ish in the first quarter, it was Brunson working his butt off to get those shots, hitting tough shots, hit one over Evan Mobley, like he was seeing bodies all over the place, And I just you need playmaking that How many times have I said it this season? That was my lesson from the Celtics is they had five guys that could create, and cap
to his credit, has been very good this year. Like he's taken a step up as a creator and a playmaker.
He's still more of a play finisher, you know, at the end, and if.
He dribbles a second time. He is not going to give the ball up if he dribbles once. If he dribbles once and help comes, he will make the right pass. If he has dribbled the second time, he is going to take it to the basket.
Yeah.
I think that's after that Calves game, before the Boston game. You know that same podcast time about how they were against the Calves Celtics and in thunder they their average scores one of five and their average opposing score is one twenty six. And I'm just sitting here going the one oh five is the problem. The whole thesis of the team is that they got to be able to score, and like they just don't they They they don't have the ability to get easy looks against great teams.
They have to work too hard for it.
So anyway, there's there's the there's Nick Shotenfreud, a corner of the Chase Down podcast which probably get back on the Calves. And by the way, for what it's worth, I have this concern with the Caves against Boston because I do feel like no one even even okay see, like no one has consistently gotten the Calves out of their offense like Boston has yep. The biggest question with the Calves is still can this offense translate to the playoffs?
The defense has held up. I think we have enough data points to indicate, yes, they are capable of doing this, But can you do it four times in the seven game series against the team as good as Boston?
That's going to be the question. The answer very well might be no.
But if we get like a competitive seven game series where we do it sometimes but you know there was just that one run that went the wrong way or whatever the case may be, that's something actionable. That's something that you can build off of, right, But how this offense translates to the playoff is still the biggest question. That's still something that I really really want to see, and I keep coming back to Evin Mobley. I think
that that's where it needs to come. I think he needs to be consistent, and that's a lot to ask of a twenty three year old, but I think we are seeing more and more that he is capable of doing that. And you know, one thing that we have seen as cav fans is sometimes a twenty three year old is able to step up and do things that you can't always expect of players, right, like, we have had some generational talent. We have been really, really damn lucky.
Obviously Lebron was phenomenal at twenty three years old, but there were those questions with Kyrie. There were questions, you know, early in the first round of the playoffs against Detroit. I remember ded hear from you know, the Warriors beat that was talking about the lack of assists between Kyrie and Lebron. Sometimes he had those off games, but when it really counted, he found that consistency. He struggled games one and two against the Warriors big in the comeback
twenty three years old. Evan Mobley, same damn age, and I would love to see this season end the same damn way.
You mentioned it's a lot to ask of Evan Mobley. Well, when the title means we're gonna have to ask a
lot of a lot of guys, Yeah, and everyone. The way this team is built, everyone's going to have to step up to the plate for two to three games at a time and some and like that is the rope is having enough guys playing great, just like Boston last year, having enough guys playing at a B plus a minus level that you can take a c minus game for one of your guys here and there, but like he needs to be eighty percent of the roster
playing well most of the way through. Yep, And I think this team can do it.
And some of it might be you know, tied your home, playing like Jason Terry in the in the finals and having one of those explosive quarters, or you know, we saw j R. Smith the Mon Shumpert four point play, right Like, those type of stuff matters so much, and I just have a high, high level of confidence that these guys are capable of doing it.
Now. I still I agree with.
What we said on the last podcast where I don't think there is any set of circumstances where you could say that the Cavs are going to be a favorite against Boston. And I do feel like this team has at least like the way I think about things, it's a three year window, right, Like that's the length that we have at least Donovan under contract. Let's think within
that window. But just because it's a three year window doesn't mean you're guaranteed to be in this position, doesn't mean you're guaranteed to be healthy next year, doesn't mean you can take this year for granted, if there is even an opportunity to go out and shock the world this year, he got to do everything in your power to maximize and capitalize on every single opportunity that you have.
Which good thing this team is picking up more useful players. On that note, they signed Javonte Green after he agreed to a buy out with the Pelicans, And what did you think of this move? You know, I think both of us were kind of pining for a big man. We're looking for a four or five, but also we weren't expecting a guy like Green to hit the market.
What do you think.
I'm happy with it like this. This falls onto your pumpkin insurance category. And you know, he is a little undersized six four sixty five, but he's got a massive seven foot wingspan. He is someone that plays much much bigger than his size. And Chris Fiedor on the Wine and Gold Talk podcast mentioned from his understanding when he was talking to the Cavs, it was indicated to him, hey, it's not going to be guaranteed. We have a lot of depth, but you may have opportunities to get minutes.
And I think the reason for that positional versatility, I think that this is someone that can competently play with from two to four, like he can play as an undersized power forward.
He's done it a good amount in.
His career because he is so physical and he is so long and plays so much bigger than his size. His defensive metrics are phenomenal.
Go check out.
Dan Devine had a great post on that where he is one of the best kind of perimeter defenders in the league from a metrics standpoint. Having a guy like that that can fill in, like if you are having an issue where Isaac gets banged up or Dean gets banged up or foul trouble with one of the role guys. The fact that you have some positional versatility coming in off the bench, someone that can fill in at a variety of those spots, I think is the most important thing.
And that's what I wanted more than anything, Right, I want a skill set more than I want an archetype, and I think that he fills that need.
Yeah, I think.
He he has a couple of things that are really going for him.
You know.
I do think he is insulation in matchups where maybe Sam Merrill isn't a great matchup, you know, like We've talked a lot about how we don't love Sam against Boston. You know, it's just not it's not our favorite, and you know, who knows, maybe it'll it'll be Kenny's favorite, and that's all that really matters. But you know, I think like that's a guy where you can go, hey, if you still want to play eight, nine, ten guys
that you can do that. You can just you can basically play him at the three or the four and down shift more Struce minutes at the two, yep, or or you know, more more Jerome minutes at the two because you got you got a big wing defender there. I think there is a you know, it's you. You made the pumpkin insurance joke earlier and and then brought it up here. What's nice is what you really want is pumpkin insurance for your role players in case and
have another option behind them. Knowing that your starters, your top five to six guys you can really count on, you want like layers of insurance, and like he does provide that. You know, like you mentioned, Isaac's jumper hasn't looked great since the shoulder injury. You know, if you get into a playoff series and it's just not going well. But you need a stopper. Maybe throw him in for
a shift and see how it goes. I think he'll be a great innings eater for this team as they go through the rest of their regular season, where you know, we've talked about how we're super confident they're going to be the one seed at this point, at least I am.
I think you are. You can safely say that, yes, you know, they're.
Up six games on Boston as we speak right now, and but we've talked about how okay See is in the middle of thumping Minnesota for the second straight game and they're gonna have the same record. If the Cavs went home court through the they're gonna have to probably play out the season try to win as many games I'm sorry to throw into the finals. They're gonna have
to play out the season. They're gonna have to win as many games as possible, and they're going to have to decide whether they want to balance you know, rest, recovery and all that stuff with chasing those wins. So adding another, like no doubt NBA player to your rotation makes it easier for you to do that, where you're not playing guys that you don't think can help you win in any game. Yeah, even when you're down two or three rotation players.
Yeah.
And you know, the great thing about this season is they've been chasing wins without you know, really stacking.
Up those minutes.
And once again, to give credit to Chris Fiedor, because again we are just fans with the podcast, We don't do the.
Work of a b reporter.
So we're very grateful for people like Chris, people like Danny that that are putting in, you know, the the actual work and we just get the benefit off it. But he did mention that one of the things that he expects Kenny to do, and one of the things Kenny has mentioned is he's going to want to play
them more minutes. He's going to want to give Donovan and Darius, you know, thirty six minutes in some of these games so that they can ramp up and get the conditioning to where it needs to be come playoffs.
But if you're going to be doing that, my expectation is, hey, you're probably going to be doing that in the games against New York, against Boston and all that, and that's going to necessitate Hey, with that understanding, if we're playing it back to back, one of these games, we're going deep, and if we lose that game because we're going deep, that's fine. But we trust our depth to step up.
We trust Tijerome, we trust you know, going all the way down to Sam, maryl Javonte Green, whomever coming in off the bench. They're going to need to do their part in order for us to get this wins record. And I think that's absolutely.
The right approach. But I do pretty really like what it can bring.
I'm pretty confident in saying that Sam Merrill or Javonte Green would be the best eleventh man in the league, Like no one else gets to play guys that deep and uh maybe okay, see, yes that's fair. Okay, See is bananas, dude. I went, I spent this entire season being a hat and ass hater, and I'm running out of things to hate. They kill everyone, They kill everyone, dude. Anyway, They're They're point differential is thirteen points a game and
it keeps growing. Like they haven't had really any one singular bad stretch of play this season.
They've been nuts.
Yeah, yep, you know you got to be to be markedly better, like by the metrics than this Calves team right now, Like you're not good, you have to be to have to be missing, like you're the second or third most important player for pretty much half the year and still be keeping paces with the Calves. Like I don't know, man, I don't know, man.
So well, you know, some of some of that is, you know, when when you're playing in a conference where a team like Memphis is the two seed, it's going to make things just a little bit easier.
But you know, that's that's just my opinion.
But you know, to strengthen my point, looking at minutes per game for for the Thunder, uh, their eleventh is aj Mitchell and twelve is ken Rich Williams. Those guys are absolutely NBA players. So but hey, Sam Merril, he's been playing great this year. I've been really happy with them, really rounded out his game. So no, no slight there. But you know, that's probably why kasin Thunder at the top of the league because they have the depth. They
have all of these guys that can contribute. So it's been awesome, you know, going into the playoffs, I feel really really comfortable, and I'm someone that's always been you know, I prefer eight.
I like eight. I think you have to go at least nine.
Like I think it's I think you got your core.
You got your core. Four.
The next two, Max Strews and DeAndre Hunter, I think that they're kind of that that cut above. You know, Max continue to start the starting lineup with Max Drews has a plus thirty four net rating so far.
Killing everyone. They are smoking everyone.
It's like Max was just like, yeah, no, I would like to stay the starter. Yeah, and they are killing everyone. By the way. I know we're going along in this podcast, but whatever, we didn't pod for like eleven days. Max playmaking against the Knicks punishing them for trying to hide Bronson on him was so nice to see.
Yep, and we talked about how, you know it's gonna be really tough for the Knicks to hide Brunson on the small forward, whether that's de Andandre Hunter in his ability to post him up, which you saw Brunton switching on and getting some larger players and getting attacked in that way. But also Max drus the connective playmaking, the feel he has with the starters has been phenomenal, So you know you are correct to bring that up. I thought Max was awesome against the next I thought it
was good against the Grizzlies as well. But yeah, like I think him and DeAndre Hunter, that's five and six they have to play, you know, a tier above more minutes than the rest of the group. But the next three, man, like, I think you are going to need Isaac Ocor in the playoffs. I think ty Jerome absolutely deserves those minutes. And I think Dean Wade has made a big, big impact. So I think those are my nine that I feel
super super confident in. Then everybody else in my mind, like that's a little bit of a specialist, like let's get a shooting punch, let's get some defense from Javonte Green, Let's let's try to mix things up in that way. But I just feel really good about the depth of this team. And I feel really good about the depth of this team. And we haven't even talked about, you know, kind of future projects in Jalen Tyson and Craig Porter Junior.
Yeah, I think that at this point Kenny is gonna play nine. But I think what it'll be is if nine doesn't.
Work, Yeah, that ain't nine.
You just pear down or if a guy gets hurt or whatever it may be, you don't just replace you, you pair and you start adding to the minutes load a little bit.
Yeah, yeah, you play, you play nine because the top.
Nine are that strong in my opinion, exactly, And I think that's what Kenny'll do.
But man, what does he have options?
I love options and I love the calves playing this. Damn well. We will be podcasting Wednesday, uh after well not after the Magic game because they play tomorrow, but we'll be recapping that and previewing the game against the Boston Celtics.
Big thanks to.
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Go calves, sat name Santa