This crowd rises to its being what Carl slammed it? Oh Carl, left wing reball, perfect.
Pop, then a block, the shot at the rim, how with the left hand and of fowl. Welcome the Chasedown Podcast, part of the Calves media family. I'm your host, Justin Browan. The Chase Doown is presented by Fubo, the official streaming partner of the Calves. Watch over three hundred and fifty channels of live sports and TV, including fan Duel Sports Network without cable. There's no cost and no commitment. Try
for free at foobotv dot com. Slash Calves. Well, it wasn't always pretty, but the Cleveland Cavaliers found a way to pull away against the Utah Jazz and and their losing streak. I'm feeling better finally get to see a win. It's always a little concerning. It seems like these afternoon games have given them trouble. But the Calves got the W and I'm I'm feeling w's right now because I'm joined by my co host, Carter Rodriguez.
Carter, how you doing, buddy?
I'm glad we weren't soon beat against Uh That's all you can really ask for. A late season trip to Utah, especially for an afternoon Mattine game where the Cavs have not been playing their best ball in those settings, and with them playing their worst basketball the season, and you know, first off, way better to win than lose. You know, I don't know if I feel like everything is solved as of yet. I still think there's stuff to get cleaned up. There's still some form questions, concerns I have
a little bit. But like at the end of the day, you know, I don't think they played their best game and they won by twenty nine points.
Yeah, I did not feel like this was a vintage Cleonton Cavaliers basketball win, right Like, I don't think that this was necessarily a return to form from the best versions of this team that we've seen. But what I will say is I did feel like from the start the defensive effort was there even when the shots weren't falling, and that hasn't consistently been the case. I think think we've seen at times that you know, the defensive effort falls off as.
The shots aren't falling.
You know, they're a little late on the rotations, the scrambles are half step slow. I felt even in the first half where Utah was able to hang around. The defensive effort was consistently there. Guys were you know, diving for loose balls, they were rotating, they were communicating, and if they're going to continue to go through a bit of this stretch, which we can get into later on whether or not we think this is going to continue, but reality is they have been on the road for
a very long time. They haven't played in the same city twice since February twenty fifth, when they so they've been traveling between every single game. And I understand some of those games are at home, but when you're only there for an evening, it's just it's an extension of the road trip. At that point, you're never fully getting any rest. And I think that that nothing's coming out
of the bags. Yeah, exactly right. I think Danny Cunning on Lockdown Cass has said basically over that stretch, they've had four nights at home, like that's that's nothing, right. So I do think that that is having an effect on these guys. I think it was big that they were able to win comfortably enough that a lot of the starters got to sit for you know, the end of the third quarter and the entire fourth quarter. But
I think fatigue is definitely a factor. But if you're going to be playing with some tired legs, if your shots aren't going to be following at the clip that we're accustomed to getting it done in the least, committing on the defensive end, I think is a step in the right direction.
Yeah, I mean, I just thought in general, the energy was a lot better. You know, I think there was. It's tough because this Utah team is in such rough shape. You know, there are a lot worse than they even were last year in terms of the guys they have
on the floor. You know, no John Collins, no Lowry Mark and then and so you know, they're playing some guys that I just think, you know, Cody Williams ain't Jalen Williams, he ain't his brother, and so you know, I was trying to kind of identify the spots where it was like, are they giving up open shots and Utah isn't able to convert or are they locked in?
And overall I think they were pretty locked in. I think that there were a few possessions where they certainly got they didn't have to guard as hard you know, like because you know, Utah had a lot of guys out there that maybe weren't the best shooters, you know, at different parts of their roster. But you know, the game is the game, and I think I think they played their opponent well, they played the scouting report well, they left the right kinds of guys open, they crashed
down in the right spots. You know, they they forced eighteen turnovers, They had seven combined as a team at nine steals. That tells me at least the energy was going a little bit yep.
Yeah, And you know, I had the eye roll when Walker Kessler hit a three three pointer in the first half because I was like, come on, seventeen percent three point shooter is going to go out there and start hitting shots on us. He ended up going one for eight, which is just under thirteen percent, So you know, he shot his career averages.
Eight three point attempts. Is no comment.
What that is is getting to explore the space.
That is, Yeah, you know, we're not playing for wins here, Let's try to expand your game. Jared Jackson Junior got to do a lot of that last year, where.
Hey, that Andre Drummond taking threes for us a couple of years ago.
Hey, hey, hey, that.
Was that was some fun basketball. Carter, don't don't you dare talk down on Andre Drumm and exploring the space. But yeah, there were definitely you know, as you said, whether it's Walker Kessler throwing up threes or some of the other options that they had, you're not going to need to close out on them the same way that you have to against Kevin Durant or Royce O'Neil. But I thought the overall defensive effort has been a lot better.
Mobilely struggled in his first game back from injury. Defensively against the Clippers, I thought, even though the Suns game didn't go our away, I thought his defensive effort and impact was back. Kevin Durant pull up jumper it was crazy, which is just about the hardest thing you can do in basketball. That is one of the most difficult shots to defend period in the league.
So and then Durant, by the way, answered with like nine pull up it's in response. It was like it was almost like oh okay, and he definitely wanted to get his back. And Kevin Durant is still very good at basketball.
Yes, he is and you know, I just think that it's at least a foundation, right because for the most part the offense, those struggles have kind of continued. We haven't been hitting threes at the rate we're accustomed to another tonight, crazy like honestly, that that really goes to show that you're out of a rhythm, right when when you're even missing all the free throws, it's even when they get to the rim at times, it's they haven't
been finishing the way that we're used to seeing. And I don't know what's if there's any one thing that's solely to blame for the rut that they're in offensively, but I do think at least getting the win, getting some of that confidence back, pulling away in the way that they did, can at least help gain some positive momentum. Which you know, basketball, whether it is within a game or if you're talking about an eighty two game season,
it's a game and it's a season of runs. It is such a momentum sport, and sometimes you just need to see a couple of them go down for you to gain your confidence as a shooter. Sometimes you just need to get that one win to start rattling off wins again, So I hope that this can at least be a catalyst for that.
Yeah, And I mean, I think it's also important for this team to kind of remind themselves that they don't need to shoot well to win. You know, I think they started leaning on that a little bit as a crutch of like, you know, Okay, if the three pointers going, we feel great. If the threes aren't going, maybe we don't feel so great. They shoot twenty three percent in this game. They go eleven of forty eight, which, man,
that's a lot of three point attempts. I know, I know a lot of them were open, but you know, we're bored, We're we're pressing my comfort ability there with that much. It was literally half their field goal attempts. But you know, they go eleven of forty eight from three, they go thirty thirty three of forty eight from two, and they get to the room consistently. They're forcing turnovers, they're getting out and running, and they're winning and scoring
in multiple ways. You know, it's really hard to score one hundred and twenty points when you shoot twenty three percent from three and sixty eight percent from the free throw line.
Yeah, and I think it.
Goes to show that there are a lot of roads up the you know, the proverbial mountain here, and just because you're not in great form as a shooter doesn't mean that you just have to shrug and be like, well, that's the only way. We just got to hope we make them, because like the Calves never made them in this game, and it didn't matter on you're just scoring one hundred and twenty points.
Yeah, And that is my preferred way to go about this, right, Like, let's attack the rim. Let's try to if we're going to generate open threes, have it be because we're attacking the rim, the defense is collapsing, and we are generating quality looks Like, I don't want to settle for threes, and I do feel like the offensive process hasn't been as crisp as it has been throughout the season. I
do feel like they are settling for threes. You know, not to pick on anyone in particular, but Sam Merril when he in the first half took a pull up kind of one on four or free in transition, it's a decent look. On nights where you have it rolling, I'm fine with that, but you have to value the shots is, particularly when you're overall in an offensive rut. I think you need to work to get better looks.
And I was encouraged actually at the start of this game against Utah, where Donovan was really getting to the rim, he was getting to the rim at will. I thought that they were generating very, very quality looks. I thought Walker Kessler was having trouble defending in space, and I was like, okay, perfect, let's attack. Let's keep getting this, you know, let's force Utah to make us do something different. And I felt like we got ourselves out of that
offensive rhythm. I thought after that start, all of a sudden, we started going for that knockout punch. We started to take more threes without really working the ball and generating high, high quality looks, and I just felt like the offensive process overall wasn't as good as it could have been.
Yeah, an eighty eight point five offensive rating in the second quarter where Utah kind of made their run back and Kavs went o nine from three. I didn't think they took the best threes, but I think the probably the most problematic thing is only three assists in that second quarter, So the ball kind of wasn't moving the way it was to start the game. The down downward momentum that kind of made it hard for Utah to
stick with them kind of went away. They got more to side to side basketball, and you know, of course they just missed a lot, which is tough. But you know, like I do think, I do think you're right that this is still a team that's like kind of like and I think that's where both of us are kind
of on. This is nice, but I do want to see, like we want to see some of the underlying performance metrics tick back up a little bit before we feel like they're out of the woods with this rough stretch of play.
Yeah. Yeah, And I think part of how the Cavs are built lends itself towards being able to make these pivots, Right, Like, there are stretches where offensively, our identity is going to be centered around the guards, right, they are going to generate good looks for themselves, They're going to generate good
looks for everybody else. We can really lean on them offensively when you're in ruts like this, and when you're in kind of this you know, long road trip, bit of a rock fight I'd like to see us lean more and more on the bigs, and I just felt like we haven't been consistently doing that over this stretch. And Evan Mobley and Jared Allen are able to generate really,
really good looks for themselves. They are such intelligent players in space, in traffic, They're able to generate rim pressure in ways that you know, frankly, no one else on this roster is really able to do at that same level, even if it involves when you're in those one big configurations getting DeAndre Hunter as the role man and trusting
him to finish or draw contact at the rim. I would just like to see us attack the rim more and not settle into well, this is our shot profile when everything's rolling, so let's almost speak it into existence. Let's take these same shots and trust that they're going
to fall. I really feel like once you kind of get that rim pressure, once you challenge teams and they are changing what they're doing defensively to take that away, then you can start opening things up and taking those threes, and if it's not falling at that point, at least you can say, hey, they were really cheating to take away the rim. These were the looks that we were able to generate. We trust that these are going to fall at some point, but I don't feel like that's
the case. I feel like we are the ones dictating our shot selection more than what the defense is doing.
At this point.
Well, I also, I don't know. I was thinking about how when you're slumping this hard as a team, shooting it does get break your brain a little bit, because when you do want to run your offense the way you normally run it and the defense collapses, you're supposed to kick it out right, and when you kick it out to an open shooter, they're supposed to shoot it.
So and I feel like as they've been, you know, so icye teams have you know, I think the Calves have gotten a lot of open looks over these last five games, and I have noticed. I feel like, when you know, and I certainly feel like the Calves have done this when the other team clearly didn't have it, you're like, oh man, we really get to worry about the rem tonight, you know, and we get to collapse a little harder, because until they start killing us, why
would we why would we? You know, the only place they're getting us is at the rim, so let's just
protect the rim. And like, anecdotally that's what I feel like I've seen is like, man, well they're making you know, there are possessions where I'm like, yeah, they're getting in to the teeth, the defense collapses and then they have to kick it out and so that that's so I'm sympathetic, I guess, But like that's where I think your point about running things through the bigs and attacking differently is that's your skeleton key, that's your solution because you're at
least like one. It's harder for them to dig down and help when it's Evan initiating or Jared catching it on the move, you know, and and finishing as opposed to you know, when those guys are catching the ball near the rim and getting the ball into scoring position.
It's just an easier finished for them than Darius air Donovan because they're massive and those guys are small, right, So like, if there is extra help in that paint, the bigs are going to finish better than the Smalls against that extra help just you know, writ large, you know.
So like I think that's why I've been disappointed to see them not go to the bigs as much, because like, change the rhythm of what you're doing when the base system isn't working, because one, you'll get stronger at those at those, you know, like where you let Evan just run the offense for a quarter, like your your group can kind of congeal about around that, and then it
does change the rhythm for the guards. You know, if Donovan's pull up game is really not there, like giving him a bunch of catch and shoot attempts in a row probably goes a long way, like changing the rhythm of where these guys are catching it when the current rhythm is not leading to to makes. And this is all very soft, squishy stuff which is really hard to analyze, especially as like non players and non coaches, because like, we're not guys going through shooting slumps. You know, we're
not coaching guys out of shooting slumps. So this is all very squishy and very theoretical, and you know, it's very possible any member of the coaching staff or player might listen to this, which they won't, but if they did, they might listen to this and shake their head and be like, these guys don't know what they're talking about. But that's the challenge of dealing with performance dips like this, especially as shooters, because it's like, how do you break it out of it? Or do you just have to
kind of white knuckle through it. I don't know the answer.
Yeah, I think you're right. When the bass system isn't working, that's something that can just kind of break your brain in a lot of ways. But sometimes it's nice to know even when the bass system isn't working, there's a backup system that's there supporting you. Carter, just like zoom Ai Companion. Because only you can do your best work, zoom Ai Companion can help you do the rest, like automatically taking notes, answer meeting questions, and helping you respond
to your coworker. Available at no additional cost with eligible paid plans. We're happy with zoom Ai Companion. It's funny looking at the wide open looks that the calves have got. The UTAH data isn't in the mix yet, but at least for this four game the losing streak that preceded it, they were getting a decent number of wide open looks for the season. They take over twenty wide open threes per game where a defender is not within six feet.
Over the losing streak, it was seventeen point five. They're shooting forty one percent on those looks for the losing streak, so you know, it's only one percent worse than they shoot on the season for those looks, but and it is three fewer, but they were getting a decent number of looks. I just feel like some of those semi contested the lake contest and just how they're getting to the shots hasn't felt as good as it has at other times.
Of the year.
And obviously, when your guards have been going through a funk, that's going to make things tough. I feel like Darius has mostly broken out of it. Tonight wasn't a great night for him, but he started to get hot, and then him getting hot him and Donovan getting hot in the third quarter basically put the game away, so they didn't get a chance to continue.
How about Tye finally hitting a few that was big for Tye?
That was tremendous.
Honestly, ty Jerome and DeAndre Hunter both coming out there and having big games off the bench I thought was significant. I think that that is the kind of thing that you really need to have going If you're going to continue to have some success on this road trip and actually, you know, close it out on the right foot.
Yeah.
Absolutely, And I mean I think, really you look at those the three guards, you know, because this team really has three guards that play now in Tye, Darius, and Donovan. Tye has gotten his numbers up a little bit. He's you know, he's up to forty six from the field and thirty one from three. Darius is at thirty nine from the field and thirty two percent from three, and Donovan is at thirty three percent from the field in sixteen point seven percent from three. He hasn't hit a
three in his last two games. That's alved for the munch a month of March for these guys, and like there is a little bit of like an inherent like there's nothing to analyze here when those three guys are slashing that poorly collectively, they are the play initiators for
this often for the most part. Yeah, And it's not like, you know, and we can make the Evan argument, and I still think we should that, Like we want to see Evan initiate more and run things through the bigs, but it's not like his usage is like cratered this month and they've stopped running the ball through him. We just are wanting it more because the other the alternatives don't feel as good as they normally do, right, Right, So like I yeah, it's just it's just a funky,
funky time of year, which is not particularly mathematical. But yeah, Evan Evan's usage for the year is it twenty two point six? Looking it up live? Bear with me, Oh god, it's not loading. Justin it's over. It's over. I'll let you know, I'll let you know, Okay, hashtag I'm twenty two point eight. It's higher, higher in March than it has been for the year.
Yeah, it's funny because it when I look at this team, there's nothing that jumps out that like red flag sirens going off, like last year when I was very clear that Mitchell was moving around on one leg and Darius was the shell of himself physically and was kind of fading away, right, Like, there are times where there's just kind of boneheaded mistakes, Like some of the turnovers Darius
has had over the stretch are just too ambitious. Right, You're dealing with guys that are mentally and physically tired and you are throwing a rocket pass through traffic, bouncing and you know, making it a very very difficult catch for someone like Jared Allen who's rolling to the basket. You can kind of tone that down and let's let's go for you know, a more higher percentage play. Like I liked him going off the glass, but nobody else was on that. See, nobody is on that wavelength, right,
like those unforced errors. I think that you can do a better job of kind of mitigating. But for the most part, like when I see Donovan moving around, some of the misses are really bad, but he looks fine to me physically, Like, yeah, I think so too. And Kenny talked about that after the Sun's game, where it was, Hey, is that growing something that's bothering him? And he says that, as far as I understand, it's not. Our medical staff has given him the green light. This is just him
working through some stuff. And I believe him, like they have taken such a cautious approach that if a guy is out there, I trust that they are not doing further damage to themselves. And I thought Donovan getting to the rim the way he did to start this game was a great sign in terms of how he looked physically.
Yeah, I think so too. And by the way, speaking of audacious passes, was that baseball passed to struts in the corner the best pass Donovan Mitchell has ever thrown in his career.
Oh my god, it's the best one that I can remember, at least in his recent play like that. That was phenomenal. That had sauce on it.
And it wouldn't do like six people. It was crazy. That was the vision. The pace. I mean, if that's if that is a at ninety percent of the speed that he threw it, it's getting picked off and we're like, what are you doing? Donovan? Like that? It was such an audacious decision, and then to match it with an audate with like an audaciously like strong and paid you know, the pace on that thing was bananas. What a pass. That was amazing. Sorry, no, I don't have anything productive
to say about it. It was just cool.
What I liked about.
This game for Donovan was, at least recently, as he's been going through this slump, it's felt like the SHOT's not falling and he's not helping in other ways right, Like he's actively you know, playing against the Cavs at some point. Then I wasn't surprised to see him take accountability after the Sun's game. That's one hundred percent what you expect from Donovan Mitchell from a leadership standpoint. But I felt like his bad games have felt really bad,
whereas with this game. He didn't shoot well the three pointer, as you said, he hasn't made one in the last two games. But I thought he was hitting the glass. I thought he was active getting steals. I thought the passing was good. I felt like he was playing a good overall game. He just wasn't shooting well. And that's more reminiscent of what we saw when Darius was going through his slump, where okay, the playmakings there, at least
in that stretch when the shot wasn't falling. Ironically, his assistant turnover ratio had been great and he's playing good defense. That's what I want to see from Donnay because you know, Portland's not a good team, but they're a team that has length. We've seen them good, you know, come down
to the wire against the Cavs tomorrow. Kamara is someone that can be really, really disruptive defensively, so I'm going to be interested to see there's a very good chance that we have another off shooting night there can Donovan and can Darius find ways to make an impact even if the shot isn't falling in that matchup.
One thing I do want to say, just you know, to kind of contextualize, you know, because you made the comment like Darius was you know, even when he was slumping, it felt like everything else was still you know, the cows were able to survive it because if he'd of all the other things he was doing, I would also argue they were able to survive it also because the rest of the team was in really good form.
Yeah, that's a good point.
And the rest of the team is not in really good form right now. So it's like, you know, we're gonna feel a Donovan slump a lot harder when Darius is also at like not his best either, and Tie is not at his best. I mean, think about how many of those Darius games Tye just scored twenty four points, you know, or you know, or or Max went off or DeAndre Hunter got to thirty points. Like, the whole
team just isn't in the best form right now. So I think that is an important piece of context to layer into the Donovan slump right now, is like he doesn't have the same level of insulation that the teams provide id other players on the team when they've not played their best this year.
Yeah, that's a really fair point. It's funny because I was looking at this game against Utah and I'm like, Wow, Calves had a sixty to thirty edge on points in the paint. They managed turnovers really well. And you know, as I'm building out the rundown for this episode, I'm sitting there, I'm like, this is the kind of stuff they need to do to raise their floor right, to mitigate bad shooting nights and give themselves a better chance.
This is the stuff they weren't doing against Phoenix. And then I go back and I look at the game stats for Phoenix. I'm like, oh, hes actually won the offensive rebound battle, they won the turnover battle, they had more points off of turnovers, Cows outscored them points in the paint, they had five more steals, and yet the game still felt so bad, and some of that is due to how rough the second half or the first
half was. I agree with Kenny Atkinson that I thought their defensive effort in the second half was a whole lot better, but at kind of the game stats and those type of you know, effort splits in things like that, and I was expecting them to be one way, but it was a totally different way. It really really caught me off guard.
Yeah.
I think it's one of those things where it's like, where are those offensive rebounds coming from? Oh, so Igadaro and Ryan Dunn, you know a couple of rookies that are that are kind of outworking you, Cody Martin.
Galt me on a two way contract, lighting you up.
Yeah. So I do think, like you can't forget where the Suns are as a team right now, and like I do think that was a frustrating loss. I do you think that their focus was poor and they were really counting. You know, it's like the kind of the worst thing where in that first half where you get you give up the open three and you don't close out hard, and then you shrug when it goes in and it's like, well, I don't tell you, brother, Yeah, he didn't do any of the things that would make
it not go in. So it's it's like even if it's a guy who normally wouldn't make it. You know, someone like Ryan Dunn, who's not a great shooter. It's like, I don't know, man, Like again, you didn't do anything that would make it hard for him. So, uh it gets really hard to you know, feel too bad for you that you're dealing with a high you know, a good shooting night from your opponent, Like shooting variants does not come out of the same uh, you know, is
not always cut from the same cloth. And I felt like Phoenix really got whatever they wanted. And then by the time the Cavs took the game really seriously on the defensive end, it was just too big of a too big of a gap to cover and you were counting on Kevin Durant to miss contested shots and he might be the best contested shot maker in the history of the sport.
Yeah, and not only that, all of them were in a rhythm because you gave them such quality shots and they got to see it go in so many times, right.
Like can I can I pick? Can I pick a knit strategically? And that from that game because it bothered me at the time and I was put in my back pocket. I know that the zone has been something we break out when things aren't working very well. We can't break out the zone against Kevin Durant. It doesn't work. He killed him. It's like the best light contest shot
maker in the history of the sport. Probably, Like the difference between not guarding Kevin Durant at all at all and being a step or two late on the contest is probably more negligible than any player ever. Yeah, and like that's what the zone does, you know, like you can't always contest everyone when you're trying to cover that much ground, or if he flashes to the middle and just catches and immediately jumps and shoots, Like, yeah, that
was tough. And again, I just think there are a lot of things, you know, you know, strategically the actual execution. You know, they're not playing their best ball right now, Like at the end of the day, they're just not. And like I I'm definitely sympathetic of the staff trying to figure out how to how to get them going, trying to pull some different levers to see what's going to motivate.
They hold a Javonte Green one that we had theorized on the last podcast.
Ye and and I like his minutes by the way, but uh, you know, I I think that you know, right now, this is the dog days and you're just trying stuff to see what sticks and what what gets people out of the funk. I mean, h Kenny Kenny mentioned it before this game, where he was getting ready to a big, challenging long practice to get out of
the slump, and he's like, let's play horse instead. Let's just try to have fun, you know, because like we've talked about this a lot that you know, no matter how much he loved basketball, no matter you know, how good your team chemistry is, there's going to be a part of every season in a you know, with an eighty two games this season to your point, when you've been on the road every single day since February twenty fifth pretty much, or you know, traveling home and then
traveling right back out since February twenty fifth, there is going to be a part every season where this is just a job, yep. And people don't like going to their jobs. You know, I don't like going to my job. If you get in, I like my job. But if you gave me the choice to stay home and still get paid, I'd normally I generally take that option, and like, I think that, you know, I think it makes sense that Kenny goes to, let's try just to inject some fun and some levity into this, to break up that
this is a job monotony. And you know, who's to say if it worked, But they definitely gave a much better showing against Utah than they have against other teams that maybe weren't weren't strong either.
Yeah, particularly you know that that Sacramento game, in the Phoenix game, both of those, that's three games, four nights in three different cities, where you're traveling between all of those, you're leaving the arena at two am and you're just exhausted.
Right.
I think we did a pretty good job at the start of the month saying hey, this is going to be tough. This might not be tough from a level of competition standpoint, but they are going to be.
Traveling this entire month.
I expect a rut to happen at some point here because this is just the kind of stuff. This is the grind of the NBA season that always catches up to guys. And I definitely found it was interesting that Kenny Atkinson went that route. I think it makes a lot of sense, you know it. It's just it's very, very difficult, right, And I've seen people say, well, you know, they're only playing thirty two thirty three minutes. This is less than last year, So how are they going to
get tired? Try, like when they were a mental fatigue more than a physical fatigue. Right when you are traveling for you know, a month straight, try telling someone, hey, you played thirty three instead of thirty five. You're you should be fresh. No, Like, those two minutes aren't making
a difference. You're still going through shooter and you're still doing your you know, the workouts, You're still going through your your post game routine of icing down and all the recovery stuff that you have to do, and you're never home. That's that's going to have an effect. So when I look at kind of the rest of this month, because it isn't until the end of the month that they actually have a stretch of games where they're at home.
Right there, They're going to play the Clippers on the thirtieth, and then I think it's the Knicks on the Wednesday after, So you know, Sunday to Wednesday, they're going to be home. I expect them to look great in the next game, but finally getting two days off, you're at home the whole time, you're finally going to get a little bit of a rest. That first one back at home is always kind of tough, that that's almost an extension of the road trip.
But until then, I don't.
Expect them to really blow a team out in a dramatic fashion where you know, they shoot sixty percent from three and the ball is popping and we're getting those vintage cavalanches.
I think that this is going to be a bit of a grind. I think they are certainly capable of.
Winning the rest of these games, but I don't think it's going to necessarily be the most pretty basketball that we've seen.
I have a question for you for this, you know, through the rest of this month, would you let's let's say they win out through the end of the month, would you rather see them acknowledging that we're probably not gonna have a ton of blowouts? Would you rather see them win one thirty to one twenty five or one ten to one oh five?
Sorry, what was that first score?
Thirty to one twenty five or one ten to one oh five, Like, would you like to see. You know, things aren't coming together, but like you know, but we're scoring, or things aren't coming together, but we're stopping.
Mmm, I think scoring it's just more fun. I've got my my Fantasy finals next week. I had one this you know, this week, and I'm very upset because I to Darius and Donovan to get me more points and they and they just had to be pulled in the third quarter, which I get for.
The greater the other way, I'm going the other way. I'd like to see them get I want if things aren't going to be easy for the rest of this month, I would like to see them hang their hat on. We're going to suck to play against, Like our legs are heavy on our jumper where jumpers were shorting everything. But damn it, if we're going to have a bad time on offense, you're going to have a bad time too. And like I do, I would kind of like to see that. Like I love that Utah only scored ninety
one points tonight. That is a much more meaningful number than me than the one twenty in terms of assessing where the team's head is at. If that makes sense.
Yeah, I guess where I'm coming from is I look at Portland, I look at Detroit, I look at the Clippers. These are all physical, long teams that are able to play defense at a high, high level. If the Cavs are able to say, hey are three ball isn't falling, but we still found ways to go out there and score one twenty or one thirty points, that.
Would feel really really good to me.
That is, hey, not everything is working, but we are still an offensive juggernaut. And particularly when we're looking at can this offense finally translate to the postseason? Can they finally get over the hump and take the successes they have in a regular season to the postseason and establish
themselves as legitimate contenders in the postseason. More proof of concept that they are able to find ways to get it done offensively in a variety of ways is going to give me confidence, because ultimately I trust that this team can play defense. I think that they're doing some things that make things a little too hard on themselves, whether it's you know, as you said, going to zone against the Phoenix Suns or going to the three guard look in that time unnecessarily. I think that that's things
that you can change up in the postseason. I think that this team can defend at a high, high level when it matters the offense, that's going to remain a question until we actually see it. So continuing to at least get that positive reinforcement on on that end of the court, I think that makes it easier to play defense because the the offense is rolling, and it just
makes me feel a little bit better. I guess the true answer there is that's where more of my insecurities lie as a fan on the offensive end versus the defensive end.
That's fair and honestly, to your point, if they are scoring a one hundred and thirty a night for the next four or five games, me and Sterius or Donovan are playing really well generally like, that's that's a that's a truism, but you know, like and not necessarily figured something out and that that has not been clicking for them. So I get what you're saying, and then I'm going
to move it to another macro question. If I may, we thought that a franchise record of sixty seven wins was all but a certainty just seven days ago going into that Orlando game. Now they have to finish ten and a one to get there? Do they get there? I'm going to keep the faith. I'm going to say yes. I think it's going to be ugly. I think it's going to be scary, but yeah, I think that they get there. I think they go ten and one to close this thing out. I it's not a high high
degree of confidence with it. I am disappointed that it is a question after that four game losing streak, but I think that they are capable of pulling that off. I think they're capable. They've responded unbelievably well to the swoons they've had this year. To your point, privately, to me, we went twenty one and one after our life's three game losing streak, so it's not like the team hasn't done it. But I'm gonna say we don't get there.
I think I think we're gonna go eight and three or nine and two down the stretch.
And ninety two. Yeah, I could see that, and uh.
But boy, I don't know if the team's thinking about it, but I sure would love to see him get there. It would mean so much to like, I feel like, reclaim your dominance going into the postseason, as opposed to like a limp in you know, we just like I know that there's no rhyme or reason to this, and teams that limp into the postseason end up going on
runs all the time. Teams that come into the postseason red hot get knocked out in the first round all the time, like I know, but like, just for the vibes, I would love to see this team rattle off two weeks of really strong play as we close out this regular season, well.
Especially because they're going to be playing some tea that are really gunning for these wins, that really want to you know, I think that's part of the losing streak, right, we were playing teams that are desperate, that were playing with their seasons on the line. Well, the Cavs weren't playing for much, right, Like, I think that it was a big, big factor here. So for them to say,
you know what, let's play spoilers. Let's ruin the Clippers' day here and give them a loss, and let's you know, go through the gauntlet that is playing Detroit and the physicality that they play with, and let's punch them in the mouth, right, let's get that with I think that that would feel really great, particularly you got two games against the Knicks. Anytime you can hand the knicks in health, that's going to feel great. So if they can pull
it off, that'd be great. You know, as you said, if they go eight and three, that's sixty five wins, we would be thrilled about that. But before the season, and I think, no.
Matter justin, can I just say this is unbelievable. No matter what expert we set at the beginning of the season, no matter how ambitious we think it is, the Calves every year have exceeded that expectation so thoroughly that by the end we're like, oh man, they only got to this. It's like, it's what this team does. Man, even in a season where like there's no way I could feel even any shred of disappointment at the end of the year based on how far they flew past what I
thought they were going to be. Like that just is is honestly reflective of how good they've been in this last three or four years, and even in this season that I can be like, oh man, only sixty six wins.
Yeah, I think given the benefit of hindsight, it's obviously going to be something I celebrate, particularly if they have a great postseason run. We're going to look back on the season very, very fondly, but they've also earned those increased expectations, and I would be disappointed if they didn't go out and get the franchise win record or at least, at the very least tie it. You know, I think that that would be a nice bow on this regular season.
I think this team has played at that kind of level, So I want to see them go out and achieve it.
Yeah, me too, I think they can. I think it would be a special cap to a special season, but it'll still be to your point, it's still a special season if they landed sixty four, sixty five, sixty six wins, you know, matching a matching a win total that you only ever got with Lebron James in the building is certainly nothing to sneeze at.
Totally agree. Well, we'll see.
Obviously, closing out this road trip with a lot of wins would go a long way towards getting that win record, So we'll see if they're able to pull that off. And really, you know, as you said, get off to Schneid, get the offense back on track, keep this defense locked, and it'll be great to see big thanks to everyone that tuned in live on YouTube. Make sure you guys like and subscribe. Click that notification bell so you know
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Joe Cats