0:00

Sex, trying to get loose, Hill fires

0:04

down, scarl

0:06

it upstairs, all

0:13

the shot of the round. We are doing

0:15

a recap of media Day as well

0:17

as discussing some of our expectations

0:19

as preseason is upon us. On

0:22

Saturday, we're going to have the Wine and Gold Scrimmage.

0:24

On Tuesday, the Calves

0:26

play a preseason game against the Chicago

0:28

Bulls. But we're going to kick things off talking

0:31

about Media Day. I had intended

0:33

to upload the full audio uh

0:35

to the podcast feed, but the

0:38

quality was just a little bit off. I didn't

0:40

feel great about it. So here we are discussing

0:43

Media Day, and with me today is my co

0:45

host, Carter Rodriguez. Carter, how's it going, buddy?

0:48

It was a great media day. I'll say. We

0:50

got to talk to Darius Garland, we got to detect

0:52

to Jared Allen, several members of the Calves.

0:54

I mean, my word, if

0:57

the if the partnership hadn't paid off yet,

1:00

it did on it did on Monday to May.

1:03

It was a really really cool and surreal

1:05

experience to to be part of our media

1:08

day virtually here uh to to talk

1:10

to some of the players to get some insight. I

1:13

mean, there wasn't any massive expect

1:16

or surprises with media

1:18

Day, which is kind of what you would expect going into

1:20

it. But you can really kind of sense

1:22

the energy that there's an excitement around

1:24

this team. And I'm I tweeted

1:27

this out a little earlier today, I'm

1:29

as excited as I've been basically

1:31

since the summer of Like this

1:34

is the most excited I've been. My expectations

1:36

are a lot lower than they were in obviously,

1:39

but it really does feel like the

1:42

start of a new era with the Cleton Cavaliers.

1:44

You've got guys a little more comfortable

1:46

in their skin. I think that was one of the big themes

1:49

with Darius Garland, uh Colin Sexton,

1:51

Isaac o Coro appear to have made

1:53

progress over the offseason. Jared Allen

1:56

looking big and strong. You've got Evan Mobley

1:58

who doesn't have to carry a way of the

2:00

franchise on his shoulders. With all this talent

2:03

around him, There's just a lot to get excited

2:05

about. And oh Lori marking

2:07

in another example, j V Bickerstaff

2:10

and Darius Garland talking about playing up

2:12

tempo and getting three's, Like this is all

2:14

the stuff that gets me really excited. So

2:16

I I can't wait for this season

2:18

to tip off. Yeah, it's super exciting.

2:21

And I mean we had we didn't know

2:23

planning on this episode. By the way, Gang so sad

2:26

strap in. Um

2:28

but you know, I think that you know what I am.

2:31

You know what I left me to day

2:34

feeling is Darius.

2:36

They're ready for They're ready to push Darius

2:39

as the as the leader of the team and as

2:41

the as kind of the straw that stirs the drink

2:43

moving forward. You know, I left that feeling

2:45

like everyone when you every time you mentioned

2:48

leader, every time you mentioned who

2:50

has to step up, Everyone's like, yep, Darius,

2:52

Darius was going to be the guy for us, And

2:55

like it's kind of nice to know that,

2:57

like kind of what you're hearing what we saw the other last season

3:00

in it all kind of starts

3:02

to come together, um uh,

3:04

and you kind of start to paint the idea

3:06

that this is an organization that kind

3:09

of knows the Darius is ready to take

3:11

a step. Yeah, and that's one of the

3:13

benefits of this team getting together in

3:15

early September here and working

3:17

out together, practicing, Like

3:19

these guys have actually been around Garland

3:22

after this offseason and have seen

3:24

him stepping up as a vocal leader, like he

3:26

he was someone that you could tell like

3:28

when you would see the road back uh and

3:31

other kind of behind the scenes stuff you get

3:34

like glimpses of fun Darius the personality

3:36

that he has. But now it seems

3:39

like he's really stepped up. And Kobe

3:41

Altman had had talked about kind of his magnetism

3:43

and u the energy that he's providing

3:46

to this team. But it doesn't feel

3:48

like it's just the team saying

3:50

Okay, well it's year three, so you

3:52

need to be the leader. It's him actually

3:55

kind of stepping up and being that vocal

3:57

leader, which is something that they really

3:59

need. I'm mean, with Larry Nance not here,

4:02

you're gonna need a lot of guys stepping up and

4:04

providing their own energy, providing that leadership.

4:07

It's going to be a collective effort. And obviously

4:09

Garland being uh

4:12

the franchise point guard, it seems like

4:14

he's got a lot of responsibility

4:16

on his shoulder, so it's it's exciting to see

4:19

him stepping up in those ways. Yeah,

4:21

I mean, it just feels like it's time. You know that

4:24

this doesn't feel forced, It doesn't feel like

4:26

they were. They organizationally

4:28

came together just say, hey, this

4:31

Tuck this media day, let's let's

4:33

talk a lot about Darius and and make sure that

4:35

everyone knows he's our star of the future. It was

4:37

more just like it just kind of felt

4:39

very clear that he was the one who was

4:41

like ready to take off. You

4:43

know. It feels like they kind of are ready to

4:45

say Darius is our best player

4:48

and he's going to be the reason we went, you know, we

4:50

succeed or failed this year. Yeah.

4:52

Absolutely, And I mean beyond that,

4:55

like you do still have guys that

4:57

have already shown quite a bit in the league. Like I

5:00

think we have a tendency

5:02

as CAZ fans and just the general discourse

5:05

here to overlook Jared Allen

5:07

and calling Sexton in some ways as we head

5:09

into this season because they

5:11

already have a lot of polish to their game. Sexton

5:14

still needs to round things out, obviously, uh,

5:16

in the margins and figure out how to become a more impactful

5:19

player. But when you look at it, he was putting

5:21

up all Star caliber numbers last

5:23

season. Jared Allen's already someone with a

5:25

very polished game, So uh,

5:28

it's it's exciting to

5:30

to look at what Garland might bring to the table

5:32

as a leader, and we hope that

5:34

he steps up in those ways because it's going

5:36

to make things a lot easier for them.

5:39

But part of the reason why a

5:41

Garland UH leap this season

5:43

is so exciting is because there are those

5:45

good pieces in place. There is Jared Allen,

5:47

who's a proven center that has chemistry

5:50

with him. There's Callin Sexton, who's

5:52

a high level, proven score

5:54

in the NBA already that we know has

5:56

chemistry with Garland. So it's

5:59

about what he can do to make everybody else's

6:01

lives better. And even someone

6:03

like Laurie Marketing like he's yeah,

6:06

there's reasons to kind

6:08

of temper expectations and uh

6:11

times where he didn't necessarily live up

6:13

to expectations in Chicago. But

6:15

at the same time, he has been

6:17

an effective player at times like he's

6:19

had stretches. UH the start of last season,

6:21

he was a really impactful player, averaging nearly

6:24

twenty points per game on great efficiency. Like

6:26

there, he's at least a proven commodity,

6:29

more so than what we had for the majority

6:31

of last season, which was young, promising

6:34

players and guys that were

6:36

taking a flyer on whether it's Dean Wade,

6:38

Lamar Stevens, Broderick Thomas, some of

6:40

those guys stepped up, but we're still talking

6:42

about a different caliber player when you get to

6:44

a Lorie marketing. Yeah, I mean,

6:46

I couldn't agree more. I mean, it does feel

6:48

like this is the year. You know, you mentioned

6:51

a lot of reasons why this team

6:53

is going to take that step forward. I think the looming

6:56

thing that's gonna hang over this team isn't leadership,

6:58

isn't um talent isn't.

7:01

I don't even think it's fit really, um,

7:04

I think it is just age. You know. The fact

7:06

of the matter is, you know, they

7:08

are still young. Um there

7:11

there are there is a counter to that, which is that they're

7:13

young. Guys aren't so young anymore. You

7:15

know, they're not counting on three four rookies.

7:18

Well they are very young. They just have

7:20

some experience now. Well yeah, yeah, that's

7:22

what I meant by aren't so young. You

7:24

know that you can be a young twenty and you

7:26

could be an old twenty, um. And I

7:28

feel like the calves are full of players

7:30

who are approaching old

7:33

twenty year olds, you know, like that have gone

7:35

through some stuff in the league

7:37

so far, and you hope that that

7:40

translates. Um.

7:42

I don't think the rest of the league very much thought

7:44

very much of this offseason, um

7:47

I. But I do think that it is you

7:49

know, there there is a talent. There

7:52

is a lot of talent here, and there

7:55

will be things that kind of keep it

7:57

from surfacing. Some there are some fit

7:59

concerns, some space and concerns. There's

8:01

some is Evan Mobili ready to really

8:04

help concerns yep. Um.

8:06

But like it was hard not to feel

8:08

the energy coming out of that media day. Yeah.

8:11

And I think when you look back

8:13

to last year's media day, obviously there

8:15

wasn't the pre camp camp or anything like

8:17

that. It was a rush start

8:19

to the season. Um. But I

8:22

feel like the expectations were lower

8:24

now. Colobe Allmond didn't want to put

8:27

a number of wins on this season or an expectation

8:29

that way, but I did acknowledge, Hey, we

8:31

have an eye towards the postseason. And then

8:33

when you go down to the actual players, it's

8:36

pretty clear these guys are fed up

8:38

with losing. They their goal is

8:40

to make the playoffs, and it's

8:42

not just their goal coming into the season. I think

8:45

when you look over the kind of the body

8:48

of this offseason. Here, You've got guys

8:50

that have been in town constantly. They've been putting

8:52

in a lot of work, uh

8:54

with the understanding that, hey, there's

8:56

a big mountain for us to climb. We have to overcome

8:59

our and experience. We need to be

9:01

at a higher level than we have been in the past. We

9:04

can't just count on uh reinforcements

9:07

coming in that that are just going to help carry

9:09

us to the playoffs and we can kind of figure things out

9:11

on our way there. I think there's been an understanding

9:14

with the young core that they need

9:16

to elevate their games to to get

9:18

their calves there, because the

9:20

biggest path to actually making the

9:22

playoffs, or at least getting in that play and mix

9:25

is going to be the the young guys

9:27

in the internal improvement and establishing

9:30

consistency. Can I say this though, when

9:32

I talked about um kind of the them

9:35

being an old twenty and old one and old

9:37

twenty two, and you

9:39

know, Billy and the chat just mentioned you

9:41

know, saying saying that, you know, watching

9:43

d G be so open and social compared

9:45

to how quiet he was his rookie year. And

9:48

you know, also I really felt that about sex and sex.

9:50

It was like holding court, oh yeah there,

9:52

did you know? He

9:55

seems super confident and super

9:57

comfortable in his own skin, Like I feel

9:59

like a man's got some media training, are

10:02

just gotten you know, older, which happens where you

10:04

start to get more confident and comfortable. It

10:06

feels like a team of people who kind

10:08

of know where they stand for the most part. I mean, with

10:11

one pretty large exception that we can

10:13

talk about um later, but

10:15

like among the kids, the kids are starting to

10:17

sound like they

10:19

they are owning the responsibility

10:22

now um and at

10:25

least you know, and maybe that maybe that's a

10:27

flawed thing to link up their

10:29

confidence with the media versus you

10:31

know, their readiness to lead the team. But it did

10:33

feel noteworthy the confidence

10:35

between that backcourt, especially like

10:37

just talking to the media and like like they kind of have

10:39

like a no, we're good at this energy.

10:43

They they have that energy that there's

10:45

like a kind of an unspoken confidence

10:47

that you can feel with them, like you do also

10:50

hear it when they're talking and just

10:52

how comfortable in their own skin there are But I

10:55

feel like them having all this time

10:57

together, working out together, playing together,

10:59

they there's a confidence that they're

11:01

better than expectations. And it's

11:04

kind of fun because we've talked about

11:06

how we wanted this team to be more

11:08

than some of their parts, and

11:11

that is something that we hope for the season. And

11:14

it really does feel like this is a group

11:16

that likes playing together, that

11:18

cares about each other, that wants to overcome

11:21

kind of the the odds and to make

11:23

some noise this season. And that's just a kind of

11:25

ses to me. And can I say this one

11:27

thing that um, I think

11:30

some people are getting a little antsy about with

11:32

Kobe Altman is some of the

11:34

big numbers, the big extensions, the long

11:36

term that the team

11:38

could be locking itself into. Jarrett for

11:41

I wanted it was five years, right, yeah, five

11:43

years for Jarrett Laurie

11:45

for four Um, you know the kids

11:48

are gonna be here a minute. And

11:50

and Darius and uh Isaac

11:53

and Evan and Kobe mentioned

11:55

there's mutual interest in the Sexton extension,

11:57

which I think would make us feel good. And

12:00

the sex and extension is looming. And one

12:02

way to look at that is boof

12:04

this is a lot of money to commit to a court

12:06

that hasn't one yet, but it does

12:09

in terms of you know, we we know that

12:11

that people like kind of knowing where they stand.

12:13

There when they're comfortable and locked

12:15

in, they feel like they're going to be able to succeed.

12:18

And this kind of looks like a group that's like we

12:20

might be together for four years, you

12:23

know, like they're giving off vibes of like you

12:25

know, not I mean obviously not even close

12:27

on on on the on the

12:30

on the talent the scale, but like you

12:32

almost think about those like almost collegiate

12:34

okay, see teams uh

12:36

with you know, Westbrook, Hard and Durant. Obviously

12:38

the talents not there. They don't have those true blue shippers

12:41

like three you know, top hundred all

12:43

time players and then there's

12:45

only two with Garland and Mobili. Yeah, get

12:49

that mix. You know, we'll see what Isaac does Lori

12:53

Lorie can establish himself as one of the best,

12:56

but there's

12:58

only like five hundred fifty players,

13:01

so it's not the same at all. But um,

13:04

you know, like there there is this like, hey,

13:06

we're gonna be here a minute, um vibes

13:08

if like you know, these these guys are getting comfortable

13:11

with one another in a way that like it's just

13:14

I don't know, you know, how I feel about this. It's just

13:16

hard when you're playing, when you're playing the asset

13:18

game justin and and you're taking in

13:20

transient bodies, even good dudes

13:22

like JaVale McGee, Like

13:25

you knew he wasn't gonna be around long. Um,

13:28

you knew a lot of these players that have been cycling through

13:30

this roster the past couple of years are more

13:32

about the pieces they're bringing in than

13:34

about the players. And it's finally

13:36

kind of like, Okay, we got our crew, and

13:39

this crew is either going to succeed or not, and that

13:41

will, you know, determine you know, the story

13:43

that's written about this Cavs team

13:45

moving forward. But like

13:48

you know, at the very least they know that they're

13:50

in it together, and you know, it's

13:52

sink or swim time, and it's kind of fun to see like

13:55

them kind of jelly around that. Yeah,

13:58

And it's funny. I was listening to Kate

14:00

Fagan earlier today. They were kind of discussing

14:02

the vaccination and the reaction

14:05

of media day, and one of the things that they

14:07

were mentioning is how when you look at the NBA,

14:10

you don't get a lot of situations where it really

14:12

feels like players are in it

14:14

for the team, Like there's a lot

14:16

of individualism in today's NBA, And I'm

14:19

I'm not naive enough to think that this is

14:21

always going to be the case, but right now it does

14:23

feel like, Hey, this is a group of

14:25

young guys that maybe having got a fair

14:27

shake. Like you, you look at Laura Market and things

14:29

didn't work out in Chicago. He's looking for a fresh

14:32

start. Uh, Garland and Sexton

14:34

have been doubted a lot. Now

14:36

they're they're looking to prove themselves. Isaaca Korro

14:39

Uh like you, you look at some of these redrafts

14:41

and despite what he did defensively,

14:44

because he didn't put up the offensive numbers, he gets

14:46

overlooked and he's looking to establish himself.

14:48

Jared Allen's looking to establish himself and

14:50

and proved that he was worth that extension.

14:52

And it seems like they're all working together

14:55

towards something, which I mean, like

14:57

I said, I'm not notive enough to think that that's

14:59

the it's always going to be with this group, but

15:02

it's kind of refreshing. It takes me back

15:04

to kind of the teams that I fell in

15:06

love with as I was first establishing

15:08

my fandom in the NBA. It's uh,

15:11

I'm excited to see what this team is going to do because

15:14

pass or fail, we're going

15:16

to learn a lot about how good these players

15:18

are, how how good uh JB. Bickerstaff

15:20

is at optimizing these lineups and

15:22

getting the most out of them. Actually feels like there's

15:25

tools and weapons and options available

15:27

this season, and I mean

15:29

it sounds like the plan is for this team

15:32

to finally play up tempo basketball,

15:34

which we've almost never seen even

15:36

when Lebron was here, Like they would get

15:38

a steal or a block or something

15:41

and get out in transition, but every other

15:43

occasion they were walking the ball up the floor.

15:45

I want up tempo basketball, Carter, I'll

15:48

well you when I see it on this one. Justin

15:50

I'm

15:52

saying that I'm kill

15:55

on a fun podcast. But

15:58

you know, like everyone, every

16:00

coach says it and then you know nine

16:02

of them actually do it. Well. Here, here's

16:05

the thing is if we know that that's the

16:07

stated goal, that's something that we can measure

16:09

this season against, right, that is

16:11

what's nice. And we did this with the

16:13

three point shooting last year, which was

16:16

hey, like do they even

16:18

want this or do they

16:20

think that do they you know, in our opinion, wrongly

16:23

think they can bully their way to wins. And

16:25

then JB was like, no, we gotta shot more three. So I'm

16:27

like, Okay, let's see how they do against that stated

16:30

goal. We know what the coaching staff

16:32

wants here. Yeah, yeah,

16:34

exactly. And when we

16:36

talk about kind of where guys see

16:39

themselves and what they expect from this season,

16:41

I'm not expecting it all to come to fruition,

16:43

but it gives us a better idea of what

16:46

those expectations are and where they're

16:48

falling short. Like the pieces actually do

16:50

seem to fit well together this season,

16:52

which hasn't been the case for a while.

16:54

I get a sense of the team that they're trying

16:56

to build, and that's exciting, right because

16:59

now if things aren't working out,

17:01

we're going to have a better ability to

17:03

analyze that figure out where they're

17:05

coming up short, what they can do to rectify

17:07

those situations. And that's exciting.

17:10

Like, of course, I have my personal

17:12

thoughts and feelings on every one of these subjects,

17:14

and they're they're likelihood, but ultimately,

17:17

like right now, it's all about expectation setting,

17:19

which uh, I think right now,

17:22

I think it's realistic to expect this

17:24

team to compete for the plan. Like I

17:27

truly feel like they do have the talent. It's

17:29

just gonna be a matter of whether or not they

17:31

play at that level consistently

17:34

enough to actually make it into

17:36

that plan conversation. I mean, I mean, let's just

17:38

go there, because you know, JB neglected

17:41

to put a you know, chose not to

17:43

put a win total on the board,

17:45

which is smart if you're a coach.

17:48

Um said that they are playing with an eye

17:50

towards the postseason. You know, the reality

17:52

is plan is not that hard of me. Okay,

17:56

you gotta the Caps have to jump Toronto,

17:59

who probably who lost their best player, Washington,

18:02

Uh, Chicago uh,

18:05

and then one of you know, Washington,

18:07

Boston, Indiana, Charlotte or

18:10

New York. Those are probably the ones that

18:12

are most you know, in reach, So

18:14

like you don't have to jump that many people.

18:17

And it's not like they were that far out before

18:19

the before you know, everything went to hell.

18:22

Um Uh from a health perspective,

18:25

you know, all I'm saying is I am kind

18:27

of at the point where it's like I want them

18:30

competing for a playoffs playing spot

18:33

um or I'm gonna be disappointed by the season. And

18:35

maybe my cat's attacking my dog in the back,

18:37

so that's um

18:40

uh yeah, poor Todd gets gets

18:42

a raw deal. Man. The cat just

18:44

comes up and like just WAPs him in the face and

18:47

he's just like hey, um,

18:50

but uh, you know I I

18:53

I think that like maybe there should be

18:55

a difference between goals and expectations,

18:57

because I know their goal should be to make the play

18:59

in, but I'm alvious at the point. I'm like, if you're

19:01

not expecting to make the play in, like,

19:04

what are you even trying to do here? Like,

19:06

like that should be the expectation. And

19:09

I think I'll be disappointed if they don't make it.

19:11

Like I've been kind of talking a more measured

19:13

game as of late, um where

19:15

I'm like, you know, uh, it's it's gonna

19:18

be tough to make it. I just want to see them get better. I want to see them

19:20

close to them like no, I I expect

19:22

them to be in that mix, and if they're not, that would

19:24

be a bummer. That would be a bummer, and I

19:26

think it would cause some reevaluation. And

19:28

I think one of the biggest things and I'm

19:31

not going to go too far into detail here because

19:33

I've done it on pass podcast. But you

19:35

look at some of these teams and I don't

19:38

know if they have the same desire to

19:40

make the play in or the playoffs that the Calves do,

19:42

Right, Like, if Toronto's in that mix,

19:44

are they going to be buyers at the deadline?

19:47

I feel confidence saying

19:49

that, Hey, when you have kind of

19:51

that young core that you feel good about in place,

19:53

you can start making those supplemental moves.

19:55

Like if they're in the mix for the plan,

19:58

maybe this is a team that gets aggressive about

20:00

the trade deadline and that first round

20:02

pick next year becomes a little easier

20:04

to move because hey, you know, we are

20:06

where we hope to be. That these

20:09

young guys have us in the Maybe they're

20:11

already in the play in position and you're looking to

20:13

solidify that or move up

20:15

into that seven eight range. Right

20:17

Like, there's a I think there's

20:19

more of a desire to to be better and

20:22

to turn things around in Cleveland then

20:24

some of these other teams where you look

20:26

at Washington maybe like things

20:28

are kind of clicking, but they're basically

20:30

made up of outside of Bradley Bield, They're

20:32

made up of role players that would probably

20:35

fit well in other situations, but I don't

20:37

know if they can be the straw that stirs the drink um.

20:40

Like there's teams that I Charlotte

20:42

like Charlotte. Yeah, they were better

20:45

than the Calves last season, but it

20:47

wouldn't surprise me for Darius Garland to be better

20:49

than them. And I've already said that I think the Cats are

20:51

going to be better than the Hornets next year because they

20:53

got younger, and I just don't know if they

20:55

have as many great pieces as the Calves

20:58

do. Uh. That's probably a bit

21:00

of a homer take, but you know what, I do think that

21:02

that's realistic if things click. Uh

21:05

yeah, by the way, I want to just call

21:07

it Cisco four who got in the chat

21:09

and asked when the wine goes scrimmagees justin it's

21:11

Saturday, baby, Saturday.

21:16

I'm not We should have done our little bit of research

21:18

there, right, We would never do

21:20

any research. That's

21:22

never the answer. I

21:25

assume that it's been streamed. I've in

21:27

the past, I've been able to find them, so

21:29

I'm very hopeful. I think

21:32

there's obviously a lot of excitement around

21:34

this group. So uh, if they're it's not

21:36

streamed, I'm gonna be a little bit disappointed. But

21:39

if not, Tuesday Man taking on the Chicago

21:41

Bulls. Oh man, it just

21:43

is crazy to see it this close, you know, like

21:46

it just feels like, you know, Summer

21:48

League is like it really like when

21:50

preseason starts, it really like puts

21:52

into such stark relief. How not real

21:55

summer League is. Like

21:57

Summer League is this like you know, like

22:00

O Wayssis in the desert in the most literal

22:02

sense, um in Vegas. But

22:04

like it's far enough to remove from

22:06

real basketball that you can trick yourself

22:08

into thinking it resembles rest. Oh

22:10

that's I've got my calves fixed. But like this

22:13

is really when the Caves Fixed starts,

22:16

um, And it's gonna be so fun

22:18

to kind of see Like we

22:20

haven't watched Evan Mobili play with Darius

22:22

Garland yet. No, we haven't

22:25

seen him play with sex and we haven't like

22:27

like like we haven't seen so many exciting

22:29

things and like it's just gonna

22:31

be we haven't seen Laura in the Caves

22:33

uniform yet, we have. We haven't seen Ricky

22:36

in the Caves uniform yet, Like, you

22:38

know, there's I don't

22:40

want to attack

22:42

a friend of the pod, Evan Damn Arle, but I

22:45

do because he craps on us all the time on

22:47

his podcast, so

22:49

so especially me frankly and

22:52

uh, you know, oh not verification,

22:55

Evan. I do want

22:57

to actually take kind of issue with something Evan

22:59

said recently, and he set it both on the pot and

23:01

set it on on his Facebook

23:03

news platform, which you should absolutely go subscribe

23:05

to, thank

23:09

you. Um. And

23:11

he kind of mentioned like that he feels like the Calves

23:13

kind of kept the core of the roster intact

23:16

or like didn't change much. I do, I

23:18

don't remember the exact phrasing

23:20

he used, but the gal they like

23:23

that they ran it back, and I just don't know

23:25

if I agree, like I I

23:27

mean, I I three

23:30

out of the top eight have probably changed

23:33

in the rotation and adding

23:35

Rubio, Lori and Evan

23:38

one new starter, um

23:40

you know, I mean short of like

23:42

I mean, and he and what find What I don't

23:44

really understand is that the framing of it as

23:46

some kind of risk because I don't know what there other

23:49

options were that were like like

23:51

who who was on the table to go like

23:53

consolidate these assets for that

23:56

would make us go Okay, now the calves

23:58

are solid. I I

24:01

would I'm gonna challenge Evan on his next

24:03

podcast. I'm gonna listen Evan to

24:05

explain that, because like, I don't get it. I like

24:07

it feels like this team, this team feels different

24:10

to me in a pretty major way.

24:12

Yeah, and JB. Bickerstaff did disclose

24:14

that the plan is to go with a ten man rotation

24:17

and kind of have some guys that are specialists

24:19

that you either cycle in or out. We'll see who's

24:21

playing well. Um, but yeah, media

24:24

date did it kind of struck me that, Wow,

24:26

there's more new faces here than I kind

24:28

of realized. Like you you see each

24:31

transaction kind of trickling throughout the summer

24:33

and you're like, okay, yeah, that's uh, that's

24:35

a new edition or whatever. But you look

24:37

at it. In a ten man rotation, it's very

24:39

likely that four of those are new.

24:42

Like if we're assuming Mobile, Laurie,

24:45

Rubio and maybe Valentine or

24:48

within that rotation, like I think

24:50

Valentine rotation go ahead. Well,

24:53

if it's not Valentine, then maybe it's Windler

24:55

who might have might might

24:58

as well be a new piece, or it's Jetty, like

25:01

either it was not. It's yeah,

25:03

it's it's within three to four of that

25:05

Tim mana rotation is going to be different and the

25:08

first two guys. Billy just got in the chat,

25:10

by the way, and just said having a backup point guard in

25:12

general makes the entire team seem different.

25:14

I think that is very accurate

25:16

to me, where I'm like, just

25:19

like having someone out there that can like remotely

25:22

orchestrate the offense and even having a guy

25:24

behind him that can do that makes

25:26

the team feel different. Yeah, I

25:28

don't know, I just I think Evan's off on this one.

25:31

Yeah, And obviously I think

25:34

the main point is that the core is

25:36

still the same, that you still have the young

25:38

guys coming together. I think

25:41

basically the only real core piece that left

25:43

was Larry Nance Jr. And the only piece

25:45

and and then you know obviously Mobile, but

25:48

like that's not blow up

25:50

by any means. Yeah, you would expect

25:52

Mobile to to maybe be the guy that

25:54

steps in and kind of fulfills that Nance

25:57

junior role, but that that was the one

25:59

kind of your core piece that that's no longer

26:01

there. And then Laurie comes in as

26:04

the third big So you're two

26:06

guys are basically going to be playing near starters

26:08

minutes, whether it's Uh in the starting

26:10

lineup or off the bench. And Rubio and

26:13

Lori um like they're going to

26:15

be very significant contributors. So I'm

26:17

I'm excited to see what that is. Um.

26:20

I was gonna say, what what do you feel like

26:22

the ten man rotation is? Because I I actually

26:24

do think that I would give a

26:27

nod to either Valentine or Windler

26:30

to be the backup three. Maybe that's

26:32

just me being hopeful looking for some change

26:34

there, but what do you think that ten man rotation

26:36

is going to be? Uh, Darius,

26:39

Colin, Okoro, Mobili Allen

26:41

in the starting lineup? I do not think there is

26:43

a snowball's chance. And how this team starts

26:45

Lauri Markinham, I know that that is

26:48

they have declined to announce what they're gonna do there.

26:50

Um. Maybe I'm way wrong

26:53

here, but in my opinion,

26:55

this is a team that has preferred to start

26:57

its young fore member.

27:00

Yeah, and when they're not quite ready

27:02

yet, they pushed Sexton and early, they

27:04

pushed Darius and early, they pushed Isaac

27:07

in order early. I just would

27:09

be surprised if anyone but if that's

27:11

anyone but the starting five first,

27:13

I'd like you to react to that before I continue with my ten.

27:16

Yeah, I agree with that. I

27:19

would say if Lorie were to start

27:21

at the power forward, it would change

27:23

up the rotation a bit. Like I think

27:25

whether I think it's actually easier to start

27:27

Lorie, you think it's easier

27:30

to start Laurie. Yeah, because then you just

27:32

put Mobile in whoever, so

27:34

you have him subject, Yeah, you sub

27:36

sub him out for Alan maybe

27:38

or or Laurie, depending on who's out there. You know, you

27:40

can be a little bit more tactical with it because

27:43

Mobile is the only true four or five of those

27:45

three. Whereas you

27:47

know, Jared, if he's playing, he's the five. If Loria's

27:49

playing, he should be the four. Yeah.

27:52

I guess in my two K tinkering

27:54

and kind of my thought process, I like

27:56

starting Mobile and Alan together

27:58

because then you bringing Lorie for Mobile,

28:01

you're bringing Ruby O for Sexton. Then

28:03

you have those guys check in to take out

28:05

Garland and Allen, uh, and then

28:08

you're kind of running a second unit that contains

28:10

Rubio, Sexton, Windler,

28:13

Valentine or Jetty along

28:15

with Yeah,

28:18

along with Loria Mobili. Like, I think that

28:20

that would really work well, and I like

28:22

the way that those rotations kind of feel. Um.

28:25

But you know, either way, like I

28:28

think Lorie is going to split his minutes with both

28:30

of those big men, and Mobile is going to effectively

28:32

be the backup power or backup

28:35

center. Maybe we see a little bit of Kevin Love

28:37

there with Mobile as

28:39

well. Um, but what let's

28:41

let's hear you continue the rest of your day. Who's

28:44

your second five? It'll be Rubio,

28:47

It'll be Lori, It'll be Kevin,

28:51

Um, it will be drum

28:55

Roll, and

28:57

it just it gets tight here. I think it's

28:59

got to be the

29:03

Yeah, hey, there was reports

29:05

today Dylan Windler looking healthy, moving

29:08

well, running all over the place. Buddy,

29:10

I think I think it's I think it's Dylan. And

29:13

then it just gets it's tough,

29:15

man, you know. Um, like where

29:17

where who's your tenth

29:20

tent? Would kind of end Jetty or Dean

29:22

Wade because like the thing with Wade, like

29:24

Wait probably is the

29:27

most solid of the group past that top

29:29

eight, but it's just a glut there and

29:31

I just you know, Dean Wait at the three is

29:33

just worse than Dean Waight at the four. There's

29:36

a there's some diminishing returns there. So like

29:38

I feel like Dean Wade has earned the minutes the

29:40

most. I just don't know if the roster is constructed

29:43

in a way that will enable that for him.

29:45

Yeah, it's tricky too, because I think

29:48

as long as Kevin Love is healthy,

29:50

bought in and contributing, you're

29:52

probably going to see more of a nine man rotation

29:55

than a tent, right like in games where

29:57

Kevin Love doesn't play. Yeah, they probably

29:59

opens poor opportunities for Dean Wade.

30:02

Maybe a Lamar Stevens, Jetty Osmond,

30:04

whoever that may be. But when

30:07

Lamar could be my tent, I think I

30:09

could be okay with Lamar and a shooting heavy

30:11

line up. Yeah, I think

30:14

I would probably assume Denzel.

30:17

I think just he's going to get opportunities and whatnot.

30:19

We shouldn't rule out Jetty. I know Jetty

30:21

had a nightmare year last year. But

30:24

but but Jetty has shown at

30:26

his better, his you know, his upswings,

30:29

more than Denzel has shown in his career

30:32

so well. Denzel has

30:34

the shining you know, the new car smell

30:37

um, you know. I Denzel has

30:39

shown more on the defensive end

30:41

of the floor though, And I think that that's a big

30:43

thing. Like if you look at him

30:46

pre boiling that last season

30:48

where he shot well from three, he was playing

30:50

pretty good defense. Like I think that's

30:53

the version of Denzel, Like if he wants to

30:55

earn minutes, which he's talked about

30:57

feeling healthy now finally that

30:59

he thinks that he can contribute on both ends of

31:01

the floor and kind of feels good about his role.

31:04

Like, if he wants to earn those minutes, that's

31:06

the way he's going to do it by contributing on

31:09

both ends of the floor. Jetty

31:11

was Jetty is not a good defensive player. I think

31:13

we all know that. UM, But like Jenny

31:16

had UM Like when

31:18

he got to play that ninth tenth man

31:20

role, that chaotic energy he brought.

31:23

He brought in that role was like that was encouraging

31:25

and exciting, and he got over exposed

31:28

in the last two three years. Um. He

31:30

had just a truly terrible year last year

31:32

that I still think we need to treat as an outlier

31:35

until it's proven otherwise, because it was by

31:37

far the worst year of his career. But

31:39

how much of a space is there for that

31:42

if we're assuming that a lot of those second

31:44

un second unit minutes are going

31:46

to include Rubio, sack Stan, maybe

31:49

even Mobile. Like you've got

31:51

playmaking guys that you're going to funnel

31:53

it through. Maybe he just gets to be a spot

31:55

shooter and someone who is a is a runner

31:57

and transition because he is very he's a

31:59

very a solid transition player. Um,

32:02

I wouldn't run shooter.

32:04

I'm not saying it can't happen, but I'm saying

32:07

it's just as likely that it happens as

32:09

Denzel get in the minutes. Yeah,

32:12

I would just say that historically

32:14

speaking, when Jetty is playing really

32:16

well, he has the ball in his hands. So at that

32:18

point Jetty seems to make him feel

32:20

the most confident and like kind of the most

32:23

comfortable on the basketball court, where

32:25

there just may not be the opportunity for

32:27

him to play in that role with

32:30

this team if things are working well, which is why

32:32

you might go with Denzel as just kind

32:34

of a spot up guy, someone that isn't going to handle

32:36

the ball. Again, I think I'd

32:39

rather just have Lamar take those menutes and just make

32:41

sure he's not playing at the same time as Rubio and

32:43

Jared Allen. Yeah, that's

32:45

could certainly be the case if

32:47

you're looking for a tent Man and Dylan is

32:49

showing anything, I was gonna say best

32:52

case scenario is Dylan Windler because ideally,

32:55

ideally Dylan has the year

32:57

that the Calves have been hoping he'd have, stays

32:59

healthy, hits threes, uh,

33:01

generates gravity, and it

33:04

becomes very clear that there's no reason

33:06

to have a tin Man rotation. Yeah,

33:09

I think I think a tin Man rotation is a chilly

33:11

an acknowledgement of of j B going. I

33:13

don't know what I'm gonna get from nine

33:15

ten, nine and ten is

33:18

the biggest question on this roster that that

33:20

is by far the one unknown

33:23

here, and Dylan is one of the only players

33:25

in this team that can play too in the three. Yeah,

33:28

And I mean when

33:30

you look at how he played

33:32

when he was playing well last year, he

33:35

did everything well like he he did all

33:37

the little things. He was making the right passes,

33:39

he was playing good team basketball.

33:41

The shots weren't always falling, but then you had

33:44

the stretch where he made nine threes in a row and

33:46

that kind of brought the averages up. But he at

33:48

least was playing really solid team basketball.

33:50

So I think when you're looking at

33:53

best case scenarios, it's when we're

33:55

taking that position, But until then, it's

33:58

an open competition. And like you,

34:00

I do think it's a smart point

34:02

to not rule out Jenny Osmond that hey,

34:05

guys can make adjustments. Maybe

34:07

after last season it was a

34:09

bit of a learning opportunity. Okay, I'm

34:11

not going to be the starter. I have to have a different

34:13

mentality coming in off the bench. There's probably

34:16

not a lot of situations around the league where I am

34:18

going to start, so I need to learn

34:21

how to be a little more comfortable off the ball, uh

34:23

and to function well in that role. We

34:26

shouldn't rule that out right, but I do

34:28

like the fact that there is options, right,

34:30

Like you have multiple names you can

34:33

go through. You can see a scenario

34:35

where Lamar Stevens works out. You can see a situation

34:37

where Dylan Windler stays healthy. You can see Denzel

34:39

Valentine returning to form a little bit

34:42

in a new situation. Like, there

34:44

are options, and ultimately, like

34:46

if the core guys are playing really

34:49

well, it reduces the

34:51

need for these guys to be major

34:53

contributors or or to make a big, big

34:55

difference on the court, and it becomes hey, just

34:57

don't mess up when you're out there, which if

35:00

that is what they need, then yeah, I

35:02

might agree with you that maybe Lamar Stevens gets

35:05

the nod because you know he's going to play really

35:07

sound. I don't think he's gonna mess up. He'll

35:09

he'll he might tank your spacing, but he isn't

35:11

gonna mess up. And like, by the way,

35:14

you want to know how excited I am and like how

35:16

I'm in pure optimism mode right now?

35:19

Is the Calves tweeted out a picture of him

35:21

going like this, m M, I'm

35:24

like, Lamar hit my Lamar hitting

35:26

some threes in practice.

35:29

It was the dumbest thought I've had all week.

35:31

Um, But you know, like that's kind of the stuff

35:33

I'm you know, I'm thinking about is like you know, if

35:36

they do, if they're playing a four and

35:38

a five that can shoot um

35:41

with you know, with Darius, Lamar

35:44

gets so much easier to play, and he

35:46

honestly, like I wouldn't

35:49

say he was as good as Dean Wade was last

35:51

year because Dean was really good in some games,

35:53

but there were games where Lamar really made an impact.

35:56

And like, if you want to like obviously you're

35:58

not making roster decision into Lamar

36:00

Stevens. But he'll benefit

36:03

from those kind of lineups. Yeah,

36:05

and especially like if Rubio

36:08

is shooting well

36:10

enough, like he's had seasons where

36:12

okay, it's low thirties, maybe

36:14

thirty six percent from three. Uh,

36:17

Sexton's out there, Laurie's out there. Mobile

36:19

is out there stretching the floor. Like I

36:22

don't know if you saw the videos of Mobile shooting

36:24

threes, it's uh, the

36:26

form looks a little bit better. It's still slow.

36:29

But I think the most important thing for Mobile is

36:31

that guys aren't giving him the Draymond

36:33

treatment, where hey, we're just gonna sit back

36:35

in the paint. We're gonna dare you to shoot. If

36:37

he's got a consistent shot, that's just slow.

36:40

Yeah, guys are going to actually have to close out.

36:42

They're gonna have to go guard him on the perimeter, and

36:44

then the ball handling comes into play. He can

36:46

blow by guys, you can have some spacing.

36:49

He's a threat in that way. So that's

36:51

encouraging if that's what you have with

36:54

the four other guys. Yeah, you can play

36:57

Lamar Stevens. You can feel a little bit better

36:59

about that. Yeah, it's just gonna

37:01

be a matter of that gravity. Um,

37:03

because you know, Mobili can't be just a conceptual

37:06

shooter that might draw some

37:08

attention. He needs to actually have someone who one

37:10

who needs to who feels like they can't abandon him.

37:13

Um. So I'm not saying that Lamar

37:15

at the three will be the way it plays out, but

37:17

I certainly wouldn't rule it out just given the way

37:19

the rest of the off season is gone. Ye. No,

37:22

I completely agree. I'm I

37:24

think the last thing that we should touch on, but

37:26

before we wrap this thing up is Kevin Love

37:29

because this is the first time that we've really

37:31

heard from him in a while. Um. He

37:34

seemed a little maybe a hair surly at

37:37

media date, But at the same time, if

37:39

I was in his shoes, I probably wouldn't want

37:41

to be sitting there, uh, fielding questions.

37:44

Uh. It's like it's like

37:46

such a no win spot for him, Like I

37:49

felt, I felt some some tension of

37:51

like uh, like I mean

37:53

you think about like what an annoying thing it

37:55

is to have to go at immediate Like

37:57

I'm gonna be in a good mood, gonna

38:00

be nice. It's just like I

38:03

don't think I suck, you know, I understand

38:07

that the team has made heavy investments

38:09

at my position, but at the same time, like

38:11

I'm going to try to

38:13

do my best to bring energy and whatnot. Like

38:16

Kevin Love said the right things and I

38:18

got it, and you think he said the right things. He said

38:20

the right things that I gotta admit, like it's nice

38:22

to see it kind of like in the highlights, like him having

38:25

fun with the guys and whatnot. I don't know if he saw the video

38:27

of him telling you, I'm telling you,

38:29

I don't think he's a bad hang. Like people

38:31

act like the toxicity is permanent

38:33

and like we know it's not. We know

38:36

that he has bad He's had a few bad moments

38:38

that are very public and some of that are were

38:40

private. Um, but you know it's not

38:42

like like you know, he's always

38:45

I've always appreciated the way he when

38:47

he has been hurt and when he's still when he's on the

38:49

on the road with the team and on the floor, like

38:52

being super hyped for them when they when they do well,

38:54

Like he's a good cheerleader, he's a good supporter

38:56

of the of the young guys. Um.

38:59

So you know, I again, I do not

39:01

think it is so outrageous that he could be

39:03

a positive force for this team. I've

39:05

been I feel like I got ahead of that zag

39:08

early. Um where I'm like,

39:10

listen, if Kevin is healthy, he's still

39:13

really good. Yeah. We we saw it

39:15

in key moments last year when

39:17

he when he was feeling himself and to

39:19

have that guy be your fourth biggest pretty exciting

39:21

and like, yeah, he's saying the right

39:24

things. Yeah, he probably wants to to to

39:26

get on out of here, um uh

39:28

and and and kind of move on to a place

39:30

where he can compete in actually

39:33

get minutes because there's a difference between

39:35

you know, being a you know, tenth man on the nets

39:37

and being the eighth and

39:39

ninth man on the calves right now. But

39:41

like you know, it does feel like he's coming

39:43

in with with with at least saying the

39:46

right things. Um and I'm I'm

39:48

willing to give a shot. Man. Maybe call me

39:50

naive, but I think this is gonna be

39:52

all right. Yeah,

39:54

And if it's not, he'll go home. It's it's

39:57

a different situation because you're not counting

39:59

on him in the ways you have in past

40:01

years, which you

40:04

know what, there's two sides to that coin, right

40:06

like, it's nice that you're not counting on him because

40:08

if he does miss time, you've

40:10

got other options. He's the likely

40:13

the fourth big here. But at

40:15

the same time, it takes some pressure off of his shoulders

40:17

now, like he can just kind of be hey, I'm

40:20

the I can be a

40:22

little bit of the leadership guide to the young

40:24

guys and continuing the mentoring that I've

40:26

done there. But hey, Darius is stepping

40:29

up as a leader. We we have all these guys

40:31

that are are contributing and being, as

40:33

Kevin Gelli said, fountains fountains

40:35

of energy rather than drains, right, So it's

40:38

an opportunity for him to just focus on basketball

40:40

and especially as he rehabs

40:43

these injuries and kind of gets more comfortable.

40:46

Yeah, starting off with a lower minute load

40:48

might be a great thing for him to help him

40:50

get comfortable. And if he earns minutes

40:52

like anyone else on this team, I would expect him

40:54

to get more. Right. So it's

40:58

you know what, I'm hopeful, Like,

41:00

I'm not expecting a ton out of him

41:02

this season, but I want

41:04

things to work out because at the end of the day, like I

41:06

still find myself being really appreciative of

41:09

what Love has done for this organization,

41:11

obviously being a part of the championship. I

41:13

want one of the situations

41:15

with guys that won the title for the cast

41:17

to work out well. And if you have

41:20

like a little bit of a good vibe

41:22

situation where he's coming in off the bench, he's contributing

41:24

as the fourth big um,

41:26

helping out with the depth, because we saw last

41:28

year depth is really important to have. I

41:31

I don't I don't blame

41:33

JB. Bickerstafford being like, yeah, I'm I'm

41:35

not going to sit here and act like depth

41:37

as a problem. Um, I'm

41:40

I'm hopeful that he can contribute because I do

41:42

think that there is an opportunity and in need

41:44

for him if he is bringing what

41:47

he can bring to the table, and um,

41:49

maybe it helps showcase him as

41:51

well that hey, he can still be a contributor

41:54

and that helps him achieve at least

41:56

the goals that he's kind of stated at times

41:59

publicly with whether it be the interview with

42:01

Chris Haines and whatnot where he gets to go

42:03

to a different situation. But as

42:06

long as they're together, I'm gonna hope

42:08

and root for things to work out because so ultimately

42:11

like I'm a fan of the team and good basketball

42:13

player. Playing good basketball for

42:16

the cast is a very

42:18

good thing. Yeah. Absolutely, yeah,

42:20

I want the good vibes back. And I don't think it's

42:23

just wishful thinking that that makes me

42:25

think it might happen. Well, it's

42:28

I mean ultimately, like it's if those

42:30

are your four bigs and they're contributing,

42:32

like you can mix and match, you can

42:34

play with those guys that there's a lot of ways to

42:36

make that fit. I would say the only

42:39

one combination I don't want to see as Laurian

42:41

Love, like, I wouldn't mind it, and

42:43

they're like some in they

42:45

were just circumstance. I

42:47

wouldn't mind it. You are a sick of normally.

42:51

I love the idea of just bombing away

42:53

with the Darius Love Laurie line

42:55

up against a team that maybe doesn't have enough, that

42:58

has a lineup that doesn't have much punch. Yeah,

43:01

you know, like I mean, you can go five out

43:04

in a major way with that group that

43:07

I mean, the defensive rating will be one thirty,

43:09

but maybe you get up to one forty on offense.

43:12

You never know, a little a little bit of running gun

43:15

actually that that reminds me one thing I want

43:17

to bring up before we wrap this up. JB

43:19

did tease the possibility of Garland

43:22

Rubio sex and playing together a little

43:24

three point guard tanks. No

43:26

thanks, that's fine. You

43:29

know what, maybe I don't

43:31

really I don't really want to see that. You

43:34

wanted Lori and Love. I want that. I

43:36

want a little three point guard action with Mobile

43:38

and Allen. You know that, the trees and the guards.

43:41

Let's let's make it work. Let's get weird, let's

43:43

test some things out. You know what, I'd be okay

43:45

with that, incertn situations. It

43:47

worked in Okay, see when they had Paul Streeter

43:50

s g A. You never know, it

43:53

might be somethings, it might be something

43:55

that works. Maybe you get a little weird with it and

43:57

show that off in the preseason. How I'm pretty

43:59

cool with never saying it. Ye

44:03

of little faith. Ye I

44:05

can't believe. I can't believe you being on

44:07

Lorian Love and not the three Guards. Three

44:10

Guards. Baby, We've we've been work

44:13

in the NBA. I've seen enough unbelievably

44:16

small cavaliers lineups, and by day

44:18

you know I'm okay with it. You're being unbelievably

44:21

small, but you know what, it's good to be back.

44:23

It's good that we're on the verge of seeing

44:25

basketball again, especially Cavs basketball.

44:27

I cannot wait for it. For everyone

44:29

that tuned in on YouTube, we really do appreciate

44:32

it. Make sure you like and subscribe

44:34

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