Cavs: The Podcast 0048: 2014 Finals Recap
2014-06-16Are the 2014 Spurs the greatest team we’ve ever seen? After the Spurs victory, Tom and Nate hopped in the podcast booth to discuss the series. According to Tom, these Spurs are the greatest group of guys since Emilio Estevez coached the Mighty Ducks to the Minnesota state Pee Wee championship. San Antonio’s next task? Defeating world hunger in a seven game series. But seriously, the Spurs were pretty darned dominant. We talked about San Antonio, Manu, Timmy, Pop, Tony, and Kawhi and what this series means for the future of the NBA. How does it influence the Cavs draft, their coaching search, and where the members of the Heat end up playing next fall? Oh, and we decided that LeBron’s choice of where to play is no longer the most important NBA off-season news.
We can be found on SoundCloud at https://soundcloud.com/cavstheblog/0048-tom-and-nates-2014-finals-recap
or on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cavs-the-podcast/id528149843?mt=2
I do think there’s a disconnect between how many Cavs fans view THEIR team’s roster and how NBA front office types and opposing players view this team’s roster. When I objectively look at “our” team, I like very few of the players and parts on the roster or rather, I don’t value them nearly as highly as many fans do. I think Andy, when healthy, is an underrated big who would help any team. I like Delly as an undervalued young role player who will improve. I like C.J. Miles for the relatively little money he’ll command in free agency.… Read more »
Brian – I think when you watch a team as closely as Cavs fans watch their team, your the perspective can get skewed. Similarly, outside voices, (like, say, Windhorst) have focused ad nauseum on the Knicks game on national TV. So their perspective may also be skewed. It’s hard to fault many of the decisions the Cavs have made over the years. The jury is still out on many of them and in some cases, what seemed like good moves just didn’t pan out. Everyone needs a tidy narrative that implies causality for the current state of the team. The… Read more »
Yes, clearly Wiggins and Embiid are the only two guys with a chance to be great. Cause great players are only drafted at the top of the draft. Let’s look at the team that just won the championship: Manu: 57th pick Tony: 28th pick Kawhi: 15th pick 2012 ROY, MCW: 11th pick Andre Drummond: 9th pick Mark Price: 28th pick (second round) Varejao: 60th pick The lesson? People picked all over the draft that everyone wrote off can be great. I look at Exum, Parker, and Smart and see no reason why they can’t be great, and why Wiggins and… Read more »
This makes no sense and you know it. If it’s all a total crapshoot then why draft at all? Pretty much everyone that watches basketball feels that Embiid and Wiggins are superior prospects. That matters. They have the #1 pick. They have to do the homework and draft the best guy. Trading down in the NBA is so so dumb when you have prospects like that come out. This isn’t the NFL where vlaue matters because you can get a guy later in the draft. Embiid and Wiggins are going #1 and #2 in some order.
To say that all those players are on the same level is hipster rebellion at its finest.
Nate has admitted to drinking Almond Milk
Well tell him to stop. Personally I think he knows that Wiggins and Embiid (I guess you can add Parker, but I wouldn’t) are on a different level but he’s just trolling us.
God knows it rare but I agree with Nate here. It might not be the total crap-shoot he describes but his overall point is sound.
Not trolling at all. God forbid that I have an opinion that deviates from draft orthodoxy. Guess what? The draft never goes how the experts think it should go. Teams obviously have very different opinions than the media, and so do I. And I don’t say that these guys are all on the same level to denigrate Wiggins and Embiid. I say that because I think Exum, Parker, and Smart are that good. But you know who could be the best small forward out of this draft when it’s all said and done? Kyle Anderson. So there you go. I’d… Read more »
Man, I agree 100% about Anderson. Watch San Antonio get him as the perfect Diaw replacement.
As for trolling, few people seem to be taking my Wiggins stuff seriously, so I guess that draft orthodoxy is pretty damn strong. Again, for the record, I had no opinion on any of the top picks prior to the day after the lottery for one pretty obvious reason. After we got lucky, I went and did my homework. That is how I became all about Embiid and so down on Wiggins. Just research.
Oh and Derrick Williams, Evan Turner, Michael Beasley, etc. Yeah…
Varejao was the 30th pick.
Calling Gilbert the worst owner is absurd. Love the observation that Cuban is a supreme meddling owner. Jerry Jones far more of a meddler as well. Who cares if the college coaches turn the team down?
Work load of college coach vs. pro coach is no comparison. SO much harder in the pros.
Podcast takes a while to get going, but overall nice job.
The one insane opinion in this podcast (what would a cavsthepodcast be without a nutty opinion) is that Embiid, Wiggins, Exum!!!!, Parker, and Smart are all basically on the same level of prospect.
That’s crazy. It’s basically Wiggins or Embiid. Those are the two guys with the chance to be great.
Wrong. Putting Wiggins in there is a considerable leap of faith based on magical thinking rather than actual analysis. For instance, Smart basically dominated Wiggins when they went head-to-head 3 times this season. Go watch the film. Draftexpress has it up.
Exum might have the 2nd highest ceiling after Embiid.
Wiggins is all potential, yet still averaged 17 ppg. Embiid is all potential, averaged 11.
If you dismiss Wiggins but prop up Embiid, you’re the one using “magical thinking rather than actual analysis”.
So the only thing that matters is how many points they scored a game? Huh?
Wiggins scored 17 PPG, and Embiid only scored 11 PPG…so, if you are saying that Embiid is a can’t miss prospect, then well Wiggins must be a sure fire Hall of Famer!!!!
By your logic, I guess Doug McDermott is going to become the GOAT because he scored 26.9 PPG last year. Right.
Windhorst was on Big Show and said LeBron WANTS to come home, but that he t thinks the Cavs are just not good enough so he will stay with Heat. Gilbert is an issue, he said.
That seems so weird. An owner who is willing to get him whoever he wants and has the money to do it is perfect for LeBron.
True. People seem to forget all the money he spent on Shaq, Jamison, and Ben Wallace to try and put the right pieces around LeBron. Additionally he took on Baron Davis’ huge contract just to get an extra 1st round pick to speed up the rebuilding process. Nobody could have predicted that it would turn out to be Irving.
Yeah that is weird. Bron may not like Gilbert but there are not many owners that are win at whatever costs. He’s made mistakes like hiring Mike Brown but said F it and canned him when it was clear he was a mistake.
I don’t understand the talent thing. They undererformed this year that’s for sure. But the Heats talent is getting much worse while Clv is getting better and about to add a number 1 pick to the mix. If LeBron played for Clv last year they would have been a 1 or 2 seed in the East.
I agree with all of you. Windhorst really seems convinced that “NBA people” view our organization as a joke. Maybe I am just a homer, but I really don’t understand this view. Gilbert has deep pockets and will spend. And we have lots of young talent. Further, the idea that we have drafted poorly in the last several years (one of the central tenants in the “the Cavs are a mess” argument propagated by the Windhorst’s and Simmons’s of ESPN) is an overblown narrative that ignores the shitty talent-pool in the past two drafts. Moving forward, I don’t understand how… Read more »
These podcasts have gotten better. I think Gilbert is a great owner. TOne comic sans letter and a comment about wanting to make the playoffs does not negate his ability and willingness to spend whatever he wants and there is really no evidence of him meddling in the decision making process.
It’s insane how much crap he takes for that letter (which was stupid but really it was one dumb thing) and that he said they wouldn’t be back in the lottery.
Well you ignored logic last time, so let’s try again, shall we? You say there is “no evidence” of Gilbert meddling in the decision making process. Seems like a giant stretch to say that when you consider the following… The following moves have added to the reputation of Dan Gilbert starting to take a much more hands on approach and wanting the Cavaliers to find some “shortcuts” to contention: Starting with the proclamation at the 2013 Draft Lottery that the Cavs would not be back in the lottery in 2014 (oops!): 1. Fired Byron Scott (technically before the ’13 lottery… Read more »
I guess this is happening: http://www.fearthesword.com/2014/6/15/5811842/cavaliers-expected-to-sign-croatian-f-damjan-rudez
Seems like a tallish SF who can really shoot. Obviously, this team needs all the shooting it can get and this guy looks like someone who could give us 15 productive mpg next season.
Would this affect the likelihood of re-signing CJ or Hawes? The roster is already pretty big.
Consider this Gee’s replacement, I guess.
Blatt has had success getting less talented players play together for a common goal with much success. Both of the Finals teams were loaded with veteran talent. That can lead one to conclude we need to trade for veteran players, and another conclude that we shouldn’t give up on our young bunch so quickly. It makes me want to keep Andy. Also, Griffin’s comments about basketball IQ, fit, and toughness as priorities come to mind. Finally, I always thought the Cavs had a good group of guys. I could never understand the stories about the bickering (maybe because they were… Read more »
Something I thought that was reall cool- and telling- the Spurs on the championship dias all draped in the flags of their home countries. Very classy (not just for the players to do it, but for the Spurs organization that clearly supported the demonstration). No AAU-bred spoiled American players in that bunch.
Oh man. The NBA is not a morality play. It’s not like the good guys won and the bad guys lost. The Spurs won because they were much better at basketball than the Heat this year. The Heat had LeBron and the Spurs had the next what, 5 best players?
They didn’t win because they aren’t selfish, they didn’t win because they have different flags, they won because they were clearly the more talented and well coached team this year.
The human condition makes almost anything we do under the umbrella of morality, ColsSevenOneFour. This isn’t a computer simulation.
It wasn’t a morality play or subplot, Cols. The point is this- international players are more likely to submit to a team concept than your average American-born player. The Spurs have clearly figured it out, and embraced the concept. Aside from Duncan, there’s not a single top-10 pick on the roster, and a cursory review of the roster would label them among the least athletic teams in the league. None of that matters if you target guys who are willing to submit to their role and sacrifice individual accolades for the team. Meanwhile, the other 29 teams in the league… Read more »
Um. LeBron is pretty much the ultimate team player.
He’s up there.
The rest of Miami, not so much (Wade? Beasley? Birdman?)
Without LeBron, the Heat would have been hard pressed to make the playoffs, particularly in the West: Wade used to be pretty good, fading fast. Bosh was a marginal all star, a bit past his peak. The rest of the team would have trouble winning the development league title.
more likely to submit? There were only like 2 French players on the team, not 12.