Playoff Podcap: Cavs 116, Raptors 105 (or, Cheers!)
2017-05-02https://soundcloud.com/ctb-5/episode-135-cracking-open-the-secound-round
LeBron James said he’s more of a red wine guy than a beer guy in his post game presser, referring to his pantomiming of taking a swig during a break in play in the third quarter of the Cavs’ opening game victory over the Toronto Raptors. If he continues to play at this rate, he might just be a champagne guy again at the end of the post-season. The King led all scorers with 35 points on 13-23 shots (including 2-5 from three and 7-8 from the line), and added 10 boards, four assists a block and a steal. The rest of his triumvirate also came through big, as Kyrie Irving had 24 points and 10 dimes, and Kevin Love had 18 points and nine rebounds. Tristan Thompson also had a double double with 11 points and 14 boards. The bench had a bit more trouble holding on against the Raptor reserves, but the Cavs did a terrific job of trapping Toronto’s big guns, DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry for most of the game.
Nate, Tom and EG gathered around the podcast booth and raised a few toasts to the Cavs for their performance in this initial second round game (they’re now 16-1 at home in the playoffs the last three seasons). We speculated on what changes or adjustments the Raptors might make in Game 2, and whether or not they’d be able to make it a more challenging series. We took a look at some of the other series, including the now almost karmic cause in Boston and tonight’s carnage in San Antonio. We also debated if Mike Brown subbing for Steve Kerr would slow down the Warriors at all… which quickly devolved into Tom and EG arguing the legacy of the twice former coach of the Cavs.
Anyway, here’s to the Cavs on another victory! You can listen to it all above, on Soundcloud, iTunes, or Google Play.
Is there any possible way Ainge can let Thomas go now. Clearly he’s scoring a ton (due to inept opposition) but with all the emotion regarding his sister, the fans adoring him and no-one wanting to print a bad word against him I can’t fathom how he doesn’t get an extension. Obviously this all works great for us as Cavs fans!
In retrospect, Mike Brown made a huge error in sticking with Ben Wallace as much as he did in the 2009 ECF. Big Ben’s Plus Minus was putrid and there were some memorable shots made against him by Roidin’ Rashard Lewis. All that said, what the Cavs did in 2009 was remarkable. They were the best team in the league and ran into Peak Dwight Howard and a buzzsaw of hot shooting. All season long that Magic team was stout defensively. The Cavs scored enough to win. They couldn’t get stops – Mike Brown made crazy adjustments game to game… Read more »
I think that just wasn’t the Cavs’ year. Not many teams are going to beat a team playing out of their ass like the Magic did in that series,
Good points.
That Lakers team would have destroyed the Cavs. They had 3 legit 7-footers. The Cavs had Z and Varejao.
Coming late to the discussion on Mike Brown. A good defensive coach, and a good man who never said a bad thing about anyone, even when they said bad things about him.
Having said that, I will now say something bad about Mike Brown. As I recall, one thing that Mike Brown could not do to save his life was make in-game adjustments, particularly on offense. In a playoff series, that’s gonna hurt them. Maybe the Warriors’ assistant coaches could paper that over. I dunno.
I’m 99.9% certain Klay is stoned out of his mind right now…
Make anyone else beat you. You can’t let a 5’9″ dude score 50pts. I thought Coach Brooks would have had a better scheme.
Unreal!
Scott Brooks is an awful playoff coach. Always has been, probably always will be.
Celtics are paper tigers, fake tough guys, unfortunately the Wizards are letting the air vampire’s gain momentum. It’s really quite simple, IT isn’t that good at passing out of a double team, he wants to score and flex and show the world he’s the little Napoleon who could. Stop him and the Celtics will eventually stop hitting absurd shots. The Wizards disgust me, they can’t stick with a game plan to save their lives. Just because Kelly O and Marcus Dumb hit a couple jumpers, doesn’t make them good, make anyone but IT score for 48 minutes and the Celtics… Read more »
Thomas gets more foul calls on him than last year’s Harden…
He doesn’t even need to kick guys in the nutz and hook arms to get the calls…he just gets them if anyone is within touching distance…
Thank goodness we root for a team with real talent. Could you imagine trying to root for those try hards?
Horrid. Just ugly
Glad that abomination is over.
This officiating on Thomas is atrocious. Could give Cavs a bit of heartburn. Thought Beal and Wall would be better than this.
He’s protected more than Jordan ever was…
the guy has 50 points and the wizards cannot figure out how to get the ball out of his hands. Just bad coaching.
I agree with this…just blitz his a$$ constantly…make anyone else beat you. Lousy coaching.
Agree on the terrible schemes. And the Wizards were totally gassed too
Nah. Cavs will sweep either team. This is bad basketball by both of these sucky teams.
Terrible game. Just bad basketball.
Hoiberg kinda sucks, but, god, he’s so right about Thomas carrying the ball…he does it constantly…
I’m tired of hearing about John Wall. This midget is roasting his ass
Wall hasn’t been good from the 4th on…
Unreal how bad these teams are.
On Crowder’s tombstone it’ll say ‘he was good considering his contract’.
Great game. Please continue beating on each other!!
Wall looking now like bad Kryie
Pretty nervous shots from the Bullets…going to OT….
Cannot even touch Thomas…can’t even look like you touch him…
Cavs will sweep either of these two sucky teams.
I simply cannot wait until Ainge has to pay some of these scrubs or let them walk….that’ll be great…
Terrible possession by Wall…runs the clock down to get an iso play, where he ends up heaving a 35 footer as the shot clock expires.
Big fail by Wizards settling for jumpers when they’re in the early bonus.
Both these teams suck.
Very solid analysis as always just saying a team or player sucks. Thx for the insight
Not to look past the Raptors, but I want Boston.
Please stop giving Thomas wide open corner threes…
Kelly Oubrey sucks.
Nice flop attempt, Smart…
The Cavs are going to feast one whatever remains of these two teams.
Celtics are complete freaking thugs. Olynyk would win my award for “person I most want to punch in the face.” And with the current president, that’s saying something.
Watch the cheap shots go through the roof if the Celtics get behind in the series.
+1
Braymond
Nice to see the Celtics engaging in their usual thug ball. Wiz will be lucky to get out of this series alive. Lucky President Stevens is a choir boy, and he’d be shocked, SHOCKED that gambling is going on in this establishment.
Wall is destroying the Celtics….Beal is somewhat quiet….Thomas gets practically every foul call…its annoying as hell to watch
Refs need to stop giving Thomas gifts in the playoffs. It’s revolting.
Celtic fans are the worst. No others come close.
GS fans are worst.
Yes. Smug arrogant front runners.
They are just bandwagon morons, the kind every winning team attracts. Celtics have had the worst for decades.
Oubre has such an annoying game and demeanor that I’m surprised he’s not a Celtic. Would seem a natural fit.
Great podcast loved the bickering at the end over mike brown
Love you guys – can you figure out a format where you don’t talk all over each other’s interesting points?
Yeah sorry I’m the worst
Agree with comments that it didn’t feel like a playoff game. Cavs seemed to just be horsing around and having fun more than I’ve ever seen in a playoff game.
Awesome discussion, guys, and really enjoyed the Mike Brown debate particularly. LeBron’s athleticism is amazing for 14 years in the league. Very fortunate to be sitting about ten rows behind the basket, where James made that left handed jam off the Irving backboard pass. From this perspective, I didn’t think James could reach that “pass” as it was angled off his running trajectory and very high. It was jaw dropping to see him catch and jam it from so close. I am not sure who else could make that play, and certainly no one today at 32. I think he’ll… Read more »
He is already there and should end up as the GOAT. MJ was phenomenal but he couldn’t do everything LeBron does.
I’d argue that getting the 2007 team to the finals could never be described as a failure. Beyond that? While I don’t think he was a fantastic coach, he was saddled with a total train wreck of a team with completely unrealistic expectations in La La Land. The 2014 Cavs had a ceiling of 43 wins. He got 33 while trying to find minutes for the worst draft pick of all time, and a rotation of Dion, Delly, Kyrie, Waiters, TT, CJ Miles, and Alonzo Gee. Add Earl Clark, Jarrett Jack, American Patriot, Spencer Hawes, and bad trade Deng, and… Read more »
Mike Brown is a great defensive coach. This sentence does not work without the word “defensive” in as a qualifier. Aside from the 2014 Cavs, Mike Brown never had to start from the ground up with a team. He was handed the job first with LeBron and then with Kobe while they were both top players in the league. Mike Brown would do well to remain a defensive coordinator for the remainder of his career IMHO…
Yep. The Mike Brown stuff was thankfully short. I wanted to tear my headphones off and scream though.
I guess we all have our blind spots. Tom’s is giving Mike Brown credit. Nate’s is liking awful players just because they hustle, EG’s is thinking that Keri Russell has a butt double…
For the record, I’ve confirmed that…
In person?
Yours is liking awful players just cause they can shoot. Oh, and everything else.
One way to look at it if he got best of his players, everyone barring Lebron struggled post Cavs. I mean, how the hell did Mo williams became all star ?
LeBron
Demarre Carroll never went basket to basket against LeBron. What on earth are you talking about Nate?
The quote was “basket for basket.” But you’re right. He stunk against the Cavs. I was thinking of his 2014 series against Washington. Cavs have always owned him.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/carrode01/gamelog/2015#18-23-sum:pgl_basic_playoffs
Yep. Nice. I do not know how to use the gamelog stuff on br. I suck.
After the game, LeBron said something like “we will be better on Wednesday”
And he is right, they always play better in game 2. I also expect the Raptors to play better and because of that it should be a more competitive game but with the same result, a Cavs W by 8 points.
After last night, LeBron is 24 points shy of Kareem for second in all time playoff scoring… he is only 249 points behind MJ for first place… The Cavs (providing they make the Finals) will play a minimum of 11 more games this post-season… meaning LBJ has to average 22.6 ppg over those games to become the all time playoff leading scorer this year… That’s pretty incredible…
And he still has at least 2-3 “productive years” left IMO.
I think at least that long depending on what you qualify as “productive years.” Whatever year he decides to hang it up, I still think he’ll be averaging something like 18/5/5…
The legacy of Mike Brown is he took a team with LeBron and got nowhere with it. Dude sucked so bad. Then he got re-hired and tried to make Tristan Thompson a jump shooter.
His legacy is of a failed head coach. He failed with LeBron freaking James. It doesn’t get more failed than that.
Not to mention getting fired five games into his second season with the Lakers…
Oh geez. I forgot that. So he failed with LeBron and Kobe Bryant??!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I would be a little scared if we faced off against the Mike Brown led Warriors in the Finals. Brown is the only coach that has ever been able to stop playoff LeBron.
Haha. Yeah, Brown stopped playoff LeBron by sucking at coaching him for the Cavs. Love it.
I’m still baffled by Dan rehiring the guy. He was horrid.
Put me on Team Cols for this one. (yikes!)
Mike Brown will forever be the epitome of the phrase, “failing upwards.”
I am grateful every day that we no longer have Mr. Potato Head on the sidelines looking lost, failing to call timeouts, and pretty much doing nothing other than kiss LBJ’s butt.
We may very well lose in the Finals to GSW, but you can be sure it won’t be due to Lue getting outcoached…
AMICO HOOPS SAID IT BEST (ABOUT LEBRON ) —-LET’S APPRECIATE HIS GREATNESS EVERY MOMENT THAT WE GET THE OPPORTUNITY !!
1. Biyombo sucks
2. Good on Tom for ending the freakout over LeBron freethrows.
This seems like a safe one to listen to while at work.
You should skip the Mike Brown section…
Oh no. Mike freaking Brown makes this podcast?? Are there still Mike Brown dead enders? Kill me now.
You don’t read the intros, do you?
So far in these playoffs, LeBron looks like he is playing better than he ever has in his career. His efficiency is absurd. His jumper is wet right now (including from 3pt range). And he’s absolutely dominating and making it look effortless. It looks like the guy is playing at half speed sometimes because he just understands every single nuance that is going on in the game.
It’s truly incredible to watch this guy play.
Favorite Cavs games are those that Kyrie gets double digit assists. Possibilities are endless when he uses his talent to create for others.
Agreed. When he has 10 assists the way he did last night, I just don’t think anyone can beat us.
Hear hear. Kyrie already has the Kobe part of his game. Cavs taking things to the next level in future seasons depends on him discovering his inner CP3. He does that, sh*t could get just plain nasty out there for other teams.
The Cavs success in last year’s Finals contradicts this line of argument. Kyrie had 27 assists in 7 games. Kyrie is arguably the best individual scorer in the league. Depending on matchups, we need him to dominate and focus on scoring . Saying he should pass more without considering matchups is too simplistic. Sometimes that style of play is beautiful to watch but it’s not always the best us if Kyrie’s unique talents.
Hot Sauce is correct. But CtB likes Irving better than to complain about Kyrie.
Eh… great scorers always make themselves more dangerous by becoming more dimensional. Yes, Kyrie is an elite scorer, but when the book on him is that he doesn’t pass, it makes him ultimately easier to defend. Quite frankly, LeBron’s ability to do both things is what makes him an all-time player. Kyrie has that DNA should he choose to embrace it…
I guess I respecfully disagree, EG! I mean, I agree that, in general, KI should always look to expand his game. I see that. But I think in certain games and in certain matchups it is sometimes better for each player to specialize. And the playoffs are all about mathcups, so it doesn’t really follow that Kyrie looking to distributre more is better for the team right now.
Playoff Cavs are like the mailman — they always deliver. Team looked great last night. They can elevate to such amazing heights when they are engaged on both ends. Despite that glowing praise, I actually think TOR wins Game 2, and then the Cavs win in 6. TOR is solid and will play better and I think the Cavs may have 1 or 2 more clunkers in them before they fully engage like Voltron. I saw Anthony Bennett got released from a team in TURKEY. Poor dude. Never got it together. That Love/Wiggins deal gets better all the time. Can’t… Read more »
Love/Wiggins is like Pau Gasol / Marc Gasol. A total steal at the time, that everyone wanted to “wait and see” and point to how great Marc has become. Ultimately, Pau delivered two championships. So that’s where the discussion begins and ends.
Such as with K Love.
That is true, but I don’t think Wiggins will ever be as good of a player as Marc Gasol has become.
Wiggins is 22.
And he will never be as good as Kevin Love.
Correct. The quote is from earlier this year, when Wiggins was younger.
Wiggins is 22 and just posted a PER of 16 in his third year in the league. He is a black hole on offense, doesn’t get teammates involved, and his defense is nowhere near where it was supposed to be coming out of college. Unless he fixed the issue this past season (admittedly I did not research his latest season in terms of this stat), he is horrid in terms of his usage:assist ratio. That is just not a great ballplayer. Unless he becomes a DPOY player, I just don’t think he ever becomes elite. He’s a volume scorer who… Read more »
Here’s an article after his sophomore season that goes in depth about how bad he is. https://www.todaysfastbreak.com/nba-west/minnesota-timberwolves/andrew-wiggins-needs-lot-work/ “Wiggins boasts a 27 percent usage and a disgustingly low 11.1 assist percentage. Meanwhile, the “inefficient ball hog” that’s Kobe Bryant checks in at a cool 30 percent usage while toting a respectable 29.4 assist percentage. Shoot, even Carmelo Anthony almost triples Wiggins with a 29 percent usage rate while maintaining a 28.7 assist percentage as an iso-dominant player. His teammate goes on to squelch the notion that it’s the Timberwolves’ offense that’s causing his poor numbers, as the fellow uber-athletic Zach LaVine… Read more »
Thanks. But dude, this article is from February. February 2016. Wiggins was still 20 when that article was written.
I believe that Wiggins does have many flaws (my original post notes this). I just don’t think the Cavs gave up a “little.” It was a good trade for both teams. Wolves were doing nowhere with K Love. Cavs wanted to win now. Win-Win.
In any case, surely motivated reasoning is at play. Obvs we will look for flaws in Wiggins because we want to see these flaws. We are all biased information processors.
People forget that Marc was an afterthought to that deal.
While obviously a good deal for the Cavs, it is odd to suggest that trading Wiggins is a “little.” He certainly has a bright future. This deal made sense for both teams. As Zach Lowe mentioned back earlier this year: “Wiggins is 21 years old. He is going to average more than 20 points per game for the second straight season. Yeah, there are holes. He doesn’t feel the game as naturally as you’d hope. He takes an egregious number of awful long 2s early shot clock. His effort level on defense waxes and wanes. I’m still betting big on… Read more »
The Lowe Post!! I agree Wiggins is a talented scorer and good athlete. But his lack of development as a playmaker is hard to ignore. That is not a skill you develop in NBA. On a good team he seems like a Harrison Barnes or Trevor Ariza type. On a weaker team where he gets shots, he will score points. But his lack of playmaking limits his long-term value and makes it unlikely he ever becomes elite. Of course, I could be wrong!
REPORT THAT J.R. HAD AN MRI ON HIS INJURED THUMB—ANY LATEST RUMORS / REPORTS ON THIS —–HOPING ALL IS GOOD
Allie Clifton tweeted after the game that there was no X-ray necessary, and there was no structural damage. I think Lue might have misunderstood Windhorst’s question when he said that JR was getting an X-ray.
IF LEBRON DIDN’T PICK UP JONES FINE I WOULD HAVE LOBBIED FOR US HERE AT CTB TO CONTRIBUTE —-THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS THE CAVS DID PICK HIM UP ….. ” DON’T GIVE ME ANY CRAP … I WILL GIVE IT BACK TWICE AS HARD ” —BRINGS THAT MENTAL / PHYSICAL TOUGHNESS THAT I AM SURE RUBS OFF ON TEAMMATES —-STILL NO SIGHTING OF R.J. SOMEWHAT PERPLEXED BY THAT ……GOOD WIN ….TY SOUNDS LIKE HE HAS THE CAVS ON “EVEN KEEL ” ….REALIZES THAT ISONLY 1 WIN NEED TO BE READY EACH / EVERY GAME
NOMAD I agree with your points but would add that Jones going in-yr-face when the game was over & he had been on the court for half a second was not what the Cavs nor the series needed.
Yes it was. The Raptors brought out a full court press. This is what happens when you do that crap in garbage time. You get dunked on. Good for Jones.
Couldn’t agree more. I think that dunk was my 3rd loudest cheer of the game (behind LeBron’s and Shumpert’s).
Wasn’t referring to the dunk.