Podcap: Cleveland 126, New York 109 (or, Rick Rolled!)
2021-11-07We’ve known each other for so long: old school CtBer, and first time podcaster Chris Lyden (Aka @Leavelander!) joins Chris Francis and Nate Smith in the podcast studio. Until this season, our hearts have been achin’ (for some great Cavs basketball), but we’re too shy to say it. But we all know what’s been going on with the Cavs’ beatdown of the Knicks 126-109. The trio tells you how’re we’re feelin’ about newest Cavaliers from this off-season: Ricky Rubio and rookie phenom Evan Mobley, who both had career nights in the Mecca of basketball, Madison Square Garden. A full commitment’s what we’re thinkin of, as we cover the dynamic duo. Ricky rolledto 8-9 from deep for a career high 37 points and 10 dimes, and Mobley notched 26/8/9! You wouldn’t get this from any other guys!
The CtB trio are also gotta make you understand the grit and grinders such as Dean Wade, Cedi Osman, and Jarrett Allen and the rest of the squad who were never gonna give you up, and never gonna let you down if you’re a Cavs fan. Nate and the Chrisses also cover some the surprising stories around the NBA, who’s up? Who’s down? Spicy takes? Who’s gonna run around and desert you? They’re all here as the trio rides high into the night celebrating a victorious occasion. Don’t tell me you’re too blind to see it. We don’t say goodbye and hurt you if you either, when you stick around for some excellent pitches (especially if you love beer!). We know the game, and we’re gonna play it, so as always: GO CAVS!
Listen below, download the full audio file, or check us out on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, and Rickycast.
I like Rubio and Cedi coming off the bench. Okoro is the natural next man up to start at the 2. But until we’re sure he’s healthy, what about starting Windler? Could he play the 2?
No bad dream ****er’s gonna boss me round
Jokic brothers gonna take him down
https://twitter.com/JokicBrothers/status/1458087274332180508?s=20
LMFAOOOOOOOOOO
SIMMO VERY WELL PUT !!!!!
UNDERSTAND YOUR CONCERN CHARLIE E —-BUT I AM GOING TO MAKE A PREDICTION THAT D.G. WILL BE EQUALLY ADEPT IF NOT BETTER AT CLOSING OUT A GAME
One concern I have for Sexton being out is closing games. He was our go-to isolation scorer, and while many of would wish to not see iso plays, they are a staple of crunch-time in NBA games. Sexton has occasionally been good in these situations, especially overtimes, but even with mixed results he is at least eager to take on the challenge.
I would never wish injury on anyone, and certainly not a Cavs player. Having said that, some time for the Cavs to develop their most effective lineup may be enhanced by his enforced absence.
What happens when he returns will depend on the manner of his return.
yup, his fearlessness will be missed.. but I think Rubio and Mobley are built from the same type of stuff.
Jokic will get suspended, but F Morris. Finally one of those A-hole brothers took some consequences for their chickens#it antics on the court. Down 20, game is over and you decide on a cheap shot like that, and, oh, courageously turn your back and walk away. Screw him and his equally worthless brother. They both should be out of the league.
Looking like LeBron has finally outsmarted himself
Felt like this was “odds on” for while now. I would never bet against him, but the combination of hubris and a determination to not retire until physical exhaustion…weel, we’ve seen it before.
agree. but with smarter choices in building his team, he might have pulled off some more title runs. the plan of using all the money on a couple aging one-time superstars was a bad idea from the get go
Westbrook is, was, and has been a terrible crunch time decision-maker forever. There was a time when his ferocity anf athleticism would make up for it, and he’d nail that foul line jumper consistently. But those days are long gone. Plus he turns it over too much.
Look at how much better the Wiz are with Kuzma, KCP, and Harrell instead of him. Heck, Dinwiddie is better straight up. This is not to say he is not a valuable player, but I’d rather spend $40 million on those four than him, any day.
So steph curry seeming like 2016 Steph. At what point do we take a warriors return to their 2015 and 2016 form seriously, meaning title favorites. Soft schedule could account for some of their success. Be interested to see how they fare against Utah and Miami. Those type of teams (contenders taking the regular season seriously) may be the true test.
They have had an easy schedule so far. When they start beating +.500 teams.
Having said that, I’d have Steph #1 for MVP right now. Easily over Durant.
variations on titles of 2 of my favorite american novels.. the old man and the 3, and mobley dick..
I would think we’d roll with this until YB gets back: Starters: DG, Ice, Lauri, Mobley, Allen. Bench: Rubio, Cedi, Windler, Wade, Love. With Stevens seeing some minutes as well. Could see Rubio starting if Ice cannot play big minutes yet. Or if the offense struggles. Don’t know how long Ricky can play big minutes, though. I am not sold on our depth yet, but with Rubio & DG anchoring the offense, plus Mobley & Allen the defense, it gets easier to build out lineups that work from those 4. But I’d want to limit the minutes without at least… Read more »
Like it.
I don’t want to give Rubio too many regular minutes. The hope is he will be well rested and have a 9 of 10 on 3’s game every month or so.
At some point, start to pace Mobley. There is a real chance of making some noise in the playoffs.
TOUGH YEAR FOR Y.B. —-HAVING TO ADJUST TO ” NOT HAVING THE BALL—GETTING HIS SHOTS/ PTS “——WE ALL MARVELED THE IST 3 YEARS AT HIS DURABALITY / TOUGHNESS —AGAIN GET WELL / COME BACK STRONGER
Time to post on here with my government name since I joined the boys for this podcast. Thanks for listening and keeping the comments section to this site a sane bastion of interesting Cavs talk!
“more or less sane”, anyway!
“Sane” is subjective. Hence, we are all sane here.
Chris, your comments were considered, rational and at times hilarious. You were always CtB material, we knew that already. The pod has simply confirmed it.
More please.
Congrats on the first pod — great contributions! I really enjoyed the MaxChris lineup.
BELIEVE // HOPE CAVS ERROR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION AS FAR AS BRINGING Y.B. BACK—-BETER TO COMPLETELY HEAL THIS SO IT DOESN’T DO MORE SEVERE DAMAGE —-LET ICE / RUBIO / WINDLER SHARE THE MIN’S —-IT IS ‘AUDITIONING ‘ TIME FOR ICE AND WINDLER —-TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT !!
yup, guys are gonna get their chance now, should be hungry to seize the opportunity.
CONGRATS TO MR ALLEN —WELLL DESERVED —-DON’T MAKE THIS YOUR LAST ONE
Allen has been named the EC Player of the Week.
Well deserved, I might add.
Awesome! Happy for him, love that dude.
Gotta be one of the nicest guys in the NBA just judging from his personality in interviews!!!
Tough break for the YB. I have this and decided not to have surgery for it, my tear is on the back side and only occassionally flares up. Of course, I’m not trying to play NBA basketball. Surgery could help in the short term but lead to problems down the road.
Hope rest and rehab do it for him.
I had four. After the first, around age 33, I tried going down steps on crutches and tumbled, tearing a ligament. That is when I realized being a 3 point bomber is a lot more fun than having an inside game anyway. I played with a major limp for 30 more years, until upgrading to titanium.
Opportune time for YB to transition to the microwave role.
That sucks for Sexton & the Cavs. We are now down Sexton (for the year?), Okoro, and Big Finnish & Love. Well, more minutes for Okoro, Cedi, Windler, & Stevens incoming.
Hopefully it is not a severe tear and no surgery required & he can get back before the end of the year. Our highest celing is with Sexton finding away to integrate his game into what we have going.
Wonder who starts now? Rubio? Cedi? Okoro?
I’d think JB would want one of Rubio/Garland on the court at all times.
I’m guessing Okoro when he comes back, initial results were encouraging with him in there and the 3 bigs.
Strictly from a production standpoint, it obviously should be Rubio but not sure if he can do 35 minutes per game on the regular and Okoro and Cedi running point guard for the backup unit.
Fedor’s reporting seems to coincide with my assumptions
Rubio and Okoro to fill the starter void, more minutes for Windler (which he should’ve received regardless)
Well, it did not seem like reporting, just pure speculation. Though I think you both are on the right track.
The nugget about Okoro being on track to return vs the Wiz was welcome good news.
You’re very well right, I may have misconstrued it for just reporting on what his team source was saying.
DITTO WHAT ADAM SAID —-PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU YOUNG BULLL
—GET BETTER —COME BACK EVEN STRONGER—IF ANYBODY CAN DO IT –YOU CAN !!!
oh no…. same injury as Garland in college, he was out a year… sometimes guys come back super quickly from that injury, but regardless, that freaking sucks for Sexton.
Bad news for Cleveland, as much flack as Sexton gets for his flaws he is a great asset for the team, works as hard as anyone in the league, and certainly personifies ‘the Scrap’, not to mention the scoring load. Not to be overly pragmatic but does this open up another roster spot for medical hardship? Perhaps we will be seeing more of the undrafted R.J. Nembhard, expecting Stevens to try more playmaking, getting Pangos some microwave minutes etc. But obvious response would appear to be to throw Windler in for extended run at shooting guard, he’s taller than Sexton… Read more »
Yeah, wide variance on this timetable. They might get lucky and it could be six weeks or less.
Very wide variance on meniscal tears. Simple scope / snip he could be back in 4 weeks. More invasive surgery / inflammation could be minimum 3-4 months to be able to move properly and then would be followed by reestablishing NBA level fitness.
Was about to post this. Sucks for him and the Cavs.
Whelp so much for a full season of evaluation prior to deciding on how to proceed on him.
JASON AGRE WITH YOU ON “HARD ROCK ‘ NOT SIGNING—HAVE POSTED THIS BEFORE —-ALTHOUGH POSSIBLY HE THOUGHT THERE WERE TOO MANY BIGS// NOT ENOUGH MINUTES FOR HIM WITH THE CAVS ——I THINK IT IS TOO EARLY TO FORM A DECISION ON THE LAURI / LNJ TRADE —–BELIEVE LAURI HAS SURPRISED US –ESPECIALLY IN RECENT GAMES HE PLAYED WITH HIS DEFENSE—HAS DISSAPPOINTED US SO FAR WITH HIS LACK OF 3 PT SHOOTING —WE WILL SEE HOW THIS ONE PLAYS OUT
True enough on Hard Rock. If the guy wants go, there is nothing the GM can do if he is a FA. Especially with Allen & Mobley (& Love) eating most of the C minutes.
Ditto LNJ leaving. If he wanted to go to a PO team, it is probably better to deal him before things turn sour.
FWIW, if we become a “team on the rise” type team. With a young core, some able vets, and in playoff contention, we may find it easier to sign guys in FA.
I get it, we have only finished chapter 1 in a long NBA season but, is it possible we have three major award winners on our team?
Also, we are getting all-star stuff from Allen. Wow could you imagine that? My last thought, even if it was all warranted, there is no way the NBA gives three major awards to any one team. Well maybe if we were in LA or NY….. Go Cavs! Great work on the site everyone!
I think the first two are much more likely. I’m sure all of them will be in the conversation though, which is pretty cool.
I know it’s been commented on the site & pods, but honestly? If anyone had watched all the games Rubio played in the olympics, no one would say he was a 6th man in any NBA team.
There is something wrong with this equation. Ageism? Previous record? Maybe that feeds into things, but right now, there is no legitimate reason why Rubio should not be starting every game for the Cavs this season.
other than that he is kind of old, and would likely wear down, or get injured soon
Did I not mention ageism?
you confusing ageism with reality?
Plenty of starters in the league over 30 my man. That’s reality.
FWIW, Power Rankings-wise,
ESPN: 16th
NBA.com: 7th
WHEN WE DRAFTED MOBLEY WE WERE ALL AWARE OF HIS DEFENSIVE STRENGTHS—BUT HE HAS EXCEEDED EVEN ALL OF OUR HOPES/ DREAMS AND HIS OFFENSE ( WHICH WE THOUGHT HE WOULD REALLY STRUGGLE ) IS A HUGE PLUS —-KOBY GOT 2- -3 RIGHT THIS OFF SEASON —MOBLEY / RUBIO/ SIGNING OF ALLEN AND ALSO THE NOT SIGNING TO A -(HUGE/ RIDIDCULOUS CONTRACT) -TO SEXTON
Heck, the way Allen has been playing, and the fact that the Allen+Mobley pairing seems to work on both ends (Mobley’s switchability and positional awareness make it work on D and his passing makes it work on O), I think Koby went 4/4 this off-season, with things too early on the Markannen/Nance deal.
1. Rubio/Prince trade. I’ve seen enough, even prior to MSG, that is a win for us. Despite not getting a wing re0lacement.
2. Mobley pick. Thank god Houston took Green.
3. Paying Allen. Looks worth it.
4. Not paying Sexton. Does not look worth it.
———–
In terms of the negatives/unknowns:
1) Markannen/LNJ deal. You cannot convince me Markannen is a better player right now. And I think we way overpaid for him. And we could have gotten a better return for LNJ. Still, triple tower has worked OK so far, even with Lauri shooting poorly. And he’s younger and provides better spacing than LNJ.
2) Denzel Valentine as the #1 wing acquisition.
3) Letting Hartenstein walk/not getting a big C who can play (I am not counting Davis or Fall).
not quite there on the Allen deal…. yeah they’re absolutely elite defensively, but the offense is still very bad. (both on they’re a 103.17 offensive rating, and they’re still a net negative @ -0.21). And the offense massively improves whenever just one of them are on the floor.
True. But a lot of that is with abyssmal 3PT shooting from Lauri, & Sexton that was unlikely to continue.
Yep, actually there’s an argument that Sexton was holding the Tower lineup back, Rubio and Okoro at the two guard offensive ratings were elite.
In terms of coordianted bigs, I just want to make mention of a couple, in addition to Kareem, Russell (who was top 10 in the world as a high jumper), and Wilt (who was also a high jumper): Olajuwon & Ralph Sampson. Sampson was 7-4 and had handles. The Rockets beat the Lakers to make a Finals with those two. Sampson was ASG MVP, all NBA level. Then he got hurt. HOFer fir a reason.
Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere, but a nice Mobley piece from SI:
https://www.si.com/nba/2021/11/03/evan-mobley-cavaliers-rookie-impact
I’d have gone under 26.
I know I did!!! LMFAOOO
Another great win! What a game from Rubio and Mobley! They are the tent poles of this team that are allowing everyone else to flourish. And Jarrett Allen has been such a force on the boards! (and comes across as such a sweet kid during interviews, I can’t help but smile when he smiles).
Obviously getting ahead of things, but it hit me that the one player Evan Mobley really reminds me of is Bill Russell.
From the SI article (thanks Jason for posting!):
“Per NBA.com’s tracking data, Mobley has contested a league-high 129 shots through eight games”
Washington will be a tough game. They are much improved.
yup… no nights off in the NBA really, but if they can make some hay on this home stretch they become a big problem in the East!
Getting Rubio & Mobley were the only moves I liked this year. But I had no idea they would impact winning so drastically, so quickly.
I am stunned we are 7-4. Especially missing Love, Markannen, Okoro, Garland, and now Sexton, for stretches.
I liked signing JA .. I think a couple people agreed with me
I sure did. I thought he was a must signing, and the contract was a slight overpay, but fine.
But it hardly just been Rubio & Mobley. Garland is top 10 in assists per game, and shooting 44% from deep. Allen has had some off nights, but has been mostly fantastic. Cedi has been mostly hot from deep. Markannen has been good enough to make the Triple Towers thing work. Windler & Wade have been playable. Stevens cannot shoot but is tough as nails. Love has had a couple double doubles. Yes, we still turn it over too much. Yes, Sexton has been struggling to fit in some nights. Yes, the skinny bigs struggle with girth. Yes, Mobley plays… Read more »
Rubio is 31 and we got him at the best time. I think this is his prime. He can’t shoot when he entered the league, good playmaker but got injured along the way. Bounced around and got the experience. Now he’s mature and all that battle scars got him at this point. He’s still not a good shooter but he aint Ben Simmons, way way better as a shooter I might add. Plus he can really compensate it with other things. He’s developed into a very good floor general even without the flash that brought him the hype when he’s… Read more »
100% agree, and it’s a great point. Kudos for the Cavs coaching staff letting him show off his Olympic game.
Evan Mobley is the man.
this was supposed to be the ‘tough part of the schedule’ but the Cavs apparently have handled it well. At some point the schedule will regress to the mean and hopefully Cavs can keep it up. Again super duper early but impressed. More importantly team is fun to watch even via highlights. I’d watch highlights of games last year and it was boring, not this time. Get Love/Okor/Markk back and this team will really get going. GO CAVS!
GO CAVS!
Hilarious title, well done! And great game. Hoping we can keep rick rollin along and that it’s not an early season fluke. I’m probably the most pumped with this team in the longest I can remember. Thanks for the podcap and this site. Cheers!
Thanks Jacob!!! they have a great home stretch hopefully they can establish themselves!
Slim Dunkin!
Slim Duncan.
All who projected 7 – 4 raise your hand
Said nobody ever.