Podcast 293: Kimchi and Pesto
2023-08-02Chris Francis and Nate Smith hop back in the podcast booth to cover some much needed business for the Cavs. First up? Breaking down Darius Garland’s recent interview with Chris Fedor. Then we embarked on yet another review of free agency. Are the Cavs done? Or are they holding out a roster spot or two for an end of the summer free agent? Nate and Chris pitched the guys they’d like to see, and then they delve into a little Cavalier trade slop centered around Jarrett Allen.
Next up, a long overdue Summer League wrap-up. Chris and Nate broke down all the the main guys’ summer performances and their odds of contributing to the Cavs’ varsity squad this coming season. Emoni Bates was top of mind as the whole CtB staff was impressed with Emoni’s game and improvement over two weeks in Vegas. Isaiah Mobley, Sam “the elder statesman” Merrill, Craig Porter Junior, and Sharife Cooper all got good grades while the reviews were controversially mixed with some upside on Diop, Travers, and Nance the Younger.
We laughed at the Donovan Mitchell click-bait that spread through Cavs’ online discourse last week, concluding – among other things – that a year was a long way away. But the prompt did lead to a long discussion about the Cavs’ players. Do they go together unexpectedly like kimchi and pesto, or are they ultimately gross?
Finally, we pitched some pizza recommendations, including the jarring juxtaposition mentioned in our title (Nate says it’s a revelation, but you’ve got to check out the ingredients that go with it). All-in-all, it’s a fun midsummer catch-up with your favorite Cavs: the Blog bloggers!
As always, listen below, download the full audio file, or listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn, or Spotify.
Powered by RedCircle
https://twitter.com/oldseaminer/status/1695515657259856319?s=20
Bummer.
Argh that’s awful.
ENOUGH RAIN ALREADY—BELIEVE WE WERE CLOSED TO 8–9 “ OF RAIN 🤪🤬——-IN THE PROCESS OF BUILDING AN ARC ——- 2 OF EACH——-THE MRS NOMAD ——ROLLING ROCK ——-DID I FORGET ANYTHING 🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪—————“MORE BEER 🍺 PLEASE————LESS RAIN PLEASE “ ————STAY DRY BUT THIRSTY MY FRIENDS 👍🤪🍺
James Harden fined $100K for his latest trade me tantrum.
https://twitter.com/oldseaminer/status/1693997643113078907?s=20
Not rooting for JB to get tossed aside but I’d love to have Ty Lue back. I can’t imagine him wanting to return though, he’s talked candidly about being really hurt when the Cavs fired him.
One of the moments that has stuck with me the most from 2016 was when everyone was going nuts celebrating the ship, camera cuts to Ty over on the bench by himself just completely breaking down. Might need a game 7 rewatch now lol.
He looked pretty checked out. I didn’t think he wanted to be part of a rebuilding team.
Really didn’t sound like it based off of the interview I read a couple years ago. But yeah, would definitely been a tough pill to swallow going from the Lebron era to the dawning of Sexland.
I’d love it if Lue came back to the Cavs.
we were bitching about much the same thing we bitched about JB for (rotations, minutes, uncreative playcalling, etc).
i like Lue and would like to think we’d be appreciative the second time around, but he was not universally loved from 2016-18
I disagree with that apples to apples comparison. I only remember anger amongst fans when Blatt was let go. But then that was quickly forgotten.
Yeah. I don’t think any of us blamed Lue for LeBron not giving a shit in the regular season or for them wanting to tank after Bron left. But he didn’t want to be there for a rebuild.
There was some blame in 16-17 and a little in 17-18: there was a prevailing school of thought that the Cavs poor defensive habits would come to bite them in the Finals, and that Lue needed to do better in that regard.
In retrospect we didn’t have more than a punchers chance in 17 and 18, so it was academic, but there was definitely angst aimed at Lue.
I think most of us blamed Lue for not firing Longabardi, who was their defensive assistant. But like Nate said, LeBron doesn’t take the regular season seriously.
do I recall most CtB’ers thinking Lue was an idiot when he was here?
You might, but the beef was with Longabardi more than anything.
I forgot about Longabardi. Didn’t he have a basket empire or something?
Jim Chones getting some screen time in “Winning Time,” on Max.
Hell yeah lets gooo!!!
Norm Nixon and Paul Westhead as dead men walking has been very funny to me: Magic was as much a GM as LeBron
Excellent. Love that man.
TY-TY WASHINGTON—-PURSUE OR NOT ??
Nah. He’s too short to be useful on the Cavs
For sure, would take a flier on him if Ricky’s done.
Re: PJ Washington, Hoops Rumors – Tuesday’s Chat
True, that’s why Washington is the only RFA among players on standard contracts who hasn’t been signed. There’s been very little buzz regarding Washington in terms of potential landing spots. The Cavs supposedly had some interest and perhaps the Pacers but that may have just come from his camp. In all likelihood, he’ll have to settle for the qualifying offer and test the market next summer, similar to what Bridges chose to do.
https://twitter.com/HoopsDrive/status/1689357615447552000
Great thread!
Not 100% sure I’m reading the numbers correctly, but the thing that sticks out to me is DG needs to supercharge that 3P output. I’ve thought for a while that one way the Cavs can raise the ceiling on their offense is DG going Steph lite. Even if his % took a dip, taking 9 or 10 3s a game instead of 6 could be a game changer
Agree. Needs to play with a little more force at the cup although getting hit in the face twice a game is not good
The early season eye injury really affected him last season. Before it happened his shooting just looked amazing, and he never quite got back to that form.
He shot 41% on 3s
He was productive. Just was a little too tricky at the cup and with deferring to Spida. Eye test made me think he was overthinking a bit. But he needs more volume at the arc and at the cup-so many attacks looking to pass but clearly not to finish and defenses caught up to that
Rubio stops basketball to take care of mental health.
Hope he gets things turned around or at least stabilized.
Glad to see people prioritizing mental health.
I like Ricky. Seems to be a good dude. The half season with the Cav’s might be his finale, and it was pretty cool. Remember the game where he was 9 for 9, all three’s? Anyway, yrying to squeeze another year at the elete level out of a hurting and old body is HARD. Joe Thomas discussed this in his interview a couple days ago in Cleveland.com (a GREAT read!!!). In short: trying to keep playing was making him crazy. He discussed it with some professionals, and came to realize it was time to let it go. He did, and… Read more »
That’s that shit i DO like. Get well soon!
Great pods guys. Both of your takes on Travers are accurate, he is a WIP. Although I hear that he has now added a clause to his Cavs contract voiding the agreement if Nate attempts an Australian accent again.
LMFAOOOOOOOOO Nate would fit right in, am i right????!
OH YEAH KIMCHI AND ….,” MORE BEER 🍺 PLEASE “ —————IN FACT THE MRS NOMAD IS MAKING ONE OF MY FAVORITES——“ GREEN FRIED TOMATOES OR FRIED GREEN TOMATOES 🍅…,,HOWEVER U WANT TO SAY IT AND YES THE MOVIE WITH THAT NAME IS STILL A CLASSIC TO ME 👍😀🍺
all time great movie.
good ribs and stew at the end of the film.. everyone had a smile on their face and a full belly..
Breaking news: Gumdrop Smurf signs with the Sono Skygunners!
What does Strus’ production need to look like in order to make you feel good about his contract? Are his career averages of like 37% from 3 on 6+ attempts per game with not much else as far as rebounding or assists and defensively he’s just okish, worth 15+ million? Or what improvements would you need to see to make this signing worth it?
He could grow 3 inches… The problem is they signed a 2-guard on a team that has two other guards ahead of him in the depth chart (Mitchell and LeVert – who will admittedly play most of his minutes at the 3). They’ve gone from a team that played with a ton of length (Allen, Mobley, Lauri, Okoro, Garland) to a team where all the perimeter players are small. Further, I think so much of his numbers in Miami were scheme and coaching. I don’t see JB able to consistently design offense to get him the ball in his spots.… Read more »
Cavs had one of the highest volume catch and shoot offenses in 21/22. That was with Lauri and Love. I think last year was more a reflection of personnel than JB’s (in)ability to scheme
They started Llama Stevens 21 games last year. That’s choosing personnel who can’t shoot over those who can.
Cedi played 20 mins a game compared to Stevens at 18
Hence my point. Halve Stevens minutes bump Cedi’s and you have shooting. They didn’t even TRY starting Cedi for an extended period.
Fair enough. But I wouldn’t discount the fact that we ran a very catch and shoot heavy offense the previous year.
The Cedi comparison is big. And he is a streaky shooter like Cedi, right? He is making twice as much money as Cedi, but will he have twice the impact?
Strus is 2 percentage points better than Cedi for his career on 3s on higher volume.
37% on high volume, being 6’5”, and standing in the right place on defense would be worth every penny
He’s basically a one and a half tool guy getting the same cap percentage as a TT or JR. Not being a space cadet on D like Cedi and shooting 37% with volume is fine
I love Kimchi in Korean BBQ!
That’s right, that’s where kimchi belongs!!!