Podcast Episode 70: Finals Game 2 (Your Cleveland Grindaliers)
2015-06-09https://soundcloud.com/ctb-5/ctb-podcast-episode-70
We couldn’t podcast Sunday night. Our voices were all too ragged from shouting our way through the GREATEST CAVALIERS VICTORY OF ALL TIME. A day later, Ben Werth, Tom Pestak and I stocked up on Earl Grey with honey and stepped into the podcast studio for a bull session worthy of the Cavs’ GOAT game (so far). We discussed our game two experience, the adjustments that both teams can make going into game three, the Delly factor, Steph Curry, Cleveland’s offense, Tristan Thompson, the Buzz in northeast Ohio, David Blatt holding his own against the NBA coaching Golden Boy, LeBron Raymone James, and — of course — memes. Enjoy.
We can be heard above, on Soundcloud, or on iTunes. We’re three games away, folks, and because I didn’t say it on the pod, Go Cavs!
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About Curry’s shooting, to be honest Thompson was smoking hot and the Warriors went away from him and that was their mistake.
Klay basically switched spots with Curry last game with his 34 so is not like they played an overall bad game.
With that being said I continue to believe that as long as the Cavs can limit them to no more than 45 they will give themselves a chance at the end of each game.
Cavs fans starting to get rowdy outside the Q!
Watching the Film Room crew with game 2 on NBA TV. Mike Malone is impressive.
It’s late in the 4th–Cavs just went up 11 for the second time, on LeBron’s 3.
Still listening to the pod (and fantastic job, guys), but wanted to echo what Nate was saying on the Fake n Flail. I have been saying this for at least three years – if Silver can address this at some point, he’ll be my hero. Positively the worst thing that exists in the NBA. (marginally worse than the hack-a, imo) It’s an offensive foul, people, call it, call it consistently, and it will stop. Stop rewarding this crap. For the love of god.
This is awesome…
Cavs in six! I just got back from a week in Mammoth Lakes and the North bay area. I was telling everyone out there the dubs would get surprized and thumped in game 1, and maybe make a comeback in game 2. I had that backwards. The dubs have not seen anyone play D this year, so they are in shock. I expect this playoffs to be the defining moment in LeBron’s career, and the turning point in the LBJ/MJ debate for BOAT. The Cavs will have a better team around him for the next eight years, so this is… Read more »
Haha. Yep.
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Yeah… he doesn’t really look like he’s looking at the ball right there…
I haven’t quite gotten calling Draymond a douche out of my system, so I’ll try one more: Douche. I feel a little better.
What worries me the most about tonight is GSW ability to learn as they play you. Houston played them tough in the first two games and then got destroyed, same with Memphis.
Memphis got hurt. They couldn’t survive the loss of Tony Allen. Houston just quit in game three. Yes, they adapt, but they’ve seemed too stubborn to so far.
Except Memphis and Houston were missing one key thing…
Finally!!!!! Someone mentioned the discomfort being the cause of other team’s shooting woes behind the three point line. It has EVERyTHING to do with comfort. When the Warriors practice shooting in practice, they are practicing shots off the dribble and off of action that the cavs aren’t giving up during the games. How difficult is it to shoot a high percentage on shots that you’ve taken maybe 5 to 10 times in practice rather than the ones you have shot 400 times in practice. This was such a great podcast. Maybe because we just won our first finals game…but this… Read more »
People have spoken. McMenamin Instagram.
https://instagram.com/p/3tlhtGSLj_/
The formula for the Cavs to win the series is for the physical pressure of the Cavs to wear down Curry. To take the legs out of Green and Bogut so that they only function on defense and can’t really score, the same way that the Cavs took out the big men of the Bulls and Atlanta (already seems to be happening.)
The main question is can the Cavs make this happen even in the face of the superior depth of the Dubs.
Great points on the Fake and Flail and the Hand Check. NBA came out today with the review of the calls: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2490920-nba-announces-referees-missed-4-ot-calls-in-warriors-vs-cavaliers-game-2 No call on the Iggy foul was the worst ever. Save of out of bounds loose ball by Delly was amazing. My hope tonight is that they “surprise attack” Curry with a defender besides Delly early in the game. Curry is going to have a plan to get his confidence back and put the Delly behind him as a high priority. I say deny him this until a bit later in the game. Start with Shump or LeBron… Read more »
I agree, Lebron will have to show on him to throw him off (Shump can do it, but Thompson is a bad match up for Delly). Shump can check Green effectively, and let Mozzy protect the rim. Most likely will not see this (as Blatt will not want to tire out Lebron) and Delly has shown no reason to remove him from Curry. Don’t try to fix what is not broke. I am hoping for Blatt to be tricky and pull the Lebron card on Curry for a couple of plays to mess with his head. A little bit of… Read more »
I was just going to say that. I’d try to frustrate the hell out of him. Make him a passer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlG3m4Ouhjw
Please put this up.
I’m just getting this out there so you guys can tear it to pieces and have it not come true: I have a bad feeling about tonight. LBJ is better on the road than home, always has been. Curry and the Warriors are going to have addressed their problems and be more focused than ever. They see the effort that is going to be required and will come out strong and I fear the crowd will be lost early. I think we’ll adjust to what they do for game 4 and go back to GS tied at 2-2.
I agree with you that what you explained could happen so I think coach Blatt needs to get all of his guys aware of that and ask them to bring it from the opening tip and use his timeouts wisely to prevent any runs from Warriors.
Pestak for the win.
About Curry’s shooting, to be honest Thompson was smoking hot and the Warriors went away from him and that was their mistake.
Klay basically switched spots with Curry last game with his 34 so is not like they played an overall bad game.
With that being said I continue to believe that as long as the Cavs can limit them to no more than 45 they will give themselves a chance at the end of each game.
Many of us had this going 6 so splitting the first 4 could be expected (similar to Chi). Maybe the Cavs take the next two easily but GSW didn’t sneak into the finals, they belong. They’ll fix their issues and these games will be close. I really hope I’m wrong.
We got to get that link video of Shump’s intro rap to ESPN First Take! IT WAS SO AWESOME THIS MORNING!! WOW! That man is really talented!!
THANKS!!! LOVE IT!!
I’m a little worried that the extra energy the guys will get from the crazy crowd will lead them to taking early shots. They can’t abandon the game plan even though it will be tempting to launch for the home crowd. The first quarter of this game will be huge.
Good pod, echoed many of the same thoughts I had the other day.
Now the NBA has acknowledged the insanity of the Game 2 no-calls. So at the very least the whistles will be ready when Lebron barrels to the hoop.
I hope they are also aware that travelling will likely be a point of emphasis.
I’ll take a travel call or 2 over the hand check/ arm bars on every possession with under 2 minutes left.
And I… want Matty D… to be ANARCHY!
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tthew Dell
vedov
haha, at first thought those were the Avengers “A”s … either way, I’m with you
2 points: this is awesome; some people have so much time on their hands i am insanely jealous
Thanks for posting that for me Nate.
No prob. Sorry for not crediting you. It was a bit nuts this morning.
This is by far, my favorite one yet!
EVIL NOW THAT’S WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT —YOU ARE THE MAN —-ARE WE READY —-HELLLLL YESSSS !!!
Anybody want some Cavs the Shoes?
Great Pod guys! Can’t wait for tonight!
Nate’s suggestion that the Warriors double LeBron for the sole reason of speeding up the offense is actually a pretty good suggestion.
The downside is that the Cavs will score many more points because Smith and to a lesser extent Shump have hit when open (in every series but this one).
The upside is that getting their offense into gear is really what the Warriors need to do.
Great podcast. I’m so glad you called out all the talking heads who keep squawking that Delly is the worst player to ever receive significant Finals minutes. I don’t even think these guys are doing their homework because it’s evidently too difficult for them to look at a player’s contributions beyond the box score. I got so mad listening to an ESPN LA podcast yesterday that I had to turn it off because these guys were literally laughing at the idea that JR Smith and Shumpert could be pieces on a championship winner. It’s just a bad attitude, bad sportsmanship… Read more »
How’s this…
evil WAKE UP ALREADY —-I know you are a west coast dude —but we need you on the blog—great day for cavs basketball —-just messing with you man —-but your input is always welcomed and vital to the ctb
Really EG. WTFU
Sorry guys… was working out and listening to the awesome podcast from last night! Terrific breakdown Nate, Tom and Ben!
Feeling good… feeling strong… feeling motivated… feeling great about this team.
Yes, Curry probably won’t shoot that poorly again, but neither will the Cavs.
To everyone going to the Q tonight… be louder than you’ve ever been before!
Let’s all keep on believing in the supreme will of this Cavalier team
#Determination
i liked the discussion about Draymond Green. I said before the series that he’s way overrated and I’m sticking to that.
Green is valuable in the Warriors system, but is not someone who can create his own offense when needed. I am a little surprised that Kerr doesn’t play Lee at all, since he can create offense and is a good rebounder. This final reminds us of how much one star can make a difference. For all the talk about the role players, without LeBron the current lineup is not even a playoff team. His energy and focus have been second to none, even MJ in his prime.
Just saw a stat that in the fist 2 games of this series Lebron all ready has more assists and rebounds than what mJ had in the 6 games of 98 finals series. That shocked me! some times people only have rosy views of the past they want to preserve
I am 100% in agreement with this. There will be teams with cap space that will offer Draymond the Max. They’d better hope and pray that GS locks him up, because most everyone else will greatly regret tying up that kind of money on an overhyped, undersized system guy…
did you guys read the lowe grantland piece. it was compelling. the link between love/thompson/wiggins was interesting. he somewhat backhanded love though.
i think green might be a system player. love however is elite. just cant really tell because the power forward spot is evolving. plus love has tradeoffs that are within the system. next year i imagine that he will get playing time and evolve into different version than year 1.
I think he’s a great player in the right system. He would be great in our system, actually – a lot like Thompson is. Put him on a team with no scoring and he’s a disaster. They should pay to keep him, however, because he makes them better. Just like we’ll have to pay to keep Thompson.
Am in the middle of listening to the pod, and had to come and post. I am completely with Tom and his disgust over Green potentially beating the Cavs in that game. I was furious. I get the feeling that Green thinks he’s really hots***, but he should understand that he’s in the perfect situation at GS, and that situation is going to make him a lot of money. No, Draymond, you’re not an MVP candidate, you’re not nearly as good as you think you are, you may not even be more than an average NBA player. Be happy you’re… Read more »
Oh Hey Delly Rebounding FFAPM
You da man, Randall.
yeah we are watching great cavs basketball in the middle of june ( instead of blogging / debating about lottery picks) —CAN YOU BELIEVE IT —-IN BELIEVELAND —- yeah i’m nervous also —hoping curry doesn’t come back with a 40 pt game tonight
Whelp after freewheeling through Sunday’s game with a nothing to lose attitude, now I’m nervous again. Ugh. But it’s better than debating prospects and knowing that Chris Grant will screw it up somehow!
lol. come on leave the past alone, enjoy the present. Today’s game will be grits n grind.
good interview on ohio/fox sports with A.C./ Fred and delly’s parents ( now I understand dellys wild hair / check out his dad’s ) —-saying for the day ( from delly’s mom as he was shooting his foul shots —TAKE YOUR TIME MATE —-LOVE IT !!!!
Is there any online link or anything. I’d like to see that
http://www.foxsports.com/ohio/video/nba-finals-cleveland-cavaliers-matthew-dellavedova-060815?vid=460064835640
Thanks Phil. That’s a fantastic interview. Appreciate it!
This cracked me up on the way in to work this morning. “I’m sorry, Phil Jackson. I am for real…”
That’s beautiful. The world has come a long way since “Bernie Bernie.”
Also and too, we need some scoring from Thompson when Moz is out. The dude shouldn’t shoot outside of 6 or 7 feet, but he needs to convert on some tips and put backs.
I totally agree with you.
good pt ( actually agreeing with cols ) LeBron knows now going into a season how to pace himself and be ready when it really counts—–I blogged before this series started —curry might be the regular season mvp but LeBron is your playoff mvp ( when it really does count !! )—-is anyone concerned about only 1 day recovery and our accumulated minutes —is that going to eventually catch up to us ?
It might catch up, but we can’t worry about it. We need these dudes to be playing at max intensity at all times to win.
This series shows why complaining when LeBron is in chill mode during the regular season is dumb. He can play however he wants in the regular season because the man freaking brings it in the playoffs.
Unreal performance by him.
TRUE!!!!!!. I TOTALLY agree with that statement.
Yeah, it’s been pretty amazing to see him ratchet it up each game, each round. Me personally, my fear was that “chill mode” would rub off on all the other guys and have them unprepared for playoff intensity. Huge credit goes to every man on the roster for BRINGING it 110% these playoffs, it’s a thing of beauty.
I guess every player should be assigned a “chill mode” number by management at the beginning of the year that let’s them know how hard they have to play during the regular season.
My problem with LBJ chill mode is that he was “leading” other guys and telling them it takes all effort all the time to win. I much preferred his 2 week break than taking breaks while on the court. Just take the game or quarter off if you need rest.
Clearly he was not leading them into taking time off. If you’ve watched the playoffs all you’ve seen since the Boston series (when they didn’t need any intensity, that team sucks) is max level effort. That’s leadership.
i think now it was more like lebron just managed the regular season. playoffs is more like lebron the leader. in business you want a leader all the time and a manager occasionally. maybe he is lucky that the team fixed the holes it had so he could pull it off.
the more I watch draymond play ( call me bias ) the more the word PUNK surfaces ——ate at a Chinese restaurant last night—-here is the saying from the fortune cookie / thought it to be appropriate –“THE HARDER THE CONFLICT , THE MORE GLORIOUS THE TRIUMPH “—–I BELIEVE THAT PRETTY WELL SUMS UP ALL OF OUR FEELINGS —-GO CAVS —–THE ” Q’ / FANS “”—INSIDE AND OUT NEED TO BE IN PRIME FORM TONIGHT —-DETERMINATION = THE TERMINATION OF THE DUBS !!
One thing I must say, LeBron’s demeanor gas been 100% business like and just the way he speaks and answers questions you can really see/hear his leadership. I trust him leading this Cavs team to a championship
Oh man, Tom you have absolutely nailed how I was feeling – Draymond Green is an amazing player but has shown himself to be of low character a few times. Don’t like him one bit. I COULD NOT BELIEVE he was getting away with beating the Cavs with dirty plays. “Not him!! Not him!!!”. This, however – along with the bad ref decisions – at the end of it all, the fact we won made it all the sweeter. I feel I have to add that today I wore my navy Kyrie #2 jersey around Perth (Western Australia) today…some people… Read more »
Yeah I’ve had enough his illegal crap.
Won’t have a chance to listen till tomorrow, but thanks as always. Your podcasts are always great.