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OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Cleveland Cavaliers · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

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Hey, everybody, I hope you're doing well. We wanted to let you
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know. This podcast episode was recorded on Tuesday, February thirteenth, twenty twenty
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four. By the time you hear this, some things may have changed here
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there, but we hope you enjoy the show. All right, everybody,
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Welcome to Opposition Territory here at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest
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running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world, over ten and a half
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years strong. We got a great opposition Territory coming your way this week.
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I'm gonna be getting into some NBA talk right here, because here's one team
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that's been pretty hot. Yes, they have been pretty hot. They did
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lose to the Philadelphia seventy six ers this week here, but they have been
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hot, and that is the Cleveland Cavaliers. I mean really, at the
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end of the season, I mean, did we really see this coming or
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not? Regardless of those predictions and what we first saw in the Eastern Conference.
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I gotta tell you, man, it's been an interesting time watching this
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Cleveland Cavaliers team. So let's get to our guests this week the discussion.
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It's gonna be a good one. Joining us from Fearthsword dot Com an esp
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nation site. You know, we love our sp Nation sites, and he
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covers the Cleveland Cavaliers, a team that has been on fire as we know
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as of late. Here we've got the one and only Jackson Flick and Jerrem
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Jackson. Buddy, Thanks so much for jumping back on the podcast. It's
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been some time. How things been for you, my man? Things are
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going good. Thanks for having me back on. I love coming on and
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talking about the Calves and you know with their game against the Sixers, yeah,
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just the other day. You know, it's definitely a good time to
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talk about Calves and Sixers. Absolutely did want to say congrats uncovering the All
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Star Game. I know you we talked a little bit before we hit the
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record button. That's gonna be quite an experience for you. Have never been
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I've actually never been to an All Star Game, hoping to get to one
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at some point in my life. But it's got to be just one of
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those opportunities that you just got to cherish. You know, if you're an
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NBA fan, you're a basketball fan in general, having the opportunity to cover
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the All Star Game, it's got to be special. Yeah, I'm definitely
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excited to go, printing out a bunch of business cards, so we're going
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to be handing out to anybody who who wants to listen to me. So
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that's you know, so I'm definitely definitely excited to go, and you know,
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hopefully the game isn't as bad as it was last year, right,
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So, but you know that's that's only part of the reason why you go
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absolutely absolutely all right, well, let's get into this Cleveland Cavaliers team.
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And first, you know, I wanted to start off talking about, you
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know, since we are Philly Sports podcast show here, uh Sixers. You
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know, they took one from the Caves this past week. I was actually
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pretty shocked Jackson. I did not think the Sixers were going to win this
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game. But then again, we've mentioned before on this podcast platform with my
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co host, that we are going to see the Sixers team because of Nick
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Nurse, We're gonna see them pulling out some wins against some good teams.
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I think over the course of these next you know, month or two,
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and I'm wondering, as objectively as possible as you can be, what did
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you see during that game from the Sixers that really kind of raised your eyebrow
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and away. If anything, you know, given the fact that they're playing
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without the reigning MVP, Joe El Embiid, was there anything that really stuck
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out to you with regard to the Sixers play on the court that you saw.
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One thing that I thought was really interesting is that they were able to
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get the win without Maxi really going off like he had a good game obviously,
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somebody who is, you know, very good as we've seen throughout throughout
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this year. Yep. But really they got a lot of contributions from the
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rest of the team, and really, Buddy Hill to somebody who really stuck
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out to me, Buddy Hill is kind of a Calves killer. So I
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don't think somebody who's historically, no matter what team he's on, he's gonna
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make a million shots against the Calves. So I'm always so I'm personally always
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higher on Buddy Hill because I pay attention to him for when he's playing the
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Cavs. So obviously, if you get twenty four points from Buddy Hill to
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on thirteen shots, things are going to be pretty good for you. Yeah.
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But one of the things that I kind of liked is I kind of
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liked how they played together in a way, because I think it's really tough
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for teams that have somebody like Joelle Embiid. You see this with teams that
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have Giannis and teams that have had Lebron where they're so relying on one person
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that kind of the whole offense is sort of like, all right, we
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all have our spots that we're going to be on the court, and we
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all have our specific moves that we're going to make depending on what our star
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player does. So then when you have an extended period of time without that
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star player, you can't play that same way. So one of the things
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that I really like from the Sixers is that it it didn't seem like they
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were a team that was, all right, we are missing our guy and
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we just don't know how to play basketball. They seemed like a team that
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was really they just look like a basketball team. Absolutely. That's and that's
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something that you want to You know, that sounds kind of cliche and reductive,
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but it's true that you want to, Like, that's what you want
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to see when you are playing without your best guy. So I'm interested to
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see how how they look after the All Star break, after Nick Nurse has
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a couple has some time to you know, really practice with the team and
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kind of implement some things that he probably has had on the back burner for
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the last couple of games, last couple of weeks. So that's one thing
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that you know, they did surprise me and the casts. I don't have
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the schedule pulled up, but I know the Casts played them again pretty soon
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after the All Star breaks. So I'm interested to see what kind of adjustments
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could both sides make coming out of this game. Yeah. Absolutely, I
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think is seeing some of the and this is for some of our seventy six
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ers listeners here, that the new guys that came over from the trades,
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I mean, they did not look terrible by any stretch of the imagination.
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They did not, and there seemed to be some chemistry going on at certain
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points during the game where it gave me some sort of hope for the future
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not having Joe el Embiid out on that court. So but speaking of the
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trade deadline, Jackson, I mean the Calves, I mean they didn't make
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any moves for the trade deadline. I mean they were content to stay put,
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and rightfully so, as they've been hot over these past you know how
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many weeks now and just what they have been doing with regard to the Eastern
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Conference, and it's gonna be interesting to see how they view this buyout market
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since I believe, I believe they still have two roster spots available if I'm
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not mistaken, Okay, they still did. Yeah, yeah, So I'm
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wondering, like, have you been giving any thought? I'm wondering, you
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know, your colleagues as well, probably been giving some thought and doing some
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writing on what moves the front office may actually make. Where do you think
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the Calves are gonna go in terms of these two roster spots that are availed
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and where this buyout market is going to be. I think this is a
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year where the Cavs aren't really going to be too aggressive looking for a rotation
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piece in the buyout market, just because jam Bickersta's problem right now is he
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has too many guys in the rotation and then adding somebody who could potentially that
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he would have to put into the rotation would be really tough, because you
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know, the Cavs have won what is it now, it's seventeen out of
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nineteen games, and most of those games they did it without Darius Garland and
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Evan Mobley, So the last five or six games both have been back.
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But kind of the struggle that we've seen is that he's had a hard time
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finding minutes for everybody who's really contributed to that run, and he wants to
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find, you know, time for guys like San Merril, Dean Wade because
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they were so in so they were such a big part of that so coming
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that, Like, so now that you're when you're working Mobilely and Garland back
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and you're trying to find room for everybody else, it's just really hard to
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find minutes for somebody else too and try to get them on board and stuff.
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And I think, you know, one of the things that you mentioned,
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like the Sixers guys really fitting in. Somebody like Buddy Hilled is somebody
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who you can plug and play anywhere because the skills that he has really just
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like every team needs that. Yeah, and the guys on the buyout market,
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there's a reason why they're on the buyout market because everybody Hills, you
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know, nobody wanted to you know, keep paying them to play for their
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team. So well, I mean they do pay them, but they pay
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them not to play for their team, right, so you're usually not finding
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guys that are really like seamless fits. So last year, the Cavs really
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went after Danny Green because he was somebody who could shoot, and the Cavs
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had nobody on the team that could shoot, so that made sense, even
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though in the playoffs Danny Green was not the Danny Green that he was previously
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for the Sixers. So that's like that kind of didn't really work out.
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But yeah, I don't see the Calves going for anybody who, like a
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Joe Harris or somebody else who's on the buyout market just because it's It doesn't
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like that guy is not going to get minutes with the Calves and they're not
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going to be viewed as a long term piece. So that's so I think
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they're going to be trying to you know, I think we're going to talk
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about it later. But Zire Smith, they gave him a ten day contract.
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I think they're going to be looking more at people who, even if
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it's not Ziro Smith, somebody who they could see as part of the rotation
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next year and beyond. So that's I would be more surprised if it was
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a buyout guy than it would be if it was a guy who's in the
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G League where I spent most of the year in the G League. I
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got to tell you, it's a great place for this Cleveland Cavaliers organization to
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be in terms of the team. I mean, when you are content to
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stay put where you are before the trade deadline and thinking to yourself, you
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know what, we're probably not going to try to gain any sort of you
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know, quote assets with regard to the buyout market. I mean, it's
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a good place for them to be. And you know, as I reflect
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on and you know, follow some calves basketball every now and then, I
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was hoping to get into one particular player and piece of talent on this team
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that I think he's pretty fascinating, and that is Isaac o'coro and his growth
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this season Jackson Basically, I mean, the defensive strides that this team has
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made has allowed for a coorro to really shine and just take some steps forward
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here this season. So I'm wondering, as you're assessing him, as we're
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all kind of looking at him and saying, wow, I mean he's continuing
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to develop, what has he meant to this team this year and what are
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the expectations for him at this point in the season for what he could possibly
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be doing in the months to come. Yeah, So he's somebody who it's
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really interesting because the Calves need him on the defensive end, but his problem
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throughout the early part of his career is staying on the floor on the offensive.
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It's really easy to see how good of a defender he is. He's
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somebody who you can put him on. You know, you can put them
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on the other team's best perimeter player and he's not going to take them away
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because you know, like you can't take away entirely guys like Maxi, guys
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like Hard and you can't just take them out of the game. But what
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you can do is just make it really hard for them. And that's what
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Isaac o Couro has done throughout his career. But really during this stretch,
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he's got an opportunity to really show that more by being a better offensive fit.
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Like you're only going to see his defense if his offense allows him to
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be on the court. And he's not somebody who you look at the box
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score numbers, he's not somebody who's blowing you away with his eight points per
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a game. But what he is doing is he's being a lot more decisive.
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So last year when the Cavs played the Sixers, one of the things
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that they did is they put Duel Embiid on Isaac o Couro. He was
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like their primary defender on him. But what Joel Embiid did is he just
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stood in the middle of the paint and said, Isaaca Corro, you do
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whatever you want out there. I'm going to make sure that Evan Mobley and
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Jared Allen can't get anything easy going. You know, we're gonna really just
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basically it was just like a he was like a one man zone out there.
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Yeah, and that's what you can't have because that just kills your whole
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offense when anytime, okay, Donovan Mitchell driving to the basket, Duwel Embiid
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standing there, all right, Darius Carlin, you know, now they're going
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to try to do a two man game with Jared Allen, and it's like
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that just doesn't work when you have a third guy standing there. So that's
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what's really hurt Isaac o Corrow in the past. What he's doing a better
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job this year is making quick decisions. So what would happen in games like
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that last year is you know, Donovan Mitchell will kick it out to Ocoro
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in the corner. Jowell Embiid would slowly rotate over, not really you know,
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move bunch of an effort. Yeah right, because that's because that's what
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the team because because that's what the defense wanted. The defense wants him to
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shoot that shot, so he's not gonna, you know, really get out
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there fast. And what we saw is Issa Court would have like record scratch
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moments where he would catch the ball and like, the defense wants me to
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shoot, I don't really want to shoe and then you just kind of have
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to reset the offense up top with Garland or Mitchell. And what we're seeing
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this year is he's just taking that shot a lot faster. As soon as
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it gets into hands, he's saying, okay, I'm taking it, or
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as soon as his defender leaves him, he's going to start moving off ball
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so that somebody on the defense has to start paying attention to him. And
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that's that's what Those are the areas that he's really grown in, even if
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it's not showing up in the box score, is he's being somebody who can
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actually stay on the court, on the offensive side. Now, it does
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help that you have Max Strews, so you're not starting him. So it's
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been really helpful that he's playing a lot of his minutes with just one of
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Evan Mobley or Chaired Allen. He's not playing with both, because when he's
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playing with both, it really it really still can't hinder the offense. So
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that's going to be one of the things that they're going to have to prove
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in the playoffs because they've run into an Isaac corre problem two years in a
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row, first against the Hawks and the play in Trey Young was going off
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against them, but they couldn't put Isaac Okora out there because the defense wasn't
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paying attention. Then the next year, Dalen Brunson was doing whatever he wanted
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and Isaccor was still on the bench because the defense wasn't respecting him. So
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that's where Isaaca Corro has made strides on the offensive side. So we're seeing
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his defensive ability more. Now. The question is okay, in the playoffs
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in crunch time, can o'coro be on the floor. That's an open question.
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But he's shown growth and that's if you're the Cavs. That's what you
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want to see because when he is on the floor, he he just makes
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this defense so much better because you have somebody who was a finalist for Defensive
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Player of the Year last year in Evan Mogley out there, and somebody who
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will probably be one this year in Jared Allen back and it's really hard to
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score when you have those two and you have an elite defensive guy like Asgakora
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on the perimeter. So it's an open question, but Isaacacora is a nex
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factor for this for this team. And it's really actually observant for you to
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bring it up because usually when people talk about the Cats, it's like,
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oh, yes, you know Jared Allen, Donovan Mitchell. I didn't want
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to get into those guys that much because it's like, we know who they
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are, we know what their talent is, what they bring to the team,
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and how critical and important they are. But like the development of Akorro,
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I think has been pretty fascinating because I mean, I think it's fascinating
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to simply watch NBA players in general. I don't care if they play for
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the Warriors. I don't care if they play for the Bulls. I don't
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care if they play for the Cavaliers or the Sixers, whoever is developing.
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I think in this day and age in the NBA, when you can see
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significant development like o'coro has done over this season, I mean, I think
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it's pretty notable and we should be talking about it. Yeah, And that's
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what you need to and that's what you need if you if you are a
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team that's gonna put so much money into Onnovan Mitchell, Darius Garlet in your
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core players, you need your surrounding supporting cast to really amplify their game.
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And that's during this stretch where they've played without Garland and Mobley, you saw
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the supporting cast. You saw Dean Wade, San Merril, Isaac Ocro,
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Karrisliver all step up in ways that frankly, they weren't doing last season.
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And that's why they've been able to be, you know, be as impressive
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as they as they have been since the start of January. But those are
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the guys that also need to keep it going into playoffs because if in April
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they turned into the guys that they were last April, then this team isn't
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going anywhere no matter what they get from Donovan Mitchell. Absolutely yep again,
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folks, we're talking to Jackson Flickinger from Fearthsword dot Com. Great great follow
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on Twitter, follow him at jacks Flickinger. And as we're moving along here,
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Jackson, have a two part question for you here, because you know,
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not every team is perfect. Every every team. You know, I
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don't care even if you're the Celtics. You have your weaknesses every now and
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again on the court. So I'm wondering what where are you most nervous when
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it comes to this Cavaliers team. Is there a specific aspect of this team,
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specific player just from a coaching standpoint, play, scheming, scam standpoint,
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what are you most nervous about when it comes to this Cavs team?
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As we're looking forward here, so one of the things that really jumps out
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to me is like the backup four position. The Cavs didn't have Dean wigde
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last night. He was sick, so you saw a lot of George Niing,
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and you know, I know George familiar with George Niying. So we
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saw the bad version of George Nianing. And one of the things that I
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think really helped him with the Sixers is when you're pairing him with somebody like
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Joelle Embiid. He's he's he's a lot more stationary on the on the offensive
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side, you're not asking him to dribble the ball. You're definitely asking him
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to do that stuff. He's really just catching and shooting, and he's you
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know, if he's standing still and you give him an open shot, he's
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probably gonna knock it down. But with the Cats, they don't have Duell
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Empiid, so they're they've been asking him to do a little bit more,
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and I think sometimes when he does a little bit more, it works out.
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And then there's games like yesterday where he scores zero points, he gets
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a technical foul, he's really bad on the defensive end, and it's like,
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yep, when you lose by two points, those things really add up.
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So that's an area where there's some cons for concern. Now, Dean
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Wade should be the guy who takes those minutes in the playoff. He's a
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better defensive player, and he's been a reliable shooter this year. But Dean
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Wade has is somebody who when his confidence isn't high, he has those record
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scratch moments where if he misses his first two threes, he's somebody who may
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not take the third three. And if you're not taking that third three,
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there's really you can't really be on the offensive. You know, you really
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can't be out there because then defenses just ignore you. So that's an area
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where I have some concerns. Okay, I also have some concerns with the
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Cavs really found something where they with these lineups that have one point guard and
19:15
one center out there. Now, I think Donovan Mitchell, he's technically not
19:21
a point guard, but when he's playing that primary ball handler role and he's
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not having to share the ball with another guy like Darius Garland, it really
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unlocks his game a little bit. We haven't. I think he can adjust
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to playing with Darius Garland and vice versa, but it hasn't gone as smoothly
19:41
as I think we would have liked it to have gone through the first season
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and a half. So I do have some concerns about how they how they
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can kind of get the best version of each other out of each other.
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And I think that that doesn't just fall on Derek's Donovan Mitchell. I think
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that falls onto Garland as well. So basically, can this team can the
20:03
starting lineup be the best version of themselves when they have two centers and basically
20:08
two point guards out there. Now, last season, what killed the Cavs
20:14
was any lineup that wasn't that didn't have all their starting five in it just
20:18
really sucked. So this year, this year, it's been kind of the
20:22
opposite, where any lineup that has had you know, one like one of
20:26
those like one from each of those groups has been really good. So if
20:30
you can kind of get that starting lineup back up to where we saw last
20:33
year, then you have something there. But as we saw the end of
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that Sixers game, not the very end, but what really decided the game
20:44
is it was like one hundred and ninety eight with eight minutes left in the
20:48
fourth quarter and then the Sixers went on a twenty to ten run. In
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the offense, the Cavs offense just looked really poor, and a lot of
20:56
that they had that starting lineup out there for a lot of that time,
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and then they took off, they took off mobiley in the final minute and
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a half and then you saw the Cats come roaring back. So it's like
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they have the optionality to play a lot of different ways now, but it's
21:15
still best if the starting five fits together. So that's so those are two
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concerns that I have about this team right now. Yeah, well, well
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I was gonna say yeah. I mean, it's a good segue into the
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next part of the question, because, like, I think we all were
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kind of keeping an eye on the Cleveland Cavaliers, you know, as a
21:33
team that Okay, what are they gonna do this year? They're pretty good
21:36
team, but like, are they really going to be contending for much?
21:40
And it feels pretty good right now, and it must feel good to be
21:42
a Cleveland Cavaliers fan saying, you know what, I don't know if they're
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up in terms of contention with regard to uh say, the Bust and Celtics
21:51
tier, but if there's like a tier down from that, perhaps they are.
21:56
But then there's folks that are saying, Okay, this is completely a
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fluke, which I don't agree with quite frankly, But you see that online
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saying, Okay, this is a fluke that's happening with the Calves based on
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you know, their history and just where the team has gone in the past.
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But do you think that there might possibly possibly be some flukeness here with
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this team? As they've really been been kind of dominating as of lee.
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What are your thoughts? So I don't think it's a fluke because you can't.
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You can't win seventeen of nineteen games in the NBA and have it be
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a fluke, right, because I know, because like it's true that the
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Cavs haven't gone through the hardest part of their schedule during this time, but
22:36
they're still winning age. Yeah, winning NBA games is hard, just as
22:41
the Pistons, you know, like it's really like every night you have to
22:47
bring it. Because even even playing against the Sixers, who were without Tobias
22:52
Harris, the Cavs didn't bring it and they lost, you know, like
22:55
they deserve to lose. It ended up being a lot closer than it should
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have been. I think that, you know, like the Calves, like
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the Sixers played good enough that it shouldn't have been a two point game,
23:03
and the Cavs played bad enough that it shouldn't have been a two point game.
23:07
So but that's just how the NBA works. It's hard to finish games
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and it's hard to win games. So it's not a fluke. But always
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that question is gonna linger Can this work in the playoffs, and the thing
23:18
that's been most encouraging about this run is that the areas where the Calves fell
23:25
to the Knicks were they didn't have bench players that they could that they could
23:29
rely on. You know, they were running Danny Green and jedti Osmon out
23:32
there in crunch time minutes, which they last year. That's not what they
23:37
wanted to do. Yeah, no, So that's been so that was a
23:41
problem and this year they have reliable guys to go to in those moments.
23:47
Max Struce has been so important to this team and he's really transformed them in
23:51
a lot of ways. And he's not even hitting his outside shots very well.
23:53
So there's still another level that the team can get to. But when
24:00
you fall flout on your face like you did against the Knicks in the playoffs,
24:03
those questions will always linger. You have to prove it in the playoffs,
24:07
and that's like the Sixers, you got to prove it, right,
24:11
they haven't proved anything, get knocked out in the second round for what seems
24:15
like fifty years, right, So when you're in that position like it doesn't
24:22
like in the regular season, they're doing the things that they need to do
24:26
to get better. They're they're not winning in the ways that they were last
24:30
season, where a lot of last season it was all right, we're gonna
24:33
play good defense and then Donovan Mitchell please score in isolation and to shoot over
24:37
the defense on repeat. And Donald Mitchell's having a great season. He's having
24:41
a better season. But what's encouraging is he's not having to carry this team
24:48
in the same way where he's just shooting over the defense constantly and just making
24:51
outside shots. Yeah, he's getting inside, he's passing the ball better.
24:56
He's just he's having a much more well, well rounded season. All that
25:02
is to say that this needs to come together in the playoffs for the national
25:07
media to really buy into this team. And that's fair because you know,
25:11
that's it only matters what you do in the playoffs at the end of the
25:17
day. And the last time everybody was watching, the lights were too bright.
25:21
So I don't think this is a fluke. I don't think. I
25:23
don't yep, this is going to be you know. But one of the
25:27
things that the Cant need to do is, hey, if they if they
25:30
hold onto the number two seed, they're not gonna They're most likely going to
25:36
have a much easier first round matchup. Then for then, say if they're
25:40
the fourth seed and they're playing a team like the Knicks, again, like,
25:42
that's a lot tougher. So the best way for them to prove it
25:48
in the playoffs is kind of get an easy first round matchup, get through
25:52
the first round, and then okay, let's see what we can do in
25:55
the second round after we have the confidence of winning a playoff series and knowing
25:59
that, hey, our style of play can win in the playoffs. So
26:03
that's what this team needs to do. And if they fall apart at the
26:07
end of the regular season, because last regular season, going into the All
26:11
Star Break they worse third and it seemed like they could get a top two
26:15
seed, but they kind of fell apart at the end of the regular season
26:18
and then they fell apart in the playoffs too. So what they need to
26:22
do is, Okay, go into the All Star break. They're going in
26:26
on a heater. How do we keep that going when our schedule gets a
26:30
little harder. Can we get Mobley and Alet, Bobley and Garland back acclimated
26:37
with this team? Can we get our rotations figured out completely? And then
26:40
if we can and we can keep on. If we can keep hold of
26:42
the two seed, you should have a good chance to win in the first
26:45
round, and then you like your chances in the second round. It's gonna
26:48
be fun to watch, folks, if you're a basketball fan. I mean,
26:51
this Eastern Conference is good. It's gonna be fascinating over the course of
26:53
these next couple months for sure. And Jackson is we're running low on time
26:59
here. I wanted to dive into one last topic with you here, and
27:03
it's actually a former seventy six ers player, but you mentioned him earlier in
27:10
our discussion here, and you wrote a recent article on one Zire Smith,
27:15
who has been brought to this Cavs team. You mentioned he recently signed a
27:18
ten day contract with this team, perhaps for him to play next season,
27:25
possibly this team looking forward in terms of what Zire Smith could be for this
27:29
team. But you have followed his career and it's been an interesting career,
27:33
I mean, the many hurdles that he has had to jump through. So
27:37
as we're closing things out here, what are your thoughts on Zire Smith and
27:42
just where his career has taken him. I mean, of course, he
27:47
was a member of the Philadelphia seventy six ers as we know, and now
27:49
with the Cavs. So where do you think What do you think about where
27:53
his career trajectory has taken him, if we even want to call it necessarily
27:57
a trajectory. So what are your thoughts on zire It's Watchingsire is really interesting
28:03
because he in a lot of ways this feels like his first season because his
28:11
real first season was he got the food poisoning. Yeah, not the food
28:15
poisoning, sorry, the food app yeah sorry, yeah, yeah, not
28:22
food poisoning. He probably wished it was food poising me while we're all like,
28:26
how the hell did they miss this in the medicals, Like what the
28:29
hell's going on here? Right? Well? Yeah, So that really derailed
28:34
his first season because he had all the weight issues where he lost all his
28:38
weight and stuff, and that is really tough for somebody who really kind of
28:45
is undersized and needs that weight to be kind of the best version of himself.
28:51
So that really derailed his first season, and then the second season he
28:53
had meat. He had this knee issue this whole the whole season that he
28:59
was trying to play through, and when you're somebody who is trying to make
29:03
a name for yourself in the NBA, playing through injuries really isn't the best
29:08
way to do it, Like you're not going to be the best version of
29:11
yourself. And then once the bubble started, he hasn't played basketball at a
29:17
professional level since just because of these this bone bruce that kept coming back and
29:22
the doctors were never able to figure out what the issue was. So from
29:25
twenty twenty to twenty twenty three, no basketball in the professional level for zyro
29:30
Smith. So this season, after having a surgery that he feels kind of
29:37
took away the issue it completely, he's able to get back on the court
29:41
and really kind of one he's only to figure out what kind of player he
29:45
is in the professional level, because when he came into the league with the
29:48
Sixers, he was like, well, in college, he played a four,
29:52
he played the four, but he's sixty three, so you can't be
29:55
a six three four in the NBA. So kind of figuring out his position,
29:59
that's one of the things that he's been doing throughout his time in the
30:02
G League with the Cleveland Charge, and I think he's getting he's making progress
30:07
in that he's figuring out how to use his athleticism in a way that is
30:11
most helpful for his team. He's doing a good job of moving off ball
30:15
and he's being a great defender. So the way he's currently playing, yes
30:21
you can see an NBA player there, but he still needs to figure out,
30:26
like, he still needs to figure out what his role in the NBA
30:30
is. And it's weird for some to say that about somebody who was drafted
30:32
in twenty nineteen. Yeah, sorry, twenty eighteen. But this is really
30:37
his first time, his first extended time on the court. So in playing
30:41
with the Cleveland Charge, he's missed only two of their thirty eight games,
30:45
which is just you know, that's a success because that's been his problem in
30:49
staying on the court. So he's shown that he can stay on the court.
30:52
He's andy, he's using his athleticism, which is why he was drafted,
30:56
so you know, in the first round by the six So that's those
31:00
are like, it's really encouraging to see him kind of try to figure out
31:07
what his NBA game looks like after never being able to do that with the
31:11
Sixers unfortunately. So we're seeing, yeah, he can, he can,
31:15
he can knock down to three ball, he has an athleticism, he can
31:18
be a three and D guy. Now he still needs to figure it out,
31:22
still needs to prove it in the NBA, but these are the steps
31:26
that you wanted to see. And you can see the guy that when he
31:29
has a good night, you're like, oh yeah, this is why all
31:33
the blog posts after the Sixers drafted him were Wow, this the Sixers after
31:37
three and D guy. He's gonna fit perfectly with Mbeid, He's gonna fit
31:40
perfectly with Simmons, and it's like, you know, we're still figuring that
31:45
out, but it's it's good to see and I'm I'm mixed. I'm really
31:48
happy for him because getting to know him and talking to him, he's somebody
31:53
who he understandably went through a dark time when you know you're an NBA player
32:01
and you try your whole life to become an NBA player, and then once
32:05
you do become one, you don't have the health to actually show that you
32:08
can be one, right, And you know, he's if you I wrote
32:15
a story about this. But his faith has been something that's been really important
32:20
to him during this time when he feels like he rediscovered his faith during this
32:23
and that's brought him through this and that's brought him to where he is now.
32:28
So he's somebody who doesn't have regrets about the process, which sounds really
32:31
crazy from somebody who essentially missed five years of their NBA career. So I'm
32:38
just happy that he's able to be back on an NBA court and just hopefully,
32:44
even if it's not with the CASS, hopefully he can show somebody around
32:46
the league that he deserves to be in the NBA. And I just want
32:50
to see him have a chance to really prove that he is an NBA player
32:53
and he's somebody who can be a three and D guy, which you know
32:58
is the most coveted position in the world league. So yep, I am
33:01
pulling for him in a way that you know, I don't pool for players
33:07
like this just because he's somebody who he just I just want to see him
33:13
be able to show what he can do. Right. Well, that's a
33:16
great way to end this discussion again, folks, Fear thesword dot com you
33:22
can check out what Jackson and his colleagues are doing over there, great great
33:25
sp Nation site. Follow Jackson on Twitter at jax Flickinger Jackson. It was
33:30
great great talking to you, my friend, come back join us down the
33:34
road. I'd love to talk more NBA and CALVS basketball with you, my
33:37
friend. Sounds good. Hopefully we get you know, a second round series
33:40
with the Cavs and six series. At least if we got that one of
33:44
them has to go to the next round, they would have to write,
33:47
right, so you know, unfortunately both wouldn't go, but you know,
33:51
one of them won, so that would be that'd be good. But yeah,
33:54
thanks for having me on and hopefully the Sixers can keep it going,
33:59
keep what they show to again the Calves. I hope they can keep that
34:01
going because you know, it sucks when you lose a player, but sometimes
34:06
it can be a blessing in disguise. That's what the Cavs showed showed us,
34:08
So we'll see if we'll see if Nick Nurse can rally this group.
34:14
Great great conversation with Jackson, and it really has been a remarkable NBA season
34:20
in many different ways. If you look at basically what you know, what
34:22
you would be considered the Tier one contenders, whether it's the Boston Celtics,
34:28
the Minnesota Timberwolves, the LA Clippers, Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder.
34:32
You take a look at those five teams, and I think you can actually
34:36
say, yes, those are contenders for a title this year. Some of
34:39
those teams there, we didn't necessarily think we're going to be contenders, and
34:44
look, anything can happen with some of these teams. I mean, of
34:46
course, I think the Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, and even the Clippers
34:52
at this point probably going to stay in that contenders conversation moving forward. But
34:57
you also have on the brink of contingent the Cleveland ca Like we were just
35:00
speaking about, the Bucks, the Suns, the even the Pelicans, and
35:04
of course the New York Knicks as well, teams that we are certainly going
35:07
to be following here at the PST podcast Show well into the future. So
35:13
that being said, folks, hope you enjoyed this Opposition Territory podcast. If
35:16
you're new to listening to the show, subscribe on whatever podcast platform you're listening
35:20
to us on. Let folks know about the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show right
35:24
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35:38
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If you're subscribed, head on over to Philadelphia Sports Table dot com.
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We've got all of our shows over there and you can follow me on threads
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35:52
folks, we've got a great regular show coming your way. It's gonna be
35:57
dropping this Thursday morning. I'm gonna get be getting into a lot of Flyers
36:00
talk. We're gonna get some Flyers talk, some Union talk as well.
36:05
That's right, Lenna is gonna be on the show, so we're gonna be
36:07
talking Philadelphia Union as well as getting into some of the Philadelphia seventy six ers
36:13
trades too. And yes, we're gonna be getting into some Eagles talking some
36:15
football talk as well. Stick around for that, stay tuned for it.
36:20
Take care, folks, we'll catch you next time.