MIAMI — Cleveland lost just its fourth game of the season against the Miami Heat on Sunday. In this episode of the Wine and Gold Talk podcast, Ethan Sands and Chris Fedor delve into why Miami is a hard place to play for the Cavs.
Takeaways:
The Cavs have historically struggled in Miami due to various factors.
Staying in Miami before heading back to Cleveland on Wednesday offers both challenges and opportunities for the Cavs.
A mental reset will be crucial for the Cavs after a demanding schedule.
End-of-game situations are critical for the Cavs and will be a focus during the week off.
The depth of the Cavs’ bench has been a significant asset this season.
Listen using the player below:
You can also listen using your preferred podcast app. Subscription information is below.
Subscribe and listen onApple Podcasts or Spotify.
The video version of the podcast is on YouTube as well.
Now, listeners have the opportunity to shape the future of the podcast by participating in a feedback survey.
To share thoughts on what works, what doesn’t, and what topics you’d like to hear next, visit this survey link. The survey takes just a few minutes to complete, and every response will help ensure the podcast continues to deliver the content fans desire.
Read the automated transcript of today’s podcast below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it may contain errors and misspellings.
Ethan Sands
What up, Cavs Nation? I’m your host, Ethan Sands, and I’m back with another episode of the Wine and Gold Talk Podcast. Chris Fidor is joining us once again, coming to you from Miami after the Cavs’ fourth loss of the season, 122-113 to the Miami Heat. And Chris, I know we always say this, but the Cavs struggle.
in Miami. It’s historically proven the Heat now have a 51-16 home all-time record against the Cavs. What makes it so difficult for them going into that arena and getting a dub for the Cavs?
Chris
Well, if you think back to the stretch where they’ve actually struggled all the way back to 2010, know, part of that was the loss of LeBron James and then him joining the Heat and having to play against the Heatles. So for four straight years, every time they went down to South Beach, they were a rebuilding team that was playing for draft picks and the Heat were playing for championships. So that’s part of it. When LeBron came back, sometimes he didn’t play in Miami.
And of course, there’s this thing called the South Beach Flu, Ethan. The Cavs spent the night in Miami last night. They were here. Then they had an earlier than usual tip-off, six o’clock, on the second game of back-to-back. This was one that didn’t feel great from the very beginning when you put all those things into it. Look, Miami’s just a really difficult place to play because these are human beings and there are distractions.
And there are things to do other than basketball and it’s not the easiest place to focus and the heat are good. That’s the other thing. You know, this is a championship level organization that the Miami Heat have. And even though they got off to a bad start, they still have Tyler hero who’s capable of scoring 34 points like he did tonight. They still have Bam out of bio who is in.
Olympian and an all-star caliber player probably in the defensive player of year conversation again this year. They have Jimmy Butler They have Eric Spolstra arguably the best coach in the NBA So, you know, there are a bunch of different factors that tie into it But I think everybody understands the ancillary factors that go into playing on the road in Miami It’s a great home court advantage because They have South Beach on their side
Ethan Sands
And Chris, we talk about the slow start, right? Like the Cavs usually are known for their quick starts and their strong finishes. And it just did not feel like the Cavs, especially the core four members, were able to get off to that start, which usually helps them get into the game and all those different things. It didn’t feel like that today. Obviously, Donovan Mitchell, I believe, was like one of six to start the game, and Darius Garland struggled. And then you talk about how
Evan Mobley, who had a huge game against the Charlotte Hornets, his first 40 ball, rolled his ankle in the first half, did not come back to play in the second half. And Jared Allen is another player that I wanted to touch on a little bit today because he struggled for a little bit now over the past couple of games. And
Obviously, this is a game where the Cavs can lose not feel horrible about it and continue to move on they now have four days in between their next game as they don’t play until Friday, but Chris when it comes to Trying to take advantage of this break the most what areas of the Cavs games Do you think they need to enhance or continue to improve? Going into their Friday game against none other than the Washington Wizards
Chris
Honestly, I don’t think that’s what this break is about for the Cavs. I can understand why some people would look at it like that and say there’s a rare opportunity for extended practice time for the Cavs while they’re here in Miami. They’re staying here in Miami. They can get some sunshine and there’s an opportunity for a couple of practices before they leave back for Cleveland. And sure, there are going to be things that they’re going to work through.
There are some things that Kenny Atkinson has pointed out recently that the players have pointed out recently, but to me, Ethan, this is an opportunity for a mental reset. One of the advantages that the Cavs are getting because they did not make it to the NBA Cup knockout rounds is this break in the schedule. And I know that, you know, over the last couple of weeks or so,
The schedule has been spaced out, but I just don’t think people fully understand the toll that 15-0 took on this team. And it doesn’t mean that like, let’s throw a pity party for the Cavs. They started the season 15-0 and now, you know, they need a mental reset or whatever. But like, for them, playing so many games of consequence,
that early into the season is rare. They wanted that record. They were playing for that record. They were playing those games like they were worth more than they would be in most seasons. And I’ve told you this as a young reporter, like you can’t always have your fastball. You can’t. You know what I mean? Like sometimes you just need to get me over curveball.
And for the Cavs to play so many games of consequence early in the season, I do think they need a mental reset. I do think that they are going to take advantage of this time, this downtime, and kind of recalibrate. So I think that’s going to be the greatest benefit for this team during this stretch, beyond the fact of...
Chris
You know, they do get practice time. They are going to be able to work on end of game situations. They’re probably going to install different things, both offensively and defensively during this time that they haven’t had the opportunity to do because now we’re past the quarter pole and now there’s more things that Kenny Atkinson wants to add at both ends of the floor. There are more sets that he wants to put in. There are more counters and actions and all those different things, but
The schedule has been difficult, not from the standpoint of who they’ve played against, but from what’s been demanded of them early on this season and what they’ve demanded of themselves early on in this season. And I think they all just kind of want to get away. Jared Allen said it in the locker room after the game, like going 4-15 and 0 and treating those games the way that they did.
It did take a mental and physical toll on this team.
Ethan Sands
And Chris, you talked about not having your fastball. And I think that’s one of the Cavs’ calling cards is they, throughout this run that they’ve gone on, this 21-4 record, which is again, nothing to sneeze out, still the top in the NBA. Every other team in the league has at least five losses. But the Cavs have been able to lean on their bench immensely throughout this stretch.
And it’s shown how much depth they had, but also reiterated the point that Kenny Atkinson came into the season with. He wanted to lean into that depth. He wanted to treasure that depth. Tonight was another one of those examples, right? The Cavs had four, nope, one, two, three, four different players on the bench score in double figures, right?
And that’s not even counting the fact that JT Thor has still not missed a shot while in his tenure with the Cleveland Cavalier I just wanted to throw that little antidote out there, but he’s been perfect for when it comes to his minutes and you talk about
Chris
Either the bench outscored the starters tonight. Think about that. Now look, part of that is Evan Mobley left the game after 12 minutes and he only scored 4 points, but the bench outscored the starters tonight. How many games are you gonna win that way?
Ethan Sands
Yep, exactly, exactly.
Ethan Sands
Not a lot, not a lot, especially when Donovan Mitchell doesn’t seem like he has it as much or Darius Garland gets going a little bit later. Obviously this also goes into the conversation again, Chris, of what you talked about on one of our latest podcasts about how the Cavs are not happy with their foul calls and all those different things. And I think it’s interesting to look at a game where the two teams shot the exact same percentage.
shot the exact same amount of shots. The Cavs had two less made three-pointers, but then you look at the free throws and they have eight less attempts and seven less makes. So obviously that makes a difference, but to think about a game where the bench had to do a lot of the lifting and the Cavs were going up against a Miami Heat team in their house, all those different added.
things on top of it, they’ve made it a game. And even without Evan Mobley, and I don’t want to get too far into the weeds on this one, Chris, but when it comes to the competitive level of this team, I think they’ve shown that it doesn’t matter on any given night. And Darius Garland has said this, if they have a 10 point, even a 10 point deficit heading into that fourth quarter, they feel like they can turn it around and make a game out of it. So.
When you mentioned the end of game situations and scenarios that they’re going to get to work on potentially, how important is that for them when it comes to just getting to the all-star break and learning what kind of team they are?
Chris
Yeah, I mean, I think it’s important for sure. I think they have a general idea. Look, there are certain teams that are at certain stages and that have been through things together and have been in the same system, have been running the same offense for years. You know what I mean? Like Golden State knows exactly what they want to do in end of game situations. They know exactly where they want to go. There’s
There’s a maturity that comes with them. that the Cavs are still looking for. You can say the same thing about Boston. You can say the same thing about Miami. Think about how long this, this Miami core has been in place and this Miami system has been in place. Tyler Hero, Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, they’ve been through things. they’ve played more meaningful games together than the Cavs have to this point. So they have an understanding of.
All right, when the pressure is on, where can we go for a consistent bucket? What play is going to be our number one play? What kinds of things do we want to run after timeouts? What kinds of things do we want to run from baseline out of bounds or sideline out of bounds? And there’s just more of an understanding for some of these other teams, right? With the Cavs, this is a new system. This is a new coach.
They’re still using different combinations and different rotations and stuff like Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley together, Darius Garland and Jared Allen together. Those combos are more new based on how they’ve been used in the past. So I do think that the Cavs are still kind of figuring those things out. I still think they’re learning those things about one another. And I can tell you this for what I said about
the Cavs getting this break for the in season tournament because they didn’t advance to the knockout rounds and you know, the benefits that come with that, the mental reset, the fact that the two games added to the schedule were Washington and Brooklyn, winnable games where the Cavs are going to be favored. It’s not like going to the in season tournament and having to play against Milwaukee or New York.
Chris
You know what mean? Like it’s different level of competition, but you know, was talking to one of the players in the locker room and he said that he wanted the Cavs to be at the in season tournament primarily because he wanted them to play in pressure packed games, more pressure packed games in that kind of environment. because there are stakes involved in that they are playing for a championship. The intensity is different. The physicality is different. The efforts different.
The attention to detail is different. The focus level is different. Like all that stuff, it’s so hard to replicate this time of year. And when you put those kinds of stakes attached to something, that player was telling me he wanted to see how the Cavs were going to handle that. And it’s not to say that they haven’t accomplished anything. They’ve gone to back-to-back playoffs. They went to the Eastern Conference semifinals last year.
against Boston. They have tasted some level of that playoff intensity, that playoff pressure and stuff like that. But the more that you can get it as a still evolving team, and this team still is evolving and still trying to find itself, the more of that that you can get, I think the better the team is going to be in April, May and June, provided that
They take advantage of those things and they learn from those things along the way.
Ethan Sands
Chris, I know we mentioned briefly about Evan Mobley coming out and did not play in the second half, but you being in Miami, did you hear anything extra when it comes to the severity of the injury or anything like that?
Chris
Ethan, I talked to Evan in the locker room shortly after the game. was sitting, right in front of his locker, drinking a recovery shake and he was walking back and forth, going toward the shower, toward the, trainer’s room, Kevin love, who was the culprit, his size 18 shoe, the one that Evan landed on early, in the game toward the end of the first quarter.
Kevin even came into the locker room and was talking a little bit about it with Evan, but to see him walking, it was just a minor limp. and I spoke to him briefly and he said, I’m good. He said, it’s not a bad one. I’m good. It was just something that was bothering him. as he continued to play through it in the first half. And then when he got into the locker room, there was a conversation between him, the coaches and the training staff.
And they all decided, you know, based on how limited he looked when he was out there in those 12 minutes, in the first quarter, majority of those minutes played after the injury happened. I think they all decided, number one, let’s not push this. Number two, we have other options that we can go to in the second half. They moved Dean Wade back to the bench to have him be the
Small ball center. works against a team with Bam Adebato is their center. It’s not like it was Joel Embiid or something like that. Bulkier, Jonas Valencunas, bigger bulkier guy. you can probably get away with, with Dean at small ball center. At least that’s what the Cavs believed. so it doesn’t seem to be something that, that is significant. And I think the other part of the decision-making process for the Cavs tonight in the second half was, Hey, we’re going to have four days coming off.
this game against Miami where we can get extended rest for Evan, extended recovery from Evan. You know, based on the timing of this injury and the next game that they play Friday against Washington, I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t miss a game because of this. Now, the Cavs are always cautious with any injury, especially this guy who is really, really important to the success of this team in the short term and in the long term.
Chris
But the way that he was talking, the way that he was acting, the way that he was moving, no walking boot around his ankle, all of that stuff was really, really positive and it made me believe that he may not miss a game because of this. He’s also a quick healer, he’s shown that in the past.
Ethan Sands
Yeah, that’s what I was gonna say. He’s been a quick healer Coming back from the arthroscopic knee surgery that he had just last season I mean he just bounced back from that one and came back and looked like he was a better player But Chris this Cavs team has been riddled with ankle injuries this year I think we were doing the math before we hopped on and it was like five different guys that had an ankle injury this season and I mean you talk about the break in all those different things like
Ethan Sands
Max Strus is on the horizon potentially and Monty Bates was seen practicing with the guys at the Cleveland charge all these different guys are gonna be able to use this break to also recover and come back Obviously also Max Strus was in Miami with the guys Do you have any updates on those guys as well when it comes to their return talking to Kenny and anybody else?
Chris
So the other thing before we move into those guys, when it comes to Evan, you know, they’re not leaving Miami immediately after this game and getting on a flight. Oftentimes altitude, going on a plane that can exacerbate the swelling. It could increase the swelling. I think the fact that he’s able to go back to his hotel and not have to get on a plane until Wednesday night.
which is when the calves are planning to leave Wednesday evening. That’s when they’re planning to leave Miami. The fact that he doesn’t have to fly and he doesn’t have to get into altitude. I think that helps him staying in Miami. He can just have the day off tomorrow. It’s an off day tomorrow for the calves. he could just put his leg up. He can ice it. He can get treatment. He can stay off of it as much as possible. they’re scheduled to practice on Tuesday and Wednesday. We’ll see if he participates in either one of those.
But the fact that they’re staying in Miami, think is beneficial for him. As for Max, it’s funny because he was talking to Kevin Love before the game. Him and Kevin are very, very close. They spent a lot of time talking and I overheard Kevin say, and they don’t even have you yet. So even Kevin Love and other people around the NBA are noticing that the Cavs have gone on this heater at the beginning of the season. They’ve got the top record in the NBA.
And they’re doing it without Max Drews, who is going to be a big minute player and quite possibly the small forward as soon as he gets any kind of restriction lifted and he gets back into condition where, you know, he can be the Max Drews that the Cavs thought they were going to have coming into this season before he suffered the sprained ankle while recovering from his hip issue that popped up in the preseason. So.
it seemed like Max was in really, really good spirits laughing with Kevin. He didn’t have anything on his ankle, no brace, no kind of padding protection. he was on the sidelines cheering on the guys, talking through different things in the huddle and whatnot. and, this could be an opportunity for Max to get more on court work now that they’re staying here in Miami and they’re going to be on the floor on Tuesday and Wednesday and you know, don’t think he’s going to be back for the next couple of games that the guys are playing against Washington or Brooklyn, but this is a process and he continues to make progress and he continues to take steps forward. He has now started to take contact after that comes, you know, three on three, five on five, stuff like that. All these different things.
that he needs to do along the way in this particular recovery, he continues to do those things without issue. If you remember like last year when Ty Jerome would try and introduce these different things to the recovery process, he would hit a plateau, it would be a setback and the Cavs would kind of regather and talk through various options that they needed to change in his recovery.
some treatment plans that they needed to change. I haven’t heard any of that when it comes to Max. I haven’t heard of him having any kind of setbacks or any kind of issues every time he adds something else to the recovery, every time he increases his physical activity and his basketball activity. So all of those signs are really, really positive. But it’s just something that’s going to take time.
because beyond the fact that he needs to get his ankle healthy and he needs to test everything out, he also needs to get himself ramped up so that he’s ready to go for a regular season game, whether it’s against Washington, Brooklyn, whoever it may be. You know, this has been an extended layoff for Max Drews and he didn’t have preseason and he didn’t have any kind of
opportunities during the regular season to get integrated with this new system, with this new rotation, with some of these various things. And all of that has to happen behind the scenes too. So there’s just like a number of different factors that make it a little bit more tricky when it comes to Max and trying to get himself back into a situation where he can play extended, meaningful minutes in a game environment.
Ethan Sands
And the last person I want to ask you about is Isaac, because obviously Isaac has dealt with an ankle injury earlier into the season. He’s now dealing with a left knee contusion. Do you think that he might be back for Friday, especially after this longer break for the Cavs?
Chris
Yes, absolutely. I think the Cavs were being extremely cautious with Isaac. I think they knew the kind of break that they had coming up in the schedule and they could take their time with this sort of situation. And I think they also knew that it was a back-to-back going into this extended layoff. Back-to-backs are difficult on guys to begin with, but I just don’t think they wanted to bring him back.
for either one of these back to backs. And I think they wanted to be as cautious as possible because they’re able to do that. And I saw Isaac in the locker room and he was moving fine and he didn’t seem like he was bothered by it in any sort of way. At the very beginning when the knee contusion happened, it was considered minor to begin with. And I would be surprised if he’s not back in the lineup on Friday. And if it’s not Friday,
then the Cavs have a couple of more days in between their matchup against Brooklyn. So it’s not just that they have a couple of days off before playing Friday against the Wizards. They play two games in the span of like eight days or something like that. If my math is right. Two games in the span of seven days. It’s probably seven days. Yeah, that’s better math. So, you know, that’s
That’s a positive for them and that gives them an opportunity to handle this mini break in the schedule and be cautious when it comes to any of these kinds of things. And then when it comes to Imani, I talked to Imani the other night in Cleveland and he told me at that point, what night was that? Was that Friday night? Is that the last time that they played a game at home?
No, it was Thursday. So I talked to Emoni Thursday, and at that point on Thursday, after the game against the Nuggets, he told me probably two more weeks that he needed. And he also told me that about 80 % of his meniscus was spared, and they only had to remove a small portion of it, and that, you know,
during the recovery and during the process of talking with the trainers and determining the best course of action when he decided to have the surgery to begin with, that he had an extended conversation with Dean Wade, who has dealt with the same kind of injury as Amani, the meniscus issue. And those two guys talked through the various options of surgery, the benefits of surgery, and also various recovery things.
So at that point Emoni told me probably another two weeks and I told him that I was surprised because I had heard from some people that it could have extended into January by the time that he actually got back on the floor and he said that the initial timeline that he was given was probably right around there, maybe a little bit shorter than that and it seems like everything is on schedule, maybe even ahead of schedule. But again,
When it comes to these injury things, we know the history of the Cavs. They are going to be cautious. They’re not going to rush anybody back. There’s absolutely no need to rush anybody back, given the way that they have played and given the depth that they have on this roster.
Ethan Sands
Do we know if Dean had surgery this offseason?
Chris
He did not have surgery. He did not have surgery, but he had a meniscus issue similar to Emoni.
Ethan Sands
So let’s talk a little bit about this Miami flu, Chris, because now you mentioned, and this is new information to me, the Cavs are staying in Miami for an elongated period after the loss tonight, gonna get to spend time with one another, gonna get to hang out and do all these extracurricular activities and whatever you wanna describe it as. But Chris, I just...
Chris
Mm-hmm.
Ethan Sands
Like people might look at this as a bad decision. People might think of like, there’s a lot of things that can go wrong in Miami over a week or however long they’re going to be there. But for me, I look back to what Donovan Mitchell said last season. Obviously this also ties into him returning to the Cavs on a new contract. But when they went, overseas and got to take that time to themselves and spend with one another and continue to build that camaraderie and chemistry, they came back looking like a new team, right? And I feel like this is another opportunity for the Cavs to do that, even though there might be people that are like, well, I don’t think this team can get any closer, right? But sure, that could be the case, but it can also be like, now I understand you to a deeper level than
We just got a couple dinners together throughout this crazy packed season. Now we can get down to the nitty gritty of different conversations we can have and things of that nature. What do you think this period of staying in Miami, positive and negatively, what that could be for the Cavs?
Chris
Guess we’ll see. Guess we’ll see how much they take advantage of it. But I do think it’s overall going to be a positive. And look, part of the reason why the Cavs are doing this is because, you know, there was a belief that they were going to be on the road for their first game following this extended layoff. And, you know, when everybody was going through the first set of the schedule,
and who was going to be added to the Cavs schedule because they needed two more games to make it all 82. There were many inside the organization and maybe the first rough draft of the schedule was going to be Miami. And it was going to be here in Miami because the way that the schedule set up at the very beginning of the year is that they only played the Heat three times instead of four and there’s only one trip.
Miami. So logic would have pointed to either that or at Washington or at Brooklyn or Philadelphia I think is the other team that the NBA was kicking around because you play most of the teams in the Eastern Conference four times. So if there was a team on the original schedule that the Cavs only played three times those teams and they lost
in the in-season tournament the same kind of way and didn’t advance to the knockout rounds. Those teams were the ones that were in consideration for the addition to the Cavs schedule and Miami was one of those. So, part of the reason why they had this plan of let’s stay in Miami is because they thought they were going to stay in Miami and they thought their first game after all of the NBA Cup stuff was going to be against the Heat here in Miami.
that wasn’t the case. And I think the Cavs were just saying, Hey, this is an opportunity for some team bonding. This is an opportunity for less travel. This is an opportunity to soak up the sun as opposed to going back to the freezing cold of Cleveland. This is an opportunity to kind of like escape a little bit in the middle of the season and have that extra time. where guys are kind of like forced to be with each other where guys are, this is a close team anyway, and they go out to dinners and stuff like that, but when they’re at home, they got families, they got other obligations and stuff like that. So this gives them an opportunity to not just practice together, but, you know, hang out together, have dinners together, all that kind of team bonding stuff that you usually do during long road trips. Here’s the other thing. They haven’t had a long road trip, Ethan.
The longest road trip that they’ve had so far this year is two games. At this point in the season, usually have that already. So they haven’t had that. So I think they looked at this as an opportunity to have it be an extended road trip and get the benefits of what usually come with that kind of extended road trip. So I guess we’ll see. We’ll see how much they capitalize on it. But I do think there are a lot of benefits to even though it’s Miami.
And Miami offers its fair share of distractions. Staying on the road during this time of year, I think is beneficial for this team.
Ethan Sands
Chris you gonna get to stay in Miami for a little bit longer, some biodegradable golf balls into a pond or something?
Chris
Ran that one by the bosses and they shot that down, Ethan. So, from my standpoint, I’m going to come home, but fortunately, that means I get more time with the family and more time with my son. you know, there’s a give and take involved in this sort of thing.
Ethan Sands
No Miami vices for Chris. man.
Chris
That’s why I had to get it all in yesterday and earlier this morning. You know, they didn’t have shoot around today because it was the second game of back to back and it was a one hour earlier than usual tip off. So I got to I got to get in the free time that I usually want while I’m here in Miami late last night, which was nice. Listen to some live music at one of the local establishments.
And earlier today I was able to get outside and soak up the sun.
Ethan Sands
Well, I’m glad you got to enjoy some sunshine. I was freezing my butt off in Charlotte. It was cold, man. The wind was not friendly to us over there. But if...
Chris
Yeah. I was watching that, I was watching that, that ACC championship game between Clemson and SMU. And I was like, wait a minute, are they in North Carolina? Are they in Char- my God, they’re in Charlotte and they’re all wearing like jackets and winter hats. Sorry about that, bud.
Ethan Sands
Man, yeah, was that and then traffic trying to get back to my hotel after the game as both of them kind of ended at the same time. Horrible.
Chris
Traffic? Traffic? How many hotels are within the arena? Like seven? I have never-
Ethan Sands
Because of the game, they were all booked up.
Chris
What game? the... that game. Yes, that game. Sorry. I thought you meant Cavs-Hornets, and I was thinking to myself, nobody goes to Hornets games. What are you talking about? my god.
Ethan Sands
The SMU-Clemson game that we’re talking about.
Ethan Sands
No, the arena for the Cavs, Charlotte Hornets game was definitely not full. It was not a sold out crowd. I’m talking about the football game across the street.
Chris
My god, so where the hell did you stay? See, I’ve never taken an Uber once. Well, I mean, I take an Uber from the airport to my hotel in Charlotte, but I have walked, I’ve taken that walk from the arena to my hotel, hotel to the arena. So many, I’ve never taken an Uber to or from the game. So where the hell did you stay in Charlotte?
Ethan Sands
I was in the Spring Hill Suites about five miles down the road. So not too bad. Yeah, but thankfully I had a friend. Yeah, I wasn’t doing that. Sorry. I know we talked a lot about getting our steps in to mediate the amount of food that we eat on these trips. I was not walking five miles to and from the game. Thankfully, I have a friend that lives in Charlotte that was able to pick me up after getting done writing my second story of the night.
Chris
my gracious. Yeah, that’s a little bit tough to walk, I’d say.
Ethan Sands
But that was about it. And I told him, was like, the amount of work and stuff that I’ve had to do over the last and travel the last couple of days, I was like, I know you want to go out and party, bud, but I’m going to go back to the hotel and go to sleep. I’m glad it was a matinee so I could get in bed by eight o’clock and then wake up again at midnight and rewrite and then write again. The preview for today is Miami Heat game. So I had the schedule planned out pretty well. Got it to work.
Chris
What a weird... What a weird schedule. What a weird route- I’ve never done that. Who goes to bed at 8 on the beat?
Ethan Sands
Well, no, I took a nap because I had a headache after the...
Chris
Who takes a nap at eight o’clock on the beat. That’s wild.
Ethan Sands
It was how many matinee games have they been? Have there been? Like you get done at like six, seven. Like I grabbed some dinner and then got done at eight o’clock and I was like, I know I’m going to have to do more work later. So I might as well get the nap in now and then wake up more refreshed and handle that later.
Chris
I strenuously object. Rookie move.
Ethan Sands
Rookie move but it worked anyway Also Chris, I know we’re getting into the fun parts of the conversation now Would you like to explain to the the viewers on YouTube your cup that you are drinking out of that is? One that you made sure Is that that’s not the one from Atlanta I thought that was the Atlanta one it had the same
Chris
Grey Goose? Grey Goose.
Chris
No, this is from Miami. Miami has them. They look like they belong in their VIP lounge because they’re Grey Goose. I think there’s another one that’s Picardi. I have a whole stack of these that are now going to go into my carry on. These are Magic Cups. I think people have heard me. Yes, that’s what I call them. Magic Cups. I think people on this podcast have heard me talking about these many, many times.
So a couple of years ago, we’re in Atlanta and they had just introduced these magic cups. They’re aluminum cups. And the minute that you put ice in them, the cup, the outer ring of the cup gets so chilly. And it is the best tasting beverage that you will ever have because it is so cold and it is so refreshing. And...
It stays cold the whole time as long as there’s ice in there for a long, time. Like this baby has been sitting next to my bed here in my hotel room in Coral Gables for like the last 45 minutes. And every single sip is like the first sip when you first crack that baby open. Because I don’t know, there’s magic in these cups. It just keeps them cold the whole time. And like,
You know, it’s not a Yeti. If you pack a Yeti with you on the road, guess like it probably works the same kind of way. But these cups are in such demand. They’re magic cups. They’re aluminum cups. They have some kind of technology that keeps it so cold the whole time that the first time I brought them home from Atlanta, my wife was like, you need to get more of those. So.
in my cupboard at home, probably about 15 to 20 of these aluminum cups, all with the Atlanta Hawks logo on them, and all with the brand, whatever the fancy brand is that does this technology for these aluminum cups. And now I’m going to have more to add to the collection with these cool little gray goose and Bacardi ones.
Chris
I can understand how if people in the VIP lounge were having their favorite beverage while watching the heat and the calves and they wanted like it iced in some kind of way, they’re probably having a really good time at the game tonight.
Ethan Sands
That’s that Miami flu right there. But Chris.
Chris
Magic cups, man. There’s only two arenas in the NBA that have these magic cups and every single one of them, I stash them. And I’m not the only media member that does it. We have had conversations amongst ourselves about, man, when you go to Miami, make sure you take three or four of those home with you. Bring a bigger suitcase so that they can fit. Cause your carry on might be stuffed, but this is just a one day trip for me. And I brought
Obviously my carry-on and I have so much room in there that I One two three four five This is six. I have eight of these that I stuck in my computer back and left the arena with So thank you to the Miami Heat and And all the people in the organization for providing the magic cups that I am bringing home I’m going to get many many brownie points from my wife for this one
Ethan Sands
Bro, like...
And we don’t get sponsorship deals for these podcasts. like, I
Chris
Magic Cups sponsor us. It’s got the Heat logo on it too.
Ethan Sands
Magic cups TM. Like, my goodness. And to wrap this up, if...
Chris
it’s so cold. It is still chilled. my God, even the outside, the outer ring is so cold that my hands are cold just touching it. And that’s how you know you have a good beverage there.
Ethan Sands
Thank you for the breakdown, Chris. We appreciate it. But to wrap this up, and we talk a lot about how the Cavs are gonna have an enjoyable trip together, get the bond, all these different things. We’ve also mentioned how in the past they’ve utilized these different road trips, especially when you talk about when they went to Paris and how Donovan Mitchell mentioned that about one of the reasons he wanted to come back because of how much they grew in that trip together.
Chris
Yeah, no problem.
Ethan Sands
And then you talk about the trip to IMG Academy in Sarasota, Florida, where they were hitting golf balls and things of that nature into ponds, obviously biodegradable. And I just think it’s gonna be a great trip, but I don’t think it’s gonna be a better trip for anybody after tonight, other than Donovan Mitchell, who got to FaceTime with Juan Soto after he signed the largest contract in sports history with the New York Mets. And if you don’t know and you should, if you listen to this podcast, Donovan Mitchell is a huge Mets fan and still believes that he could have gone professional if he didn’t break his wrist playing ball in his high school days and then switching over to basketball full time. So he was on the phone with Juan after the contract was announced. Pretty big deal.
Pretty big deal. I mean, for a guy that also just got paid this summer as well, so.
Chris
In the words of Donovan, and this was about a couple weeks ago, if the Mets sign Juan Soto, I’m going to be insufferable. That has already started. How many, how many posts on Twitter has he had since the signing of Juan Soto? Like this dude’s going to be uncontrollably happy for the next, I don’t know, six months until he realizes that the Mets don’t have enough starting pitching and then they lose to the Braves again.
Did I say that? Did I say that out loud?
Ethan Sands
Wow. I mean they still got a sign Pete Alonzo for them to be a true contender But again, not a baseball podcast. This is a basketball podcast. Unfortunately I feel like we would be pretty good at the baseball podcast too, but that’s why we don’t cover baseball So Chris can still bet on them.
Chris
That’s exactly right, Dinger Tuesday, baby. I’m the master of Dinger Tuesday. I. It. Dongs.
Ethan Sands
Hahaha!
Alrighty.
For listeners that want to contribute to a survey about the podcast where you can give your feedback on if we’re being too goofy, you don’t enjoy it, if you love these conversations that we have, either one, you can go tohttps://tinyurl.com/WGPod. That’s https://tinyurl.com/WGPod. Let us know what you think and we’ll tell you if we make some changes or not.
With that being said, that’ll wrap up today’s episode of the Wine and Gold Talk podcast. But remember to become a Cavs Insider and interact with Chris, me, and Jimmy by subscribing to Subtext. Obviously, there’s going to be a couple days in between the Cavs playing. So if you want insider information that you won’t see on Twitter because it’s going to be a break between games, this is where you want to be. Also, you can send in your questions for the next episode of Hey Chris,
on this platform. So to do so, sign up for a 14 day free trial or visit cleveland.com slash Cavs and click on the blue bar at the top of the page. If you don’t like it, that’s fine. All you have to do is text the word stop. It’s easy, but we can tell you that the people who sign up stick around because this is the best way to get insider coverage on the Cavs from me, Chris and Jimmy. This isn’t just our podcast, it’s your podcast. And the only way to have your voice heard is through subtext. Y’all be safe. We out.