CLEVELAND, Ohio — In this episode of the Wine and Gold Talk podcast, Ethan Sands and Chris Fedor break down the Cavs’ 118-113 home-opening win against the Bucks, delving into the team’s increased focus on accountability.
Takeaways:
A New Culture of Accountability Has Been Established
A central theme for the Cavaliers early in the season is a heightened sense of accountability, driven by both coaching and player leadership. Head coach Kenny Atkinson set a serious tone on Day 1 of training camp by displaying the team’s recent playoff record (11-15) as a motivator to figure out the playoffs. This approach continued after the season opener when Jarrett Allen’s four-rebound performance was a central topic in a film session, with coaches and teammates challenging him to be more engaged regardless of his offensive touches. Furthermore, after a narrow win over Brooklyn where the team blew a 25-point lead, Donovan Mitchell reportedly shut down any celebration, insisting that a championship-level team must maintain its dominance. This culture extends throughout the roster, with players like Sam Merrill feeling empowered to hold stars like Mitchell accountable on defense, signaling a team-wide commitment to a higher standard.
Evan Mobley Shows Growth Responding to In-Game Coaching
Evan Mobley’s performance against the Bucks served as a clear example of his development and maturity. After an inefficient first half where he appeared to be forcing shots while adjusting to a more featured offensive role, Atkinson directly addressed him at halftime, urging him to be more selective and “pick his spots.” Mobley responded immediately and effectively to the criticism. In the second half, he was a dominant force, finishing with a season-high 23 points and demonstrating remarkable poise by making all 12 of his free-throw attempts, including six in the final 15 seconds to seal the victory. This ability to absorb direct feedback mid-game and translate it into a positive, game-winning performance is viewed as a crucial growth step for Mobley and a positive sign for the team’s coach-player dynamic.
Roster Depth and Versatility Provide Newfound Adaptability
The Cavaliers’ offseason additions have created a level of roster depth and versatility that gives the coaching staff significant tactical flexibility. Unlike last season, the team now possesses multiple answers for different opponent matchups and game situations. Against the Bucks, Atkinson was able to manage Larry Nance Jr.’s minutes while still getting impactful play from Dean Wade, despite his shooting struggles. Allen did not close the game, as the team opted for a lineup with more floor spacing to attack Milwaukee’s zone defense. The ability to deploy lineups featuring shooters like Wade, playmakers like Lonzo Ball, or defenders like De’Andre Hunter alongside the core players allows the Cavs to adapt on the fly. This optionality is a key asset, enabling them to win even while missing key starters like Darius Garland and Max Strus.
Sam Merrill Is Emerging as a Crucial, High-Impact Player
Sam Merrill is significantly outperforming expectations and solidifying his role as a key contributor. Silencing offseason questions about his contract and durability, Merrill has been a revelation through the first three games, looking comfortable and effective in an expanded role. His offensive impact goes beyond just shooting; his constant movement, gravity, and off-ball cutting create chaos for defenses. His production, including a franchise-record 15 three-pointers made through the first three games of a season, has been so significant that it has lessened the impact of Strus’ absence. Importantly, Merrill has also answered questions about his defense by competing at a high level, drawing tough assignments and earning the respect of opposing coaches, who are now forced to adjust their scouting reports to account for him.
Offensive Adjustments Against the Zone Showcase a More Dynamic Attack
The Cavaliers demonstrated a strategic evolution in their victory over the Bucks by countering a zone defense that had initially made their offense stagnant. The primary adjustment involved positioning Donovan Mitchell at the elbow and free-throw line area, allowing him to catch the ball in the middle of the defense and operate as the primary decision-maker. This wrinkle, a point of emphasis in Mitchell’s offseason work, allows him to read the defense and create shots for himself or others without the physical toll of breaking down a defender from the perimeter. This in-game adjustment provides the Cavs with a reliable method to attack zone defenses — a scheme they are likely to see more of — and showcases a more diverse and adaptable offense.
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Transcript
NOTE: This transcript was generated by artificial intelligence and could contain misspellings and errors.
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. And with me today back in Cleveland, Chris Fedor, cleveland.com Cavs beat reporter and we’re here with you guys after the Cavs first win at home, home of the season, 118, 113 over the Milwaukee Bucks. And Chris, before we get into the analytical breakdown of the game, the arena felt like we were back in the playoffs. It was the first game that rocketed. Arena was rocking, the environment was great and they had the rally towels already out in seats. Has that been happening or am I, am I missing something? Because I, I remember that in the playoffs, but not for the first game of season.
Chris Fedor: Yeah, I mean, I think they want to appease Donovan Mitchell. Donovan Mitchell likes the whiteout, so the Cavs are going to continue to go with the white out as much as they possibly can. He even said something about that following the game. So he likes that atmosphere. And yeah, I think the Cavs are going to make home openers even bigger considering this is a team that has championship aspirations. This is a team that is getting, getting national attention. This is one of the most recognizable teams in the N B A. The thing that I wonder, Ethan, are they going to have somebody pull the sword every single game? Every single home game? Because they would have to find 41. I don’t know that they have enough. Like they might have to pull Jim Jones from his perch and have him pull the sword. They might have to go through every single nance to pull the sword. I just think they’ll run out of guys eventually. You don’t want any Browns pulling the sword unless it’s Miles Garrett, because I don’t know that the reaction would be what the Cavs want to be. So they started this whole pull the sword before tip off thing in the playoffs and that continued over tonight into the season opener with Larry Nance senior doing it. But do they really have 41 games at home in the regular season where they’re going to do that or are they just going to have the sword pole for the bigger marquee games like Christmas, Martin Luther King Day, you know, those kinds of things? That’s what I’m wondering. Because they’re going to run out of old Cavaliers at some point if they keep doing the sword pull every single home game.
Ethan Sands: That’s a great question, honestly. And they might have to just pick every guardian from the 40 man roster and have them come each game and be like, all right, today’s your turn. You go ahead and get the pull the sword and then the one game at home. Myles Garrett will do it or whatever. Or maybe Larry Nance Senior will be the one from not the guardians 40 bad roster.
Chris Fedor: Who knows why Austin Carr double dip. I know that you’ve got a broadcast to do, but before you start that broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network, you come out and you pull the sword.
Ethan Sands: Man in a suit. That would be fun. I think the fans would enjoy that. But getting into tonight’s matchup, great, Chris. We knew coming in that it was going to be the battle of the bigs. Miles Turner returned to Cleveland this time not donning the yellow Pacers uniform, but donning a green Milwaukee Bucks uniform alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo against Jared Allen and Evan Mobley. Eyes were of course going to be on both of the Cavs front court when it comes to how is Jared Allen going to respond from his no show in the Knicks game? His bounce back in Brooklyn? What would you could have do against a perennial MVP candidate in Giannis Antetokounmpo? We knew coming in that he has a success rate when it comes to slowing Giannis down as much as one could hope to slow Giannis down in a regular basis. Evan Mobley, he’s going through the next step of growth when it comes to his progress and getting to the next leap of his career. How do you think they performed in tonight’s matchup against two. Two bigs that they’ve had problems or success with in recent memory?
Chris Fedor: Thought they were great, Ethan. I thought they were impactful and, and I think this kind of shows something that’s really, really important from a Cavs perspective. You know, there is this conversation and I think it’s a fair conversation and I think it’s questions that we have had about this team as well. But the conversation has shifted to are the Cavs too nice? Do they have too many nice guys to win an NBA championship? Do they have enough quote unquote dogs to win a championship? And if you think about what has happened so far in the first three games, they’ve only played three games in the regular season. And even going back to training camp, day one of training camp, Kenny Atkinson, the head coach, decides to set a tone. What’s the theme of this season? Figure out the freaking playoffs. Understand and accept the failures of the playoffs and try and learn from them. So what does he do? He puts 11 and 15 right in front of their face and that’s the Cavs playoff record over the last three years, even before Kenny got here. But he wanted the team to have to own that. He wanted the team to be motivated from that. And, you know, I think it helps Kenny that it’s year two and he’s more comfortable around these guys and he can hold them accountable in a different kind of way. And he’s kind of learned what he can say, how to get through to these guys, all that kind of stuff. But. But for him, day one of training camp to be like, no fun, no gimmicks, 11 and 15, not good enough for a team that has championship aspirations, that’s a big deal. Okay. And then you have, following the first game of the season against the Knicks, in an off day film session, Jared Allen’s no show being a central topic where Kenny Atkinson’s talking to him about, hey, you can’t have four rebounds. That is a no, no. Where Kenny Atkinson’s talking to all of Jared’s teammates saying, hey, Jarrett’s open. Get him the ball. Pass him the ball. He’s our rim thrust. And then you have teammates of Jarrett saying, hey, man, like, I get it. We didn’t get you the ball, and that’s on us. But even if we’re not getting you the ball, you can’t have four rebounds. You can’t be physically manhandled that kind of way. You can’t just no show. And his teammates were basically like, we get it. You probably wanted more touches and you wanted more involvement on the offensive end of the floor, but you can’t allow that to dictate whether you’re going to engage or not. That was after the first game of the season. And then after the second game of the season, even their first win, they were up by 25 against Brooklyn. Brooklyn comes back, they get within one, and Donovan Mitchell’s like, nah, f this, no celebration here. I know it’s the first win, but no, that should not have been a narrow escape against that caliber team. We’re supposed to be a championship level team. Whether we have Max Stru or not, whether we have Darius or not, whether we have DeAndre or not. We were up 25 points on that team, and we let it get that close at the end of, no, that’s not happening. And Donovan sent that message in the locker room. So I think you see this team at the very, very beginning of the season trying to set a tone of accountability and set a certain standard. And. And I think one of the big things that stands out to me is how has Jarrett responded to being called out and being one of the topics of their off day film session. Had a really good game against Brooklyn, made basically every shot that he took. And then tonight against Myles Turner, Giannis, he was good again. He was a force on the boards, he was running, he was setting screens. He was. Even if he wasn’t getting offensive rebounds, he was battling for them. So that, you know, Giannis and some of these other guys for Milwaukee couldn’t just grab the rebound and initiate quickly in transition deflections, just being a presence. And I think it’s big that each time something has come up with this Cavs team, from an accountability standpoint, whoever it has been that’s been on the other end of that, there’s been a positive response. And that was the case to me. That’s what stood out to me tonight with the Cavs, you know, having what happened in Brooklyn in the fourth quarter and then Milwaukee’s making this run because Milwaukee’s a better team and they got Giannis and he’s had an MVP like game and the Cavs were able to respond and make the plays that they needed to in crunch time.
Ethan Sands: So you made a lot of good points there, Chris. And I’m trying to figure out where I want to go from here, but I’m going to start here. You’re absolutely right. Accountability is one of the biggest things of this team. And I think they’ve gotten to the point obviously year four of the core four that they can have these hard conversations. They need to be able to have these hard conversations. Even players like Sam Merrill, who just got a new contract, might feel like his voice is a little bit more respected because you’re not just a player coming off the bench and playing 15 minutes and doing a role player’s role. You’re in a start starting role. You are arguably one of the best players to start the season, as Kenny Atkinson has said. But you’re calling out Donovan Mitchell saying, well, if you’re going to talk about defense, you gotta do your job too. You gotta be able to hold your own against the point guards. I’ll take Cam Thomas, I’ll take Jalen Brunson. Sam Merrill is saying, or in this case, I’ll take A.J. green. So I think that accountability and Sam saying, like Kenny Atkinson doesn’t feel feel the need to only be strict with the role players or anybody of that nature. He’s talking about this to Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley and Darius Garland. And obviously there were times where you could look down at the Cavs bench After a play, you could see Kenny Atkinson kind of spatting with Donovan Mitchell, and Donovan trying to explain what he was doing, and Kenny just being like, I don’t need an explanation. I need you to be better. And that’s kind of what the accountability has looked like for this team. But my caveat to this, Chris, and you might hear me use that word a couple times on today’s podcast, is that you’re right. Every time something is brought up in a significant matter, the very next game, it is addressed. But the game following that is always a question as well, is whether or not they continue that, because sometimes they get caught up in, okay, so we improved that this day. Now we have to fix this. And then they forget about the thing that happened the other day. And I think this season is about continuously growing and projecting an offense and a defense that is better in every aspect of what they’re learning through these early growing periods when it comes to the playoffs, a better team all around. And they answered all these questions to add to that.
Chris Fedor: So Evan Mobley in the first half doesn’t really look like the guy that the Cavs have been forecasting, doesn’t look like the guy who was second team all N B A, the guy that the Cavs believe is one day going to get some MVP buzz. But he was fine in the first half, but he was inefficient shooting the ball. I thought he forced some shots. I think Evan’s clearly still trying to get comfortable in this new featured role. He’s such a big part of their offense. They’re demanding so much of him, and it’s just new and it’s different, and I don’t think he’s fully comfortable in it. And I think at some points throughout the course of these first three games, he’s been forcing shots and he’s been taking shots out of the rhythm and out of the flow of the offense because it’s been ingrained in him to be aggressive. But, like, aggressive doesn’t always mean take the shot. Aggressive doesn’t always mean score the basketball. And I think he’s still trying to learn the right balance. So he has this first half where he’s just, okay, like I said, inefficient, forcing shots. And then Kenny gets on him at halftime. Kenny says, hey, Evan, you gotta be better. Like, yeah, we want you to be aggressive. Yes, we want you to be a focal point of this offense. But, like, pick your spots better pass the ball every now and then. And for Kenny Atkinson to have that conversation with Evan in the first half and Evan to be mature enough to take that information and make it translate in the second half, where he finished with a season high 23 points, where he made every single free throw that he took, all 12 of them, including six in the final 15 seconds. Again, that is a growth step. And I know people are looking at it like, well, what are you talking about? The Cavs are supposed to be this championship level team. Why are you talking about all these little things? Because, like, this is still a growing team and there are still aspects of this team that are very, very new that they’re trying to figure out. And what did Kenny Atkinson say? We’re going to have growing pains. This is not the same team from last year. There are different things that we’re trying to learn about these players, and these players are trying to learn about us, and these players are trying to learn about the changes within the system and all that kind of stuff. So when you have these little moments, even if it’s at the beginning of the season, even if it’s game three, I think they’re meaningful and I think they’re important. And I think seeing Evan respond to being called out by his coach at halftime with the second half that he had, I think that’s big in terms of his development.
Ethan Sands: That has been the buzzword of tonight’s locker room is the accountability of what this team is now ready for. The hard conversations that cannot only just be had during the off season or during the summer, as we’ve talked about with Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell trying to figure each other out and trying to figure out how they can be successful on the floor together. Now it’s Evan Mobley and Donovan, but you have to have those conversations mid season as well. Well, but we talked a little bit about Jared Allen and how he was better today and then he had been in the past, and he still has room to grow. But he did grab 11 rebounds against Giannis and Miles Turner. I thought that was huge. In the first half, he was really good. In the second half, he kind of fell off because he was exerting so much energy. And sometimes when Jared Allen does that, particularly in the third game of the regular season, he gets drained. And Kenny Atkinson, I felt like, made the right decision. Especially when we talk about the readiness for the playoffs. Yes, it’s the third game of the season, but in these crunch time moments, Jared Allen’s not necessarily going to be on the floor every game to close games out. As we’ve seen in the past, that didn’t happen tonight either. Right? He subbed in DeAndre Hunter to play the four at spurts. He had Dean Wade playing the four at Spurt’s with Evan Mobley playing, manning the five position and even throwing in Larry Nez Jr. At points as well. Chris, what did you take away from that dynamic and being able to see Jared Allen have the first half that he might have had, which was productive but also had some question marks around it. And then the third quarter where the Cavs simply went away from Evan Mobley, Donovan Mitchell and Jared Allen for a stretch and then had to bring them back in. But Jared Allen again not finishing games and what that could say about the Cavs in the future, I think it.
Chris Fedor: Just highlights and reaffirms Ethan, the playable depth that has been added to this roster. And I was talking to Larry Nanch Jr. About this in the locker room either against New York or against Brooklyn and the thing that he said that stands out about this roster is that they just have different answers for whatever opponent that they’re going to be playing against. There’s so much versatility, there’s so much optionality. Look at tonight, tonight against Milwaukee, Larry Nance Jr. Has been a fixture of the rotation. He’s been getting right around 20 minutes now. Look, this was the first of a back to back. They have to play in Detroit on Monday. So Kenny probably had to manage things a little bit differently. Especially when it comes to Larry Nance Jr. You’re trying to get through the grind of the 82 game season. It’s October, you’ve got to make some of these decisions. But it shows the optionality that, that Kenny has when it comes to lineups. If he doesn’t want to overexert Larry then, then he can go to Dean. And Dean’s been good, Dean’s been impactful. I know that the counting numbers aren’t always there and the shooting numbers aren’t exactly what the Cavs would want. He went one a five from the field and oh, a four four from three point range tonight. But he just gives them another option, another playable option, right? You’re missing Max Streuss, you’re missing Darius Garland. The Cavs are feeling that, no doubt about it. But it, it shows the kind of depth that they have that they’re still able to have enough playable NBA level guys coming off their bench. Craig Porter Jr. With Queen, quality minutes coming off the bench, his hounding defense, his pressure, his improved outside shot, his tenacity. They didn’t even play Tyrese Proctor tonight. And I think you know, he’s the guy who’s kind of on that end of the. The back end of the rotation, and he needs circumstances in his favor for him to get consistent minutes. And DeAndre Hunter coming back pushed him further down. So I just think, you know, to have as many options as Kenny does off the bench, it just allows him to play with these lineups, play with these rotations. And sometimes he’s going to finish with Lonzo, sometimes he’s going to finish with Jarrett. We know that Evan Mobley, DeAndre Hunter in this iteration of the Cavs, until Darius comes back and until Max comes back, in this iteration of the Cavs, Evan Mobley, DeAndre Hunter, Donovan Mitchell and Sam Merrill are probably going to be the four guys, the four mainstays of the closing lineup. So then that fifth one is fluid. If they need another big, then it’s Jarrett, right? If they need some ball handling, if they need some playmaking, it can be Lonzo. If they need a little bit more floor spacing, if they need some versatility defensively, then Dean Wade’s an option for them as well. And if you think about, you know, toward the end of the game, Milwaukee’s in this zone. What do you need? You need a little bit more spacing. You need to make it so that the defense is spread out a little bit and Giannis can’t come over and help, or Miles Turner can’t come over and help. And the Cavs were really, really smart and how they operated. They gave Donovan Mitchell the ball inside the three point line, inside, kind of at the free throw line, extended. But because Jarrett was not on the floor during those moments and it was Dean instead, the defenders had to stay home. They had to stay home in a different kind of way. And it wasn’t crowded and it wasn’t as congested. So if the Cavs need to go with that kind of look, they can, they have the personnel to do that. If the Cavs have to go big, they can, they have the personnel to do that. If the Cavs have to go really, really small, they can, they have the personnel to do that. So I just think there are more answers to what an opponent is going to throw at them because of the personnel changes that they have made and because they have more playable depth than what they had last year. And I think that showed up, and I think it’s fine that Jared Allen does not close every single game for the Cavs, because the kind of player that he is, there are certain situations where it’s better for the Cavs to have somebody else out there on the floor as the fifth guy. And I think Jarrett accepts that. I think Jarrett knows that.
Ethan Sands: I think he’s had to since at least last season where he saw it as a recurring theme, especially throughout the playoffs. And now you have not only DeAndre Hunter back, but also guys, as you mentioned, Chris, Dean Wade for rebounding as we talked about with the Brooklyn Nets game where, where he came in for that responsibility and Lonzo Ball, a guy who came in for ball handling. And back to the question of what the Cavs need to stop doing is letting go of leads. Right? The 25 point lead in Brooklyn, the 18 point lead tonight. But as we talked to the players after the game, Donovan Mitchell didn’t classify this as the same kind of diminishing lead when it comes to.
Chris Fedor: I wonder why that was one.
Ethan Sands: Because it’s the Milwaukee Bucks rather than the Brooklyn Nets. He didn’t want to say that.
Chris Fedor: But yes, everybody was thinking the same thing. The caliber of Pwnet played into his anger when it came to that sort of thing.
Ethan Sands: Of course. And we kind of go back to this conversation a lot, especially dating back to last season where it was, okay, the Cavs keep giving up leads, but is that actually the caveat? There’s, there’s that word again. The caveat to that is are they actually learning how to be a late game team because they’re getting so many clutch opportunities? Yes and no. Right. And it can be helpful in both capacities. But the Cavs, and we continue to say this, need to be more dominant when they have a lead. They allowing teams back into games, as you saw with the Indiana Pacer series, is not beneficial to them, even if they have clutch players, even if they have the experience of playing those clutch games. I think the Cavs understand that and that’s part of the reason why they are okay with learning it in particular situations but needing to remind themselves that putting their foot on teams next is what will get you further in the playoffs. Because if you give teams more room to breathe, they’re going to come back. And if you don’t, those teams are going to realize that you’re not as much of a pushover as many analysts have said coming into this year.
Chris Fedor: Yeah, I think for the Cavs it’s just continuing to trust what, what’s working at both ends of the floor, continuing to trust each other, continuing to play within the flow of the offense and not having somebody feel like they have to go into Superman mode. And I thought at the end of the Game. You know, it was an important thing for the Cavs to be. Be able to inbound the ball to Evan Mobley and have Evan Mobley be the one who is getting fouled and have Evan Mobley go to the free throw line and confidently make those shots. And I was talking to one of the players in the locker room, I said, hey, you know, last year against Indiana, Indiana knew you were trying to get the ball either to Darius or Donovan, and it became very, very difficult for you to inbound the ball, to have more guys, including Evan. Evan’s not the best for free throw shooter in terms of percentage. But in this situation, if you’re Milwaukee, what are you thinking? Don’t let Donovan catch it. Don’t let Donovan catch it. Make it as difficult as possible for Donovan to catch it so somebody else has to come through late. Donovan made three of their final four shots, but Evan was the other one who collected the ball on the inbounds, went to the free throw line and calmly made six in the final 15 seconds. That helped them hold off Milwaukee’s charge and, and, and seal the win. And, and I thought that was a big thing for the Cavs to be able to go somebody other than Donovan and for Lonzo, a new guy, to say, you know what? He’s open. He’s the guy. I’m going to trust him. I thought that was big as well. It, it didn’t have to only be Donovan Mitchell in the fourth quarter. Right. And I think continuing to trust that, continuing to trust your teammates in those situations and continuing to play similar to how you did to get the lead, as opposed to hero ball, as opposed to isolations and things along those lines. I think that’s important for the Cavs as well in late game situations especially.
Ethan Sands: Sam Merrow was on a tear as well. And he’s a great free throw shooter because he’s a great free film shooter. So as well as Donovan Mitchell being a guy you don’t want let to get the ball, you have a fear factor when it comes to the Milwaukee Bucks of Sam Merrill also going to the free throw line. Obviously, Evan Mobley had been good up until that point. All day he was perfect from the line. As Chris had mentioned earlier, you see Doc’s reaction.
Chris Fedor: There was a moment late in the game where, you know, Milwaukee was playing well defensively and they had one breakdown and it led to Sam Merrill getting a wide open three where he caught the ball and he was like, okay, well, nobody’s going to guard me, so I might as well just Shoot this thing. And Doc just dropped his head and he was like, of all guys to leave open. We’re leaving open Sam Merrill, like a guy who has already made a bunch of threes up to this point. So yeah, I mean, I think it shows the level of respect that, that Milwaukee certainly had for Sam as well, who’s been great to start the season for the Gaffs.
Ethan Sands: And to be fair, Kenny Atkinson also had a similar reaction when AJ Green got small sliver of space. That was because a rotation wasn’t made and there was closeout, but it wasn’t a great closeout. And Kenny, as he does, just threw his arms up in the air, was like, where are you at? Why would you leave that guy?
Chris Fedor: Yeah, that’s Costco. Sam Merrill, what are you doing?
Ethan Sands: Also to your point, Chris, just to elaborate on Sam Merrill’s success this season, he had four three point makes tonight, again extending his mark to 15 three pointers made in just three games. That’s the most through three games in Cavs franchise history. The second Most is Max Dro from the 2023, 2024 season. And I mean once they get both of those guys back, it’s going to be a great show and it’s going to be interesting to see how these lineups work, but we’re going to get to that a different day.
Chris Fedor: And this is not a small thing though, Ethan, the Sam Merrill thing is not a small thing because I, I think people were wondering about Sam, right, the contract, the bigger opportunity, is he ready for it? Can he hold up physically with more minutes? It’s only game three. There is a long way to go. But man, does he look comfortable this season. Man, does he look good in this expanded role. And man, is he creating a bunch of chaos for the opposing defense. And Max Strus is an impact loss for the Cavs to not have him. But you don’t feel that one as much because of what Sam is providing at both ends of the floor. And I think that’s key at both ends of the floor. It’s not just knocking down shots, it’s not just space in the floor, not just his gravity, not just his off ball cutting, not just his constant movement, but the way that he is competing at the defensive end of the floor as well has been a big thing because that’s been a question about Sam and, and he started to answer that question last year and he was very good and he held up in the Indiana series in a way that Ty Jerome didn’t. And that was in the back of The Cavs mind when making a decision this offseason in terms of how they were going to allocate their salaries. But. But, yes, I think Cavs Nation and I think people around the NBA, they saw that contract from Sam Merrill and they were like, wait, what? Really? That guy, that money, that kind of role on a Cavs team, and here he is getting the biggest opportunity of his career, and he actually joked in the locker room after the game, he’s like, wait a minute. I gotta talk to the media for a third straight game. Evan and Donovan talk every single game. I don’t talk every single game. I’m not supposed to talk every single game. But because he’s been playing so well, you know, he’s had to talk to the media in three straight games, and that just kind of shows if. If you’re going to continue to play like that, people are going to be paying more attention to you. Your name’s going to go a little bit higher on the scouting report, and that’s obviously going to be an adjustment for Sam when teams start to change a little bit of. Of how they guard him and how much attention they pay to him and what kind of defender they put on him and stuff like that. So that’ll be an adjustment for him. But, you know, to have these questions surrounding you coming into the season and then get off to this kind of start where the team doesn’t even feel the loss of a key player, that just speaks to how good Sam has been, and he deserves a ton of credit for that.
Ethan Sands: I was doing a spot hit for sportsforcle on cleveland.com last week after the New York Knicks game, and a caller called in talking about Sam Merrill was useless. Why would they get rid of Ty Giro? And I’m sitting there and I’m like, sam Merrill just came off a game where he had 19 points guarded Jalen Brunson for a majority of the game. And we still have people questioning his validity as a player to make an impact. Well, it’s again three games into the season, but he’s got 19, 22 and 17 and his defensive metrics, although might not show up in the box score if you go to the advanced stats, they’re very good because of what he’s been able to do while guarding arguably the best scorers on all the teams that the Cavs have faced thus far. Obviously, Giannis, he’s not going to guard him, but scores of the basketball, we understand what Sam can do on that end of the floor. And Chris, just to go back to something briefly when we talked about getting the ball in was a problem for the Cavs, particularly against the Indiana Pacers last year. I think it’s evident that the Cavs now have a player like Lonzo Ball who can pass the ball in at an extreme rate, has a great iq, has a great read of the game, is a risk taker called by Kenny Atkinson and knows his role right, because him and Dean Wade in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter were in and out together, right? They were. Dean was in for defense, Lonzo’s in for offense. Not necessarily for scoring but for ball handling, for distribution. And if anything might have happened where they needed an inbound play, Lonzo Ball was the guy taking it out. And that goes into your point about Evan Mobley simply being available and Lonzo Ball being 6 foot 6. Even if they were to put Giannis out there to put his long arms up and try and distract the view for Alonso, he still had the ability to see over and look rather than if it was a guard like Donovan has in the past. So I do think Mondo is going to play a major role in this offense, but it’s going to be in spurts and obviously tomorrow is a back to back. He played in 23 minutes tonight. That most likely means, or basically means he will not play against Detroit and we’ll wait for the official injury management to come out before listing at his final but still, we know coming into this season that he was going to be limited in back to backs. Start the year at least. Chris, I want to get into the last part of today’s podcast with you and that goes into the zone defense. That made the offense for the Cavs a little bit stagnant, a little bit clunky and it was difficult for the Cavs to maneuver. You mentioned Donovan Mitchell getting into the free throw line, the elbow look with Evan Mobley in the dunker and obviously how that creates different opportunities for the Cavs and what that might mean for Donovan as a flasher with the option to dump down to Evan and then also receive it if the defense collapses on them because the zone giving them problems is part because the Cavs have not gone through their zone offense just yet. Evan Mobley admitted post game that they literally have not really focused on that because there are so many different other tweaks, tweaks that Kenny Atkinson wanted to make to the offense that they were simply not prepared necessarily for that. But now the Cavs have not only Evan Mobley and DeAndre Hunter who we’ve Known are capable from the mid range to create from there, but also to get to the lane or distribute from there. But now you have Donovan Mitchell, who garners so much attention, not only creating from above the breaks, but now in the middle of the defense and having the opportunity to see where the defense is going to lack and him still having the ability to make passes, whether that’s getting the ball to the corner, a floater. I think it’s an offensive system that because the Cavs have more personnel, they can make these adjustments quicker than they would have in the past.
Chris Fedor: Yeah. And the Donovan putting him in that position one was a good wrinkle. Two, part of the reason why the Cavs could do that is because they did have Lonzo out there at various points and he could kind of initiate, make those passes to Donovan and it just didn’t have to be Donovan as the primary ball handler. And it helps Donovan too, because instead of already being with your live dribble and trying to break down a defense and use a screen from Jared Allen or Evan Mobley and you have to go all the way from the top of the key beyond the three point line and create from there. You’re already inside the three point line. You catch the ball, you’re in the triple threat position. You can dribble if you want to. You can just cite your defender. You can figure out what the defense is going to do. Is somebody going to come over and help from the corner? Is somebody not going to help from the corner? He worked all off season on the dribble, pull up and the jump shot through contact and stuff like that. So Donovan for, for him to, you know, on the fly and Kenny Atkinson basically on the fly. Use Donovan that kind of way and Donovan have success that kind of way. It just provides a different dimension to the Cavs offense, a dimension that they didn’t really get to tap into much, if at all in the past. And for Donovan to be comfortable being used that way and make three shots being used that way, it’s something that Kenny’s gonna put in his back pocket for whenever he needs it. Whenever they play against the Miami Heat and the Miami Heat go to their zone, or when they play against J.B. bickerstaff’s Detroit Pistons, who are known to use some zone on Monday night as well, teams around the NBA are starting to use zone a little bit more frequently. The Cavs have used it a bunch in the first three games as well, so. So now they just have another way to attack out of that because of the evolution of Donovan Mitchell, because of all the work that he did behind the scenes and because of just the type of player that he is, he becomes the primary decision maker from that position on the floor. Usually good things are going to happen for the team, especially if the right spacing is around him. I think that’s a very, very important point to all of this too.
Ethan Sands: Yeah. And I talked to Donovan a little bit after today’s game about this and he said that he, he had worked on the mid range as one of the priorities for his offseason, knowing what the Cavs were going to have with DeAndre and Evan and just the creation options and all of those. And also as you mentioned, Chris, it’s less wear and tear on his body flashing to, to the middle of the court rather than having to dribble, pull up and get to that spot after going through a defender and. Right. So I, I think when we talk about the zone defense and, and the Cavs know this very well, there’s really only one true weakness. If the Cavs can’t make threes, which is another weakness of the zone, it’s simply you shoot them out of it. But that’s around the free throw line in the elbow. So if the teams use that defensive adjustment against the Cav, we could be seeing a lot of half rolls and flashing from the corner and initiation from the elbow to try and create in the dunker to draw a double or potentially an even better look like we saw from Evan and Donovan tonight.
Chris Fedor: How many answers to the test do you have? And there are going to be a bunch of different tests that teams throw at the Cavs. And by the Cavs standard, they didn’t really hit their threes tonight. They’re 12 of 40 from three point range. 12 made threes for the Cavs. That’s not like them. That’s not who they are. That’s not who they were last year. That’s not who they were in the first two games against New York and Brooklyn. But for them to win a game, lead by 18, lead for 35 plus minutes, when they have that kind of night shooting the three, it just shows the diversity within this offense and the different options that they have within this offense. And you have to be able to win games in a variety of ways in the NBA. And I know that it needs to play itself out in the playoffs when the Cavs play against better quality opponents, probably better than even the Milwaukee Bucks, whose roster, by the way, oh my God, if, if Giannis gets hurt, they’re they’re going to the lottery. They just don’t have a lot. But that’s, that’s besides the point for the Cavs to to be able to to play the way that they did and win the way that they did when what has been their primary weapon, the three pointer, wasn’t to the standard that they have grown accustomed to. I think that’s big as well and I think it shows, like I said, the diversity and the versatility within within their offense and just how many different ways that they can potentially attack a team and the solutions that they have because of their personnel and because of their playstyle when they go up against these other teams that are going to vary their lineups, vary their looks, all that kind of stuff.
Ethan Sands: Just to piggyback on your point about the three point shot production from tonight’s game, aside from Sam Merrill, The Cavs had one player to make more than 13 in tonight’s game and it was Lonzo Ball. And Lonzo has been struggling himself from a three point line. So I think the Cavs are definitely one missing Darius Garland and Max Struth. But as Kenny Atkinson usually, or I would predict, would say, they would shoot themselves out of this at some point because the law of averages says that they would not shoot this poorly for a longer stretch. But with all that being said, that’ll wrap up today’s episode of the Wash and Gold Talk podcast. But remember to become a Cavs insider and interact with Chris, me and Jimmy by subscribing to Subtext. Sign up for a 14 day free trial or visit cleveland.comcavs 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 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.
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