CLEVELAND, Ohio — In this episode of the Wine and Gold Talk podcast, the hosts break down the Cavs’ 141-118 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, highlighting the significant impact of Sam Merrill’s return.
Takeaways:
Sam Merrill Is the “Linchpin” to the Offense
The return of Sam Merrill from injury has had an immediate and profound impact on the Cavaliers’ performance. The hosts described him as a “connector” and the “linchpin” to Kenny Atkinson’s offensive system, stylistically similar to players like Joe Harris in Brooklyn or Kyle Korver in Atlanta. Merrill’s constant movement and shooting gravity demand defensive attention, which in turn creates driving lanes and easier opportunities for his teammates. In the win against New Orleans, his presence was directly credited with the team scoring 72 points in the paint. His impact is felt on both ends of the floor, with his point-of-attack defense and overall energy providing a much-needed boost that the team had been sorely missing.
Kenny Atkinson’s Job Is Not in Jeopardy
According to multiple sources cited on the podcast, any conversation about Head Coach Kenny Atkinson being on the hot seat is “categorically false.” The Cavaliers organization believes many of the team’s early-season struggles are correctable and directly related to injuries. Having used nearly 20 different starting lineups, the front office is giving Atkinson leeway to figure things out as key players return to health. The team is committed to exhausting all internal options before considering drastic moves like a coaching change or a major roster trade. The immediate positive impact of Sam Merrill’s return is seen as evidence supporting this patient approach and their belief in the current structure.
A Renewed Focus on Physicality and Energy
A major factor in the victory over the Pelicans was the Cavaliers’ ability to dominate the physical aspects of the game. Against a team known for wanting to “impose their will,” the Cavs won the battles in points in the paint (72-54), rebounds (49-43), and second-chance points (27-18). This marked a significant turnaround from recent performances where the team’s effort and urgency were questioned. The hosts noted a visible increase in focus, better defensive rotations, and more communication. This improved energy, displayed by both teams on the second night of a back-to-back, was seen as a critical step forward and a potential sign that the team is becoming more engaged.
The Organization Believes Its Problems Are Internally Fixable
The Cavaliers’ front office is maintaining a patient stance, reportedly turning down trade offers because they believe the team’s primary issues are “fixable and correctable” from within. The core of this belief lies in the eventual return of key injured players. The podcast suggests that the re-integration of players like Max Strus and Evan Mobley around the new year or trade deadline could function as de facto “acquisitions,” providing the roster with a significant boost without needing to make a trade. This philosophy explains the team’s reluctance to make a drastic move and reinforces their decision to stand by Coach Atkinson, as they have yet to see the roster’s full potential due to persistent injuries.
Darius Garland’s Vital Role and Lingering Health Concerns
While he did not have a standout performance, Darius Garland playing through a quad contusion on the second night of a back-to-back was seen as a significant positive. His presence is considered essential, as his unique stop-start quickness and ability to create offense are elements no other player on the roster can replicate. However, the hosts expressed long-term concern about the team’s heavy reliance on him, especially given that his lingering toe injury now seems to be a persistent “feature, not a bug.” The team’s offensive identity and ceiling appear to be directly tied to Garland’s health, creating a high-stakes situation as the season progresses.
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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 joining me today, Chris Fedor, cleveland.com Casby reporter and Jimmy Watkins, cleveland.com columnist and we’re coming to you guys after another Cleveland Cavaliers win, 141, 118 over the new Orleans Pelicans. And guys, I want to start here. I’ve been extremely critical of Kenny Atkinson when it comes to lineup combinations, the variations, inability to go to certain players in certain moments, going away from hot hands. It felt like Kenny Atkinson pressed every right button tonight, and it started with the starting lineup. When we heard that Zion Williamson has been coming off the bench for the New Orleans Pelicans, and we know that the Cavalier bench has had a lackluster productivity for the last couple of weeks, we wanted to see a change. We wanted to see if DeAndre Hunter would be enough. It hadn’t been in the last couple of games. So we saw that Kenny Atkinson placed Jalen Tyson on the bench as well, with Sam Merrill returning and adding the gravity, the spacing, the ball movement, the cutting, all of these different areas that Sam Merrow has impacted. And it feels like over the last couple of days, Kenny Atkinson cannot rave enough about Sam Merrow as a connector, a piece that the Cavs have sorely been missing. Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, everybody in the locker room feels the same way. And it’s amazing to see how one player’s absence and now return has changed the dynamic of a team and so many different capacities. And that’s just on the offensive end, the defensive end as well, his point of attack, defense, his ability to wall up against defenders and just a will to want to be in there. I think Sam Merrill needs to get a lot more credit, especially because of conversations we had over the summer of the contract that he signed, the reality of why the Cavs did that, and Kenny Atkinson obviously having that at his top priority when it came to this summer of getting Sam Merrow back.
Chris Fedor: Guys, it’s easy to push the right buttons when the button is actually there to push. Like, this is a team that has had close to 20 different starting lineups. The lineups that they’ve used most frequently are probably not the ones that they anticipated coming into this year, but things are going to look better when you have these kinds of buttons to push. I mean, look on the opposite side of things. For New Orleans, there’s a domino effect of them not having Herbert Jones. There’s a domino effect of Them not having Jordan pool, all of a sudden different guys have to play more minutes. All of a sudden different guys are thrust in to bigger roles, more expanded roles that they’re probably not ready for at this stage, their careers, at this stage of their development. It’s the same thing with the Cavs and Sam Merrill. It is clear, everything will tell you that this is a different offensive team, this is a different defensive team. When Sam Merrill is on the floor than when he’s off. He is somebody who continues to work his way up the depth chart. He is somebody who provides a lot. Some of it that shows up in the box score, some of it that doesn’t show up in the box score. And you know, so many people have talked about the Kenny Atkinson offense and the system. You know, the one thing that he has always had, whether he was a head coach in Brooklyn or when he was an assistant in Atlanta or an assistant in Golden State or an assistant with the Clippers, like, if his offense is going to function at its highest level, at its peak level, it needs a player like Sam Merrow. It was Joe Harris and Brooklet. And it doesn’t have to be this high profile future hall of Famer like Steph Curry or Klay Thompson. It just has to be somebody that demands the attention of the opposing defense. It has to be somebody that moves constantly within the flow of the offense. It has to be somebody who has this level of gravity that can play a two man game with the bigs or a two man game with the guards who can set screens and pop. There are just so many intricate things that Sam brings to the offensive end of the floor. It’s very Joe Harris in the Brooklyn system. It’s very Kyle Korver in the Atlanta system. It’s very Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and again, he’s not those guys. But stylistically, it’s the kind of guy that is a linchpin to Kenny Atkinson’s offensive style and you see his impact on a nightly basis. And I don’t think it’s, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they have shown this different offensive ceiling. Yeah, part of it is the teams that they have played against, we can be honest about, about that. But the other part of it is the ceiling that they’re showing with this kind of player that is part of the offense. It just makes everybody better, makes it easier for everybody. What’s the thing that we have talked about throughout the course of this, this beginning stretch of the season? Man, everything looks really difficult for The Cavs out there, they’re having a hard time generating quality looks consistently. Well, it doesn’t feel as hard as it has at the beginning of this season. And I think Sam’s a big part.
Jimmy Watkins: Of that, by the way. They didn’t like doing hard things. It needed to get easier. It needed to get easier. Sam. A lot of Sam Merrill stats you can point out. Sam Merrill’s stat I’m pointing at is 72 points in the paint. You might say what time about Sam Rails? He made five, six threes tonight. Sam Rail is the key that unlocks driving lanes. We talked about this a little bit last night, even before he started making these threes. You could see the way defenses were paying attention to him last night in Charlotte. That’s the one thing that we’ve been asking for for this entire ugly stretch on the off is why can’t you get to the rim? Why can’t you get through him? They actually haven’t better against some of these. You know, against Chicago, they were. They were better out of that. So Chicago stat as much as his Cav stat, and this is certainly a New Orleans Pelican stat as well. But I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the night where Sam Merrill comes back and has big games, the same night where the Cavs, you know, have 72 points in the paint, which is their highest total as far as I can go back. I haven’t gone back to every game yet, but this is their highest total in a while. Okay. And that it’s like Chris said, it’s a domino effect. Offense makes defense easier. Right. This is why Kenny Atkinson, we criticize him for it in the playoffs last year. This is why he was saying last year, their offense let them down, not their defense. Because their offense, when they’re missed, when they shoot all these threes and they’re not getting good looks at it, they’re missing and creating long rebounds. They feed transition attacks. And by the way, the Pelicans have been playing pretty good ball recently. They had one five straight coming in tonight. They’re a top ten team in transition frequency both off of steals and off of live rebounds. There was a recipe here where we could have been like, okay, last night was a blip. Congrats on beating the Hornets. Progress, neutral at best. Right? But the Cavs, by scoring like they can score this, obviously we’ve seen closer to their peak the last couple of nights, but that’s directly tied to Sam Merrill’s return. Having that shooter that you need to account for at all times. And, oh, by the way, he was making a bunch of them tonight, and that makes. Makes everything easier. Now the Pelicans have to play set offense against a set defense with a rookie point guard. And I like Jeremiah Fears for a lot of different reasons, but it’s a lot harder to attack a set NBA defense. A lot harder for him to unlock that right. Zion Williamson, an excellent transition weapon, and he was good tonight. He was efficient on offense, but there were times out there where it seemed like he was kind of banging his head against the ball because it’s a set defense now, you kind of. You kind of have to slow down. You have to exert a little bit more energy. And the Cavs were turning and running the other way. This is. This is now. You have stacked two good games in a row, and that’s not saying a lot, but it’s a big step forward.
Ethan Sands: From where they just were for tonight’s game. Obviously, everybody can look at the Cavs having nine players score in double digits for the first time since 1992. It’s just the second time in franchise history the Cavs have done that. But there’s so many other statistics that point to how this game was different than it has been in recent weeks. This is the New Orleans Pelicans team. Obviously, Jimmy mentioned the transition offense that they have, but they want to get downhill. They want to win the points of the pay battle. They want to impose their will. As James Borrego put it pregame tonight, this was a team that has every right and every thought process, obviously, with Zion Williamson and Derrick Queen kind of leading that charge to be physical to a point that is uncomfortable for the Cavs and that is certain. Something that the Cavs have not dealt with well, even dating back to the playoff series that we talked about. But the Cavs won basically every category where that matters tonight. The rebounds, 49 to 43 in favor of the Cavs. Points in the paint, 72 to 54. Second chance points, 27, 18. It just felt like this Cavs team, especially when we talk about the second unit, when Zion Williamson entered the game, Jalen, Tyson, DeAndre, Hunter, Dean, Wade, these different amount of physicality, especially from Jared Allen, which I thought was extremely important, like, even though he just had nine rebounds and all this, like, he was battling, he was being physical, he was pushing back, he was handling his own, and I think that’s something that this Cavs team needs to see more. Kenny Atkinson talked about that after the game, saying that he wants to see more of that from Jared Allen. He thinks he can be better in that regard because that’s what the playoffs are going to require. And I think even though we can look at the 40 assists for the Cavs and we talk about the shot profile and the connectivity and all these things that do matter, I think the physicality against a team like the New Orleans Pelicans is definitely at the top of my list of something that I wanted to see from this Cavs team.
Chris Fedor: Well, they had an advantage there and they took advantage of it, and that’s what they have to do. I mean, this is what you expect to see from a team that has championship aspirations, playing against this caliber opponent that’s missing two important pieces of its rotation. This is what fans have been frustrated by at the beginning of the season. That when these kinds of opportunities have presented themselves, Memphis, Golden State, Charlotte, Chicago, that the Cavs haven’t taken advantage of them to the level that you would expect from a team that has championship aspirations, that the Cavs haven’t played to their standard at the beginning of this season.
Jimmy Watkins: But.
Chris Fedor: But I think what. What we see here, it just kind of highlights what the Cavs believe. They believe that many of their issues are correctable and fixable. And so there’s all these conversations going on right now about what are the Cavs going to do at the trade deadline. Are they going to make moves? Are they going to break up the roster? What’s the future of Kenny Atkinson? Look, I talked to multiple sources over the last 24 hours that say any conversation about the future of Kenny Atkinson or him being on the hot seat or him coaching for his job or. Or however you want to phrase it is categorically false, that it is just not true. And this is why they continue to turn down trade offers from some of these other teams, because they believe, and we’ll see if they’re right, but they believe that their issues are fixable, that their issues are correctable, and that they don’t have to go the drastic route. Changing the coach is a drastic move. Changing the roster is a drastic move, and they want to exhaust all of their internal options before they have to go that direction. So this idea that Kenny Atkinson is in trouble, it’s just not true. It’s categorically false. They’re going to give him leeway to figure this out. They understand that they’ve used close to 20 different starting lineups at the beginning of this year. They understand that Darius Garland has missed time, that Max Struse hasn’t made his season debut. That Evan Mobley has missed time, that all these very, very important pieces have missed large chunks of time at the beginning of this season. And that’s part of why they have struggled. That’s not the only reason why they have struggled. There are things in their control that they haven’t done to a high enough level. There are things in their control that they haven’t done to their standard consistently. But this shows why they believe what they believe. You get one guy back in, Sam Merrill, and look at the impact that that can have, right? Look how Kenny looks as a head coach when it comes to the lineups, the rotations. Look at the balance that they all of a sudden have starters and bench with one move, really, one move of putting DeAndre Hunter to the bench somewhere where he’s a little bit more comfortable, somewhere where he had a career year with the Atlanta Hawks before getting traded to the Cavs. Did anybody miss Lonzo Ball? And that’s no knock on Lonzo, right? But Craig Porter Jr. Got a bigger opportunity tonight against New Orleans because Lonzo wasn’t there and he took advantage of it.
Jimmy Watkins: That.
Chris Fedor: That’s kind of why people have been getting frustrated at beginning of the season, because when these opportunities have presented themselves, the Cavs haven’t done enough to capitalize like this should have been going into the Christmas Day showdown against New York. This should have been a sweep. It should have been a six game sweep. And. And the Cavs didn’t do that. They didn’t do enough quality things to make that so. But they did what they were supposed to do against Charlotte for the most part, and they did what they were supposed to do against New Orleans tonight. And that’s what they’re going to have to continue to do moving forward. To stop the booze, to stop all the conversation about, change the roster, blow it up. The Core 4 doesn’t work. To change all the conversation about, oh, my goodness, is Kenny Atkinson on the hot seat? Does Kenny Atkinson have to coach for his job in the second half of the season? Like those things, they all die down. When you start stacking wins, when you start stacking quality performances, when you start playing to the standard that so many, both in the city, around the league, everybody that came into the season with expectations of the Cavs, when you start playing to that level more consistently, you don’t have those kinds of conversations.
Jimmy Watkins: I just want to point out it was bad enough to ask those questions about Danny Atkinson, right?
Chris Fedor: Absolutely.
Jimmy Watkins: I’m not, I’m not trying to linger on that stuff, but that’s how bad it was. Like this is not irresponsible. Take a sphere running with something. I do think this some of this stuff emanated from Chris saying that Dan Gilbert was pissed on our pod and he was. He had every right to be. And when, when Dan Gilbert was involved, things get unpredictable. People watched a 40 second podcast clip. They took it to mean something that maybe it didn’t but it was fair to ask those questions right? Welcome to the welcome to the new media world. People who don’t who consume 1/100th of a piece of content and then take it to mean something super important and not so fun for our jobs. But I just want to be here. It was that path.
Chris Fedor: So like it was.
Jimmy Watkins: That stuff was not unreasonable. I also want to clean up. This is the second highest points in the paint night that the Cavs had all season. The first one was against the spurs without Wemby, the spurs who were basically not using a Center. There’s 10 minutes of Biznapp Biyombo in that game. History won’t remember those fondly. And Evan Mobley was playing for the Cavs, the best inside scorer. So completely different operation tonight. I do think it’s fair to say Samuel’s a big part of that stuff. The other thing, to Ethan’s point about physicality, urgency and energy, all the things that we’ve been lamb based lambasting on this podcast because they’re, they’re embarrassing themselves out there. Remember that’s where we were. I was way better. Yes, tonight was way better. Both of these teams were on the second night of a back to back. The Pelicans were dragging the Cavs. Ben here, little bit of a different batch back set up. But still the that was one of my questions going into tonight’s game. Like even last like, yes, the Hornets shot the Bell shot the ball. Well, there was still spacey moments. There were still poor, poor lapses of transition defense. I was like second head back to back. I don’t know. I don’t know. I could see the, I could see the old ugly Cavs showing up again. Didn’t happen. Didn’t happen. And whether that’s whether it’s as simple as they started making their shots and now everyone’s engaged. I don’t know. Like I said last night, should it be that way?
Ethan Sands: No.
Jimmy Watkins: But you’ll take what you can get at this point because this team just needs to stack wins. There’s another level to go up now for Christmas Day. The Knicks are playing some good basketball right now, and I think this, this Christmas game will be a good little test to see what’s real and what’s not about this nice little book. Because at the end of the day, yes, Pelicans won in five in a row. They’re a bad team right now. Yeah, Lawrence are a bad team right now. Even the teams the Cavs been scoring all these points again against, even when they were losing, they were scoring well with. When Darius started playing well. That’s probably like a four or five game stretch at this point. The Knicks defense is much better than these other teams. So I’m rubbing my hands together. We might, we might actually have something going on Christmas here.
Chris Fedor: Not only Christmas, right after that, you’ve got Houston, you’ve got San Antonio too. So, you know, this is the kind of. Of test that, that is more of a measuring stick of, of how far the Cavs have come here in the last week or so and how real some of these, these changes that they’ve implemented are. But, but as you said, Jimmy, and as you said, Ethan, playing hard just starts there. You know, it felt like the Cavs were making New Orleans work a little bit harder when New Orleans was on the offensive end of the floor, that passes were, were tougher for New Orleans to make, that closeouts were more on point, that rotations were better. You could see as the Cavs were getting back in transition, they were pointing a bunch of different ways and they were shouting to each other. And like all these little things that should just be a prerequisite that haven’t been happening for this team consistently. You could see more of a focus level, you could see more of an attention to detail. And my goodness, they finally had a quality defensive rating that didn’t make you want to vomit all over your shoes.
Ethan Sands: We talked about it after the game with Kenny Agatson and Thomas Bryant. Donovan Mitchell said, this spirit is infectious, right? Energy is infectious. Shooting can be infectious at times. You see a couple of threes go in and it’s like the Pacific Ocean opens up for some players. Sam Merrill, that happened for him tonight in his second game back. We talked about it with Jimmy on last night’s podcast. He didn’t make a three in his first game back. You add him into the starting lineup, hit 6. The energy and the spirit that the Cavs have been playing with as of late. Donovan Mitchell still didn’t want to say that this is anything different, that this is still a team that’s working to get to where it wants to go. Obviously, this is kind of A different tune from what Donovan was saying at the beginning of the season. Like we believe and he does believe in this team, but he’s kind of getting to the same point we are. We gotta see it. And of course, as we mentioned, over this four game stretch to end the year, this is a good test for the Cavs. Obviously the New York Knicks, obviously the San Antonio spurs, who have beaten the OKC Thunder twice in the last week and a half, obviously the Houston Rockets, who dog walked the Cavs earlier this season. But when you have a team, as I mentioned, nine different players in double figures, you have Thomas Bryant playing 22 minutes, having seven rebounds, two blocks. And it wasn’t even like when the Cavs pulled the plug on the starters that the energy in the building left. It might have rose even higher. And that’s kind of what we’ve come to expect from the end of the bench guys. But it was in the moment that was supposed to happen in garbage time where they get to showcase how they play for the fan base, giving some holiday cheer at Rocket Arena. I just think there’s levels to this and you’re starting to see how each player is being envisioned in their role. And when you have guys like Craig Porter Jr going 12, 8 and 8, it is exactly the role that we thought of from his Wichita State days, right? Thomas Bryant being a luxury, as Kenny Aginson put it after the game, of being a third, fourth big when Jared Allen, Evan Mobley are healthy and still being able to trust in him. Jaylon Tyson being a Swiss army knife coming off the bench tonight. I just think the biggest thing is the optionality, the versatility, the adaptability of these different lineups when you have players healthy. And I think that’s why the belief of the organization has been so heavy when it comes to getting these guys back and not necessarily needing to make moves. Because if Max Sch comes back around the trade deadline, that could be seen as a kind of acquisition, right? He gets re acclimated into the roster, into the system that Kenny Atkinson has. As Evan Mobley gets healthy around the new year a little bit after you get to see him come back and make an impact that kind of way. Larry Nanas Jr. There hasn’t been a timeline really set for him. So there’s different players that we know that are still out in waiting to come back. But the Cavs are kind of getting these, this taste of how their belief could be true. And even if it’s against the New Orleans Pelicans, a little bit of truth Goes a long way.
Chris Fedor: Yeah, there’s no doubt about it. They deserve credit for the way that they played tonight against New Orleans. I think the focus, the attention to detail, the effort that they had from the very beginning of the game, recognizing the caliber of opponent that they were playing against, recognizing the circumstances surrounding the game, it was the kind of thing that we just haven’t seen enough from this basketball team throughout the course of this season in. In saying that, you know, Donovan Mitchell has said recently that we’re at a crossroads. We’re not a playoff team right now. We’re not playing like a playoff team. Those things, those big picture things, those big conversations, those don’t change because you beat Charlotte in New Orleans on back to back nights. They just don’t. That conversation starts to change. If you find a way to do this against New York, find a way to do this against Houston. San Antonio play to a different level than what we have seen from this team for the majority of the first quarter plus of the regular season.
Jimmy Watkins: Isn’t there a part of this, if you’re watching this, the Cows fan that just pisses you off because it’s like it was that simple, huh? You guys just. You guys really could just have tried. Sam Rail’s back. That’s a big deal. The shots are falling now. The driving lanes are easier now. There’s more movement. That’s another underrated part of the Sam Merrill thing. Sam Rail moves. People move around him. If there are more cutting lanes, there are more passing lanes. I get it.
Chris Fedor: We.
Jimmy Watkins: We see you now. We see you. DeAndre Hunter could just played some defense. Jaylen. Jaylen Tyson was get. Just getting rebound. Jaylen Tyson wasn’t really part of the problem. The effort like he’s. He’s always bringing the effort for the most part. But like him grabbing offensive rebounds tonight was a. Was a major difference. He was just. He’s back to his old Jalen Tyson. He self filling the gaps and annoying the heck out of the New Orleans Pelicans. Just across the board though, the energy was there and I would argue that’s as big of a difference in this game because gabs were actually playing defense in this game as all the offensive stuff because again this offensive uptick has been like. That’s part of a Darius Garland trend. He wasn’t his best self tonight. Second half of the back to back I think saw that maybe impact him a little bit. He was. I think he was a little better in second half than he was in the first. But that. That’s part of the larger trend, this energy thing, I’ll give it a game and a half because I. Again, the Hornets game I still don’t think was great. And if I’m watching this castman, it’s like, okay, great, but, like, where is it then?
Chris Fedor: Yeah, I mean, I. I think this performance tonight against the Pelicans was. Was much more, I don’t want to say representative of who they can be, because I don’t know that we know that yet. But. But something along those lines than. Than the Hornets game the other night. The. The Hornets game the other night was the worst defensive performance that the Cavs have had all season. That it was just overshadowed by the fact that their offense was brilliant and they were bombing away from three and they were making a ton of threes, and the Hornets had no answers on the defensive end of the floor, but that was statistically the worst defensive performance that the Cavs have had all season long. So I don’t know that you ever look at that kind of performance and say, hey, Eureka. Hey, turnaround. Hey, I feel good about Cavs basketball. Like, if there is a game for that between these two, and I don’t think there is because of the opponent, because of the circumstances and all that kind of stuff, but if you’re picking between the two, it was more tonight because they did it at both ends of the floor. And that’s not something that we have seen consistently from this team.
Ethan Sands: And obviously there’s still lapses on the defensive end that the Cavs need to clean up. Obviously, transition defense. We saw the Cavs had an 18 point lead and it got dwindled down to three at one point. Like, there are still imperfections with this team. There still is a lot of room to grow when it comes to how this team perceives itself. And that’s why we’re hesitant on this podcast to be like, oh, well, this is going to change and be indicative of who they are for the remainder of the season. It’s been two games, right? And Jimmy, to your point about Darius Garland, obviously he didn’t look like himself. It was his first time playing in a second leg of a back to back after playing the first leg of a back to back, full back to back series for Darius Garland since returning from off season toe surgery. But I think him playing was the biggest thing, right? Him being out there supporting his guys. But also, we understood coming into tonight’s game he had a quad contusion as well. That could have been hindering him a little bit tonight as well. Not necessarily his Toe. But seeing as though he played, seeing as though he was out there, seeing as though he went through some recovery before the game, got into the pool to loosen that quad up, it allowed him to play, that was the positive sign. And it feels like he’s just been tired of sitting games out and wants to be out there for his guys. And you obviously hear the negativity of, oh, he’s not playing because he doesn’t want to. He’s too soft. I don’t think that’s ever been the case with Darius. I don’t think that’s been the case for a toe injury, that turf toe that he’s been dealing with since the end of last regular season, into the playoffs and having had surgery on it. So I do think this is steps in the right direction for him. But it’s obviously also important to see how much pain he can manage and how the Cavs are going to continue monitoring what he’s going through on every given night. Because every night is different, every back to back is different, every stretch of games is different. And Darius Garland, as we know, makes this team different, makes this team so much better. We know Sam Merrow impacts things, but it also was because he was on the floor with Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell that alleviated so much pressure from other players on the floor as well.
Chris Fedor: Yeah, I mean, I don’t think we have to belabor the point about Darius’s questionable defense. Not. Not right now. I think everybody understands what it is, and it’s just something that the Cavs are going to have to live with, is something that the Cavs are going to have to try and mask as best they can. Every single metric will tell you in saying that, like with him on the court, offensively, yeah, there’s just a different level that they can reach when he’s right, when he’s playing like himself, when he has that stop start ability, the change of direction ability, the speed, the quickness, that kind of element. It’s something that Craig Porter Jr. Is not built that way. That’s not how he plays. Lonzo Ball’s not built that way. It’s not how he plays. So there’s just a different element. Just like Sam Merrill brings a different element to this team, Darius Garland brings a different element to this team. And if you’re looking at this kind of like a puzzle putting together a championship puzzle, you need all these different skill sets from all these different guys, and you need them all to blend together and you need them all to be operating at the highest levels Possible. So Darius, even when I didn’t think he was great tonight against New Orleans, but. But even with him, not even with him not being great, it. It didn’t feel like it did when he was first coming back from the injury, where he was laboring through it, where he just didn’t have the ability to create advantages consistently, where he wasn’t really involving his teammates, where he was so frustrated with the fact that he couldn’t move the way that he wanted to, that it felt like it was taking his joy away. And it was like, in his own head and stuff like that. I didn’t feel like tonight, I just felt like was a bad night, a bad performance. I didn’t feel like it was early in his return from the toe issue, where he was just, like, feeling the pain of that, and it was zapping everything that. That can make Darius special.
Jimmy Watkins: They assist three turnovers. He ran the team.
Chris Fedor: Yep.
Jimmy Watkins: Like, that’s a huge part of this offensive explosion as well. I’m officially scared of how much the Cavs need Darius Garland, and I say that because, one, it’s clearly in your face, objectively. All bold cap letters. True. Talk a lot about identity. The Cavs identity is actually. Their offense is so good that it makes their defense more palatable. That’s their identity now. Okay? It has been. It has changed. And when Evan Mobley’s out there palatable, you know, we. We have evolving definitions for palatable because he. He increases your defensive ceiling and your defensive floor. Right. But Darius Garland, this toe injury seems like more of a feature, not a bug anymore. And we still have questions about him in the playoffs. And if the guy who separates your offensive ceiling, which is also kind of your identity from middling offense, which jacks up your identity to a crazy degree. Oh, boy. But, hey, let’s just breathe. That’s a big. That’s a big picture. Thought I just threw out there, as I love to do, 35 minutes into a podcast. Let’s just breathe. Let’s just accept two wins in a row for. For what they are, and good job, everybody. Way to play hard. Way to make all your shots. What? Vaxam.
Ethan Sands: And with that, we’re going to go into Madison Square Garden for the Christmas Day game against the New York Knicks, where the Cavs will most definitely need Darius Garland and the Knicks will try and take him away. But before that, we want to say happy holidays to everybody listening. Thank you again for tuning into the podcast.
Jimmy Watkins: One more thing. This is very important, very important. Thirteen college football programs have won 40 games since 2022. One of them is Ethan and I’s alma mater, the Ohio Bobcats, who are victorious in the Scooters Coffee Frisco bowl tonight over unlv. Merry Christmas from Parker Navarro. Merry Christmas.
Chris Fedor: Did you both get a year supply of Crisco for the win?
Jimmy Watkins: I’ll do whatever I can to support. I’ll have a Frisco T shirt next time we do this podcast.
Chris Fedor: Where’s the Ohio University hat in support? Where’s the Ohio University shirt in support?
Jimmy Watkins: I was watching the fricking Frisco bowl while we were potting. Is that something for you? That’s some real sicko stuff right there.
Ethan Sands: The Cavs actually had the Ohio game on in the locker room postgame, so that was a very nice treat for your boy to walk into. And Donovan was actively cheering the Bobcats on, so that was a added bonus. But again, before I get interrupted, one.
Chris Fedor: More time and my cousin went there, so. So congratulations. I spent many a weekend there at Ohio University having a good old time.
Ethan Sands: As one does on the red bricks of Athens, Ohio. But again, thank you guys for listening. Thank you guys for tuning in to our show five days a week. Happy Holidays. Merry Christmas. We will potentially have something after the Christmas Day game, but nothing is pretty promised. So stay tuned to find out when we pod next and make sure you have all your notifications on so you don’t miss out on anything that we send out. But with all 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. 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 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. Happy holidays! Y’all be safe. We out.