Transcription
Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of the Pullup Trade podcast. A winning episode, the second in a row. The Raptors just defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 93 to 89. The first team since the NBA and ABA merged, since the three-point line was invented, to win shooting this poorly from the field, 32%. Shout out to KESS for that stat. And show it to, I mean, show it to the Raptors for playing that level of defense. 93 to 89 in this era of the NBA is kind of crazy, and there are some unsung heroes and some hero heroes that really factored into this. Trey, I have one question for you, sir. Thanks for pulling up, but has the series started yet? Hell no. The series does not start till the road team wins. A lot of people were, were moaning and groaning like, "Oh, we're down too well. The Raptors beat any good team."
"We were moaning and groaning."
"I was, I was going to tee it up 'cause we were. We definitely were."
But Scotty Barnes said he was not worried. And who better to handle the heat than, than a Jamaican? He came. He came. He came. He saw. He conquered. He made those humongous free throws. We're going to talk about it and talk about this series that is currently tied up.
Man, okay, so I, here is Donovan Mitchell's process in Cleveland. Here it is in Toronto. Sad, man. It's the crazy thing is, Brandon Ingram and Donovan Mitchell. Donovan Mitchell obviously has a better reputation as a scorer, but these guys just score the hell out of the basketball. They are just missing. One is six of 24, the other is six of 23. This is a rock fight to end all rock fights. The Raptors have completely morphed their defense into relying more than anything on Scotty Barnes and Colin Murray-Boyle. And they are kicking the Cavs out. They are the switch to blitz. The fact that this, this schematic, this wrinkle of the Raptors that usually for most teams gets beat within five or six possessions because they don't have the court coverage. They don't have the length to throw at it. They don't have the gumption. They're too feckless to make it work. Trey, the Raptors are going on like three quarters of switch to blitz.
"Yeah."
And the Cavs, they, they aren't able to solve it. I think largely because one, Donovan Mitchell, you have, you're helping off of him by like 14 feet. He's shooting six of 24. His body language is, you know, it's not so great. I don't know what's going on with him. And then you have Dean Wade who has the same pump fake, drive across, and handoff ad infinitum. What the hell is going on here, man? The Cavs, their bigs appear to be small, and their smalls, they appear to be big. Big.
"I mean, tell me what, what are you seeing? You saw, you probably saw a better perspective 'cause I was up in the gondola. You were watching with all those replays at home."
"Oh, man. We, we have, we have a coach. That's the first thing I will say."
"The, the Raptors..."
"Been saying, man."
"Yeah, we have been. I, maybe, maybe told you so. Um, they, they've been very aggressive in their coverage since pretty much since the second half of game two. What I really loved in this game, the, the Cavs have been so good with their pull-up shooting. Both Donovan and, and Harden love to get to their step back. And the one wrinkle counter they had in this particular game is both of those shots happened at the top of the key. The pass away is shading towards both of those guys. So forcing them to have to shoot those pull-up contested jumpers over two guys. It has been such a great wrinkle. It's also when both James or, or Donovan had to put the ball down the floor, it makes that cross-court pass in the lane much more difficult to do because the guy that's coming and shading over is Scotty Barnes, Colin Murray-Boyle, who are just absolutely madmen with their, with their court coverage. It's been such a great wrinkle of what they've been doing. And whether the Raptors win the series or not, it's probably how the Cavs are going to be guarded because both Evan Mobley and Jared Allen have not proven when they make that short roll read that they can punish the defense enough to change to get you out of that defense."
If the Cavs win this series and another team tries to do what the Raptors are doing, I don't think they'll succeed at it. You don't have Scotty Barnes. You don't have Colin Boyle.
"I think Boston could do this. They have crazy core coverage."
"Think, think what you want. I don't agree."
"I don't believe in him. I don't believe. Listen, I, I won't get too far into this bag, but I do want to talk about the, the, the wrinkle you're talking about. The Raptors, what you're doing in a switch to blitz is you want to make the ball handler take negative steps and then you want to make present length to obscure the pass. And then what you want to do is you want to jump lopey passes or you want to make it so that the, the roller or the screener is not able to make plays afterwards because you're creating such a high pass that you can actually get back into the play by the time it lands in the hands. And the Raptors because the, the Cavs started going to a lot of guard screens because I guess they realized that, oh my god, Evan Mobley is four of 11 and Jared Allen is one of five. These guys combined for 11 points despite having the world in front of them. They won't do anything with the ball. Evan Mobley catches, turns, throw a lob to your front court partner. He has the horse blinders on, man. He can't see a thing. These guys can't continue the play. The Cavs bigs are coming up so short in this series. I know the Cavs guards are missing some shots, but the fix for this, the solution for this is simply the Cavs bigs making better decisions. A little aggression. Learn from what's happening on the other side of the court. The Raptors are forcing lopey passes, recovering, closing out hard, forcing the ball to go down, and just trusting the man behind them to make the play. The level to which it has worked. It, it's been pretty incredible. In a game like this, to get one point from Max Strus from downtown. Incredible. To get Dean Wade to only take five shots, even though he's three of five, the ball touched his hand must have been like 27 times where it went from advantage to nothing. And then also the lack of finishing from Mobley and Allen. Despite, I know, Porzingis played 20 minutes and was a minus seven. Colin Murray-Boyle plays the, the most minutes at the five this year, 6'6" in bare feet center who is making sure that for some reason Mobley and Allen have this nasty little habit of bringing the ball down. Well, now Jamal Shead can dig down and CMB can meet you at the top if you're getting stripped on the way up. And they're just getting swarmed. These guys, they're not keeping the ball high. They're not making the continuation of the plays. And the Cavs guards then they're like, "Okay, we're going to start running guard screens." Then they run guard screens.
But guess what? These guys aren't as tall and you can't high point the pass the same way. So you can blitz them in the air a little bit differently. You can create more of that. And it's Sam Merrill. It's these guys who want to take jumpers. Jaylen Tyson, Sam Merrill, Max Strus. There's a reason why Dennis Schroder was maybe the best of those guys. That comfortability with handle. The Raptors have made it a hazard to dribble around them. And it's because they frontloaded everything and was like, "We're going to put our bastards up front. Deal with them." And credit to RJ who was struggling so much defensively at the start of the series, but now has a comfy little spot on these, you know, these, these bigs who are letting advantages wither away. Just, the defensive levers that have been pulled and the level to which they are working. I am so impressed. Travon, I'm so impressed. Trey, I, I am mind blown. Even, even in off-ball actions, they're, they're on, on the weak side, they're trying to get Donovan free to, to get some sort of sense of offense. Jacobe and Jamal, probably more so Jamal tonight, have been so good with denying him the ball. He has not got, he did not get the ball one time where he was comfortable. And I think what's been surprising, I thought he would handle those hurried possessions a bit more and have a bit more patience or even just score through the lane, which he did in the first two games, and that just has not happened. The, the Raptors per point of attack defense has been tremendous, even when getting switches. The guys that they've been attacking, um, whether it's been Ingram, Porzingis, RJ, they've been able to keep the ball in front of them just enough to where the weak side guy can also pinch down and help out. BI had a lot of impactful plays. He did not play well. He had a lot of impactful plays coming, coming down and pinching down and making drives a bit more difficult, leading the turnovers, leading the blocks, just making the Cavs feel more hurried and rushed. And pretty much for the, since the second half of game two, they've played to the Raptor style and pace and they've controlled the, the game and the series. So, Scotty Barnes, I apologize. We should not have been worried. It's, they've been, game three was obviously they shot over 60% from downtown.
"And like the thing about playoff basketball again, it doesn't matter if you lose the game, you lose the game. That's one of four. You can't lose four. You're in a race to that." You know, uh, UG Camage says, "What a rock fight that was." Exactly. The Raptors just set, they just made history by being that terrible shooting team. And, and to win. It's incredible that they're able to, you know, they get the on the one side and we talked about this in Cleveland. The Cleveland won two types of games. Well, the Raptors just won two types of games, and they were even odder than the two in Cleveland.
"The, the way that these games have shaken out, I think, is..."
"Crazy. We, we have to focus this conversation on one guy for a little bit. And well, two guys, but we'll start with one. Do you want to start with Scotty who wasn't worried, or do you want to start with CMBB who is defying all convention?"
"Let's start with CMBB because Scotty's gotten a lot of love this series."
"Okay. Colin Murray-Boyle. Not only is he giving you better center minutes than Yaka Porzingis, but I also understand considering that Dean Wade is starting, that's why they start Yaka Porzingis as well. They have Yakub help off and they know that they can help off of Dean Wade with Yakab Porzingis. They know they can do that kind of stuff. I get it. 20 minutes a game he drove hard in the paint. Good for you, Porzingis. Colin Murray-Boyle has been, you could argue since game two onwards. I know Mobley had the 11 to 13 game for 25 points. You could argue CNB has been the best big in this series so far. He's a rookie and he's been the best big. There's a Defensive Player of the Year here, the reigning. There's an All-Star level big, Jared Allen. There's a $30 million big, Yaka Porzingis. And CMBB is the guy who steps out and says, 'I'm him. It's going to be me.' He, how many? He had five offensive rebounds in this game. One of them goes straight out to Brandon Ingram for a triple. Half of them go out for points afterwards. And we already talked about what he's doing up front defensively. On the back end, blasting guys with his hands, just dominating by getting into everything, mucking everything up. And he is the most voluminous at-rim finisher in the playoffs currently. The 6'6" center is shutting down the rim on one side and dominating it on the other. This is absurd. He, he is, this is like, oh, it's beyond anything beyond my wildest dreams."
"I, I feel the same to what Scotty said at the end of the game. Like, words can't describe what that kid is doing right now. He's been the Raptors' second-best player throughout this series, which I had no expectation of. He, everything that they do defensively is because he, both of those guys are on the court. And CNB has given them a level of flexibility to, to feel comfortable on the glass. Jared Allen, buddy, the saxophone is, is loud. It is very loud for you. Yes. He's coming for you, brother."
"CB has dominated both of those guys. I would say more so Jared with physicality, with ball pressure. He's the Raptors been okay switching on a lot of his possessions. He switched on the most important possession that the Raptors had. Didn't fall for the pump fake. Screamed in his face, which I, which I loved. And the, the shift that he's made since he came back from injury as a driver and finisher, far more aggressive using his body to separate, whether that's creating a floater, whether that's using his body and strength to, to protect himself at the rim. A lot of those possessions where he was looking as Yaka Porzingis 2.0, you know, trying to work into handoffs are now turning into drives. Him and Scotty have done magic in the half-court together and finding spaces. Not finding space, ramming through space that is not available because of both of them playing with physicality. They've answered the call. They've answered the moment. And I think the biggest thing from the series is when you talk about this team generally, it's been how do we maximize Scotty Barnes to get to where we want to be. It's now how do we maximize Scotty and CMBB moving forward. He's just been too good to ignore as a large piece for this future and solution for contending. I think the crazy, like CNB right now, his rookie season was not as impressive as Scotty's. And I don't know about the, the future potential of his game or whatever, but right now he's having the, the series he's having..."
"Is incredible. Like, it, it begs belief that he's been able to implement himself in such a way. And I think it's been better than Scotty's series against the 76ers. Mind you, Scotty had an ankle tweak, but wow. I mean, just wow. What he's been able to provide through four games. Incredible. By the way, this episode is a presentation of Tony Bet Online Sports Booking Casino. Also, uh, Toronto 3101 says, "And y'all wanted to play the Knicks." The Knicks are tied 2-2 against the worst..."
"To say it's the same results."
"The, the Hawks are worse than the Raptors, man. And the, the Raptors are going tooth and nail for this stuff, right? CJ McCollum's doing it on the other end. Please, please. Um, ND says, "Potential all-time defensive duo about to change the dynamic of the league." I don't know where the league's defense is going, but where it is, I mean, CNB and Scotty don't even have to change the dynamic. I mean, they're thriving within it. The current dynamic, which if it's the, what's the, the meta? The, that the Oklahoma City in terms of beefy fire hydrant ground coverage bastards running around causing trouble. Scotty and CNB fit that quite well. And they don't even have to do it like in the illegal sense that perhaps Lou Dort and those boys get into. You know, it's, if the Raptors ever get that OKC whistle where they're like, anywhere else this is a foul. Watch out."
"Watch out."
"Man, he's just been incredible. This is one of the greatest rookie seasons that a Raptor has ever had. At least, at least I've watched outside of, outside of Scotty. I don't think I can remember a better one personally. He, he's been so important to what, what they've been able to do. Even, even offensively. I know like Yaka probably had, oh, especially in the half-court, a little more juice in terms of as a roller, but CNB on the glass has just been like, he's imposing his will on the game. He, he's gotten so many possessions where you think this is where the Cavs are going to extend the lead. He's turned that into offensive rebounds. He's gotten to the free-throw line because of it. And the Raptors just like grinded their way to points even though it looked like they were never going to be able to get any three-point shooting, which, which they honestly didn't, except for the, the BI three at the end."
"We, we do have to talk about BI's three-point shooting, which I was so glad to see more of that volume in this game. For what it's worth."
"But also, uh, we have to go to, uh, Scotty Barnes. Scotty, I think effervescent in his nature in impacting the Raptors culture in being the leader defensively. Like, and what a leader he has been. It's, I mean, my god, man, the defense, the way he's able to get there. CMBB deserves all the accolades, but Scotty is, he's the head of the snake there. And the pushing to create advantages, the taking advantage of smaller Cavs guards and changing defensive matchups, it's Scotty is incredible, man. The, these are some, these some games he's putting together."
"He, if this season you wanted to see if Scotty Barnes could assert himself as the franchise player of this, this team, like this is the exact thing. I'm doing, doing my part. Um, he, he's answered it. He, he is the guy. Um, whether that's the, the best player on a championship team, I think that's a bit more complicated now. But he's shown that like he is going to impose himself on winning in playoff situations for a very, very long time. His defense has been otherworldly. He's guarded James Harden, being able to switch on those aggressive possessions and flip his hips, get to the other side of the court and be able to to not give up a, a clean look from three in any of these reads because Harden, I think for the most part, made decent reads throughout a lot of these possessions. But the Raptors ground coverage, because they have Scotty, he cleans up and puts out any fire that is available. Whether that's the defender, the, the ball handler coming downhill, he's able to come over like a, a hawk and swoop over and make a difficult contest, coming up to three. His defense has been amazing. And on our offense, you're seeing the patient and deliberate style of play that you wanted to see for such a long time. Getting to the free-throw line, attacking smaller players, playing with pace, coming downhill, doing the Jaylen Johnson gimmick for, for a little bit, and scoring and scoring in those possessions, too. He's finding ways to score. I think in a lot of, in a lot of sense when the Raptors have games where teams have decided just like this, we're going to let you take 30 open threes tonight. We're going to pack the paint."
"Usually his go..."
"Usually his field goal rate goes down, but that hasn't hasn't changed, which is a great sign."
"The Raptors, this was a game of volume, you know, squashing it on one end, trying to maximize it on the other. We'll get to the Brandon Ingram conversation, which is a pretty important one over this game. Also, seven Nagege says, "Hey Samson, thoughts on the crowd today?" Can still get better.
"Still get better. Good. Good crowd. We can do better."
"We can."
"It was loud on TV."
"Okay."
"We can do better, man. They can do better. Uh, but I mean, they had a hell of a game to cheer for. Like a hell of a game to cheer for, especially 'cause the crowd can really maintain its momentum when the other team doesn't score. And when the other team only scores 89, you get to stay and cheer and do all that for a long time. In terms of the CMBB, like trying to compare it to other rookie performances, OG was really strong defensively in year one, but he played 10 playoff games. He, he hit double digits three times. He was often times, you know, in single digits and he, he his highest was 18. You know, that game three versus Cleveland. Obviously, we know how that ended. And Norman Powell as well was like, it was great, but it was these bit role players, you know, these guys who are just stepping in doing good. It's a rookie CMBB. He's, if R, how good he's been, I, I've, I don't know if I've seen a rookie do this before, really, definitely not for the Raptors, but it's also rare across the league. You know, Tim Duncan won his first year's not in those conversations, but Dylan Harper also was fantastic, you know, helping the the Spurs in their last game, too. But like, wow. Uh, Ketamine Jesus also asks, "Did they not have shirts for fans today or did the Lower Bowl not wear them?" They didn't have shirts for fans today, dude. Keith P, you don't own the Nation Network, so I'll say get it together, man. What the hell?"
"You're not, you're not giving out shirts?"
"I know."
"Don't pull my credential. Please. Please. I need to be there asking asking the important questions. SP 007 also says, "CNB is an All-Defensive player next season." I hope so. Usually they make you work so long and hard before they actually give you the votes. But I mean, that'd be great. Also, Blake says, "Did they not have shirts with sleeves for podcasters?" Here's the thing, man. It was hot on the walk home. Okay. I took off my overshirt and I started podcasting right away. Uh, do you want, do we do the Brandon Ingram conversation? Is that where we go?"
"Yeah. I think it's a complicated one to some degree. You're, you're a very measured man. You lead the charge for us."
"Thank you. I, I think the process was better. I don't think he played well, but you saw effort. Um, especially defensively on the glass, the Raptors asked him to pinch down and come over on any time that Evan Mobley or Jared Allen caught the ball, and he did that fantastically. He was able to rebound the ball over those guys fairly well. And on possessions where he was switched on to those guys, he held his own. That effort is still impactful. While I do wish he started hitting shots, there was glimpses of that. He's trying. He took Kevin Love's, he took Kevin Love's um motion where just like fitting in. Um, taking more three-point shots when things are available. Um, some of the mid-range stuff is still within the flow of the offense. I think more in the first half than the second half of the game. But I think the overall complicated thing is in the half-court, he's, he's still asking for these post-up looks or even at the elbow where the Cavs are loaded up. Evan Mobley is like, I'm, I'm, I'm right here, and he's trying to weave through that defense and he doesn't have the requisite strength like a Scotty does to just bulldozer his way through there. He's trying to shoot over these guys in like Mikal Bridges-esque fashion, and it just isn't working. So just spot up, play in the corner, hit threes. The Raptors need you to take a lot of threes. It would be humongous if those possessions turned from maybe four or five mid-range jump shots and you take eight threes. It would do wonders for the Raptors. So, the things I, I'm going to echo your sentiments here. A lot of the decisions Brandon made to pursue mid-range jumpers, to pursue what he deemed as a mismatch, but has failed to result in any mismatching to this point in the series."
"I, it shows like a keen lack of awareness of what the, what is working for the Raptors. On the other hand, though, the Raptors needed volume at any cost. And I am thankful that so much of Brandon's volume that worked came via the three-point line and came via the free-throw line. Now, of course, he got gifted, I think, five free throws off of getting fouled on jump shots that like the Cavs had no business fouling him there. But for me, the one thing that just has to improve more than anything for me, for me in particular, is as you said, playing as a screener more often, using your length defensively, and trying not to be a guy who he got free throws because he was posting up low and deep on guards and then got too deep, so that was dangerous. But in terms of actually whenever he's calling for the post-up, but like the elbow extended, why I, it's probably in terms of the, the conversion rate for the Raptors on those plays, it has to be incredibly. I got kicked off Synergy, everybody. Okay. Like listen, the, the Synergy apocalypse, it got me. So I wish I, I wish. Yeah, the mob got Nabil. He brought me down, man. But, uh, I wish I could look it up, but the post-ups just, he's calling for the ball in the wrong places. And I think the Raptors on some level, there has to be Darko and the team has to be like, "Put the hand on the shoulder, man. Listen, we're doing other things right now. We're doing other things right now." And seven three-pointers attempted. Hell yes. Nine free throws attempted. Hell yes. He still causes problems on those those wing-wing screens. He still makes the Cavs worry about mismatches, that kind of stuff. It just, may, maybe game five he has the mid-range game we've been waiting for, and it's a huge deal for the Raptors. I don't know. But in terms of like the process, it's hard to be really happy with so much of what's been going on with him. But I'm glad he made more shots in this one."
"Yeah, it's tough. Um, I know, um, both Darko and Yako mentioned like his gravity is still impactful and some of that has helped him out. What do you, do you think that is actually true?"
"It is true. It is true. You know, this was something I looked at and Lewis and I will do more. You know, you and I don't get to do film because the, the game just happened. You know, I can't go cutting clips otherwise we'd be recording at 9:00 p.m. or whatever the hell. But, you know, when Lewis and I were looking at the film and cutting through stuff, it's, it's easy to see when the Raptors are running actions and Brandon Ingram is involved that the Cavs care, that they dedicate defensive attention to him. And when they don't, he becomes available to shoot from downtown, and that's good. And it's like, you know, Will Smith says, "Walter's offense struggles are are tough." Yeah. Like, if you can get a three-point shot from Brandon Ingram instead of Jacobe Walter, one guy went three for seven, one guy went 0 for eight. And I'm pretty sure Jacobe Walter has missed like his last 14 or 15 shots from downtown. Like, it's just a streak that's hard to even imagine. But, uh, the Brandon stuff, you and I have complained, especially me to no end about the process, but I will never say that he is an untalented player. He is a talented player. He's a talented shooter. And we have asked, we've said there's meat on the bone here. There's stuff they can do. And they got a little bit more of it. And to get 23 points despite it coming on six of 23 shooting on 26% from the field in a game where you score 93 points and in a game where his length defensively helped positively change some things in passing lanes in showing help in switch to blitz. I, I'm happy. I'm happy with how it happened and I'm happy to think that it's going to come around at some point. Like the fact that we have to be happy about the star shooting 26% from the field."
"Just go be better, Brandon. Just go hit some shots, brother. Like, it can come. It can happen."
"He, he has to be do at least one of those games where these mid-range shots fall. I, I still think you, there's positive stuff to take out of it and the process is getting better. I, I think the big thing for the Raptors is because the Cavs are going to shoot better. Those guys are too talented not to. Is when that does happen, can they stay true to the way that they want to play? I think the, the games where the Cavs have been able to extend leads has been a lot of the time where they've been, hey, we need to stop this run. Let's play through Brandon through the next four or five possessions and the lead extends. And they need to stay true to playing through Scotty, letting you both Scotty and CB imposing their physicality in the paint and forcing the Cavs to overreact on that. And ideally, BI, RJ are on the other end of one of these passes and shooting well from three."
"Okay, we have a, a great question. Uh, it says, "Ketamine Jesus says, "Are you surprised Battle wasn't giving more a run today?" Battle was horrible today.
"He got, he got fried. He got fried defensively. Like the, the Cavs, they were scoring well when he was on the floor 'cause they're like, that guy. And Dennis Schroder scored eight points in like no time 'cause they, the Cavs went to the guard-guard screens. They're like, "How can we use Dennis Schroder? Put Jameson Battle in a screening action?" And again, this is the thing about Jameson Battle and why Darko shouldn't, if he doesn't play Battle, everyone just says he's a bad coach. It's like, sometimes Battle gets fried, man. And it's Darko's job. He, and that's why after game three, we said he should be lauded and congratulated for putting him in there before he had that much success. In this game, he gave Battle a second run after he got toasted and roasted in round one. I, Battle should have gotten less if you're maximizing things. He should have gotten less run. Should have got less run. But Darko gave him a little bit longer leash and it just, it didn't happen today. But I tell you this much. I tell you this much. Battle will get another shot and Darko will try and toggle correctly and do the right thing. But, uh, Battle, this was not his game, man. He didn't deserve more minutes at all. He was, when he was on the court, the Cavs were seeing food defensively. He really couldn't, he couldn't hold up the Raptor scheme on the front end."
"Yeah, especially um, in those lineups you have Yaka was on in the first go around. Yaka was on the court as well. You just like don't have any versatility in terms of the ground coverage that you, you want to have in the playoffs. So Dennis was able to pick one of these two guys, switch onto them, flip, get their hips flipped, and get into the lane and score like fairly easy. That was the stretch where the, the Cavs scored the most consistently in the game where it looked like the game was going to get a little out of hand. Um, I think with Jameson, he's sort of like this like spark plug where you like throw him in for three or four minutes and like see what happens. And like today just like wasn't his, his night. Unfortunately, the Raptors didn't need to hit many threes to, to win this game."
"They shot 13% from downtown, by the way. Also, Will Smith says, "It's crazy. It's crazy. Grady isn't even consideration." Yeah, that's the thing. It's like Grady. Uh, try and imagine this defense with him in it right now. Peel switching is not going to save you. Like the, that, that is not going to be the wrinkle that does it. And even if Grady did hit, like he went like two for six instead of 0 for eight like Jacobe, I don't know, man. It might be given up on the other end. This is playoff basketball and you know, uh, Grady will have his chance in the future for his own career and what that looks like. But also another guy, Mamu, uh, I think Mamu, like eight rebounds in 13 minutes. He has been, he's effortful. He's given his life to the game. He just hasn't been making shots and they're not creating shots for him. And that makes sense because the Raptors have been a team that the plays they run, like when Mamu gets shots, it's in open, you like transition threes or pick and pop threes, and the Cavs are just not allowing for that to happen. So where are the rest of his shots going to come from? Is he going to battle on the inside like CMBB? I don't think he has the tools for that. Is he going to give his life to the glass and get eight rebounds in 13 minutes? Yeah. But the shots to maximize the finesse aspect of his game, they, they really have not appeared. And it's because the Raptors, as much as we've loved what Barnes has been able to do, and six assists isn't so bad, it's not like the Raptors are this beautiful humming offensive machine creating great looks for everybody except Jacobe, maybe. But this just been a tough one, man. I don't know. But, but, but Mamu, I mean, it's, it's just guys hanging in. ND says, "Jacobe 0 for eight, but he battled on defense and on the glass." Yeah, the Raptors have battlers. They're grinding.
"Yeah, the dogs. Absolute, absolute dogs that they have on this team. I think um, Mamu um is just a poor matchup. Like the series is just tough. A lot of his like offensive impact when they're playing and like through natural flow and of the offense, he, all regular season has been able to toast most bigs with his driving prowess. That's just not going to happen against Evan Mobley. It's probably not going to happen against Jared Allen as well. I, I like that they they've been able to throw him in lineups and he's been able to hold his own and like the physicality doesn't seem to have bothered him as much as I thought it would heading into this, heading into the series. But he's, he's another guy that's probably due for another good shooting game. They're going to need, they're going to need someone off the bench to provide some, some shooting to, to win two more games in this series. Mamu. I could see both him or Jamal like in those like transitive lineups where they want to push the pace against Sam Merrill company. That might happen. It kind of happened in game two. So I, I've been impressed from like the large majority of this team. They've, they've punched up as much as you could ask."
"I really hope if the, if the Raptors win game five in Cleveland, I, I, we need to get Bob on here, man. I got to hear from Bob. I got to hear from Bob. Um, you know what you guys got to hear though? You got to hear from Coors Light, everybody. Basketball can be stressful at 93-89. Rock fight can be stressful, by the way, but your choice of beer. It doesn't have to be. Coors Light delivers mountain cold refreshment. When the mountains turn blue, the beer is as cold and refreshing as the Rockies. Coors Light is cold augered, cold filtered, and cold certified for a smoother finish. You can celebrate responsibly, of course, and you must be of legal drinking age to imbibe. If you're underage, not happening. The Pull-Up Trade promise against underage drinking. Find Coors Light near you. Visit coorslightshop.ca. How was the? Oh, I got to change the banner. I hope everyone enjoyed that ad read. Uh, Will Smith says, "Is it odd that Harden scares me more than Mitchell?" No, I, Harden was way just 'cause Harden has a few more turnovers and a few of these are just like, the bigs aren't holding on to like, he's like, here's a layup and they lose the ball. That's got to be disheartening. But Harden in this game is like leagues better than what Mitchell provided in terms of the shots he created for others, in terms of how he handled his own offense, in terms of all that kind of stuff. Harden was far better and he's been far better than than Mitchell in the series so far. Harden for all the dropper stuff, it, he's been, it's Mitchell has to look in the mirror after this one, man.
"Yeah, Harden is making the, the right reads. Like credit to Scotty and CB. Just they're getting over when he makes the short roll read. They're getting over so fast that like Evan Mobley is like, "What, what do I do with the ball?" Because these guys are coming in so fast. If either of them could make a proper read, you have probably RJ or R.J. or Brandon Ingram the closest person to the rim as like Scotty or CNB is trying to fly over. You probably should be able to make that play either for a dunk or, or for an open three somewhere, whether that's Max Strus, Sam Merrill, Dean Wade, that just hasn't happened. I think with Donovan Mitchell, what we're seeing, the reason why we wanted to play the Knicks is that the Raptors has been so good at taking away these guys that aren't natural playmakers that are a little bit undrafted as well. Being able to blitz and hurry them up leads to turnovers, leads to, uh, a lack of offensive flow. With Donovan, he's been sped up so much and with the pull-up jumper not falling down, and the Raptors also shading prepared for the pull-up jumper, it's made him his process offensively so much more difficult. Each game, even game one or two when the Raptors have gotten back in those games, it's usually when James Harden has been off the, off the court because the Cavs offense completely falls apart. I think for, for them, he's the most important player in the series. He's also, I mean, the crazy thing is like James Harden was a plus one in this game. Donovan, Donovan Mitchell was a minus eight. Plus-minus game to game, it can say some things sometimes, it's just nonsense, but I think that and also it's crazy that Jared Allen was a plus 14 in this game despite the five. Like it just, you know, sometimes it asks you to reframe where you think a team has been failing or not. And, you know, the Jared Allen thing, I think is kind of similar to what used to happen with Kyle Lowry. You know, at the end of a game, game one against the Magic in 2019, when he has zero points and they lose, and you say like, well, he was a plus 11 or 14, so it's not his fault. It's like, we get it. He's good. But you're supposed to be better. If you are a plus 14 scoring zero, maybe you should have been a plus 24 scoring 15 or something like that. Like, you, you have responsibilities outside of your plus-minus."
"That's not basketball. Except, dear friend, dear friend, Nick SW04, maybe perhaps that doesn't matter too much, but you have responsibilities outside of your plus-minus. I, the game is about a bucket and plus-minus at the same time, but, uh, I, I think it's been Harden has been the guy. He's been incredibly, uh, impactful. Um, we have a comment that says, "The game was electric. That was, uh, that was an awesome game to go to." And ND says, "Thoughts on general enjoyment of this game? The timeline was hating, but I thought it was really fun." So, I, I, the timeline, who cares, man? Who cares? Uh, like, who cares? But, and I know you don't mean it like that. It's just a, you know, cannon fodder. The game was super fun to be at for me.
"Uh, the game, I assume would be extremely compelling for a Cavs fan and a Raptors fan. But if let's say Trey and I, we have the Magic versus the Pistons and they're both shooting 33% from the field, we might be like throwing some American Ninja Warrior or whatever. I don't know. But like for, for the people who are invested, a rock fight is very compelling. This game was awesome to attend."
"Yeah, I thought it was the most entertaining of the four. Was super close throughout the entire game. It had twists and turns, except there was times where it felt like both teams were going to pull away at some point. When James Harden hit, hit the three late in the game, you thought like, "Oh, this probably it." I, I thought the way, he and Mitchell went, they hit three threes in a row and I thought like, they might have lost the rope.
"Yeah. And I was, I was texting Keenan say like, "Damn, we series is over." Um, but they fought and they were able to create plays like Jamal Shead. Bravo. What I hate when people say like, "Hey, this kid is a winner. He's heart and soul of the team."
"He laid out."
"That is one of the, the best defensive plays. It's not like the, the Kawhi dive over to seal the game, but like to have the will and instinctual awareness to, to make that play in that moment stole a possession for the Raptors and was a huge reason why they won this game. Like for all the complicated um issues with playing Jamal on offense, his defense has been so good. He's denied the ball incredibly well. Whether it's been Harden, whether it's been Donovan Mitchell, he's at the point of attack, he has been sensational. I'm praying we get another good three-point game from him. But he, in every, in the actualized version of how could Jamal play in a playoff series, you're seeing at least one half of the ball how he could be impactful."
"Yeah. I think people were kind of busting my ass because I said after I'd seen a few games that I would, I would play Shed more than Jacobe. And it's because I think the way that this series is broken down, the Cavs are just kind of, they don't really want the ball to go out to the Raptor shooters. They don't, they don't care. The Raptors are winning these games by slowing things down and kind of winning their isolation matchups. And you could, you could see that in a bunch of these, but like R.J. goes one-on-one, grinds and bumps his way to a bucket. Scotty's doing the same thing, even when Brandon is getting his offense outside of the catch and shoot threes. Like it looks like that, and that's what the Raptors are trying to do to grind down their guard offense by abusing them defensively. Jamal is better at organizing that and Jacobe offers no spacing and then even with like, he, he becomes open, the ball goes there and he's missed, which is obviously tough. And Jamal, who I do not consider as good defenders, Jacobe in general, I think has had a better defensive series so far than Walter, which I mean, you and I have our preconceived notions, but the game is the game. You, we can just be the mo, the moment it starts happening differently is the moment we're wrong. And Jamal has done, you know, a great job in this series so far, despite the limitations. 0 for five from three. 0 for five for three. One of six from the four. And he still, he found his way into it. His, he's also in terms of court coverage a little bit more impressive than Jacobe, especially if they're going to be switching a bunch of stuff up front. Uh, you lose a little bit of Jacob's like screen navigation. It's not as big an advantage for him to stick on a guy. So the shifting to Jamal who didn't quite play as much as Jacobe, but they were close. It's nice to see. You know,"
"I have a comment that says, "That's why we play the games out because you never know." You never do know.
"You do."
"You never know."
"The games, the game's about having one more point than them. That's what they did. Um, Jamal, I think this is a really cool series for him because it's one of the few teams where the, the off-ball player is relatively the same size as him. So, he's not giving up any sort of size advantage. And he, similar to Dean Wade on these top looks, he's, he's the offensive lineman. He's putting the pause on Donovan and has been tremendous in doing so."
"I, I agree. He's been better than Jacobe defensively, especially navigating through screens. He's stole possessions obviously like, um, fighting over screens and like turning them into turnovers. He's been able to pressure the ball and create steals and turnovers. And especially I think the gap because of his strength over Jacobe digging down when Donovan or Harden drive, he's able to also be be a fulcrum in those sort of spots as well. I don't think I would change the starting lineup because I do like that Jamal comes in and offers some sort of um shift in pace of of the game, especially if like you could throw
A lineup with both like him and Mambu, where they're running at a more rapid pace than they usually do against like some of their bench lineups. I think Jacobe coming off the bench is probably less effective. I'm praying one of these shots do probably fall, but Jamal's had a great series like all intents and purposes.
I think also, kind of the thing is whether you start it or and this is something that I know Twitter does not acknowledge ever when people are talking about coaching, but you have to play some lineups that lose minutes. News flash, you're going to lose some minutes in an NBA game. And Jacobe has not won as many minutes as Jamal has over the past during the wins. And Jamal has played better. And Jacob's been in the starting lineup instead of Jamal. But get this, they won both games and they're winning Jamal's minutes off the bench. So it's like even if one guy's playing better, if the Raptors are signing up and like, we're going to lose minutes here and there, probably, well, you're going to lose some minutes. You're going to lose some minutes. The idea is to win more of them. And the Raptors lately, they've been winning more minutes. Uh, I'm fine with Jacobe staying in.
In terms of like whoever's playing, I do want to talk about the other guard in the backcourt though, RJ Barrett. Apparently, I heard this. I think Josh Lunberg asked the question. I was like, and then also Darko was like, "Oh, you know, they have stats for everything. Like, what player scored the most wearing yellow shoes?" But apparently R.J. is the playoff leader in fourth quarter scoring.
Oh, wow. He had eight points in the fourth quarter tonight, by the way, and I guess is leading the NBA in fourth quarter scoring. How's your sniff test on that? He he's he's answer the I'll eat some crow. He's been much better, especially especially on defense. Um, they've made adjustments that it's allowed him to stick and not hurt any lineups. He's he's puffing out his chest against Evan Mobley and and and Jared Allen when he switched on to those guys and made stuff hell for them when they put the ball low offensively. Like some of the efficiency like tonight isn't what you want to see, but it's being deliberate. He he forces the Cavs to have to crash down because he's able to body up and get to the rim versus any Cav essentially. Maybe not Harden as as much, but he's still providing some sort of source of offense where the Cavs have to make some sort of rotation or hem down on their shell a bit more. Like his floaters didn't drop in the same way that it has in the in the first three games of the the series, but what you saw in the fourth quarter was similar to like a running back. That's how I think of like RJ like after some time. It's hard to wall up against this guy over and over and over again. It eventually wears he wears you down. Sam Ro doesn't want to get bodied up by this dude every single possession. And in the fourth quarter where it's hard to to get possessions and score, everyone knows each other's actions, um, unbeknownst to to Brandon. Um, but RJ RJ's R.J. being deliberate and trying to create the best shots at at those moments is why he's able to to provide production because in the playoffs, like getting to the rim is king.
Getting to the rim is so important. Uh, ND asks, "Is there another adjustment you think the Raptors have? I'm sure the Cavs are going to bounce back." Well, I think one of the really important things is there is in a lot of cases an adjustment of shot making and especially for a team like the Cavs. The Raptors a hell of a job bringing it to 22. I'm very excited to see if they can go on and win this series. You and I want to go back to Vivians in Cleveland. We want to go back to Vivians in Cleveland. Um, I want to see what it looks like. Part of this is I don't know what the Cavs are going to do necessarily. So, it's hard to predict an adjustment, but sometime and the Cavs, they have one of the highest pay roles in the NBA, if not the highest right now. They have paid for shotmaking. And Kenny Atinson right now as a coach is probably thinking like, we're getting some good shots here. We're getting the ball to dangerous places. I just need these guys to stop, forgive my lack of imagination on the words, but [ __ ] it up. Like, you know what I mean? He probably is kind of like.
It was like how they started and I actually pat myself on the back for this, but the way that the Cavs started the third quarter and were so much more comfortable because they were giving the ball to the bigs and their bigs were comfortable dribbling with Purle in the vicinity. And so I tweeted out, I was like, "Okay, this is what the Cavs have done. They've they go on a really on a 9-3 run to start the quarter." I was like, "But I think the Raptors can shut this down with CNB coming out." Guess what? CB single-handedly was like the boulder rolling down the hill, mashing into what's below. Like, I'm here, brother. It's not going the same.
The Cavs, they have to rely on rather than just straight like what are what how are we going to gify? Also, Blake says Blake should have 29 million more in salary than the next. The saxophone is so loud. Man, bad times. Uh, I wish I had a saxophone here to play instead. Could you imagine? Uh, so Will Smith says, "Apparently the Cavs hedged a bit on the screens." Uh, there was some hedge in this game on both sides actually. But or maybe you mean something different. My apologies. You can elaborate if you want. But in terms of the adjustments, the Cavs, you have to hope for better plays because honestly, and this is the Iodumo, who I loved, you and I both have advocated for him, is guys who do things are really good. Also, why we've advocated for R.J. continuously on this podcast. There are some players who during the regular season they warp their game into the perfectly efficient form to collect EPM and onoffs and all this kind of stuff. But what playoff defense is like what the Raptors are doing, they force the other team to stretch and mold into something new. And it's why Jaylen Tyson in game three had like four assists in no time. And it's why Evan Mobley is starting to get more assists. It's because you're being the ball is being moved on. There's a dynamic defense in front of you with things to attack, but it's up to you to attack it because Harden and Mitchell by the front loading are creating that advantage. And I think the cat is out the bag. The the Cavs cannot form their offense in such a way that they can get pressure off of Harden and Mitchell. It's up to the other guys, quite frankly, to make good on that pressure and make the equilibrium shift. It's like zone defense typically only works for a few possessions at a time before def or offenses get comfortable. The Cavs, they're taking a pretty long time to get comfortable with the Raptors' hyperaggressive, switch the blitz, scramble, get back into it, five guys on a string scheme. And the fact that Moy has eight points for on 11 shots. The fact that Allen is one of five for three points. The fact that like Jaylen Tyson, Max Streus, I mean, Sam Merrill shot the ball well in this game, but these guys are not ripping the Raptors to shreds as they're in motion is it's against those guys. It's up to those guys to be better in in a lot of these situations. And of course, like James Harden, seven turnovers isn't going to help you. Donovan Mitchell, six of 24 isn't going to help anybody. If you shoot six of 23, though, you can be a hero named Brandon Ingram. I mean, it's it's up the Cavs in terms of adjustments. I think they're going to show their secondary guys a lot of film and say, "Look at where they're helping from. Look at what you can attack. Put a dribble down towards the rim and make a read and react play instead of just getting caught up in no man's land and then setting back out to Harden who's going to get a switch to blitz. Instead of with 18 seconds on the shot clock, it's going to be with like seven. And then the Raptors can go even more aggressive. So, in terms of the the adjustments that the Raptors may have, I don't know yet. But if they lose game five, I I'll do my I'll take my best crack at what they can do. Do you have anything?
Yeah. I think the easiest adjustment you probably can make is starting Max Streus. Um, I think what you can take away from the fourth quarter when the Raptors played through BI a little bit more, especially early in the fourth, is that like even against Strus or Sam Merrill, like the defense has held up fairly well. And the Raptors have decided that Dean Wade isn't someone that they need to respect or guard. And even when Harden has created the advantage and thrown the ball to, Dean Wade hasn't taken advantage of it when he's been able to put his put his head down and try to drive. He hasn't even looked to drive to be honest. Max Roose is someone that can extend advantages. He can put the ball downhill and score. He He's a great shooter and it changes how the type of ground coverage the Raptors need to actually have because he's so dangerous from three. Most of the time the the the Cavs have gone on huge runs. He's been on the court just because he can put up points in in bunches. It makes things so hard to cover the court. Dean Wade offensively is like watching a trust fund kid keep getting kicked out of different like private schools like they're like I think it's going to work out at this one. You have all the opportunities in the world. He's like I don't care. I smoke up during class or whatever. It's like man look at the look at the advantages that are afforded you brother. You live in Aurora. Make good on it. You know what I mean? That's it's not it's about the the classmates. It's about the classmates. It's about the classmates. It's about the classrooms. Okay. But S says S says what up if he's like the he's like the rich, you know, private school kid. And so anyway, that made it worse. That made it worse. Um, but that's those guys not being able to take advantage of that is it's it's it's really tough, man. Like it's I don't know where I don't know where they go from there cuz switch to blitz is really aggressive. They're like, "We're blitzing you or we're going to switch on to you so that you're going to try and size up and then we're going to blitz you and we're just we're not going to make this easy on you."
Yeah. I think most of it is just playing better. Like Strus would definitely help and like Moy making the read to Strus is far more dangerous than um Dean Wade being in being in the corner. But honestly like Evan Moy and Dread Allen just need to be tougher. They've got to impose their will on on these guys. They have the size advantage. Hardened and Mitchell to lesser extent Mitchell are creating advantage where they're rolling downhill into these possessions. You cannot let a six 6667 big make you feel as though that the rim is 12 feet away. I think the best best solution is playing better, which typically that's the answer. And some teams have the luxury of that being as an advantage. You know what I mean? Michael Irvin clip. Honestly, Will Smith, there's so many Michael Irvin clips. I don't even know which one. Like, nobody nobody believes in you. Yeah. There's the CD Lamb one. There's the, you know, learning learning the recipes from mom, you know, like I I there's so many you can point at. Um, but yeah, man. Is there is there anything else before we get out of here?
Just again, if you were thinking about, hey, let's let's get a little better pick. We're going to lose anyways. You are an absolute loser. You are absolute loser. This series is 22. The Raptors just had one of their best wins in like six years. Honestly, it is great to be in have playoff basketball. It is great from my perspective, the crowd has been so so loud and it is good to see these guys in this in this position. In the four games that you've had, you've had better indexing and knowledge about how your team is than you would have in another 82 games next season. It is so important that they're in this position because this summer is paramount in the decisions they have to make. So, 10 out of 10 experience. I I'm still hyped.
Do you have Do you have a ball in your vicinity to try and make a shot on your basket behind you? I do not. That has to be an end of C. Can Can you roll roll up a piece of paper or something like that? I'd like to see you attempt something and we'll see. We'll see if you're Scotty Barnes or Donovan Mitchell in this game.
All right, hold on. Hold on. Um, so Arbiter Jacken, who's commented quite a few different things, uh, it keeps talking about how much uh, they enjoyed the game today and that that is kind of what Trey is getting at. Like the essence of fandom, the essence of what the Raptors are trying to do. Yes, you want to win these games, all this kind of stuff. But people need things to cheer for. And one, the Raptors are getting things to cheer for. two, they're getting it because they have unforeseen developments from truly special players that you get to bank on and think about the future. So, they're it's dovetailing really well here.
All right. All right. No, no. I'd like to see Oh, the pressure's on, man. The pressure is on. Oh, now I feel more pressure, actually. Okay, let's see it. Come on. Come on. Oh, it's a little low. That went in. Wait, that went in. Trust me. Oh, wow. You're him. It's hard to see the white on white. Wow. Okay, you're special, actually. Wow. Um, under pressure. Another another Jamaican under pressure. Where's the flag? Another Jamaican under pressure. Fritos are no freetos are no problem. That's so funny, man. Um, S is trash talkinging your your basketball. S, you were the weak link, man. What? What? What? This is insane. I thought I would give it my all. I thought I put a great great plus minus.
Yeah. For uh for people for people who are wondering, myself, uh, Trey, S, and Josh played basketball the other day. And um, so we're we're just talking trash. Also, there was one Oh, yeah. Uh, Dickin, uh, I don't know how to say your full full name, so I'll just say Dick says without IQ, it's still not a true picture of what this team looks like in the playoffs. Can I be into a hot take, man? Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. Oh, muted. It was okay. Am I back? Is it the right mic? Okay. Yeah. Yeah, you're good. Quick, somebody unplugged my mic for what I'm about to say. Quickly would help out on offense. To me, there's no way they can achieve this defense with him out on the floor. No, that's that's agreed. Okay. Well, Toronto 3101 says, "Don't say it." All right, never mind. Maybe it's hot. Um, I just I want IQ to have as much rest as possible. If the Raptors do get into the second round, it is about the levers you can pull. All that kind of stuff. The Raptors are in a groove right now. And maybe maybe the Cavs break that groove, snap it in half in game five or whatever. But two games in a row, it's it would be a little hard, especially because you'd be moving the ball out of Scotty's hands, out of, you know, would would CMB get the same level of touches, you know, all that kind of stuff. Uh, we're playing with I'm playing with fire for no reason. People are going to be like, "This guy's an idiot. This guy's an idiot." S is asking the last thing we should talk about.
Um, and Alan Jose says, "IQ can be a great offball defender. I don't believe the New York Knicks propaganda hype. I'm so sorry." S asks, "Are we thinking they win this series now?" I'll I'll take it to you. I I'm thinking they can win the series. I didn't go into the series thinking they had a chance. I felt similar to the 2021 series against the Sixers where, hey, we had a great run. This is really nice. Let's see how some of the young guys play. It's shifted. I think since really since like back half of game two where you saw like Scotty play really well, CMBB play really well. Some of their their role guys to we have index that they can handle playoff experience. Darko tons of aura said this is this moment ain't too big for him. we have an index that he can really coach and make adjustments in situations like this. They're now at a point where I feel like this is anybody's series. They can definitely win the two out of three games with the level of defense they're playing, which is more than I ever expected.
Yeah. A plus 23 says Jacobe hasn't scored in two games and you guys think IQ wouldn't help. Don't be a victim of recency bias. I got bad news for you, man. I've been fading IQ's game for much longer. It's been a few years. Um, but like as I've said, IQ would help. IQ would help. There's he would allow the Raptors tons of uh offensive tweaks. We've we've talked about it. Um, but yeah, the Raptors in this series, the fact that they've got it to 22, I'm quite impressed. Uh, I perhaps rated the Cavs front court a little too high. the way CMBB has come in like the Kool-Aid man and just destroyed everything because the only reason the Raptors get to play up front the way they do is because Mobly and Allen really can't give you a lick on the inside. And I I don't I don't know how else to like yes Harden and and especially Mitchell after these games you you have to be better. But if I'm diagnosing the problem like I'm putting on the coaches cap and I'm saying where what needs to be better? What makes things really easy right away? It wouldn't be looking at Harden and Mitchell and being like you guys are facing you know three bodies every time just out fox them. Be better. I'd be looking at the guys who are facing half a body and be like why aren't you dunking the damn ball more often? How did how did Moy go from game one of getting a 16 foot post up bully drive on CNB that he turned into a poster to whatever the hell is happening now. What like and also Moy the the catches are a little bit more contested but you should be holding on to that damn ball. You should be finishing like if I'm Harden and Mitchell when I'm when I'm walking by on the I'm giving them a look man. Come on, bro. Please give me something.
It's It's been insane just how the level of physicality that CNB has brought to this series in the minutes that he's played. He's throwing Jared Allen around. Well, I thought he would be able to hang. That's why I wanted him to start, but he is not just like hanging. He is dominating them on the glass. Um, throwing them. They can't even establish like an anchor near the rim because he's just been so tenacious. Like these boys are hungry. I'm I'm I'm so impressed by the way that they played and the level of fight that they've had cuz there's multiple times in this game where it felt like they just don't have it. But they they put through they fought through and like have given the Cavs I think true worry and from what I've seen on the timeline with their fans like true worry about this series which is awesome.
Yeah. I mean, especially after how the first two games went, it would be you see it now. CMB is a malevolent villainous transmogrified fire hydrant who has been set on the world and given basketball skills. He the immovable aspect of who he is is kind of incredible. And I finally after telling everybody, I've been telling everyone like, you know, CMBB when we were at training camp, all the guys when they when they first started playing with him were like, what the they were like, who the hell is this guy who's, you know, grabbing us and we can't go anywhere. When he came in just as a young guy and Scotty referenced it on the podium, he was like, man, he was guarding me in preseason and I was like, I know how good a defender he is. R.J. in training camp was like, "Jesus Christ, this guy's a monster." You know what I mean? And and then CMB when I asked him about it, I was like, "Yeah, all the guys are saying you're a beast." He's like, "Yeah, I am." I was like, "Okay, damn."
Oh. Um, that's crazy. Oh, I think the the reddraft is a good question. Do you think CM CB goes top five in a reddraft? Well, I had him top five anyway, so I mean, uh, I couldn't work him into top four yet, I don't think. Like VJ, I still love VJ. Harper is incredible. Khan is really good and Cooper like really like CMBB could fit in the top five of a lot of drafts for me or the top four. The top four in this draft is just like incredible. Really, really good. Harper just gave just had 27 and looks better than Fox, a max guard in a lot of ways. VJ beat the Celtics with a 30point pop off. He he didn't play very well in the next game, but VJ I think will be an incredible scoring guard. Uh, Khan is maybe a little bit. We were talking about the super efficient players. I think he'll come around. He struggled obviously. And then Cooper. Cooper obviously he's not where CMBB is defensively yet, but the offensive strides he started was just like nuts, man. Just nuts. Cooper very similar like higher level regular season where like the offense has been far better than you imagine, but the defense necessarily is hasn't been the guiding light. Similar to Scotty as a rookie. Um, CMBB I think would firmly fit into number five. I think there's you could make an argument like in just how Khan reacted to like the physical play of the playoffs that maybe you want a a CNB over him long term in terms of team building. But like the fact that after year one, you're looking at CNB in a similar light of Scott, you were like, "Hey, can he punch up and be one of the two or three best players in this draft at the number nine pick?" We Hall of Famer also we do nothing but produce Hall of Fame play from the number nine pick. It's It's been a home run pick.
Yeah, I think the the big thing is um what uh what was I going to say? Oh, yeah. In terms of like physicality, in terms of playing there. And in terms of Evan Mobley getting defensive player of the year and that kind of stuff, if we referencing Scotty, Scotty got an opportunity, a big one on a good team in year one. He won rookie of the year. Moy got to play on much better teams the rest of the time and got to get accolades. A lot of a lot of CMB's contemporaries aren't getting the opportunity that he is, and he deserves the credit for running the hell away with it. But we don't know what a lot of these guys look like yet. Like Khan, it looks like it might be not as good as you want, but he got what, a two game sample. CNB's already played four games. Uh, and like here's the thing, you know, uh, somebody said, uh, Savage Dog said, best defender in the class, though. That's what Trey said uh, before the draft. I thought he was a top five player in the draft and I thought he was equivalent to Cooper Flag defensively. Like, we loved this guy. And even like think about a guy like Derek Queen who in the regular season seemed better at defense and has like these mystically very fun skills for a center. It it could go one way or the other in terms of how it looks in the playoffs, but maybe if Derek Queen were lucky enough to play on a playoff team, he would be busting loose, too. It's just we're seeing CNB right now and he's not been so good that I bump him into the top four, but I had him top five already. So, I mean, I many people listening now probably haven't seen it, but I lost I flipped my lid when the Raptors picked Conroy Boils. I was so happy about it.
It It's been a home run. Um, and and to Digger, um, they traded Yaka Purle for Kawhi Lennon. It's been nothing but Hall of Fame. Nothing but Hall of Fame production from that pick for as long as I've lived. Number four and number nine just seems to be a home run for the Raptors every single time. So, what what do you think of Scotty as Vlad and CMBB as Trey Savage? That'd be that'd be tough. I I put I was telling the the chat this morning it was like a a T-Mac um Vince situation where like they're they're so similar and they're they're producing, but LaMelo's going to get bounced around hopefully hopefully to our team. Yes, please. I want to say LaMelo on a team with Scotty and CMBB as a core. Incredible. Oh my god. I I would shed tears if they traded for Laell Ball this summer. You will see me cry on this podcast. Real kid.
All right, we're we're we've officially leaned very hard into the fan casting, which means we probably talked about the game as much as uh as much as we need to. Uh, Andy says, "Did you see the Danny Green vid about Scotty in the Jacket?" I didn't. I if I see it in between this and tomorrow, I will talk about it. Um, wow, you're an insane person. You're nuts, dude. Uh, Trey, anything you want to say before we get out of here? To my lovely future wife, I our wedding day will be the most joyous day of my life. I I plan on having a slow tear come from my eye so that I can be on camera. Ask Fandy Haney didn't cry at his wedding. Good thing. Okay. Uh, all right. Yeah. Ketamine Jesus says, "Our streets are dangerous enough." I don't know if I want LaMelo on the gardener. Listen, I take transit. That's why I'm willing to to have Lamela ball in the city, but if I was driving, maybe I'd feel differently. He He is kind of like an all-time terrible driver, but he drives pretty well with the ball. Drives terribly with the wheel. Un unfortunate for that guy. Um, okay. Make sure to uh uh like and comment and all that kind of stuff. It helps more people see this afterwards and uh they can get mad at us for some of what we said or be happy and agree with some of what we said. So, hell yeah. Uh, it helps out the helps out everyone here. It's free. So, from myself and Trey, thanks for tuning in with us. And whether you got into this in the morning or at night, have a blessed day and goodbye.