The Raptors are winning the Battle of the Bigs

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of the Bald Lie podcast. This one after the Raptors tie the series up against the Cavs two to two. No Emanuel Quickley, no problem. Win the game that no team has won before. Shoot 32% from the field and win. Absolutely incredible. Uh, myself, Samson Folk, over there co-hosting Lewis Satsman. We are getting into some of the film. We're looking a little bit deeper than myself and Trey were able to yesterday, where we were more than anything just excited. Lewis, how are you feeling today after a tied series?

I am feeling wonderful. So happy to have been wrong. You know, I predicted Cavs and six, which still is possible, but even if it happens, I'll have been wrong about the way in which it went. Uh, the Raptors had a better chance. Really excited about that.

They have done a few things. We'll get into the film that the Cavs should be able to navigate and beat. They should. If you ask me coming into the series, would they have been able to do that? I would have said yes. But through two games, damn near two and a half of them, they haven't been beating it. This Raptors hyperaggressive defense, which leaves very little work to be done for the star guards, and a lot of work to be done by the rest of the roster. The rest of the roster not doing so much work. We will be doing film. Chris Bridgen says, "Be careful about highlights. Willow's ho and welcome stream got shut down after 10 minutes of showing NBA highlights." Uh, I am probably the foremost Raptors live streamer with film. I know how to navigate it. I know when to cut the film off. I know how long a clip can play for. They won't be shutting down Raptors Republic. Not over here, Lewis.

Oh, I also have to say, of course, that this episode is a presentation of Tony Bet online sports book and casino. I didn't even have to look at the thing. I finally memorized it. That Canadian 7172 says, "We shot 13% from 3 and won. That's a miracle." Before we get into the nitty-gritty, can I get your your pulse on miracle status? Are we there or are we only?

Honestly, I think it was a miracle that the Raptors didn't win by more. I think they outplayed Cleveland by a really hefty margin in game four, and the only reason it was close was because of cold shooting on Toronto's part.

So the cold shooting on Cleveland's part, what was that?

Well, that's obviously a lack of ability, Samson.

Okay.

No, I mean, the the I think Toronto shots were far superior to Cleveland shots, I guess, is what I'm saying. And Toronto had a lot more of them. They won the possession game by a really, really. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Atkins said we won the possession battle by 15. Um, I think they had better shots and they had more of them. That's usually a recipe for for a beatdown, not a close game. I think I don't know if they had better shots, but especially because Mobley and Allen are sitting there fumbling everything under the rim, and I the rim rim attempts are obviously great. There's We're going to talk about Colin Murray Boils, who is the foremost uh rim scorer in the NBA currently, leads the NBA in rim scoring. Incredible. And on top of that, the Cavs have a lot to figure out. Also, Wubs says, "Is 13% from three part of the secret strategy that the 007 guy mentioned?" SP 007, he's been claiming it's the tortoise in the hare. And I mean, listen, if they win this series, SP7, I'm going to put his at in the left corner, the left bottom corner for like a week to to show uh, you know, reverence to him.

Lewis, anything else before we get into film? Are there any large sweeping narrative things or play style things you'd like to talk about?

I mean, there's a lot of things. I think it's Let's talk about it as we go. I You and Trey, I love what you guys do. You talked about a lot of the broad sweeping things. I have a bunch of numbers. I have a bunch of points, but let's maybe tie them in as we go through uh through everything.

Okay. A bunch of numbers and a bunch of points. Actually, I'm going to rely on uh current uh interm sometimes co-host Caitlyn Cooper with myself over on the Pacers, but she put together a little highlight package. I have a bunch of film outside of this, but I'm going to put Caitlyn's video on screen. And basically, the number she gave along with this, she posted this on Twitter. Sorry for stealing your your Twitter content, uh Caitlyn. She said the impact of Purle guarding Moy when Allen is Harden's preferred pick and roll partner is Allen set 10 ball screens in game four, his second fewest in a game this season, and he attempted zero shots on 17 half court possessions when defended by RJ Walter shed or BI. Her analysis of this duck in seal screen, the help, and there's a clip I have here where even Harden screens for Allen to do something showing that intuitive create something for a teammate. And Jared Allen, I think you'll see it in not only Caitlyn's package, but basically everything we've assembled here. Nothing seems intuitive to him. You are being guarded by the smalls that not it it shouldn't just be like I am able to catch a lob if the opportunity presents itself. It's there's actually a lot of stuff I can be doing here. And the Raptors seem to understand what it means to attack small things with aggression. That's how they're fueling so much of their offense through this series. And the Cavs seem to be only interested in big advantages and very having a lot of difficulty navigating the middle advantages, the low advantages. Uh, what what have you made of that so far, Lewis?

Yeah. Um, really unimpressed with Evan Mobley and Jared Allen.

Yeah.

Uh, it you talk a lot about the playoffs. you have to morph into something different. They have been unable to. They are able to play the basketball game that they want with enormous success. But at least in the last two and a half games when they've been asked to play a different game, they have not at all been able to succeed in that way. The I mean, the crazy thing to me, and as you can see what's happening on screen, audio listeners, basically it's Evan Mobley, sorry, [clears throat] Jared Allen getting matched up on a small and not at all taking advantage of it there. If you look at a guy like Scotty Barnes, or even a lot of how the Raptors were getting Brandon Ingram free throw attempts or getting the Cavs into trouble, it was this huge mucky mess in the middle of the court. But even though Brandon Ingram shot six of 23, they still felt the inherent advantage of and danger of Brandon Ingram getting a screen onto a small and what entering the ball to the deep what that could mean. If it's at the elbow extended, the Cavs are like, "That's fine. Nothing bad will happen here." But when he was catching within 14 feet, which the Raptors were running cross screens, flex screens to make that happen, brush screens between other forwards and bigs, the Cavs were freaking the hell out. The lack of danger in the cross matching. Jared Allen is so happy to simply just allow a small to to stick with him and and to not press that issue and to not make it a dangerous proposition. How is Jamal Shed sticking you? How is RJ Barrett sticking you? And how aren't you sticking your elbow into them, clearing in front and making sure, or even if they do front, push them higher up the floor so that your catch radius and and window for the pass becomes exponentially larger? These types of plays are really important for bigs to do. So much of being a great big man is not giving up on the advantages that are afforded to you. And I I remember there was this quote, you know, if the Raptors are going to be compared to the Pacers, and if the Raptors are going to do things the Pacers did against the Cavs after the uh Pacers went to the finals, uh, I believe it was Charles Barkley said, and Pascal won Eastern Conference Finals MVP. He said he never lets a little guy play him. And Scotty Barnes doesn't let a little guy play him, and CMBB is not letting little guys play him. And Jared Allen and Evan Mobley are letting little guys play them. And especially especially Jared Allen. And if you're a Cavs fan, you know, tapping in. We got a lot of compliments from Cavs fans about our coverage, you know, saying, "This is really good, analytical. We like it. Film work." If you're looking at this, I can't help. You probably feel incredibly You're squeezing your fist and angry at the the lack of composure and the lack of focused aggression that you need from your bigs. What is the point of being bigger if you aren't going to wield that size as if it were a cudgel? Lewis, I just I'm I'm without words on some of this, man.

Just look at how they're moving. They're super upright at all time. Like in every clip you've shown, they're never big, right? They're or they're never low. So they're walking everywhere. There's no acceleration. Watch this play here. Can you actually back up to this this play here? I think it's to me, this was the most instructive one. So the Raptors double Harden. Yeah, if you don't mind. Um, and they force this floaty pass.

Oh, by the way, this is a switch to blitz, by the way.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This is the exact possession. So switch and then Barrett comes late. They force a floaty pass to Strus, which should be an advantage, but Jacobe closes out really, really fast. Strus has to put on on the floor, but right there is where Allen needs to be available. Like at that point, Allen has CMBB spread out to the corner, right? Because he has to take away that extra pass. He is alone against Jamal shed for an instant, and instead he timed everything poorly. He never took space, and he has to exit for fear of three in the key. He is exiting at the exact moment when he has an advantage, and he never even bothered trying to create one. And so what happens? Max Streus has to put the ball on the floor. He puts the ball on the floor directly into the space that Allen is now bringing a defender because Murray Boils is so frightening guarding the corner. Jamal Shed is there, and Jacobe makes this insane right hand on right hand steal, which is like preposterous. Right there, that's that's a lot of good defense. I think great defense, but it's also there should have been an opportunity that never even was leveraged or tried to be leveraged or anything by virtue of Allen's passivity and unwillingness to time his moments.

Yes. The moment of ultimate leverage is one of the most important things in basketball. And as you say, it's not just Jared Allen having this opportunity, it's the collection of every other Cal doing what they're supposed to do. And we'll get into some of the film of the rest of the Cavs.

Yeah. Sequencing, timing up, and we'll get into some of this. You know, the Cavs aren't always perfect. Like there's a particular like Donovan Mitchell, Dean Wade, uh, wheel action that goes terribly, um, that we'll get into later. But the reason why you switch to blitz and why it's important for the Raptors is that they do have a lot of size on the perimeter, uh, especially with the guy they're bringing help. So they get the floaty pass, and they have a very active defense with, you know, who's who's their center right now? CMBB. Scotty's not even on the floor. This is a lineup of Jacobe Walter, CMBB, Jamal Shed, Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett. Pretty funky in terms of winning basketball minutes in the playoffs. But get this, Jacobe is busting his ass. CMBB is busting his ass between two players. Who is the weak link in decision-making right now? And not to be too hard on him, but Brandon Ingram forgets like, "Oh yeah, where am I supposed to be?" because RJ was the help. So Brandon is supposed to filter down. Jaylen Tyson is wide open. Jamal Shed says, "I have to take away the paint instead of the corner." And again, there's only this opportunity because the Raptors weren't truly on a string. They take too long, and then Brandon starts to get back. So now instead of having two guys covering a one-pass away pass and having, you know, the corner, you you have Jamal Shed in the cat and mouse corner versus dunker spot situation, and you don't playmake against it. And now everything is filtered properly. Brandon filters back into the play. Uh, Jaylen Tyson, he shakes up instead of going baseline, and it brings uh Max into a crowd, and then the ball goes out the other side. It's like it's NBA teams when you show multiple bodies, it's really hard for any NBA player to beat that. And in terms of the Raptors, they they've been like Darko has done a job, man. He's done a job with this roster, this defense. It has been so impressive watching these guys flurry, watching them scramble, watching them recognize in real time where to be, how to make it happen. The Cavs, they're not meeting that expectation in terms of their offensive read and react creation, and it's it's completely tanking them, and uh, there's just there's no way out of that. They're getting absolutely smashed up because the Raptors the level of disrespect they're showing to the Cleveland bigs is is gargantuan, quite frankly. And there's just there's no way out of this. And it's not even just the bigs. If you want to get into the the Dean Wade release valve, which is why, you know, Max Duce had a terrible game in terms of his shot making. He had the turnover in the the video we just watched. But I do think he is probably, if I were the Kenny Atinson, I'm putting Max Struce in the starting lineup, and I'm trying to make it so that his tertiary stuff, his shooting allows it to be a lot more dangerous because we have three examples of the Dean Wade release valve here, but it was far more than three over the course of the game. And Dean Wade, I know he went three for five, but the amount of possessions that he killed where an advantage, an advantage is gifted to him, and he simply turns it into a worse shot. It it completely just handcuffed the the Cavs offense. Do anything on Dean Wade before I go through it, Lewis?

Yeah, I mean, him on Barnes is not the matchup. I think Cleveland thought it would be. Barnes was just a little too aggressive with that. Flip mode had a really good question though. Hypothetically, what kind of force would Allan Moble even bring? Look at Toronto. Look at what Yaka Purle did. I mean, he's not a post bruiser, but he gets himself available for passes and he finishes. He also had those two drop steps over Sam Merryill in game three.

Like Allen and Moy don't need to be post-scoring, you know, afficionados. Even though I think Moley is actually pretty successful there. He's, you know, he had a couple hooks or push shots over Purle um to start the third quarter in game four. But cut better. Time your cut. Like you don't need to beat a small in the post, even though you should be able to. There's a million ways to to to use that advantage. Hit the offensive glass better. Like there's so many ways to leverage being matched up against someone smaller and shorter than you. They've done none of them. But um, yeah, De Dean Wade, I think, yeah, he's locked up Ingram. I think so far this series um anyone has. And if I was Cleveland, I agree. Max Drew only 20 minutes in game four, and he had the worst plus minus on the team. He shot 0 for 5. I don't care if if I'm Kenny Atinson, I would be pumping those truce numbers way up.

Yeah. So, for example, like Moy and Allen don't need to be post scores. A lot of the attempts they're getting here are not the Raptors funneling Moy and Allen, although Mobley had a couple of these possessions into these like Hakeem Olajuwon post-ups where it's like get good. Uh, this is.

Keep the ball high.

Yeah. Why are you bringing it down?

You're you're in the dunker spot. This is not the land of, you know, the elite uh offensive like this isn't the Al Horford, you know, middling big man creation. This isn't the Nikola Jokic, you know, high-end creation. This is this is meat and potatoes of the big man thing. And so, if they're catching under the rim, what what else is to be done, right? And we'll we'll get into some of this, but to go back to the Dean Wade thing because I I just think it's incredibly illustrative. The ball. And for what it's worth, like this is exactly why the Raptors are getting away with frontloading their defense so often because one, their scramble back against the Cleveland bigs because they're taking too long to process things, quite frankly. And even, you know, think about like Scotty Barnes in the short roll when, you know, it's like uh the start of 2023, he's playing short roll basketball against the Indiana Pacers, and he's throwing lobs out of the short roll. And then you look at the fact that when Mobley is short rolling or Allen is short rolling, and the other guys lurking in the dunker spot, they're being put in a lot of these two-on-one situations initially, if they can make a big quick read, but they don't process fast enough. And so the Raptors able to scramble back and even things up. You know, let's even the odds, and they just do not process quick enough. And honestly, these types of plays should be damn near automatics for bigs. I wonder if you get a practice under your belt, if you get, you know, a little bit more film, if these reads become a little bit more inherent for the Cavs bigs because if I'm the Cavs, yes, it sucks that Donovan Mitchell, who was really terrible, six of 24. Harden, I know, had more turnovers than field goal attempts, but I Harden was actually quite strong yesterday. I thought uh he was the best player for the Cavs by a country mile in my estimation. And this falls on the bigs to flip this thing back around because they were coming into the series thinking like my god, we're going to dominate the Raptors front court. They've got Purle who's hardly even healthy. They've got CMBB who is a rookie and has been, you know, kind of hesitant in the regular season, and you know, Scotty Barnes obviously was going to be a significant problem, but in the first two games, they managed to make it really easy for their bigs when the Raptors flipped it. You know, this is what we said after game two, that the Raptors, they have to put it to them. They they've completely dominated this kind of stuff, and it's because the the Cleveland bigs, they can't do a damn thing or haven't been. We'll see what happens the rest of the series. But so this is just running a flare for Donovan Mitchell. The Raptors send everybody. This is a two-on-one.

If Dean Wade puts the ball down right away, attack goal right there.

Yes. But instead, he's too rooted in this, you know, framework of I fill to the corner. He's not making reads here. He's just being part of a system. And so pump fake, drive, loses a two-on-one because everybody filters back into the play. And so you took this massive advantage and you turned it into a backpedaling three for Evan Mobley, who has not hit a three in I think two games. It it, you know, advanced edi cut off the clip. I'm so sorry, but it didn't go in, people. This one too. Catch drive against Brandon. Extend the play. Again, though, the play you're creating here are these for the good shooters, these claustrophobic takes, these incredibly difficult shots. And for Moy, you're just doing the Raptors work because again, look at this. Attacked the wrong way, right? Go back out to Evan Mobley. Another shot for Evan Mobley. If a James Harden drive is going to create a massive wide open three-point attempt for you, would you rather be you? Would you rather be Evan Mobley? Are the Raptors okay with either? Sure. But what the Raptors don't want that to be, I presume, is Max Streus. And this is a really important dynamic. And Max Streus, I think it went eight of 10 in the game one. I think he was four of eight maybe in game two. I don't remember. It could be flipped. Um, it's it's just really, really been interesting to watch the Raptors flatten everything. What what did you say uh that the playoffs turn you into the essence of who you are? Is it is that what it was?

The crucible. It burns away everything you try to do and just makes you just your core qualities. Sorry, my mic went a little weird there. Um, yeah, your core qualities and the core qualities of these players for the Cavs. And you know, if you want to make this about CMBB, and we can spin it positive like that's the Dean Wade killing stuff. Uh, we don't have a film for CNB really, but just offensively, everyone knows what it looks like. CNB's core qualities. When I was doing all of my, you know, work on his college film, I thought that he was one of the best offensive bigs in the draft. And of course, we knew he was going to be an incredible defender, but I thought at the heart of his game was an extremely dynamic offensive, big and aggressive guy. And it's interesting, you know, that crucible, that essence is that CNB was quiet in the regular season. So quiet, so hesitant, you know, and this is Trey and I went to Detroit. I tell the story every second podcast episode. CNB said that he was, you know, playing to fit in with Purle because I asked him, you know, South Carolina, the type of player you were, you were this massive producer offensively. You've obviously been like facilitating offense for others. And then suddenly he's not facilitating anymore. He's finishing everything. He's being aggressive. And it's because the playoff environment, it brought it boiled everyone down to that crucible, that essence. And CMBB sitting at the bottom of it was an aggressive offensive player. A guy who wants to finish at the rim. A guy who is no longer worried about moving the ball on. So X player gets amount of touches and shots. So Y player feels like I'm involved. It's like, no, this is the advantage the offense created. I'm supposed to take this shot. If we create a look for me in the paint, it's my job to make it happen. CMBB is solving that that Rubik's cube, that problem, and the Cavs bigs just have not been. And especially like Dean Wade has not been. And it's why Dennis Shruder was good in the last game. Dennis Shruder when everything went and they were like, "How do we find an advantage? Where do we go?" And Dennis Shruder was like, "I'm a capable player. I'm not afraid of taking shots or creating. Put Jameson Battle in a pick and roll with me and I will find an an opportunity and an advantage." And that is also why RJ Barrett has been so good in these playoffs because the playoffs aren't about perfect alignment, perfect execution, perfect like efficiency. It's about finding a way to win. And nothing uh exemplifies that better than a win with 32% field goal percentage. That is the lowest shooting in a win since the the merger, since the three-point line was invented. Lewis, it's it's nonsense.

And if you look at those plays, Dean Wade is not being asked to create against Scotty Barnes or Colin Murray Boils. Like in those plays, he has Brandon Ingram closing out to him with RJ Barrett waiting as the help in the paint. Like that's not.

These are Toronto's weak links, so to speak, defensively. If they are able to hold up, then Cleveland is toast. Like if Brandon Ingram and RJ Barrett can not only defend you but stop a shot from even going up, you're you just have no chance at scoring.

Yeah. Well, that's a perfect thing. That's like that is the series kind of, especially in terms of RJ Barrett, because and RJ got roasted and toasted. Yes. The the Raptors were leaving him on an island to deal with because they had an expectation, and they were right in some sense about that 11 and 13 finishing game for for Evan Mobley, and it was five of seven for Jared Allen. It was just it was way too efficient for the Cavs bigs. It was just like how do we how do we overload the front end without losing the back? And it turns out that you don't need or they haven't needed in the the past two games Scotty Barnes to be the guy pinching and and covering these guys so they don't, you know, shake loose and cause and have hell break loose or anything like that. You can guard these guys with smaller players, or they have been in the last two games. I wonder how Cleveland comes out in terms of, you know, in terms of how they're going to be, you know, asking these guys to operate going forward. But even then, you know, some of these clips are with Purle on the floor. CMBB is a huge difference maker in this regard, too, because anytime the Cavs bigs got comfortable, it was more or less when Purle was on the floor. And when CNB came on, it's not a knuckleball. It is a fastball at 104 miles per hour. Best on best. No trickery. What's an Andre the Giant? You know, Princess Bride. No tricks, no weapons, just two men fighting. And that is how CNB is approaching this. Whether it's Donovan Mitchell on that last three, whether it's Evan Mobley in a pinch, Jared Allen, or James Harden, whoever, he's going to go out there and meet them. Whoops. Uh, I think it's just it's it's been an incredible thing to watch him work. That's kind of that's kind of where I'm at on it, Lewis.

Uh, so what are the options for Cleveland then? Like Mitchell just accepts the blitz and just tries to beat it around the corner? Well, so this is Yeah, we have we have clips of, you know, some Mitchell turnovers and like this isn't this isn't necessarily a blitz here. This is like the hardest hardest hedge that you can think of. Actually, not the hardest. We've seen, you know, some some bigs will kind of kick you out to the sideline or whatever. But what's happening here is that since Scotty Barnes is the one guarding the open man, the pass has to be so high and has to be so floaty to beat him around. And also Sandro, he's not doing a perfect job here, but he's doing a pretty damn good job considering that Jamal Shed is helping. There's no opportunity for Donovan Mitchell to turn the corner. What Donovan wants in this play is he doesn't want to get rid of the ball. He wants Sandro to stick and he wants to attack Sandro. And when Sandra doesn't stick, he says, "Fine, I'll I'll go against Scotty. I have to get a shot up on time." And it just it doesn't work. But you can just see and pausing and looking at film is not the, you know, it's much harder to make reads in real time. But you can see that the Raptors for the most part have everything covered. Even Even again, if Donovan is going to make the the really like let's say he's Tyrese Haliburton, right? And he's going to make the right read from the top of the four. He's going to kick it up to Dennis Shooter, wide open for three. CMBB is probably going to cover that. RJ Barrett is going to crack down on Jared Allen, and Jamal Shed is going to rotate all on the in between, and they're going to ask the Cavs to cut off of that and make reads off of that. And since we looked at that first clip, the Cavs have just not been making the necessary reads as cutters. You know, as you said, get into a diff a difficult spot for the defense to handle you. Be aggressive. It just hasn't been happening. And the Raptors that size up front has really been complicating the reads, and the fact that their smalls on the back end seem to be able to hang with the bigs. This is the biggest piece of friction for the the series so far. And it's why I think in terms of what can Cleveland do, I think, not to be like, you know, a bit of a loser doing, you know, sports talk radio, but uh Cleveland bigs, are you a man or are you a mouse? Again, CMBB jumping. RJ Barrett jumping. This is not an easy pass. Now, you could argue, you could say like, "Okay, Donovan Mitchell, this read needs to be a bounce pass." But again, it's Colin Murray Boils. He might get a hand on it. And he only reacts and comes up with Donovan once the pickup is there. The Raptors are squashing and playing uh really aggressive defense with with, you know, some players who are not incredibly impressive defensively, but some players who really are. And they have been managing to get Scotty and CB into as many defensive actions as they can. And so they're just swallowing the the Cavs guards hole, and they're getting great effort from guys like R.J. The effort for Brandon. Look, Brandon is running over right now.

This wasn't happening in the first two games. Brandon, if that pass comes through, is going to attack Moy. Brandon on some of these strips and blocks at the rim was part of like three or four plays in this game. And if if Donovan Mitchell can get this ball to I don't know, Tyson to to Streus, the Raptors are betting that he can't. They're betting that he's too small a guard, that he's not seeing the defense well enough. And they're saying, "We're going to overload to one pass away. And we're going to see if you can beat the back end. And even if you do beat the back end with a long pass, we're going to scramble back into it. And we're going to trust that you guys aren't going to drive it to the rim." Their principles are so caveman right now. Attack the ball, be present wherever it shows up, and expect that the Cavs aren't going to outfox you. And it's been working, Lewis. It's been working.

Yeah, I wrote that about the game that, you know, hitting each other with bricks would be a technological upgrade and what's going on. They're just rending at each other with fingernails right now. And and that's honestly like if I'm Cleveland, if I'm the coaching staff, I would seriously consider just going like Miami Heat offense. Just don't bring a screen in. Just Mitchell isolate. Harden isolate. Like see what you can do without bringing a second guy in. Because right now, the more stuff is happening, the more likely it is that Toronto is just forcing turnovers, forcing negative dribbles, just like a a a zero-pass isolation pull-up triple from Mitchell right now is the best shot they're going to get. So, just not to say this is the answer, but if that's the best shot you're going to get, just make it so there's no chance of a turnover and just take that shot. I mean, that's an option. That's not going to score. What did they What did they put up in the last game? 89 points with 17 turnovers. I think you would have more than 89 if Mitchell took like 10 pull-up triples.

Yep. And you can see here as well, Jared Allen, there is a play available to James Harden here. If you were playing with Scotty Barnes, probably let's say Scotty Barnes is the guy on ball. James Harden can slip to the rim here if he wants with Yaka Purle showing size on the front end, and you know, Scotty Barnes is top blocking the hell out of James Harden. It's just not viable to make those reads. So the top counter for Harden is he goes and sets a screen for Jared Allen to drive. This is a great screen.

Yeah.

Look where Scotty Barnes is. Scotty Barnes just immediately under meets him on the other side, and because Jared Allen, you had one more dribble in you, brother.

Yeah.

But it's just it's the presence of Scotty Barnes way before you even meet him. You're picking that ball up. You're trying to step through, and the size difference is not that crazy between those two guys. You know, at that point, one guy has a longer wingspan, one guy is a little bit heavier, but like that's a tough shot. And he didn't get as deep as he needed to. He couldn't grind away. And this type of like intuitive creation from Harden to set that screen. It's pretty brilliant. This is good, grimy NBA basketball, right? Playoff basketball. And even if they do oversell, Yakob YaKob probably should be dropping down, but he's trying to sell some sort of thing with Harden. Harden was trying to drop out, and they would create maybe a look for Harden if that's open. But it just goes down to one-on-one Allen versus Barnes, and Barnes is winning that. And the the Cavs like even when it goes well, like they went to a lot of guard screens, right? Because they're like, "Okay, well, how do we make it so that they're scrambling more and maybe we open up these reads for these guys these closeouts again?" Hey, Brandon Ingram still in the play. Check down. This went as well as it could have. Moy brings the ball, or sorry, Allen brings the ball down, and you lose that advantage. It's just it's it's something to see the Raptors scramble and get back and win all of this stuff. And like even here, there's a couple possessions, you know, at this front end of the first half where Evan or the second half Evan Mobley was getting loose on Yaka Purle, and it was like, okay, we're we're finding something here. But then the Raptors, they they just like, okay, we we'll bring out CMBB, we'll play a little bit differently. They went on their own run after this. And again, this is the But this is the thing too, Lewis, about, you know, isolating is that this is Harden wants to isolate on Yakapurle, and the Raptors just double anyway because they're like, "Nope, we don't want to allow that." You know, Yseph says, "Drag them into the mud. We live in the mud." You know, uh, the Raptors are the uh don't wrestle with pigs. Wrestle in the the mud with pigs because, you know, even if you win, the pig liked it, and you both get dirty or whatever the hell. The Raptors, they're going to blitz, and they're just going to make the rest of the Cavs do it, and they have so much mobility and size to blitz with. There's not many power forwards, whether you know, whether Scotty's a Scotty's a forward for sure. How many guys cover the ground that he does? How many guys do the things that he does? He the amount of steps he's taking, the amount of my god, uh, ground he's covering is incredible. And the amount of energy he's expending is just something else. And again, he tipped the ball. It goes back out to Moy. He's there to almost block the shot. It's watching him and CNB in particular cover ground and make things happen is just like it's been a real treat, man. And when I watch this, I think the solve is pretty simple for the Cavs. It's like, but it's simple in theory, but apparently it's very difficult in practice. Lewis.

What's the solve?

Your bigs have to be better.

Yeah. Yeah.

Jared Allen.

Yeah.

Why? Like you you're playing with James Harden, right? You have R.J. Barrett on you. You go through all this work. Why are you wasting time throwing your hand up? What? Like why? Why are you wasting time to establish like, okay, now I'm gonna throw my hand up and establish position. It's like, no, you have RJ. You should have been in the position. James Harden hit the pocket there. That like that pass, he hit the pocket here. Jared Allen was so flat-footed, and like maybe if you're being super gracious, you say R.J.'s fouling him. But like Jered Allen gets his feet flat. Stay on your toes, brother. You don't like you don't need that. Go get the ball. Make something happen. It's just again, Evan Mobley is coming clear right here. He's not looking, and he's like, "Oh, the ball came to me." It's James Harden is trying to playmake these guys into advantages. Like he's trying so hard, and these guys, it's it's like the moment is being thrust upon them, and they're pushing it away. You know what I mean? It it it if I'm if I'm the Cavs, Kenny Atkinson, ah, a lot of the stuff I'm seeing is like, yeah, they're you want uh you want your guards maybe instead of popping wide, you want them to to flash middle, catch with momentum and attack that way instead of making sure that the outlet is going, you know, back towards the the halfcourt line or something like that. But in terms of the guards, like Donovan Mitchell, as we can see in a lot of this this film, he's not been able to make the right reads, and uh the Raptors are overloading. It's not the same with Harden, actually. Like Harden, they're not overloading the same way, and for obvious reasons, he he's able to spray the ball across the court more uh with, you know, more regularity. And with Donovan Mitchell, they're just overloading. And with James Harden, they're just funneling the ball to the bigs. And it's like, okay, make something happen. Do something. And these guys are not making something happen. They're not doing something. It's It's been a bit of a whirlwind for me as a watcher. Uh cuz I I've been pretty surprised at the lack of punch from the from the Cavs bigs here.

The touches are interesting. In the last two games, Harden, Mobly, and Mitchell are all touching the ball about the same.

Yep.

About 60, 64 touches each. And that's just like Harden and Mitchell are just being forced away from the choices. Strus, Wade, Tyson, Allen, they're all like half as many, like 30. That's a lot of chances with the ball.

If you look at the Raptors, you know, as a point of comparison, over those same two games, the choices are far more being made by the people you want to make them. Scotty Burns is 80 touches a game. Like that's way more than than Mitchell or Harden is is able to create. Barrett 74, also way more. Shed touching the ball much more than Ingram. Murray Boils at 42. Like the Raptors have the ball in the hands of the people they want to be controlling it, that are able to actually make uh um decisions in the playoffs. The Cavs just don't have that. Which is why I guess your answer is like we'll be better. My answer is just like we'll assume they're not, so just let the guards just like figure it out against a disadvantage. But that I guess is what it's come to in that the Raptors have um put an axe through the middle of the game, and you either have to walk under the blade or go around.

Yep. Uh, also we get our I don't know, monthly reminder. SWAT 45 says, "Are you guys a Raptors fan or trader? Why are you breaking down film for the Cavs?" Uh, SWAT 45, I will say I am lucky uh, you know, we are lucky over at Raptors Republic to be considered, you know, uh, very strong analysts. I'm lucky to be able to talk to, you know, coaches from a lot of different places about work and what that looks like and uh, to have coaches compliment it. It's good work. If the Cavs coaching staff is watching this for clues, the Raptors have won the series. I'll say that much. Uh, this is we're breaking this stuff down for fans. Uh, and I think we're doing a good job, but if the Cavs are watching this, uh, they're they're losing the series. Uh, Kenny Atinson knows more about basketball than we do. I promise you. I promise.

Also, the Raptors are playing defense. This is also a thing the Raptors are doing.

Uh, this is not just uh, you know, about the other team.

Um, you want to talk about Toronto's offense a little bit?

Yes. But first, I want to talk about beer. Basketball can be stressful, but your choice of beer, it doesn't have to be. Coors Light delivers mountain cold refreshment. When the mountains turn blue, the beer's as cold and refreshing as the Rockies. Coors Light is cold augered, cold filtered, and cold certified for a smoother finish. Celebrate responsibly, people. And of course, you must be of legal drinking age to partake, to imbibe. Otherwise, no. Pull-up tray. Bald don't lie. We do not endorse underage drinking. Don't do it. Not allowed. It's illegal. Find Coors Light near you. Visit Coorslightshop.ca. Only if you are of legal age. Lewis offense. [snorts] Lead on. Please lead on.

Uh, so Scotty Barnes is playing in my mind the best offense of his career. I think.

Yes. Like it it just he has been so phenomenal at playing basketball. Um, does this ch Oh, no, no, no. We're going to talk about future facing stuff at the end. Uh, obviously the Raptors aren't scoring a ton. They're putting enough on the board, but man, Scotty Barnes getting downhill. I mean, every game he is driving deeper and more. He is not settling. Everything is with force. This is the dream, right? This is the image of success for Scotty Barnes.

It's man, if I can go back to what I wrote like [snorts] way back in the day about in his rookie season about uh Scotty Barnes. Can you actually I'm going to look for that and see what my closing uh statement was, but tell me tell me like please elaborate further on Scotty in terms of.

Well, I think my favorite number is almost simple. It's free throws. Everyone's always like, "Well, where are the free throws? Where are the free throws?" And we talked about this at the end of the regular season. A lot of people were like, "Well, it's just the refs. The refs don't respect him. He's in the paint." But it's not. It's the hips. It's the shoulders. He's not past people. And so it's really easy to defend a shot without fouling when you are between the man and the rim. It doesn't matter how long Scotty Barnes is when he tries to go up and over you. You just put your hand straight up. You can defend that without fouling. And yes, he had good touch. He has good touch. He can make those shots, but it doesn't result in free throws. He has gotten his hips past defenders. He is actually attempting shots with people behind him, with people beside him, with defenders and trying to reach across his body. 14 free throws. That's the number that matters most to me in the last game. Now, obviously, some of those were intentional fouls at the end, but he is just absolutely dominant with the ball in his hands. That has not been true. At his at his peak in uh his career, he's been at his best with the ball not in his hands, cutting, offensive rebounding, rolling. He has that this year. He's still been fantastic in this series at, you know, being able to finish when created for by others, but he has also been fantastic with the ball in his hands, which is why I say it's it's the um this is like a fever dream of what Scotty Barnes offense could be.

Yeah. I remember David Thorp uh after I wrote the piece, he uh he said that because I said that Scotty Barnes was on his way to being a novel star. Also, that Canadian says it's like Scotty's a point guard. I rebuke you. This is not how point guards play. You can you can create without being a point guard. This why the point guard label, we don't need it, man. He's he's a forward and he's a damn good one. But David Thorp said that, you know, he didn't think that Scotty would be a novel star, that he would be pretty cut and dry, but that he would be a star as well. You know, and that's, you know, there are many different um people who the conception of what Scotty will be as a star. You know, there's like, uh, my version of it, which is, you know, how I've talked about it forever. There's your v version of it, which is its own thing. There's, you know, uh you could go to the extreme end, which is like, you know, the Raptors head coach who has proclaimed that Scotty Barnes is like a a finals MVP uh in waiting an MVP. You know, just yesterday he said Scotty's only 60% of the way there. You could even go to like Raptors coverage. Um

Pensair basketball is like preaching similar things to to Darko. Like this the really really highend high end where I'm simply by that measure on the lower end saying like he's an allNBA player, that kind of stuff. This is a really great floor and a really high ceiling. We'll see where it ends up. What he has become as a defensive problem solver. Just like the flex tape, just smack and no more water coming through. I saw this boat in half. Just tape flex tape. Suddenly the boat is going. That is Scotty Barnes defensively. He he makes everything good. He is the 2 a.m. in the morning uh quick ad thing except it works. He it actually works. He's that guy.

And also when I think about offensively the level of playmaker that he is, which I've always loved so much, which has always been held back a little bit by the fluidity of his handle and the lack of, you know, an extended pull-up jumper. He's obviously been very comfortable making it work in the short mid-range in this series and at large. not having enough space to manipulate the defense. In this series, the defense refuses to be man manipulated. They're they're sticking to their guns. They're playing quite packed in. And so Scotty is saying, "Well, I'm going to try and find somebody that I can smash into the paint, and I'm going to make these tight window reads, which I've always made." And it's why he put the the ball above Evan Mobley's face and through his waiting arms to Colon Murray Boils for a dunk. And Evan Mobley was like, "Am I part of a circus act? What the hell is happening here?"

He's willing to It's just the Raptors. What's clearly been happening over these past two games is a willingness to try to meet their limits headon and exceed past them, whereas the the Cavs seem to be more stuck in expectations of who they are. The Raptors are like, "Well, to win this series, we're going to have to go above and beyond." The last two games they have been. And Scotty Barnes is confronting his limitations as a driver, confronting his limitations as a dribbler, and still just taking big wide shoulders, a strength and a willingness, and a very beautiful basketball brain to see how everything is developing around him and to make the plays. There, of course, is going to be Scotty Barnes putting a shoulder into uh Dean Wade and then dunking the ball with incredible force. There's going to be the attempt on Jared Allen after they run just a simple RJ Barrett Scotty screen and he rejects it and Dean Wade gets caught up and he almost puts Jared Allen in a grave. Goes to the line and hits the two free throws to take the lead. Hits six free throws to ice the game down the stretch. like superstar stuff. Watching him problem solve, confront limitations, maintain the defensive level has been incredible. It's been incredible, man. I What what fun to watch this happen because he's meeting the moment in in in with such vigor.

If you compare his comfort in the middle of the floor surrounded by bodies, it is exactly what we are asking of the calves. Not the the the playmaking that that we're not saying the high end, but just the comfort. Like you get in the middle of the floor, you see bodies. It's like I don't care. I can keep my handle. I can get to what I want. The calves don't have that. When the calves are in the middle of the floor, it's like get this thing away from me. There's psychopaths on the loose when when Barnes is in the middle of the floor. He is I mean he's playing off two feet. He's getting deep deep deep. He is able to create for Colin Murray Boils. I mean his finishing when we say he's the best finisher. The other side of that coin is like oh yeah Scotty Barnes is giving layups to his teammates like here have a layup please shake my hand have a layup. There's, you know, he is able to create these things because he is driving so deep, because he's so comfortable, because he's playing off two feet, because he is so physical that a body in front of him is just getting churned [snorts] deeper, deeper, deeper. It's everything is is combining and being the strongest guy out there. And I think it's pretty clear he is just by far the most powerful player on the floor. I mean, maybe Conbury boils, but fortunately, we don't need to see those two bodies collide. Um, it's an advantage. It's an advantage.

>> Yeah. Ysef says, "Scotty Barnes is allstar in this league. Clearly, this is a reference to Darko's famous tirade." Also, Mel brings up something that I think is interesting. I disagree with, but I don't I disagree with it in a polite way, in a difference of opinion way. Says, "Kenny Atinson is a poor coach." I think that Darko is getting the better of Kenny in this series based on the amount of adjustments made based on what's worked. But Kenny has tried some things and also you have to keep in mind Kenny what he told or not what he told what he designed for the Cavs uh has been stolen by basically every team. The Raptors it changed the function of the cutting in their own offense. It's taken from the Cavs. Like Kenny Atinson I think is a great coach and it's this is the this [snorts] is the thing I asked Kenny yesterday before the game. I said Kenny it seems like the team that wins the coaches everyone says they're a genius who figured it out and the team that loses the coach is a fool who couldn't you know who couldn't do anything and he smiles and laughs. He's like, "Yeah." Uh, and then I asked about because he said, you know, these the best teams are playerled and asked about, you know, how what's the process of creating responses or film breakdown between the player team and all this kind of stuff. And he said, well, we have our core group of guys who we take things to what we're going to talk about. He's like, we don't want to put certain things on film if that they don't think that's going to work. and you only get so much film time and you you you don't want to make film too long. You know, it's like us like if you know, we did probably like what 30 minutes of film. If we're doing an hour and a half, maybe it's not as compelling for everyone. It doesn't stick. And the the same thing happens in terms of, you know, coaches and players. And I think that Kenny has tried some stuff, but players are who make it work. You know, we give I for the longest time have been someone who has always given Darko his flowers. I've always been adamant that he's a good coach. I've never relented on that, not once. Cuz I I look at what he does and I think this is good. The limitations the Raptors have, I don't look at them as the extension of the coach. And the Cavs, I don't look at them as the extension of the coach. A good when I watch these plays, I don't think like, oh well, if Kenny just coached better, then maybe Allon would have dunked that or maybe X would have been Y.

>> I think that, you know, Darko has done more things. They've worked. Darko has been incredibly The ingenuity in how he's approached this series, especially after Coming Home is like, hell yeah, really good. There's some funky stuff going on here. And the uh uh >> your mic, brother. >> And the uh the gumption that he plays with is it's incredible uh that he's gotten his team to play with. Kenny coaches can only do so much. And uh I don't think it makes Kenny a poor coach, but I do think it it's uh it's nice to nod the cap, doth the cap towards Darko and acknowledge what he's uh what he's been doing. We also I mean, we're about to find out how Kenny is as a coach. I mean, he played chalk for three games of the series. You know, it's like you're up 200. Why change anything? Then you go into game three. I mean, right now with the Raptors in control, with their game plan having won more or less 10 quarters in a row, it's like now we get to see what Kenny's changes are made of. Not that they haven't changed anything. Obviously, they have, but but this Darko had his moment down O2 when it was like put up or shut up as a coach. We're about to see the same from from Atkinson.

>> Yep. And also too, like uh Will Smith, this is a good question, says, "Do you buy into the don't change a winning lineup philosophy?" We've made this joke in the past on this podcast, but the it is the the Shay Gildas Alexander quote. I had the answers to the test. I just didn't know the questions yet. You can't solve until like you can have a theory of what it might be. And some coaches do this in game. You know what I mean? Uh, and credit to the Raptors, like some of the adjustments that were so important in game three, we started seeing them in the middle of game two and they didn't manifest in a win. I.e. after game two when everyone's saying Darko is an idiot and he doesn't do the right things, but the things that actually worked in game three started in game two. Then it's game three and then it's game four and the packages look the same and suddenly it's like this guy's kicking Kenny Atkins's ass. He's stuffing him in a locker. our cool Chad coach is a is a boss. Like all this kind of stuff. It's Kenny Atinson. I think some of the adaptability of the Cavs was being tested. They went to different actions. They tried different things. They killed the Raptors at the start of the second half. I addressed why they were able to do that. It was a coaching change >> and and it was a change to help out his guards and rely on his bigs. What's nice is that Darko took that change in stride and said, "I have a counter move. His name is counter Murray Boils and he is going to make things incredibly difficult for you." And in terms of like what what the Cavs can do, I'm not a coach and I talked about some things that they can try, but it's entirely possible that, you know, uh Kenny's answers are different than mine.

One more question. Kevin Wakowski says, "Are you surprised Kenny didn't go to someone like a Thomas Bryant instead of Allen or Mobley minutes? Do you think he takes different players off the bench moving forward?" I think Allen and Mobly are non-negotiable. >> Yeah, non-negotiable. It's a lot easier to expect those guys to just play better. And I mean this, and this is basketball sometimes, play good, play bad. Uh sometimes it just has to be play better rather than Moier or Allen being replaced by Thomas Bryant. Like the Pacers on their finals run, they're toggling Thomas Bryant and Tony or and uh yeah uh Mr. Mr. Tony Bradley who they picked up on a just a whatever flyer. None of those guys were being placed. Even as Miles Turner struggled, it was like, "Okay, it's not going to be Miles Turner." Um, what they did go to was like maybe Obie Toppin and Pascal or something like that, but I just that's not the solve.

Do you have Do you have like five minutes for Ingram Lewis? Uh, at least he didn't fall over in game four. He was like staying on his feet. Uh, he was driving a lot. He was shooting threes a lot. Like, yeah, he smoked some layups, but I actually thought he played like normal basketball, like as if he knew uh where he was able to find himself in the series. Shots fall or don't fall. That's fine. But like at least he knew what he was doing. He the process I still with a a fury. I hate these extended elbow plays, especially especially when other stuff is working. But as Trey and I said, I know you listened. >> Getting more of his volume into the three-point attempts. >> Yep. >> Huge. >> And the drive the he had like three or four attempted layups. I mean, he missed them all, but >> Yes. Yes. Ro point guard says, "I think you guys are too hard on Ingram." Not a shot. No shot. >> No shot, man. No shot. >> The uncut perspective from from people in the league right now on Ingram would be much harsher than what we are giving. Also, like what what is Brandon through four games? What's what's he averaging? And keep in mind, this guy, he has expectations that are incredible. You say that three was huge. Yes. Yes, it was huge. We both wrote about it. It's in the piece. >> It to get uh what he scored eight points in a minute and 40 seconds to end the first half. In that environment where 38 points were scored in the first half, eight points is like rocket fuel. It is like holy hell, what a run. Then he came out and he, you know, he went six of 24. I don't like the six of 24 Kobe game in the finals either. I would rather give it to Pow Gasol. I don't think it's sick that Kobe was getting doubled and it's, you know, Galaxy brain. Oh, that means there's an another opportunity for an offensive rebounder. I'll give it up to the offensive rebounder. Pal getting what 18 rebounds in that game or maybe I don't remember what it was. That means something to me. I'm okay to put it elsewhere. But Brandon averaging 15 points per game, two assists, 45% true shooting. I don't have to blow smoke. He's been bad. I don't like it's it's not about oh, you know, we have to gas this guy up. That's for the fans in the arena who cheered him and I'm glad. But Brandon has played really poorly. That's it. We say why he's playing poorly, what's been happening. His process was much better in game four. The Raptors needed volume. As you said, everyone shot poorly yesterday. But he has to be better, man. It's okay. the number of possessions in which he has attempted to isolate, wasted six, eight seconds of the clock, five dribbles, gone backwards, negative dribbles, gone nowhere, given it up, reposted to say, "Okay, give me another shot." It's like, that's not good basketball. It's like, I don't care if you make a shot after that. That's terrible because you've used the possession and then you've not allowed your teammates to actually run an action because you're right in the middle of the floor stopping anything from happening around you. And to do that, especially when R.J. is like churning drives into points, when Scotty Barnes is churning drives into points, it's just it's to me that decision, and he's done this several times, maybe more times than he has made baskets in the series, like the the failed isolation into repost. To me, what that says is I am more important than my team success. Like, it doesn't work. Give me another shot at it. It's like, no, it doesn't work. do something better. And this isn't to say he's not he's not he's a bad basketball player. This is to say I have higher expectations. This is why we're being critical. It's like, yeah, you you put up points, do better, make better choices, make winning choices. And he made winning choices on the defensive end in game four. In game two, he had some big wins on the defensive glass. Like, there have been moments for sure. This isn't to say he's like Ben. The Raptors need him.

>> One other podcast is running through defensive film and giving Brandon credit for being a tag man. >> Like, it's okay, man. >> Yeah. Yeah. We're not I don't think we're being too harsh on on Brandon. You're You're only harsh on people you have expectations from. There's people out there in the world I don't even think about. I don't discuss who have opinions they don't matter. Brandon Ingram matters. That's why we're being critical of him.

>> Yeah. and and his process really does matter. Jacobe Walter, for example, not hitting anything. It sucks, but the process is he takes a shot or two. You know what I mean? He and it goes in or it doesn't. Brandon, as Lewis mentioned, his process can throw the Raptors out of whack significantly and he can take possessions away because he has that power from something else that may or may not work. Imagine if the Raptors were stuck on giving Brandon the ball and it wasn't a Scotty Barnes and RJ Barrett two-man action at the end of the game, right? What if that were the case, but they moved away from it, not because they don't respect him or whatever else, but because something else was viable. And Brandon Ingram, it's the the comparison I made was Brandon Ingram existed in game four and he hurt the Raptors a little bit, but he did enough good things. That three-point volume was massive. Eight of N9 from the free throw line, massive. Hell yeah. He got strips near the rim. He was active defensively. We've said all this, we've given him credit for it. But just like again, Kyle Lowry 2019, they lose the first game against the Magic before they go on to win the championship. Scotty Barnes has zero points, but he's like a plus 11. Then you say the plus 11, they won his minutes. It's not his fault. No, it's his fault. You're you're Kyle Lowry. You don't score zero points. I don't care if you didn't lose the game by the numbers. I don't care if Brandon Ingram was a, you know, a plus one in this game. Six of I don't care that he had 23 points for 23 shots. You can be better. That's the expectation. You got to be better. And this when we come into this series, everyone said he was going to bust Cleveland's ass, man. >> Nobody can guard him. Okay. So, go kill it. Go be 60% from the field or something instead of 33 or 34. It's just that's what it is. And to Kyle Lowry's credit, that was the opening game of the playoffs. The closing game of the playoffs, game six against Golden State, he opened the game scoring what, like 10 straight points. 12. Yeah. >> And that's I mean, he's not supposed to be the leading scorer. He saw that that was what he had to be. >> Brandon Ingram is supposed to be the leading scorer. like go out go out and be what you're meant to be. And no, it's not reading his own headlines. We have no we have no control over what is happening in >> Brandon doesn't care about us, man. [laughter] >> He doesn't care about us. >> I've talked to Brandon what, like 20 times. If I saw him on the street, he'd be like, "Who are you? I have no concept of who you are." If I told him every word I've ever written about him, he'd be like, "I don't know a single word you're saying. It does not make sense." We do not matter in terms of their play. It's exactly right. And also if Brandon Ingram, if this, by the way, this is all basketball stuff. We're talking about missed rotations. We're talking about taking too many dribbles. We're talking about Brandon Ingram can go on Twitter if he does and see uh comments that like we're talking about basketball. I will never never for a moment listen if someone says the podcast a listener very kind tells Trey and I, you guys got to get some boom arms, man. the mic ruffling. >> Yeah, >> podcasting. That's right. It's not mean. It's about our craft. Trey and I have to get some boom arms. It's not like I don't look at that and be like, "Oh, they're hating." Nope. Just constructive criticism. It's okay. Um, but yeah, it's uh it's okay for, you know, criticism, especially if it's just about the work or whatever. Uh, nothing untoward is being said about Brandon and it's okay for Brandon to get criticism from myself and Lewis. I think that's probably a decent place to end it. What do you think?

>> Five minutes. Oh, I didn't even Can I just give like a couple numbers I think are interesting? >> Mhm. >> Um, Scotty Barnes is uh sixth in the league in defensive distance traveled. He is sixth in the league or fourth in the league in uh shots from within six feet defended. That's crazy to have those two things uh in in conjunction. Colmer Boils also uh is uh where is that one? Seventh in the league in screen assists. We talked about his screen craft being really advanced out of >> that's cra like you look at screen it's like well that's supposed to be yaka purle even in limited minutes he's supposed to be the guy freeing but no colin screencraft has been an advant because when when you look at national media be like well why play Colin instead of purle it's like you know a lot of the conversations like you lose the it's like the the the tired wired inspired it's like The tire take is you're doing it for um I don't know for more mobility or something. The wire take is you're actually doing it um for rebounding even though Purle's supposed to be the the inspire take is like even though Purle's the supposed to be the offensive specialist, it's like actually he is outplaying him in the very qualities of offense that Purle uh is more uh experienced in are his greatest strengths such as screencraft. So, I thought that the screen assists though are such a Rudico Bear ruined screen assist for everyone, but I do think it's sort of an entryway into a more interesting conversation.

>> Yep. Okay. Uh, two things. Uh, Arcane 9 says, "Hey, Samson, did you show Lewis the reel I sent you?" If you're the person who sent me a reel of a bald guy going around to other bald guys and pointing to his bald head and then touching bald heads together, I I haven't shown that to Lewis. Um, but if you're the guy who sent me that, I It's funny. I did see it. And actually, believe it or not, I had like four people send me that. [laughter] They were just I'm the guy people think of when they think of a bald guy, which is, you know, um, you know, compliments own way. Yeah. And then also Boon, uh, pause Tang says, "These athletes are still young. How old are you?" Sarcasm. Yeah, man. Lewis and I, I just turned 30 this year. We're we're both we're old Kermagins saying, "Oh, why basketball X and Y?" Um, and Spice Hill says, "I'm ordering a Murray Boils jersey today. Hopefully, it comes in time for when he lifts the finals MVP trophy." My fingers are crossed. My fingers are crossed. Kevin Wikowski says, "When are we getting bald?" Don't lie. >> Bald is beautiful, brother. >> Balls. I got all this chalk from climbing on this dum hat. Uh, Lewis, anything before we get out of here?

>> Okay, the the same question. I You better have a different answer now. Have your priors changed? Do you have a different expectation for the series now? >> Not yet. >> Wow. >> I still I still think the Cavs win this series, but I'm not I don't feel as confident in it. And also, h how fun would it be if the Raptors did win this series? >> Yeah, I said Cleveland in five or six. I don't think Cleveland and six at this I think if Cleveland wins, I seriously doubt they get two in a row at this point, which is already a change of my priors, but it's interesting. We had a very similar um macro narrative development in our podcast in the last playoff series. We covered the Sixers series where it's like, okay, Philly started out really big. Obviously, the Raptors pulled back into it a little too late. If Embiid had not hit that buzzer beater, it would have been actually the same path. Harden was on both. And in many ways, the Sixers won that series by just saying, "Let's get Norm Powell isolated against James Harden. Let's put him in the action. Make Norm make decisions defensively." The Raptors don't have a defender that James Harden can do that to like he is poked and prodded everywhere. I don't think there's been any weak link in a way that Norm ended up being towards the end of that series. it in a way the Doc Rivers sort of coaching victory at the end of that series was sort of obvious all along. I don't think there's an obvious end to the series from the perspective of Cleveland.

>> Well, there there's one there's two really big things. Scotty right now is that at a level that Pascal didn't reach in that 76er series. Yeah. >> Uh just as resilient offensively, >> but far better defensively. >> And like Scotty, the expenditure of energy he's been able to give is like, holy smokes, man. >> Yeah. >> And Pascal could have jumped out on Harden, >> but it wouldn't be the same. And also, Harden's younger. What? He's like 32 instead of 36. But in ter in terms of uh Yeah, Norm Pal wasn't on the team, by the way. [laughter] >> Oh, Gary Trent. Who's Gary Trent? Yeah. Um Obviously can play the two. >> Yes. Yes. Uh Gary Trent. Yes. But I should have picked up on that. Uh but uh Pascal was not giving what uh Scotty is giving and Scotty if CNB is stepping into the Scotty role then. Uh Scotty was dealing with a a sprained ankle and was not equipped to blow up Harden at that point in time. So the Raptors did h did not have the players to move guys on. And also, it's actually kind of similar in that Maxi and Donovan Mitchell have their own thing and the Raptors core coverage just wasn't the same. And also Joel Embiid, like just in terms of James Harden, Tyrese Maxi, Joel Embiid. >> Yep. >> That is probably more like Joel Embiid is in the thick of MVP status. Um, there's more there's more oomph there and you know, James Harden's four years younger. Tyres Maxi is still incredible. There's more oomph there than this Cavs team maybe. Uh and especially that inside out aspect of Joel Embiid. I mean Joel Embiid having a guy who can do it on the inside just adds a diversity to your offense that the Cavs currently don't have and the Raptors are finding. So hell yeah.

>> I think I would probably go Wrapsson seven at this point. >> I want to shake your hand. [laughter] I want to shake your hand, man. That's great. Do you know how fun it would be if we got round two? >> Yeah, I the Raps have I mean 2-2 obviously, but I'm pretty happy with how the Raps have played. >> I in in the last two games I don't know in terms I think they've outplayed Cleveland over four, not just over two. >> Yeah, I mean game game three they just was like, you know, um it's funny. Uh, Lost Soul Sound says, "Just looked up playoff defensive rating. How are the Raptors 16th in defensive rating?" I swear this team is crazy on defense the first few games. Also, are they 16th? That's crazy. That doesn't make sense for what I'm thinking of, but I guess Lewis, are you currently looking it up? >> I'm 10th. Uh, on cleaning the glass, that's obviously not defensive rating. I can >> garbage time. Yeah. >> Yeah. I on defensive rating in the playoffs, they are No, they're they're 10th. Yeah, >> 10th. Okay, we're getting we're getting fake news. >> Let's see. What do I have them at? Yeah, 10th 111 points per 100 possessions. And what's their offensive rating? Top five offense in the playoffs. Net rating 1.3. The Cavs net rating minus 1.3 by the transitive property, of course. Um, and then also, uh, what did, uh, somebody said? Uh, we need to advance so IQ can have his arc. IQ. He's been waiting on some playoff basketball. Uh I'm I'm excited to see if IQ gets to come and play. Hell yeah. Cuz he definitely he works hard and it'd be nice nice to see a guy get to do it. He's probably I mean crest fallen not being a part of this, I would guess. [sighs] Is that a is that a podcast? >> Podcast. >> It's a podcast. All right. Thank you everybody for tuning in with us. Make sure to like again. This is what we talked about last time. There's not enough likes on this thing after we close up shop. You guys just go click that little thumbs up button. All right. Helps out everybody over here. It's not tangible in the terms of money, but I think YouTube says, "Oh, more people like this." And they suggest it to more people and then more people get to watch some film and maybe understand something about the Raptors doing so they can have more appreciation. And if you're somebody who believes in slandering online, perhaps pointing out where the calves are failing means you get to call someone soft or, you know, whatever, the lights are too bright or something like that if you're into it. Uh, thanks everybody for tuning in. We appreciate you very much. From myself and Lewis, whether you got into this morning or at night, have a blessed day and goodbye.